Top News:
Mark Newman / MLB.com:
Liveblogging MLB Network launch — It's 2009 at last, and that means the MLB Network goes live in an estimated 50 million homes. It's the largest launch in cable network history, and we are liveblogging this New Year's Day all the way. — 5:22 p.m.: Jimmy Rollins is in the house.
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Mark Newman / MLB.com:
MLB Network to debut in mere hours — Today's debut to be seen in 50 million households — Studios 3 and 42 are ready, the new talent is ready, the new theme music is ready, the highlights are ready, Don Larsen's perfect game is ready after 52 years under wraps, the remotes are ready …
Discussion:
Athletics Nation, U.S.S. Mariner, bronxbanterblog.com, Blue Collar Baseball and LA Times Sports Blog
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
Interview: Tony Petitti, President and CEO, MLB Network — Welcome to New Year's Day, 2009. In years past, baseball fans would mark the change of the calendar as a milestone on the way to getting their baseball fix in a few short months. That all changes today at 6pm ET …
Mike Puma / New York Post:
RIGHTY IS SNEEZING AT $12M PER YEAR — The Mets are playing Lowe ball, but their target isn't biting. — According to a baseball source, Derek Lowe is hardly overwhelmed by the three-year offer of about $36 million the Mets have extended him, potentially sending the sides toward a protracted stare-down.
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David Lennon / Newsday:
Mets make Lowe an offer, but expect slow response — The Mets do not anticipate a quick resolution to the pursuit of Derek Lowe, despite their three-year offer of roughly $36 million, and have a free-agent contingency plan in place that includes, in order, Oliver Perez, Randy Wolf and Jon Garland.
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Fuentes signs 2-year deal with Angels — For starters, the Rockies never made a serious attempt to retain their closer. — So Brian Fuentes' signing Wednesday with the Los Angeles Angels wasn't a surprise, but his contract was. The left-hander, considered one of the top 10 players available …
Discussion:
MLB FanHouse
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Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Giants Aggressively Pursuing Manny? — By Tim Dierkes [January 1 at 11:33am CST] — According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post: — The Giants, the NL West's most active team this winter, are quietly making an aggressive play for free agent Manny Ramirez, according to a major-league source.
Yahoo! Sports:
Rangers sign RHP Turnbow to minor league deal — Buzz up! — ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) —The Texas Rangers on Thursday signed pitchers Derrick Turnbow, Casey Daigle and Elizardo Ramirez to minor league contracts. — Turnbow, who will turn 31 on January 25, has spent the last four seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.
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Howard Megdal / New York Observer:
The Pedro Feliciano Project — For players in Caribbean winter leagues like Pedro Feliciano, each game is an exercise in multitasking. — Feliciano, who is currently pitching for Leones de Ponce in Puerto Rico, has the immediate task in front of him—helping his team to the Puerto Rican playoffs.
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Yanks spend for big results — Team invests in quest to return to postseason glory — NEW YORK — The Yankees' organizational message was so clear heading into the offseason, they might as well have trumpeted it from the message boards that hang on the sides of the old Yankee Stadium.
Lori Lyons / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Edwin Rodriguez makes jump from Single-A to Triple-A — While celebrating the new year with a new affiliation with the Florida Marlins, the Zephyrs announced Wednesday that they have a new manager in Edwin Rodriguez. — A former infielder who spent parts of three seasons with the Yankees and Padres …
Bruce Markusen / bronxbanterblog.com:
Card Corner-Billy “The Halo” Cowan — Billy Cowan was once described as the “epitome of a fringe ballplayer.” That characterization was dead solid perfect in assessing the journeyman outfielder and onetime Yankee, who bounced from the Cubs to the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves to the Phillies …
Chicagosports / Hardball:
Cubs sign Aaron Miles; DeRosa likely gone — The Cubs signed switch-hitting infielder Aaron Miles to a two-year, $4.9 million deal on Wednesday, giving them a potential leadoff man to move Alfonso Soriano down in the lineup. — The 32-year-old Miles batted .317 in 134 games for St. Louis last year …
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