Padres would be logical choice for Prior  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  Logic dictates that the Padres are Mark Prior's first choice.  Not only is he from San Diego, but he also might thrive by staying in the National League and pitching at spacious Petco Park.

The fallout continues  —  Clemens among big losers; redemption for Duquette  —  Roger Clemens' denials are getting louder and somehow less convincing as he attempts to extricate himself from the steroid allegations made against him in the bombshell, worth-every-penny Mitchell Report …

Silva signing could be announced by Thursday  —  When you look at Carlos Silva, you see a young veteran who has one of the best sinkers in the game.  —  Because of that, he gets lots of ground ball outs.  How good a fit would that be in Safeco Field, a place that better accommodates fly ball pitchers?

Mets add to bullpen with Wise  —  The Mets added to their bullpen by signing righthander Matt Wise to a one-year, $1.2 million contract on Tuesday.  (AP File Photo)  —  The Mets, in an effort to add depth to their beleaguered bullpen, signed free-agent righthander Matt Wise to a one-year, $1.2-million contract yesterday.

Charley Walters: Boston Red Sox still in lead for Minnesota Twins ace Johan Santana  —  The Boston Red Sox remain the favorite to acquire Johan Santana from the Twins, insiders say.  —  Boston remains firm, though, as initially reported by the Pioneer Press, in offering just Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson.

Keeping up with AL heavyweights impractical for most … We can sum up the difference between the National League and the American League these days with one little winter meetings anecdote.  —  We were speaking with a high-ranking official of an NL contender.

Does reliever over-use lead to poor subsequent performance?  —  In a Nov. 30 article in the Philadelphia Daily News by Paul Hagen, Braves senior advisor and former big-league manager Jim Fregosi had this to say about relievers who have a good year followed by a bad year or vice versa:

George Mitchell's Drugs of Choice  —  The Mitchell Report on steroids is shaking the baseball world from cap to cleats.  It names 86 players, and calls for a vast reformation of what is being called “the steroid era” in Major League Baseball.  The 20-month, $20 million investigation has been accepted as gospel by the hoi polloi.

Plans for Miranda and expecations for relievers  —  Caught up with farm director Mark Newman this afternoon.  We didn't talk long and we didn't talk about anything earth shattering, but it's interesting stuff just the same.  Among the topics: The first base situation in Triple-A …

Bradley to be ready for Texas Rangers' opener  —  rdurrett@dallasnews.com  —  Texas Rangers outfielder Milton Bradley said he'll be ready “to play in some capacity” by opening day.  —  The 29-year-old passed a physical Tuesday, making his one-year, $5 million contract official.

Range Factor Equals Head Scratchers?  —  The Bill James Handbook 2008 lists Range Factor for every position other than first base and catcher.  Range Factor is the number of successful chances (putouts plus assists) times nine, divided by the number of defensive innings played.