Padres, Pirates deep in trade talks about OF Bay … Frustrated in their attempts to land outfielders this offseason, the San Diego Padres are deep into discussions with the Pittsburgh Pirates about a multiplayer deal that would be centered around All-Star outfielder Jason Bay.

O's trade Tejada to Astros  —  Team gets OF Scott, pitchers Albers, Patton, Sarfate, 3B Costanzo in return  —  Two years after he first suggested that he'd benefit from a change of scenery, Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada finally got his wish as he was traded to the Houston Astros today …

Milledge: I love the game, I play to win  —  Young center fielder introduced to media in Washington  —  WASHINGTON — Anthony Milledge Sr. wants everybody to know that his son, Lastings, is a good man, not the bad guy that was portrayed the last two seasons with the Mets.

Baseball: Kuroda appears to have chosen Dodgers: sources  —  Japanese free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda appears to have chosen the Los Angeles Dodgers as his new team, baseball sources said Wednesday.  —  Kuroda informed the Hiroshima Carp front office of his decision on Tuesday night …

Congressional members anticipate details in Mitchell investigation … Christopher Shays describes himself as a casual baseball fan.  He's the kind of guy who tracks the Red Sox and Yankees hardball rivalry from a distance but would never be caught dissecting box scores in the morning's Washington Post.

Kent will return with $9-million option  —  Jones passes physical and will be introduced today.  —  Jeff Kent has postponed retirement and will play out the final year of his contract with the Dodgers, his agent said Tuesday night.  —  Jeff Klein wrote in an e-mail that the 39-year-old Kent …

Yankees set to offer contracts to Wang, Betemit, Cano  —  The Yankees today will go through the formality of offering Chien-Ming Wang a contract for next season.  The right-hander hopes the arrangement will be for more than one season.  —  Via e-mail, Wang said yesterday that he would be willing …

Rangers eye Japanese reliever  —  The Rangers may have lost out on their No. 1 Japanese free-agent target this winter, but it appears they won't come away empty-handed from their foray to the Far East.  —  While it appears outfielder Kosuke Fukudome will land with the Chicago Cubs …

Santana talks remain open but quiet … You don't need a Nashville dateline any longer to write or say that the Johan Santana trade talks remain both ongoing, unresolved and very fluid.  —  The Red Sox [team stats], Yankees and Mets remain the top candidates to be Santana's next home …

Cubs' lineup getting more dangerous  —  FOXSports.com, Updated 52 minutes ago  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  Now, imagine if the Cubs get Brian Roberts, too.  —  A trade for Roberts would transform an underachieving offense into one of the most potent in the National League.

Nontenders likely to be low-impact … ST. PETERSBURG - After the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players arrives at midnight, the Rays will be scouring the suddenly expanded list of nontendered free agents, hoping to find the right fit for one of their holes.

Pirates, Tigers talk about pitcher Durbin  —  Other possibilities could open with arbitration non-tenders  —  The Pirates are engaged in trade talks with Detroit in an attempt to acquire right-handed starter Chad Durbin.  —  Durbin, 30, was 8-7 with a 4.32 ERA last season …

School honors Yankees owner … TAMPA - New Yorkers may run hot and cold about Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.  But in Tampa, he's only loved.  —  So much so that the Hillsborough School Board made a spur-of-the-moment decision Tuesday night to christen in his honor the George Steinbrenner High School in Lutz.