Braves, Wilson agree to $2 million, 1-year contract  —  ATLANTA (AP) — Craig Wilson, who could contend for playing time or a starting job in left field or first base, agreed Thursday to a $2 million, one-year contract with the Atlanta Braves.  —  The 30-year-old hit .251 with 17 homers …

Diamondbacks agree to deal with Davis  —  The Diamondbacks have agreed with left-hander Doug Davis to a three-year contract worth more than $20 million.  —  The deal, which pays Davis $5.5 million this year, $7.75 million in 2008 and $8.75 million in 2009, enables the two sides to avoid salary arbitration.

Twins face fiscal issues in near future  —  The Twins are dealing with six potential arbitration cases, more than any club.  The rising stature of the middle of their batting order — Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau — underscores the difficulty that the team eventually will face …

NL report card (cont.)  —  Milwaukee Brewers  —  Maybe I'm crazy, but Jeff Suppan for $42 million looks almost like a bargain in this free-agent market.  He won 44 games the past three years and starred in the Cardinals' improbable postseason.  Estrada is an upgrade at catcher, and they have some special young hitters.

Washington Nationals set to begin week-long Winter Caravan Monday, Jan. 22-Monday, Jan. 29  —  Nationals Manager, players, front office executives and broadcast personalities get on the road prior to start of Spring Training with several stops in the District, Maryland and Virginia

Lee, Womack among 12 added to mix  —  Club lures free-agent veterans with Minor League deals  —  WASHINGTON — The Nationals have agreed to terms on Minor League contracts with pitchers Jesus Colome, Anastacio Martinez, Luis Martinez and Arnie Munoz, outfielders George Lombard and Abraham Nunez …

Inside Shea: Olivermania?  —  (Editor's Note) Gotham Baseball Magazine is proud to announce the newest addition to our editorial staff, Howard Megdel.  He has covered both sports and news with an equal amount of excellence and we're priviliged to have him.  Join us as we welcome him to Gotham Nation.

Betty Trezza, women's baseball pioneer, dies at 81  —  CBS SportsLine.com wire reports  —  NEW YORK — Betty Trezza, who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for the team featured in the film A League of Their Own, has died.  She was 81.

Padres make Wells offer, want answer by end of week  —  Kevin Towers won't call it a deadline.  —  But he'd like to get an answer from pitcher David Wells "by the end of this week."  —  The Padres have made a formal contract offer to the 43-year-old left-hander after what Towers described as a series of "positive dialogues."

Sosa's return could bring big dividends  —  Rangers general manager Jon Daniels began the day Wednesday awaiting a new arrival, wondering just how big he might be.  —  Sammy Sosa?  Oh, yeah, him, too.  —  But of more immediate concern was the imminent arrival of Daniels' first-born.

Do Umpires Have Their Own Strike Zone?  —  Yes.  Here's how to tell.  —  DanAgonistes asks: " It would be interesting to see whether there is any trend that holds over from year to year ".  —  We don't need year-to-year data.  We just follow the same process we follow for everything else.

Mitchell asks owners for cooperation  —  Former Senator says help will aid steroid report's credibility  —  PHOENIX — Former Senator George Mitchell, who has been heading up a nearly year-long investigation into steroid use in Major League Baseball, told the owners on Thursday that he needs …

Historical Win Shares Above Bench  —  You may come to the Hardball Times to catch up on Bill James' Win Shares during the season.  The history of Win Shares is briefly covered in this article, so I won't go into all of that here.  But I will say that Win Shares is a fairly controversial …