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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

McAdam: Padres in state of disarray  —  Sometimes, Kevin Towers, the longtime general manager of the San Diego Padres, catches himself thinking about the most recent important game his team played and wondering: What if?  —  What if the Padres had been able to close out the Colorado Rockies …

Astros' lone move could be at catcher  —  If rotation comes together, team would have few holes to fill  —  If the Astros can re-sign pitchers Randy Wolf and Doug Brocail, they may be satisfied with making nothing more than a small splash in the offseason market.

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).

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.

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 …

Future Shock  —  Astros Top 11 Prospects  —  Four-Star Prospects  —  Three-Star Prospects  —  Two-Star Prospects  —  Just Missed: Collin DeLome, OF; T.J. Steele, OF; Polin Trinidad, LHP  —  Ranking Challenges: One of the biggest hurdles with a team like the Astros is simply finding the right 11 …

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.

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.

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.

Renteria report: Premature, or just plain wrong  —  Edgar Renteria is not the Giants' opening day shortstop.  Not yet, anyway.  —  WFAN in New York erroneously reported earlier today that the Giants signed Renteria to a two-year, $18 million contract.  Giants officials tell me the report is false …