Top News:
A.S. / East Windup Chronicle:
Yankees After Darvish For 2009? — I'm surprised it took this long, but the Yu Darvish to MLB rumors may have just officially kicked off right along with the new year. A Sports Hankook (Korea) report, relying on a Japanese source, says that the Yankees plan to nab Darvish following the 2008 season.
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
National intrigue — New vibe surrounds DC following busy offseason — WASHINGTON — There's a good reason the Nationals are excited about the upcoming season — they're going to play in a brand-new ballpark and bring more excitement to the diamond, especially after general manager Jim Bowden …
Discussion:
Federal Baseball
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Marty Noble / MLB.com:
What's past is past — Mets try to expunge 2007 season from their memory — NEW YORK — The flip of the calendar has moved the Mets merely one day further from their September downfall, but it has also replaced the four-digit number that marks the point of the greatest bringdown in the 46-year history of the franchise.
Times Herald-Record:
Buscema: First Hall of Fame ballot no easy decision — NEW YORK — After seemingly endless analyzing, re-analyzing and agonizing that often threatened the sanity of everyone around me as well as my own, I finally had decided. — So I noted the time at 12:52 p.m. yesterday as I typed …
Discussion:
The dish
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T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Rangers achieve main offseason goals — Texas adds depth to outfield, first base, bullpen for 2008 — ARLINGTON — Eddie Guardado and Kazuo Fukumori have been added to the bullpen, Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton have been added to the outfield and Ben Broussard and Chris Shelton are ready to form a possible platoon at first base.
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Murray Chass / New York Times:
Lawyer for Clemens Explains Strategy — In a lengthy conversation Friday with Rusty Hardin, Roger Clemens's lawyer, I was particularly interested in his answers to two questions. To Hardin's credit, he answered both candidly with no attempt to obfuscate the answers with typical lawyerly prattle.
Discussion:
Pinstriped Scranton
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Ben Platt / MLB.com:
Dodgers parade into New Year's Day — Lasorda, Scully, players begin celebration of 50 years in LA — PASADENA, Calif. — The Dodgers got the new year and their 50th anniversary celebration off to a rousing start as players past and present joined employees on the organization's …
Discussion:
Can't Stop The Bleeding
Kevin Baxter / Los Angeles Times:
Hillenbrand's life away from baseball is wild with animals — The two-time All-Star and his wife have opened a farm and stables in Arizona full of creatures, some rare and exotic, with hopes of opening a petting zoo for needy children. — GILBERT, Ariz. — Don't get Shea Hillenbrand wrong.
Discussion:
Can't Stop The Bleeding
Steve Treder / Hardball Times:
Re-imagining the Big Zone Sixties, revisited: part one — Away back in 2004 (it really doesn't seem that long ago!), in the dim dark early months of THT, we presented a couple of articles that examined the impact that the expanded strike zone of 1963 through 1968 had on our perception of the best batting performances of the era.
NY Daily News:
Leyritz sends his sympathy — Jim Leyritz seen leaving with friends at his home in Davie, Fla. — Former Yankee slugger Jim Leyritz expressed condolences Monday to the family of a Florida woman he allegedly killed in a drunken driving crash. — Leyritz released a statement through his lawyer …
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
White Sox hope to rise from ashes in '08 — Acquisitions of Cabrera and Linebrink should improve club — Given the chance to heap some form of thinly-veiled, added criticism upon Ken Williams before the end of 2007, designated hitter Jim Thome instead chose to view their aggressive general …
Discussion:
South Side Sox
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Dodgers reload for playoff run — Colletti adds talent without trading away youngsters — LOS ANGELES — To rebound from their fourth-place disappointment, the Dodgers went for quality over quantity in the offseason, hiring Joe Torre as manager and signing free agents Andruw Jones and Hiroki Kuroda.
Discussion:
Dodger Thoughts
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Sox in position to build on success — Veteran leadership around young core gives club balance — They did it again. But can they do it again and again? That's the big question entering 2008. — The Red Sox are already the first team in the 21st century to win multiple World Series, doing it twice in a span of four years.
Discussion:
The Joy of Sox
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Buzz: Kazmir's Day may be Numbered — “Even though he is entering his first year of arbitration eligibility, there's already talk that Scott Kazmir's days as a Ray are numbered,” writes the St. Petersburg Times. — According to the report, the Rays approached Kazmir about a long-term extension last year, ‘but nothing developed.’
