Top News:
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Source: Cubs to acquire Heilman — The Chicago Cubs have acquired pitcher Aaron Heilman from the Seattle Mariners for infielder Ronny Cedeno and pitcher Garrett Olson, a baseball source told ESPN.com. — Heilman and Olson have already been involved in trades this offseason.
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Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Cubs Acquire Aaron Heilman For Cedeno, Olson — By Tim Dierkes [January 28 at 11:39am CST] — 11:39am: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says the Mariners acquired Cedeno and Garrett Olson from the Cubs for Heilman. Essentially, the Cubs moved two out of options players in Cedeno and Felix Pie …
ESPN:
Cubs closing in on trade — The Chicago Cubs are close to pulling off a deal that would bring them right-handed reliever/starter Aaron Heilman. In exchange for Heilman, the Seattle Mariners are looking for Ronny Cedeno and a young pitcher. Heilman came to Seattle from the New York Mets …
Dom Amore / Hartford Courant:
Sox's Lester, Yankees' Chamberlain In Fairfield — FAIRFIELD - The various Yankees acquisitions this winter do not worry Jon Lester. A potential Red Sox subtraction does. — “I don't want to think about that,” Lester said, when asked about the possibility of losing catcher Jason Varitek.
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Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
2 Pitchers Warm Up on Stage, Not Mound — FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Joba Chamberlain pitches with his right hand and writes with his left. Jon Lester does the opposite. Chamberlain is the Yankees' prized young arm, and Lester fills that role for the Boston Red Sox.
David Pinto / Baseball Musings:
Summing Up Joba and Jon — Joba Chamberlain and Jon Lester participated in a Q&A at Sacred Heart University Tuesday night. For the most part, the questions to them were softballs, but the two still managed to show their humor and provide some insights into their lives.
Discussion:
MY BASEBALL BIAS
Dylan Hernandez / LA Times Sports Blog:
Agent: Manny Ramirez should be signed by the start of spring training — Manny Ramirez should be signed by the start of spring training, his agent said Tuesday night. — “I can't put a timetable on this, but I know that spring training is a long time away,” Scott Boras said.
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Arthur Staple / Newsday:
Mets' Manuel would welcome Manny with open arms — Jerry Manuel would have no problems with Manny Ramirez joining the Mets. In fact, the Mets manager sounded as if Manny would be a Met if it were up to Manuel. — “But that's [general manager] Omar [Minaya], that's the Wilpons, their thing …
Discussion:
Kranepool Society
NY Daily News:
Cone spills juice on Torre's clubhouse — Joe Torre claims in the new book he wrote with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci that he didn't know his Yankee teams were fueled by steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. — But in “The Yankee Years,” David Cone said the players had a good idea about who was juicing.
RELATED:
Mike Lupica / NY Daily News:Lupica: Torre has to stand up and stay true to his word
Discussion:
New Jersey Online
Dave van Dyck / Chicago Tribune:
Chicago Cubs' Alfonso Soriano OK with not being leading man — Left fielder also says he wants to play all 162 games — Just into the third year of an eight-year, $136 million contract, it is becoming clear Alfonso Soriano has no leg to stand on—so to speak—in insisting he bat leadoff.
Discussion:
RosenBlog, GoatRiders of the Apocalypse, MLB FanHouse, Bleed Cubbie Blue and Wrigleyville23
Chris Haft / MLB.com:
Giants to add Clark to front-office post — ‘The Thrill’ played in San Francisco for eight seasons — SAN FRANCISCO — “The Thrill” is back with the Giants. — Will Clark, who remains one of the club's most popular players since the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958 …
Discussion:
Hardball Times
Tyler Hissey / Dugout Central:
Jim Bowden is MLB's Worst General Manager — Once Bill Bavasi was finally fired by the Seattle Mariners, Jim Bowden officially took over the title of worst general manager in baseball. — Bowden was a terrible hire for a rebuilding franchise like the Washington Nationals.
Steve Gilbert / MLB.com:
D-backs may be closing in on Garland — Free-agent right-hander could fill void left by Johnson's departure — PHOENIX — The D-backs and free-agent pitcher Jon Garland are closing in on a deal, according to an industry source. — Garland, 29, turned down a contract offer from the club two weeks ago …
JSOnline:
Melvin: no interest in Perez — By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel — With so many folks showing interest in the rumors that the Brewers might be interested in signing free agent lefty Oliver Perez, I checked with general manager Doug Melvin. — This was his short but to the point reply …
RELATED:
Anthony Rieber / Newsday:Mets ‘a little bit closer’ to re-signing Perez
Discussion:
New Jersey Online, 24 Hours From Suicide, The Final Score, The 'Ropolitans and MetsBlog.com
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Jimenez in for long haul — O'Dowd believes that signing the pitcher to a $10 million deal is a worthwhile gamble. — The Denver Post — Ubaldo Jimenez doesn't so much pitch as put his foot on the accelerator. No one lastseason threw more pitches over 95 mph than the right-hander.
Craig Calcaterra / Hardball Times:
The Marlins' moment of truth — Miami-Dade officials have set the vote — and released the final renderings and sketches and stuff — for the Marlins' new stadium: … You all know how I feel about publicly-funded stadiums, so for philosophical reasons I'm hoping this doesn't pass.
Neil Best / Watchdog:
Teammates were fed up with Johnny Damon early in '07 — Interesting stuff on Pages 394 and 395 about Johnny Damon's physical and emotional struggles early in the 2007 season, when a leg injury sapped him of his enthusiasm and he began to annoy old-guard Yankees.
