Oliver signs one-year, $3.655M contract  —  Lefty reliever Darren Oliver avoided salary arbitration with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, signing a one-year, $3.655 million contract with the club.  —  Oliver's agent, Mike McCann of the Franklin-Frye-McCann group, confirmed the signing.

Marlins discuss Andruw Jones  —  If Andruw Jones doesn't return to the Atlanta Braves, he might find a landing spot in South Florida.  —  According to a baseball source, the Marlins have conducted internal discussions about Jones, who the Dodgers released Thursday after restructuring …

Reds legends help ‘Ellen’ land Clooney  —  Movie star a life-long fan of Hall of Fame Cincinnati sluggers  —  Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan have done what the Chippendales, the Rockettes, Brad Pitt and even president-elect Barack Obama couldn't.  —  After more than two years of trying …

Varitek, Henry to meet  —  In what may be a final attempt to end a stalemate that has existed throughout this offseason, Red Sox captain Jason Varitek has a meeting planned with club owner John Henry tonight that could facilitate a resolution with the free-agent catcher.

Rays sign reliever Lance Cormier  —  The Rays signed righthanded reliever Lance Cormier to a one-year, $675,000 contract.  —  To make room on the 40-man roster, they designated for assignment righthander Dewon Day, whom they had just claimed off waivers.  —  Cormier, 28, was with the Orioles …

Twins focus on relievers Lyon, Gagne  —  Club pursuing relievers for setup role behind closer Nathan  —  MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins have spent all winter searching for relief help and now that search appears to be focused on two free-agent pitchers who could be options for the club's setup role — Brandon Lyon and Eric Gagne.

Springer not in Cardinals' 2009 plans  —  Veteran hurler says club decided to go with younger options  —  ST. LOUIS — Russ Springer has decided he wants to pitch another year — at least one more year.  The Cardinals have decided that it won't happen in St. Louis.

Why it's never been a game to me.  —  Baseball has never been a game to me, regardless of what anyone outside the profession may think.  It wasn't a game to me before I was a player, and certainly wasn't a game when I was a player.  It was always more than that to me and this story below nails it in so many ways.

Cowboys assistant Garrett traveling to St. Louis  —  Jason Garrett is traveling to St. Louis this afternoon, according to a league source, and it could be a sign that the Cowboys' offensive coordinator is the Rams' pick as their new head coach.  —  The Rams said Thursday that they wanted to have a head-coaching decision by Saturday.

Sox sign Colon - bye, bye Freddy Garcia  —  The White Sox were looking to add a veteran pitcher to compete in the starting rotation at some point this offseason, and all signs pointed toward it being the pitcher nicknamed “Big Game.”  —  Rather than take a chance on the ailing shoulder of Freddy Garcia …

Youkilis transcript  —  The Red Sox held a press conference at 2 p.m. this afternoon at Fenway Park to formally announce the signing of first baseman Kevin Youkilis to a four-year contract with a fifth-year option.  —  The ball club did not reveal the financial terms of the deal …

An Interview with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt  —  Everyone's familiar with ESPN Sportscenter anchor Scott Van Pelt, so let's do away with the formality of introducing him.  In our interview with him, the Maryland grad - who also covers golf for ESPN - talked about nightlife in Bristol …

Brewers' pursuit of Dunn is done  —  Team not interested in trading Hart to open spot for slugger  —  MILWAUKEE — The Brewers showed some interest in free-agent slugger Adam Dunn during the Winter Meetings, but by Christmas there was no longer a match, general manager Doug Melvin said.