Top News:
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:
Mets Merized Online, Boston Herald, iYankees, Bottom9 Baseball, MLB Rumors, Sliding Into Home, JSOnline and The Joy of Sox
RELATED:
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 …
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 …
Discussion:
MLB.com, Phillies Nation, New York Times, MetsBlog.com, New Jersey Online and It is about the money, stupid
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
If Plan B is offense, it might not work — Baseball economics expert Vince Gennaro invited me to Manhattanville College last night to attend the final session of a grad school sports management class he taught. Two groups of students presented their final projects.
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.
ESPN.com:
Maddux, 43, to announce retirement, agent says — Greg Maddux has thrown his last pitch. — The four-time Cy Young winner will announce his retirement Monday at the baseball winter meetings in Las Vegas. — Maddux, who turns 43 in April, ranks eighth on the career wins list with 355.
RELATED:
Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times:
Greg Maddux to retire on Monday — Maddux's agent, Scott Boras, says the pitcher will make his retirement official at baseball's winter meetings in Las Vegas. Maddux, who won 355 games, finished last season with the Dodgers. — Greg Maddux, who won four Cy Young awards and 355 games, will announce his retirement on Monday.
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
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
Winter Meetings preview … While there could well be a string of free-agent signings at the Winter Meetings that convene in Las Vegas next week — heaven knows, plenty of talent remains available — it will be a surprise if CC Sabathia is among those signing new deals.
T.R. Sullivan / Postcards from Elysian Fields:
The Hall of Fame ballot...Ron Santo belongs and other matters. — The Hall of Fame ballot is supposed to be in the mail. I haven't received it yet but should shortly. Not sure on who I will vote for but no doubt others have their opinion. — Really, you don't know for sure until …
Discussion:
Out Of Left Field
RELATED:
Dan Graziano / New Jersey Online:
Mets' off-season painfully slow so far — Earlier this off-season, the Mets had the opportunity to trade Aaron Heilman for a 30-year-old pitcher who's averaged 32 starts and 13 wins for the past five years while his teams won four division titles and a World Series.
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.
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.
Discussion:
Bottom9 Baseball
Rany / Rany on the Royals:
Glass. — After the season ended, I was hoping to hand out quick, Whitlock-like end-of-season grades for everyone associated with the Royals, but ran into a time crunch instead. (Although a comparison of Tony Pena's 2008 with Eddie Drummond's 2007 might have been interesting, in a grisly-car-wreck sort of way.)