Top News:
Joel Sherman / New York Post:
CC SABATHIA PICKS YANKEES — LAS VEGAS - CC Sabathia is not going to play on the West Coast. He is not going to play in the National League. CC Sabathia is going to be a Yankee, The Post has learned exclusively. — After three straight days of face-to-face meetings between GM Brian Cashman …
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Yahoo! Sports:
Opt-out clause key to Sabathia going to Yankees — Buzz up! — LAS VEGAS - Baseball's perennial high-rollers, the New York Yankees, scored the biggest coup of the winter meetings when CC Sabathia reached preliminary agreement on a deal that will pay him $161 million over the next seven years.
Jose Mota / Yahoo! Sports:
Nationals extend offer to Teixeira — Buzz up! — LAS VEGAS - The Washington Nationals have stepped boldly into the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes, making an offer to the free agent first baseman for seven years and $150 million, a highly placed baseball source said Wednesday morning.
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
Yanks, Sabathia reach 7-year deal … LAS VEGAS — Free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia is about to sign with the Yankees, SI.com has confirmed. The deal being finalized now is expected to pay Sabathia about $160 million over seven years. — The two sides are on the verge of an agreement …
ESPN.com:
Sources: Yanks, Sabathia agree to deal — LAS VEGAS — CC Sabathia will be a New York Yankee. — The Yankees reached a preliminary agreement with Sabathia on Wednesday, following an in-person meeting between general manager Brian Cashman and Sabathia in California, sources with knowledge …
Mike DiGiovanna / LA Times Sports Blog:
Mark Teixeira negotiations heating up — LAS VEGAS — The Yankees' imminent signing of free-agent left-hander CC Sabathia to a seven-year, $160-million deal would seem to take them out of the running for Mark Teixeira, but that will hardly ease the competition the Angels face in retaining the free-agent first baseman.
Cork Gaines / MLB Rumors:
Sabathia Reaches Agreement With Yankees — By Cork Gaines [December 10 at 1:25pm CST] — 1:25pm: Sherman has more details on the Yankees' talks with Sabathia. — 12:49pm: Rosenthal talked to a rival exec who sees no upside to Sabathia's opt-out clause.
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Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Search for a closer escalates — LAS VEGAS — Going where the free agent current takes them, the Cardinals have made the search for a veteran closer their priority after apparently bidding too little for free agent Francisco Rodriguez. — General manager John Mozeliak said Tuesday …
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Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
K-Rod gets physical — Las Vegas - Francisco Rodriguez was at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan Wednesday morning, undergoing a physical. There was no official word on K-Rod passing the physical, though the Mets hope to make an announcement within hours that he's cleared the medical hurdle.
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MetsBlog.com
Duk / Yahoo! Sports:
BBWAA opens doors wider, admits four more Internet writers — Slowly but surely, the Baseball Writers Association of America is becoming more inclusive. The organization just held a meeting here at Bellagio and, for the second straight year, humbly voted to add a few Internet writers to their newspaper-dominated ranks.
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Christina Kahrl / Unfiltered:
Baseball Prospectus and the BBWAA — The Winter Meetings are the baseball industry's opportunity not simply to meet and make a few changes, it's also the place where a lot of the game's affiliated institutions make moves of their own. That took a different form this morning …
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Baseball Digest Daily Blog
Paul Hagen / Philly.com:
Phillies Notebook: Phillies GM Amaro not concerned about Mets getting Rodriguez — LAS VEGAS - Now that the Phillies are busy designing their World Series rings, it's easy to forget that they didn't exactly dominate the National League East last season. — In fact, it took a torrid finish, coupled with another Mets collapse.
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La Velle / Twins Insider:
Twins could play a role in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes — Two persons with knowledge of negotiations said the Twins and Cubs talked yesterday about a deal for infielder Mark DeRosa - a potential move that would get the Twins involved in the most talked-about trade of the offseason.
Jim Salisbury / Philly.com:
Phils' Manuel gets extension; DeRosa deal still alive
Phils' Manuel gets extension; DeRosa deal still alive
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The Good Phight
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Smoltz's wish list includes Boston — LAS VEGAS — John Smoltz wants to pitch for a team that could take him to the World Series. — He hopes that's still the Atlanta Braves, the team for whom he has pitched since 1988, but the 41-year-old free agent is considering the Red Sox …
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Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Starting Pitcher: Perez for Five, Smoltz eyes Mets
Starting Pitcher: Perez for Five, Smoltz eyes Mets
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MLB Rumors
Paul Hoynes / Plain Dealer:
Cleveland Indians, Kerry Wood agree on $20 million deal - if he's healthy … If Kerry Wood passes a physical today or Thursday in Cleveland, he'll be the Indians closer. — The Indians have made Wood a two-year offer worth close to $20 million. The deal, contingent on Wood getting …
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Jack Curry / New York Times:
Baseball Finishes Second on Torre's Guys' Weekend — LAS VEGAS — Joe Torre did not go to baseball's winter meetings. The meetings came to him. — For the last 13 years or so, Torre has visited this gambling mecca in early December to play golf and craps and to bet on the horses with his own modern-day Rat Pack.
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