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 …

Giants sign Rowand to five-year deal, $60M deal  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Rowand wanted some longterm stability, and so did the San Francisco Giants.  —  Rowand agreed to a $60 million, five-year contract with the Giants on Wednesday, giving the club a center fielder without having to trade pitchers Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum.

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.

Fukudome: The New J.D. Drew?  —  Hot-off-the-presses PECOTA projection for Kosuke Fukudome in Chicago:  —  PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG EqA VORP WARP  —  465 80 30 4 15 58 70 94 9 3 .289 .401 .504 .303 29.2 4.4  —  PECOTA holds Fukudome's playing …

Sources: Floyd, Rays could have deal in place by weekend … The Tampa Bay Rays are in serious discussions with free-agent outfielder Cliff Floyd and could have an agreement in place by the weekend, baseball sources told ESPN.com.  —  The Rays have been looking for a bat …

Source: Kuroda to travel to USA to mull MLB offers … Pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, the most hotly-pursued starter on this winter's free agent market, will travel to the United States this week to meet with his agent and go over offers from major-league clubs, a source told ESPN.com.

Jeff Kent decides to return to the Dodgers  —  Download story podcast  —  The Press-Enterprise  —  LOS ANGELES - Second baseman Jeff Kent will return to the Dodgers next season, his agent announced Tuesday, deciding against retirement following a 2007 campaign that left him frustrated enough …

Mets' Maine, Perez look to improve themselves  —  The Mets held their annual holiday party at Shea Stadium, distributing gifts to children representing New York City's five boroughs.  It's an annual, offseason, feel-good day in Flushing.  —  At this point in the Hot Stove League …

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 …

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.

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 …