Top News:
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
Novice pitchers from India sign with Pirates — Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh, cricket players who had not picked up a baseball until April, on Monday became the first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts, agreeing to deals with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com:
Bucs sign pair of Indian hurlers — Patel, Singh earn contracts after being discovered at contest — PITTSBURGH — The Pirates, who have emphasized a need to find talent via every available outlet, have gone where no team has gone before. — On Monday, the Pirates signed two young Indian pitchers …
Rob Iracane / Walkoff Walk:
Baseball Yatra is Great Success: Pirates Sign Rinku and Dinesh
Baseball Yatra is Great Success: Pirates Sign Rinku and Dinesh
Discussion:
Deadspin, Hardball Times, NPB Tracker, MLB FanHouse, SPORTSbyBROOKS, Bucs Dugout and Where have you gone …
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Yankees Expect Big Things From Canó and Rodriguez — Joe Girardi will not be filling out the first lineup card of the new Yankees' season for more than four months. But Kevin Long, the hitting coach, can peek ahead to April and tell which two hitters will be difference makers.
Discussion:
Bats, Heartland Pinstripes, The LoHud Yankees Blog, iYankees, Pinstripe Alley and It is about the money, stupid
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George A. King III / New York Post:
CANO WORKING HARD, DROPPING WEIGHT — While they wait for CC Sabathia to decide if $140 million is worth the headaches created by the spotlight that always scorches the Yankees, the club is jazzed about Robinson Cano's new body. — “I was as impressed with what he looks like as I have ever …
Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times:
Angels' attention shifts from Mark Teixeira to CC Sabathia — Club is in discussions with the free-agent pitcher and could offer him a contract that approaches the $140-million offered by the New York Yankees. Source says the Angels are reluctant to guarantee more than seven years to Teixeira.
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Hurdle tabs Baylor to fix hitting woes — The Rockies got their “Groove” back Monday. — Don Baylor, nicknamed “Groove” for a quote given when he was a 21-year-old prospect with the Orioles, returned to Colorado as the club's hitting instructor. — This isn't a public relations ploy, manager Clint Hurdle insisted.
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Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Giants-Renteria Rumor False — By Tim Dierkes [November 24 at 6:00pm CST] — 6:00pm: Additional denials have come in via Andrew Baggarly and Derrick Goold. Baggarly says Renteria is the Giants' fallback for Furcal. He notes that the Tigers would've loved to see Renteria sign today, as they're unlikely to offer him arbitration.
Discussion:
Bay City Ball, River Avenue Blues, Bless You Boys, El Lefty Malo, Tiger Tales, MVN, McCovey Chronicles, The Detroit Tiger Weblog and Hot Foot
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Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
St. Louis Cardinals talk with free agent Arthur Rhodes — The Cardinals may not have an immediate heir in place for closer Jason Isringhausen's role, but they continue to woo relievers who will handle the innings leading up to the ninth. — As they iron out a deal with lefty reliever Trever Miller …
Fox Sports:
Braves join list of suitors for righty Burnett — Yet another team is showing interest in free-agent righty A.J. Burnett. Ken Rosenthal reveals who it is in his latest hot stove update.
Cyril Morong / Cybermetrics:
Should Ryan Howard Try To Strikeout Less? — You might think so. In both 2006 and 2007 he led the major leagues in “contact average.” I define that as hits divided by (AB - K + SF). His contact average in 2006 was .448 and in 2007 it was .421 (although it fell to .372 in 2008).
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
NY Daily News:
Brian NcNamee and lawyers give evidence in Roger Clemens probe — Agents from the FBI came to New York in September to collect cheek-swab DNA samples from Brian McNamee and his lawyers as part of the ongoing investigation into whether Roger Clemens perjured himself before Congress.
Discussion:
Fox Sports
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Rangers enter Tazawa sweepstakes — Organization among four teams courting Japanese pitcher — ARLINGTON — The Rangers are one of four teams that have made serious offers to Japanese free agent pitcher Junichi Tazawa, his manager told the Kyodo News in Japan.
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MarketWatch:
Delta Hits One Out of the Ball Park, Becoming the Official Airline of the New York Yankees — The Delta Sky360 Suite to offer Suite holders an exclusive Delta experience directly behind home plate — Further supporting the world's largest airline's commitment to New York, Delta Air Lines …
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Agent denies Perez deal in the works — Left-hander waiting to see how free-agent market plays out — WASHINGTON — Agent Martin Arburua denied an ESPN.com report stating that the Nationals are working on a multi-year deal for his client, left-hander Odalis Perez.
Discussion:
Federal Baseball
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Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Brewers ink deal with Bourgeois — Speedster signs Minor League contract with invite to Spring Training — MILWAUKEE — The Brewers signed speedy outfielder/infielder Jason Bourgeois to a Minor League contract on Monday and invited him to big league Spring Training.
Larry Stone / Seattle Times:
Mel Stottlemyre, Lee Elia not returning to Mariners coaching staff — Mel Stottlemyre and Lee Elia will not be part of the coaching staff of new Mariners' manager Don Wakamatsu, The Seattle Times has learned. — Stottlemyre, 67, served the 2008 season as Mariners' pitching coach after a 10-year stint with the Yankees.
Discussion:
U.S.S. Mariner
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Mailbag: Pitching remains top priority — Beat reporter T.R. Sullivan answers Rangers fans' questions — Do you foresee any trade involving either Kevin Millwood or Vicente Padilla that could happen this offseason and to what possible teams, with what possible players?
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Phil Rogers / ESPN:
White Sox making seemingly anybody and everybody available — CHICAGO — Ken Williams is one of only three current general managers who played in the major leagues. He knows the insecurity that comes with the big paychecks, the family stress that lies behind the lack of control …
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Astros Acquire Lumsden — By Tim Dierkes [November 24 at 4:36pm CST] — According to MLB.com's Jim Molony, the Astros acquired lefty pitching prospect Tyler Lumsden from the Royals for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The Royals had designated him for assignment a few days ago …
Discussion:
Bottom9 Baseball
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