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 …

Nationals lock up Kearns  —  Another young cornerstone of the Washington Nationals future is under contract to play in the District for at least the next three years.  —  Yesterday, the Nationals signed right fielder Austin Kearns to three-year, $16.5 million deal with a team option for the 2010 season …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

Yankees' Hughes Looks Like the Real Deal  —  It's already that time of year when people start talking about the top prospects in the game.  To what extent this is the result of the vagaries of publishing schedules and the fantasy baseball calendar is left to the reader to determine …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

Best Seasons By Yankees Shortstops  —  Continuing with the WasWatching.com Yankees "ten best seasons" (ever) series, today we look at shortstops.  Here is what I believe are the top ten seasons for Yankees shortstops, with stats via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:  —  Click on the list below for a larger view ~

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.