Yanks Still Living Ugly American Dream  —  Sports Commentary  —  NEW YORK — God bless the Yankees.  While the rest of us fret over non-existent 401ks and keep one eye open for the nearest soup kitchen, the Yankees have brilliantly devised a nifty stimulus recovery package.

Marquis gone; Peavy in focus?  —  The Cubs finished off the Jason Marquis-for-Luis Vizcaino trade with the Colorado Rockies as expected Tuesday.  —  But will it look more like a Marquis-for-Jake Peavy deal by the time they open spring training next month?  —  General manager Jim Hendry …

Cardinals manager passionate animal advocate  —  BC-BBN—La Russa's Pet Project, 1st Ld-Writethru,0675  —  Eds: UPDATES throughout.  —  By R.B. FALLSTROM  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Inside Tony La Russa's northern California home, there are more dogs and cats than positions on the baseball field.

The Dog Days of Winter  —  Perhaps no team is happier to see 2008 receding in their rearview mirror than the Washington Nationals.  They had the worst record in the major leagues at 59-102, and the only positive that they can possibly take from that is the future selection …

More on Mitre; Dissecting Romero's claims  —  I managed to get hold of Matt Sosnick from Sosnick-Cobbe Sports, the firm that represents Sergio Mitre.  Sosnick is not Mitre's representative; Paul Cobbe is.  Matt was kind enough to take a few moments to help clarify some things about Mitre's story.

Reds agree to terms with Hairston  —  Infielder/outfielder expected to be everyday shortstop in 2009  —  CINCINNATI — The Reds have reached an agreement with free-agent infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. on a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $2 million, a baseball source told MLB.com on Tuesday.

Dodgers offer one-year deal to all-time save leader Trevor Hoffman  —  The Milwaukee Brewers also are in pursuit of the closer, who is expected to make his decision this week.  Meanwhile, the Giants are considering offering Manny Ramirez a three-year deal.  —  The ninth inning at Dodger Stadium could be Trevor Time this year.

Mets to meet with Boras about Lowe, Perez  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Still looking to fill out the rotation, the New York Mets are ready to make their push for a proven starting pitcher.  —  Mets executives set up a face-to-face meeting Wednesday with agent Scott Boras to talk about two of his free-agent clients …

Corky Simpson: The writer who didn't vote for Rickey Henderson  —  So I was putting together some research on which BBWAA members had published their ballots for the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame, trying to get a feel (albeit from a small sample size) of what the 2009 voting might look like.

Orioles open door to Asia  —  Pitcher Uehara to become team's first Japan native  —  The Orioles have filled one vacant spot in their wide-open rotation while simultaneously opening the door to the Far East.  —  Japanese right-hander Koji Uehara has agreed to a two-year, $10 million …

Pitcher Patterson retiring from baseball  —  Former Nationals righty unable to overcome pain in right forearm  —  WASHINGTON — Right-hander John Patterson, best known for his years with the Nationals, announced on Wednesday that he is retiring from baseball because of persistent pain in his right forearm.

Future Shock  —  Cardinals Top 11 Prospects  —  Five-Star Prospects  —  Four-Star Prospects  —  Three-Star Prospects  —  Two-Star Prospects  —  Just Missed: Mitch Boggs, RHP; Jon Jay, OF; Peter Kozma, SS  —  Ranking Challenges: Spots one through four are almost too easy, but it's a bit messy from there down.

Mariners pick up low-cost reliever  —  Walker signs one-year deal worth $750,000  —  The Mariners signed free-agent reliever Tyler Walker to a one-year contract Tuesday after a month of inactivity.  —  Walker, 32, a former closer for the San Francisco Giants who has pitched setup relief …

City Trades Yankee Stadium Suite for Cash  —  After intense criticism, the Bloomberg administration has given up a perk it worked fervently to secure: a free luxury suite at the new Yankee Stadium.  —  The city will relinquish use of the 12-seat box in exchange for whatever revenue …

What I Hate About Line Drives  —  This is my first post at FanGraphs, and I would like to thank David Appelman for inviting me onboard.  I have previously written for Seamheads.com and StatSpeak.net, and frequent “The Book” blog.  If you'd like to know some more about my background, check out this article I wrote a few months ago.

Citi Field: Where Homeruns Go To Die  —  Citi Field opens for real in three months, but I feel like we still know very little about it aside from its aesthetics.  Dimensionally, we know it'll sport a similar configuration to Shea Stadium, with some variably higher walls and the odd geometric nuance to break from straight symmetry.

Baseball Prospectus: Has Manny overplayed his hand? … Raul Ibanez for three years and $30 million.  Pat Burrell for two years and $16 million.  Milton Bradley for three years and $30 million.  —  Manny Ramirez for three years and $63 million?  —  The cluster of corner outfielders …