Top News:
Tracy Ringolsby / Rocky Mountain News:
Rockies end talks to trade Helton — Red Sox won't give up a top prospect, ending trade talks — Todd Helton dropped by Coors Field on Monday and went through his normal winter workout with several other Rockies players. — Nothing had changed for Helton. — "Just a normal day," he said.
RELATED:
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Schilling will pitch in '08 — Righty revises retirement plans — Curt Schilling never meant to mislead anyone about his retirement plans; it's just that his most private conversations with his wife and children led him to a different future. — "We'd been talking about it for a while," said Schilling last night.
Discussion:
Boston Sports Media Watch
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Helton talks are off — Choice of prospects is the deal-breaker — When the Colorado Rockies approached Theo Epstein six weeks ago about a possible deal for Todd Helton, the Red Sox general manager figured he would listen. After all, having Helton would give the Red Sox a drop-dead batting order …
Associated Press:
Bonds, Giants finally complete deal — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants completed a $15.8 million, one-year contract Monday night after the slugger spent hours at the ballpark being examined by team doctors. — A baseball official confirmed the deal …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
RELATED:
Cory Humes / mvn.com:
Pittsburgh Pirates Roundtable #10 — Hello all, and welcome to the first PPR hosted at MVN. We're still trying to work out a few bugs, but I figured I'd post our most recent effort now for your viewing pleasure. — You can visit http://mvn.com/mlb-pirates/roundtable for the most recent roundtables.
RELATED:
Deann Smith / Kansas City Star:
County cries foul at Royals' new pitch — The team wants to use public funds to purchase a $900,000 high-tech video coaching system. — When St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols just misses launching a home run, he can dash into his clubhouse and scrutinize his at-bat before the next batter digs in.
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Yankees reach agreement with Chinese — The Yankees are busy today, sending out another release, this time on their agreement to develop players in China. The talks were rocky at first but went quickly once Cashman backed away from insisting the Chinese had to take A-Rod and Pavano.
RELATED:
Anthony Amobi / Oleanders and Morning Glories:
Nats' Winter Caravan - The Final Day... Today, I spent much of my day in between work, and meetings following around the team of the Nationals' Capital in not only Maryland, but also Washington D.C. — My first stop was the University of Maryland, my alma mater in College Park, Maryland.
RELATED:
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Greatest hits, in the palm of your hand … It's hard to say exactly which moment it was that we realized the iPod had taken over our entire civilization. But it might have been this one: — The day we first heard, last summer, that baseball players were using their iPods …
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Rangers move Arias to outfield — Sammy Sosa expected to sign minor league deal with Rangers today — egrant@dallasnews.com — ARLINGTON - The switch is officially on. — On the first day of the Rangers' mini-camp, prospect Joaquin Arias traded in the infield dirt for the nearly frozen tundra of center field.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
RELATED:
Bill Center / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Training site in Dominican to be top rate — John Moores admits to being "pretty disappointed" three years ago when he toured the Padres' training facility in the Dominican Republic. — "I wouldn't eat a meal there," the team's owner said last week. — And it wasn't just the facility that disappointed Moores.
Chris Constancio / Hardball Times:
Best Young Catchers of 2007 — Welcome to a new feature here at The Hardball Times. Over the next two months, I will contribute a position-by-position prospect list. These will differ from traditional lists in two ways. First, anyone under 25 is eligible.
Clark Spencer / Miami Herald:
Pitchers Sanchez, Johnson slowed by sore arms — Two of the five members of the Marlins' starting rotation, right-handers Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez, are dealing with throwing arm injuries that could put a crimp in their spring training plans. — Though the injuries aren't considered serious …
Blez / Athletics Nation:
Billy Beane AN Interview January 07 Edition Part II — Yesterday was part one of my exclusive chat with Billy Beane. Today is part two as we get deeper into looking at 2007 and the dreaded "i" word. — Enjoy. … Beane: You could ask that question every spring of us, so it's not unique.
Discussion:
Al's Ramblings
Steve Treder / Hardball Times:
The HBP Explosion (That Almost Nobody Seems to Have Noticed) — It is a violent event. It's inherently dangerous: Always it causes pain, often it causes injury and sometimes it causes serious, career-threatening injury. It remains the only play ever to have taken the life of a major league player …
Bill Conlin / Centre Daily Times:
UNDERPAID SLUGGER TO GET JUST REWARDS SOON — MANY PHILLIES fans seem to be exuding a sense of dread that Ryan Howard will not be adequately rewarded for the most spectacular second-year slugging performance in baseball history. — On the face of it, there is room for fans with long memories to be concerned.
Associated Press:
Dodgers finalize one-year deal with reliever Tsao — LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers finalized a one-year contract Monday with reliever Chin-hui Tsao, the Taiwanese right-hander plagued by arm injuries throughout his brief career with the Colorado Rockies.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Associated Press:
Weaver finalizes deal with Mariners — SEATTLE (AP) — Jeff Weaver passed his physical on Monday and finalized a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners worth $8,325,000. — The deal with the includes $1 million in performance bonuses for the 30-year-old right-hander …
RELATED:
