Big-name deals have much going against them  —  The Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox, who spent two months working on a trade involving Rockies' high-salaried first baseman Todd Helton that went nowhere, became the latest to learn the ugly truth: Trade talks involving players with huge contracts …

Pirates sign Armas, spur competition  —  GM says Chacon, Youman, McLeary also in mix for rotation  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  Go figure ...  Four of the Pirates' five starting pitchers, all too young for arbitration, will make something close to Major League Baseball's minimum wage of $380,000 this season.

Phils, Myers agree to $25.75M, three-year deal  —  PHILADELPHIA — Right-hander Brett Myers agreed to a $25.75 million, three-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday, avoiding arbitration.  —  A former first-round pick, Myers has won at least 11 games each of the past four seasons.

Kearns, Washington agree to three-year contract  —  WASHINGTON — It was all a tad overwhelming for Austin Kearns when he was dealt to the Washington Nationals by the Cincinnati Reds last season.  —  He'd never been traded.  He went from a team near his Kentucky hometown to one on the East Coast.

Column comes out of left field—literally  —  MIAMI — If the Bears win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Bears coach Lovie Smith will be so popular that another prominent Chicagoan should worry about keeping his job.  —  "You know who should be worried?  Barack Obama should be worried," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen joked on Thursday.

Curt answers given  —  Schill and Me.  Like Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.  Like Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump.  —  Cheap shots have flown back and forth.  Immaturity has ruled.  So many insults.  So little time.  —  And now that the Big Lug is back in the news again …

Matheny retires after concussion symptoms don't improve  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mike Matheny's decision to retire was made for him.  His doctor refused to clear the longtime catcher to play in 2007 after a concussion sidelined him for the final four months of last season.

Feud Over: Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb Hug It Out In Miami  —  Why are we posting at 3 a.m., when nobody's on the internet?  Because we wanted to break the news before anyone else - former enemies Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens buried the hatchet Thursday at Shaq's out-of-control bash on Ocean Drive in Miami.

AL East in Far East  —  Yankees, Red Sox take their rivalry to Japan  —  TOKYO (AP) — The New York Yankees hope to introduce a whole new set of fans to their rivalry with the Boston Red Sox.  —  And with Daisuke Matsuzaka now pitching for the Red Sox, playing against Hideki Matsui and Kei Igawa …

New Pirates 1B LaRoche wouldn't mind pitching  —  The Pittsburgh Pirates traded for first baseman Adam LaRoche to raise opposing pitchers' ERAs, not lower that of their own pitching staff.  —  Still, deep down inside the man who figures to be the Pirates' cleanup hitter is a pitcher waiting to make his major league debut.

The Class of '08  —  Each offseason, every major league team decides who to target in free agency and how aggressively it should build its club for the following season.  One of the oft-forgotten parts of that process is considering the strength of the following year's free-agent pool.

Offseason turns into new season for Rockies  —  Rockies go heavy on weightlifting, core strengthening  —  On this cold, snowy winter morning, the smell of fresh-cut grass and the warmth of Tucson's desert sun seem a million miles away.  —  But in the bowels of Coors Field …

Caribbean Series ready to go  —  Puerto Rico hosts tournament, won last year by Venezuela  —  It's the series before the Series, and the first large gathering of Major League players on a playing field before the start of Spring Training and one of the most anticipated events of the winter.

Roberts signs with Orioles … The Orioles today finalized a one-year deal with Brian Roberts, avoiding salary arbitration with the 29-year-old second baseman.  —  For 2007, Roberts will get a base salary of $4.2 million, the midpoint of the arbitration figures filed by both parties in mid-January.