Chicago Cubs Top 20 Prospects for 2009  —  Hank Sauer, my mother-in-law Gwen's favorite player as a kid.  —  Chicago Cubs Top 20 Prospects for 2009  —  All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change.  Don't get too worried about exact rankings at this point, especially once you get out of the top 10.

AMAZIN' SURPRISE STAR TATIS BUILDS CHURCH  —  Earlier this week, Fernando Tatis walked into a church in his Dominican Republic hometown of San Pedro de Macoris and gave thanks.  This was not just any church and not just any thanks.  —  This was the Jerusalem First Church …

Madden: Baseball's top 10 turkeys  —  Leftovers anyone?  Fortunately, baseball once again had a plentiful supply of turkeys this season.  Here's our annual Daily News top 10, completely basted.  —  10. ROGER CLEMENS  —  Okay, he didn't make another comeback in '08 …

With Several Bullpen Spots to Fill, Mets Are Making Sure to Explore All Options  —  The Mets remain interested in the free-agent closers Francisco Rodríguez and Brian Fuentes, but they will continue to scour the trade market for relievers before engaging in substantive discussions with either pitcher …

Red Sox acquire right-handed pitcher Wes Littleton from Texas Rangers  —  For two players to be named later or cash considerations  —  BOSTON — The Red Sox today acquired righthanded pitcher Wes Littleton from the Texas Rangers in exchange for two players to be named later or cash considerations.

When Maddux says goodbye, he'll do it quietly  —  On the cell from his home in Las Vegas, Greg Maddux sounded as though he probably has made a decision.  But there are more important things in life, like the game of golf he just played with son Chase.  —  “I'll figure it out soon, one way or another,” said dad.

A few Thankgiving leftovers - tidbits from a slow off-season  —  It just seems quiet on the baseball front.  Look around hard enough, there's always tidbits.  —  Here are a few of interest.  — Raul Ibanez remains high on the list of at least three playoff-caliber teams, with the Cubs …

Where are they now?  Former Met Jon Matlack  —  Many of the pitchers Jon Matlack works with now as the minor-league pitching coordinator for the Detroit Tigers have no idea how good Matlack was as a vital member of a sparkling Met rotation in the 1970s.  One former pupil who had been traded came running …

Pirates plan patience with offseason moves  —  Wilson, Grabow, Paulino discussed in trades; little in free agency  —  The way general manager Neal Huntington sees it, the Pirates' coming winter could be downright tumultuous.  —  Or not.  —  “It could be an offseason where there is a significant change …

King George  —  Every city in the country, I suppose, has its own relationship with New York City — you know, much the same way that every college basketball team in the old ACC had a rivalry with North Carolina.  The City is just omnipresent in American life.

Ranking the Yankees, 1-20  —  The Hot Stove season has been uneventful so far and today could be more of the same.  But now that my parents, sister and niece have left NYC, I have some blogging time on my hands.  —  (Just an aside, while standing on Broadway and 39th Street for five hours …

The stove has been working overtime in recent years  —  With Thanksgiving — a day in which the full limits of our kitchen stoves were pushed to the test — having come and gone, it is only appropriate the baseball Hot Stove be running at full force.  —  And if the big free-agent signings …

Garcia's shoulder issue might be back  —  Free-agent right-hander reportedly leaves game with soreness  —  Veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia may have hit a speed bump on the comeback trail.  Garcia, a free agent who finished the 2008 season with Detroit, left a game in the Venezuelan Winter League …