Mets Lose Lowe to Braves, but Have Backup Plan  —  The news that Derek Lowe decided to sign with Atlanta hardly fazed or surprise the Mets.  They had been preparing for this for nearly a week, after the Braves felt compelled to act boldly when John Smoltz left for the Red Sox, and they have a backup plan.

Prior, Burke agree with Padres  —  The San Diego Padres have agreed to terms with pitcher Mark Prior and second baseman Chris Burke on minor league deals and have invited each to spring training.  —  If Prior pitches in the major leagues, he'll earn $1 million, and Burke …

Cora close to deal with Mets  —  Former Red Sox infielder Alex Cora is close to finalizing a one-year, $2 million deal with the New York Mets.  The 33-year-old Cora played with Boston from July 7, 2005 — when he was traded from Cleveland for infielder Ramon Vazquez — through last season.

It takes one to know one: Yaz extols Rice  —  Carl Yastrzemski is the greatest living Red Sox player, a title he assumed when Ted Williams died in the summer of 2002.  —  Yaz almost died himself last summer, but he survived a heart event and six-hour triple-bypass surgery …

Yankees Try New Strategy to Market Premium Seats  —  The Yankees have hired a division of a prominent Manhattan residential real estate brokerage, Prudential Douglas Elliman, to help sell some of their prime real estate: unsold premium seats and luxury boxes at the new Yankee Stadium.

Michael Young's likely move is to third base, not a new team … Longtime Rangers star Michael Young doesn't want to move to third base.  But at this point that seems to be a more likely option for him than moving to another team.  With five years and $62 million remaining on his contract …

Tigers ink sidearmer Ni to Minors deal  —  Taiwanese reliever to pitch in World Baseball Classic, big league camp  —  For the second straight year, the Tigers have plucked a prospect out of Taiwan.  —  The Tigers announced Tuesday that they have signed left-handed reliever Fu-Te Ni …

Yankees president subpoenaed over stadium  —  ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York Assembly committee investigating the use of millions of dollars in public funding to build the new Yankee Stadium has subpoenaed the team's president.  —  Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat from Westchester County …

O's: Getting to first base and more  —  Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec was nice enough to spoon-feed me a couple of things today, so I'll pass them along to you.  The Orioles remain interested in Ty Wigginton (right) as a possible option at first base, but he apparently is holding …

Scully pulls up his own chair  —  Dodgers announcer watches a replay of his broadcast of Larsen's World Series perfect game and offers a review.  —  Vin Scully recently watched the MLB Network replay of the perfect game pitched by Don Larsen for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.

The whole Top 50 ASA list, from Scully to Collins and beyond  —  Following up to our post over the weekend (linked here) about the Top 50 sportscasters, as voted by the American Sportscasters Association, we now have the complete list picked by members and a special committee.

MLB Network to air Caribbean Series  —  Baseball channel will broadcast live from Mexico in February  —  MLB Network is heading to Mexicali, Mexico, to broadcast the annual Caribbean World Series from Feb. 2-7.  —  The 12-game tournament will mark the first time the fledgling Network will broadcast live games.

Rays hire quality assurance coach  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Todd Greene has been named the Rays' new quality assurance coach.  —  Greene, 37, played in parts of 11 Major League seasons with the Angels, Blue Jays, Yankees Rangers, Rockies and Giants, compiling a .252 career average with 71 home runs …