Top News:
Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:
Henry: ‘We are not going to be a factor’ for Teixeira — Red Sox owner John Henry e-mailed several media members late tonight with a stunning twist in the team's pursuit of free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. — Henry's words: “We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him.
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Hardball, New York Post, Jorge Says No!, The Bottom Line, Nationals Journal, SOX & Dawgs, Bottom9 Baseball, Clubhouse Insider, Over the Monster, Oriole Post, Oriole Magic, It is about the money, stupid, The Yankee Scrolls, River Avenue Blues, YFSF, Fire Brand of the …, Oleanders and Morning Glories, PE.com, Baseball & The Boogie Down and Camden Chat
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WCVB-TV:
Sox May Be Closer To Signing Teixeira — BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox may be close to signing Mark Teixeira, the premiere free agent available this off-season. — SportsCenter 5's Mike Lynch reported that team owner John Henry, CEO Larry Lucchino and General Manager Theo Epstein …
ESPN:
Owner: Red Sox not a factor in Teixeira derby — Thursday afternoon it looked as if the Boston Red Sox had taken strides toward completing a deal for first baseman Mark Teixeira, major league sources told ESPN.com. — But by Thursday night, Red Sox owner John Henry had sent an email …
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Tim Brown / Yahoo! Sports:
Angels close to re-signing Juan Rivera — Buzz up! — The Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night were nearing agreement with outfielder Juan Rivera on a three-year contract, according to baseball sources. — And as news spread of a meeting between their No. 1 offseason target …
David Lefort / Boston Globe:
Reports: Sox in Texas meeting on Teixeira — If the latest reports are correct, the Mark Teixeira saga may be nearing a conclusion. — Channel 5 (WCVB-TV) reported that Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Larry Lucchino, and GM Theo Epstein were in Texas tonight to meet with Mark Teixeira's agent …
Lyle Spencer / MLB.com:
Henry: Sox ‘not a factor’ for Teixeira — In a bold move that at one point Thursday appeared to be the beginning of the end of the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes, Red Sox executives flew all the way to Texas to try to hammer out a contract with the switch-hitting slugger.
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Halos Heaven
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:Red Sox still look like front-runners to win the Teixeira Sweepstakes
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Angels blog
Jeff Schultz / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Livid Schuerholz: Furcal dealings ‘despicable’ — Braves' president says team will never do business with player agency again — If Rafael Furcal's decision to renege on a verbal agreement with the Braves was the biggest jolt of the team's dreadful winter, this must be the aftershock.
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Tim Brown / Yahoo! Sports:
Agent dares Braves to boycott his players — Buzz up! — Arn Tellem, lead agent for the Wasserman Media Group, on Thursday evening dared the jilted Atlanta Braves to boycott his players, a heading he said would defy baseball policies as well as national labor laws.
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:Red Sox look like front-runners for Teixeira (cont.)
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, Mets Fever, Bottom9 Baseball, Bleeding Blue and Teal, MLB Rumors and Hot Foot
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Sabathia and Burnett to Skip World Baseball Classic — While Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will play in the World Baseball Classic this spring, the Yankees' new starting pitchers almost certainly will not. C. C. Sabathia participated in 2006 but said he was likely to decline his invitation this time.
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Geoff Baker / Mariners Blog:
Ibanez: Why he left — Just got done talking to Raul Ibanez for the first time since he left the Mariners and signed a three-year, $31.5 million deal with the Phillies. Ibanez said his decision came down to wanting to play for a competitive team right away.
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Wilson: Pirates need ‘more players’ to compete — Shortstop urges management to practice accountability it preaches — Jack Wilson, sounding convinced he will return as the Pirates' shortstop next year, yesterday urged management to bolster the 2009 roster and heed its own call for accountability.
Henry Schulman / San Francisco Chronicle:
Lance Niekro launches comeback - as a knuckleballer — (12-18) 22:56 PST — Twenty years have passed since a Niekro threw a knuckleball in a major-league game. Lance Niekro, the longtime Giants infield prospect, now hopes to become the next to keep the family craft alive.
Henry Schulman / SFGate:
Giants still interested in Big Unit — From beat writer Henry Schulman: — According to someone who attended Wednesday night's “chalk talk” with season ticket holders, GM Brian Sabean said he continues to work hard to sign 45-year-old Randy Johnson to a one-year contract.
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
A Look At The 2010 Free Agent Class — By Tim Dierkes [December 18 at 1:19pm CST] — Since it's more of a reference, I didn't allow comments on our 2010 MLB Free Agents post. This post will be the place for readers to comment on these players, who we'll be talking about constantly a year from now …
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