PEREZ TO YANKS, LOWE TO METS FINISHING TOUCHES FOR WINTER  —  THERE remains one final major move for the Yankees to make.  Same goes for the Mets.  —  The Yankees still have a hole in their rotation.  This has been an incredibly prosperous offseason for the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman …

Yanks almost ready to unveil Teixeira  —  The Yankees are making plans for a press conference to fete new first baseman Mark Teixeira, perhaps as early as Tuesday, according to baseball sources.  —  Teixeira agreed to an eight-year, $180 million contract two days before Christmas.

Lowe on hill, Andruw in (Braves) outfield?  —  Well, hello again, denizens, it's good to be back from Colorado's perfectly powdery slopes — with femurs, wrists and my back intact and spirits rejuvenated by a snowboarding vacation.  —  After the business of baseball slowed to a crawl through the holidays …

CATCH-22 … At Jason Varitek's peak, he was a top-five catcher, an offensive force who was just as valuable behind the plate as he was in the locker room.  —  But offensively, that peak is at least three years gone.  The Red Sox would be making a mistake to pay him like the player he once was …

Brewers remain on the free-agent prowl  —  Lineup returns intact, but pitching a priority with vacancies  —  MILWAUKEE — It's back to work for Brewers officials on Monday following their holiday break, with only 39 days before pitchers and catchers formally report for the start of Spring Training.

Jones' career in jeopardy  —  • The Braves seemingly got to the 1-yard line in their negotiations for Jake Peavy in November, reaching the point where they were haggling over the last prospects in the deal.  We don't know yet if Jeff Moorad's proposed deal to buy the Padres …

Stoking the Hot Stove Fires  —  There was no bigger story in baseball last year than the Rays, as the Tampa Bay franchise, which had known nothing but futility since its inception in 1998, dropped the Devil from its nickname, changed its color scheme and its uniform, and then dramatically changed their losing ways.

Rating the Managers by Intentional Walks  —  The intentional walk is one of the more controversial baseball plays in sabermetric circles, and for good reason.  As you can see from this run expectancy table at Baseball Prospectus derived from the 2008 run environment, putting a runner …

The most improved players  —  These seven teams made the right moves  —  Here's the consensus from a half-dozen scouts, general managers, and other officials concerning which lucky seven teams could improve in 2009:  —  1. Yankees - Money doesn't buy them a championship, but it's almost always bought them the postseason.

Pirates notes: Bradley says he's no bust  —  Bobby Bradley will be remembered as one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' many failed pitching prospects of this decade.  He isn't entirely happy about that.  —  “I've read things where people said I was a bust and I don't think that is necessarily fair …