Source: Reds deal Bailey for White Sox slugger  —  Jermaine Dye, a 12-year veteran with a .278 career average, would give team a proven right-handed batter.  —  With baseball's annual winter meetings unfurling this week at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, rumors run rampant.

Sabathia's agent to meet with Red Sox  —  The much-ballyhooed face-to-face meeting between Yankees GM Brian Cashman and CC Sabathia was finally scheduled to kick off Sunday night in Las Vegas, according to a baseball source with knowledge of the meeting.  But it wasn't Cashman who requested this close encounter.

CC, Sheets, Shouse decline arbitration  —  All three hurlers looking for multiyear deals on open market  —  LAS VEGAS — There were no surprises for the Brewers on Sunday, when free-agent pitchers CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets and Brian Shouse all declined the club's offer of arbitration.

Baseball players, agents, GMs set to wheel, deal in Las Vegas  —  LAS VEGAS — Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, is signing autographs for cash at Caesars Palace.  Manny Pacquiao, who knocked out Oscar De La Hoya, is hanging out at the MGM Grand.  The national rodeo finals are in town.

Las Vegas dealers  —  Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin runs a baseball team in middle America.  The economy is tough, yet he waits to hear whether CC Sabathia will accept their $100 million offer or whether he'll have to move on to Plan B.  —  As baseball's winter meetings …

Tigers and Rangers making significant progress on possible trade  —  LAS VEGAS - The Tigers and Texas Rangers have made significant progress toward a trade that would send catcher Gerald Laird to Detroit and pitching prospect Guillermo Moscoso to the Rangers.  —  It's not clear if the Tigers would include other prospects in the deal.

Winter meetings updates  —Las Vegas isn't just a mecca for gamblers (my Florida minus-2 gambit against Florida State failed in college hopes tonight) but closers, too.  Free-agent closers Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman are all in town to meet face-to-face with clubs …

More boom or recession for baseball?  —  Will tough economic times keep pitcher CC Sabathia and sluggers Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira from mega-millions as expected?  So far, yes, but this is the week of baseball's winter meetings, when the big bucks usually start to flow.

Mariners tab Cockrell as hitting coach  —  LAS VEGAS — When he picked up the telephone that was ringing inside his Colorado Springs home last week, Alan Cockrell had no idea it was a call that would get him back to the Major Leagues.  —  After two seasons as the Rockies hitting coach …