Garcia lands with Mets  —  Freddy Garcia is a Met.  The righthander agreed to a minor-league deal with the Mets tonight, the Daily News has learned.  It's believed he can earn as much as $8 million to $9 million if he makes the team and reaches all of his incentives.

Ricketts family is winning Cubs bidder: $900M  —  After nearly two years of intrigue, the billionaire Ricketts family has emerged as the winning bidder to purchase the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. for about $900 million, sources close to the situation said this evening.

Alou draws interest from Phils  —  While the team waits to hear from Nomar Garciaparra, the hunt continues for a righthanded bat.  —  Still waiting to hear whether Nomar Garciaparra wants to continue his playing career, the Phillies have shown an interest in several other righthanded hitters …

Minaya never mentions Manny, insists Wilpon  —  Omar Minaya has long been enamored of Manny Ramirez, but with the outfielder still available as a free agent, the Mets' GM has never presented the troubled slugger to his boss as a possibility for left field at Citi Field.

Center field candidates can't carry gloves of Yankee legends  —  Playing center field for the Yankees is one of the most hallowed jobs in sports, sort of like being the tailback at USC or linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Multiple Hall of Famers, including two of the biggest names …

Cincinnati Reds  —  Baseball America's Top 10 Prospects lists are based on projections of a player's long-term worth after discussions with scouting and player-development personnel.  All players who haven't exceeded the major league rookie standards of 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched (without regard to service time) are eligible.

Bill Werber dies at 100; Yankee teammate of Babe Ruth  —  Bill Werber, who was the oldest living former major league baseball player and a teammate of Babe Ruth, has died at age 100.  —  Werber died Thursday morning of age-related causes after moving into an assisted-care facility in Charlotte …

“Sunday Night Baseball” loves Chachi  —  ESPN announced this week that Steve Phillips will join Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the booth of “Sunday Night Baseball,” the network's signature baseball telecast.  —  There had been rumors during the postseason, denied by ESPN …

Sutton and/or Andruw returning?  —  A few thoughts while we wait for possible announcements that Don Sutton could be returning to the Braves broadcast booth and Andruw Jones to the outfield.  —  Neither is a done deal, though I've got a feeling both will happen.  I'm more confident about Sutton's return than Jones'.

2008 Leaders and Laggards: K/100 Pitches  —  Three years ago, I introduced the concept of evaluating pitchers based on strikeouts per pitch, which has a higher correlation to runs allowed than strikeouts per batter faced or strikeouts per inning.  —  In a follow-up article in November 2007 …

Yankees set to move to new ballpark Friday  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Friday is moving day in the Bronx and, no, the crates don't have pinstripes.  —  Eighty-six years after moving in, the New York Yankees are moving out.  —  The team's front office will move across the street Friday …

Q&A with with Yankees' Chamberlain  —  OMAHA — So what if he gets facials and manicures?  —  New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain is still a beast in the bullpen.  And he's not afraid to get personal.  —  He's participating in ALS in the Heartland's annual bachelor-bachelorette …

These teams are the most likely to get free-agent deals done (cont.)  —  Even so, it's still a mystery to many why Varitek didn't take arbitration.  And even Red Sox owner John Henry asked Varitek in their well-publicized meeting a week ago why he didn't take the arbitration offer.