Red Sox burn for Mark Teixeira  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  The Red Sox [team stats], along with a growing number of teams, are targeting first baseman Mark Teixeira with increasing intensity.  —  One baseball source, familiar with the Sox' thinking this offseason …

METS' CASTILLO DRIVEN TO SECURE 2ND CHANCE  —  This is a story about second base and, Luis Castillo hopes, second chances.  —  To their fans' anguish, Mets officials have persistently said they plan on having Castillo as their second baseman in 2009.  In part that is because the Mets …

Heilman again makes pitch to start for Mets  —  Concerned about his role for next season, Aaron Heilman called general manager Omar Minaya yesterday to talk about possibly moving back into the rotation for the start of spring training.  But Minaya stayed firm in his position that Heilman again …

Bye, George!  New Yankee Boss is son Hal  —  Hal Steinbrenner officially became “The New Boss” Thursday and his first act sounded an awful lot like the original Boss, his father: He set an unspecified deadline for free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia to take the Yankees' $140 million offer.

METS TAKING TIME IN HUNT FOR CLOSER  —  THE Mets have made it well known they are unwilling to meet Francisco Rodriguez's quest for a five-year contract at record dollars for a closer.  But, according to Mets officials, they currently are averse to going to even a fourth year for K-Rod or any closer.

Blackout Policy to Remain Through MLB Network Launch  —  Baseball fans, prepare for more frustration.  —  MLB owners, yet again, tabled restructuring the local and regional television territories for the league at today's quarterly owners meetings in New York, and in doing so …

Van Benschoten parts ways with Bucs  —  Former first-round pick decides to pursue roster spot elsewhere  —  PITTSBURGH — After many attempts to stick with the Pirates' Major League club, John Van Benschoten has decided to make his next attempt at the big leagues elsewhere.

What Do We Know About the Impending Viciedo Signing?  —  Dayan Viciedo was supposed to be introduced as the newest member of the White Sox in a press conference on Friday, but apparently visa issues—there's always visa issues—may have derailed the event, though not the signing itself.

Yanks add four to 40-man roster  —  Purchase contracts of Claggett, Garcia, Johnson, Dunn  —  The Yankees added four players to their 40-man roster on Thursday when they purchased the contracts of right-handed pitchers Anthony Claggett, Christian Garcia and Steven Jackson, as well as left-hander Michael Dunn.

Hall spot for Moose?  Era, as much as ERA, may help sway  —  Now as long as Mike Mussina stays retired and doesn't pull a Brett Favre ...  Figures that a man most appreciated for throwing one of the best curveballs of his era would throw one last bender in saying goodbye.

AFL Dish: Aptly-Named Prospect Finishes Strong  —  Prospect Of The Day  —  Peoria Javelinas shortstop Brent Brewer (Brewers) didn't have a particularly good regular season.  Drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft out of a Georgia high school, Brewer spent 2008 split between low Class …

Sabathia camp mum on intentions  —  Give CC Sabathia and his people credit for one thing: They are not conducting their negotiations through the media.  —  CC's camp has been locked down since the General Managers' Meetings in California, leaving the rest of the baseball world only to speculate …

Mets open to dealing catchers  —  There are indications the Mets might consider overhauling their catching situation.  While the Mets haven't spoken publicly about any dissatisfaction with their tandem of Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro, some competing executives say the Mets …

Batting Average, Home Runs, RBIs  —  If you are about my age*, then you grew up as a baseball fan with three statistics and only three statistics.  There was batting average.  There were home runs runs.  And there were RBIs.  That was it. … It would be difficult to overstate how deeply …