Top News:
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Cashman Meets With Teixeira; Sabathia Is on Deck — The gridlocked free-agent market is slowly starting to move, and the Yankees are helping push it along. General Manager Brian Cashman traveled to Washington on Thursday to meet first baseman Mark Teixeira, and he will meet C.C. Sabathia …
RELATED:
Buster Olney / ESPN:
New GMs turning to sabermetrics — • The Red Sox are meeting with CC Sabathia sometime in the next few days, and so will Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who reportedly met with Scott Boras, the agent for Mark Teixeira and Derek Lowe. It's unclear whether the Red Sox are seriously interested …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Mets Merized Online, MetsBlog.com, Boston Herald, JSOnline and Sliding Into Home
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Sabathia Is Keeping Yanks' Offer in His Pocket — There was an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in which Larry David desperately tried to give away a sweaty $50 bill he got from a friend's sneaker. The money was legal tender, but nobody wanted it. The Yankees know the feeling.
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Yankees go for Derek Lowe — While the CC Sabathia waiting game continued and the Braves made an official offer for A.J. Burnett, Brian Cashman decided to get aggressive in his pursuit of another top free-agent pitcher: Derek Lowe. — Cashman met with agent Scott Boras Thursday …
Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com:
Tribe inks Ohka to Minor League deal — Veteran starter's contract includes Spring Training invitation — CLEVELAND — Don't file it in the high-profile bin, but the Indians have signed a pitcher. — The pitcher in question is right-hander Tomo Ohka, a veteran of nine Major League seasons …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
RELATED:
Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com:
White Sox ink righty Van Benschoten — Former No. 8 overall pick signed to a Minor League deal — The White Sox have brought a former first-round Draft pick into the fold. — Right-hander John Van Benschoten, who was taken by the Pirates with the eighth overall pick in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft …
Discussion:
Hardball Times
David O'Brien / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Braves await decision from A.J. — Now what? — Well, we take a deep breath and wait. — The Braves made the first big offer to A.J. Burnett, a four-year deal with a fifth-year option and salaries that average out to about $15 mill per season if the deal is maximized by the vesting option.
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Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Braves appear to be front-runner for Burnett — The hot topic in baseball Thursday was which initial-laden free-agent starter will be the first to sign — A.J. Burnett or CC Sabathia? — For weeks now, I'd have guessed it would be Sabathia. But not anymore. I'm flip-flopping over to Burnett.
Rich Lederer / Baseball Analysts:
Another Addition to the Bert Blyleven Series — I received an email yesterday afternoon from my colleague Patrick Sullivan. The subject read: “Paging Mr. Lederer...” The body of the email had a link to a blog entry by T.R. Sullivan, the Texas Rangers beat writer for MLB.com.
RELATED:
T.R. Sullivan / Postcards from Elysian Fields:The Hall of Fame ballot...Ron Santo belongs and other matters.
Discussion:
Out Of Left Field
Fox Sports:
CC, Burnett in no hurry to make decisions — CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are accepting all offers. But when will they actually sign? Ken Rosenthal has the difficult answers.
Tracy Ringolsby / Rocky Mountain News:
Economy puts a hurt on market — In recent weeks, several agents have downplayed the possible impact of the nation's financial problems on baseball. — Actions, however, speak louder than words, and in this case, the actions are that owners are proceeding with caution this offseason.
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Wilson could restructure contract for Dodgers — Tigers also in mix, make fresh offer for Pirates' shortstop — The Detroit Tigers ramped up their pursuit of Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, but the Los Angeles Dodgers remain very much in the mix. — And the latter is the case, in large part, because of money matters.
Bill Chastain / MLB.com:
Rays expanding reach to Brazil — Partnership formed to build country's first MLB-run academy — ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays are spreading their wings to Brazil. — On Thursday, the Rays announced they have built a partnership with the city of Marilia, Brazil, that will include construction …
Bill Price / NY Daily News:
Omar, bring home Manny — Since the baseball season ended, Met fans have heard just two names when it comes to free-agent targets: K-Rod and Brian Fuentes. — But when Omar Minaya heads to Vegas this weekend, he should go after the ultimate closer: Manny Ramirez.
Discussion:
Mets Fever
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Gordon Edes / Yahoo! Sports:
A-Rod to play for the Dominican in WBC — Buzz up! — Alex Rodriguez, who nearly sat out the inaugural World Baseball Classic because he did not want to choose between playing for his native United States or the Dominican Republic, the country of his parents' birth, is changing uniforms for the 2009 Classic.
