Sox acquire Alex Gonzalez  —  The Red Sox, who have had a revolving at shortstop in recent seasons, reacquired a familiar face this afternoon in attempt to help solve their ongoing problem.  —  Alex Gonzalez, who was spectacular with the glove but so-so at the plate during 2006 …

3 UP: JOBA'S ROLES, JOBA'S RULES AND MATSUI  —  Yes, I am on Twitter.  —  1. In today's Post I wrote about why I believe it is wise to limit Joba Chamberlain's innings.  Here is something else to consider: Let's say in late July 2007, the Yankees had done what was the popular thing and traded …

THREE FOR THREE  —  At the start of the season, one reason to believe the Yankees would be a better team than last year had nothing to do with free agent signings or trades.  Three of their hitters played poorly in 2008, Posada and Matsui due to injury, Robinson Cano due to an off year.

21-year-old charged in beer-tossing incident at Wrigley Field  —  Bartlett man charged with tossing beer at outfielder from Wrigley bleachers  —  A Bartlett man has been charged with two misdemeanors after a daylong search for the Cubs fan who threw beer on a Philadelphia Phillies outfielder during Wednesday night's game.

The Dan Murphy Myth  —  Last year, a determined and serious young man leapfrogged over AAA into the big leagues and became a fan favorite for his hustle, energy, and line-drive bat.  Perhaps most importantly, Danny Murphy was “home-grown” — a ballplayer drafted by the Mets and developed in their farm system.

Dodgers to announce signing of highly regarded draft pick Garrett Gould, sources say  —  Since I'm pretty adamant with my skepticism toward unsourced reports, feel free to apply the same standard to this one.  Although I can't offer on-the-record confirmation, I have gotten reliable indications …

Mets lift Parnell's pitch limit  —  Jerry Manuel capped Bobby Parnell's first major-league start at 68 pitches last weekend in San Diego because the rookie had been working in relief since getting promoted last September.  —  Parnell managed to record only seven outs against the Padres …

Royals, Myers Agree On $2 Million  —  A day after agreeing to terms with Chris Dwyer on a fourth-round-record $1.45 million bonus, the Royals are aggressively spending again.  They have agreed with Wil Myers on a $2 million bonus, by far the highest in the third round this year …

Tom Verducci TomVerducciThree Strikes A rise in ejections, and Damon's power.  Plus, another Nats error? … 1. Does it seem to you that ejections and arguments are way up this year?  It might seem that way after a wild past week in which umpires Ed Rapuano (long-distance ejection) …

Source: Lerner meets with Strasburg  —  Publicly, neither the Washington Nationals nor Stephen Strasburgs camp having been saying much about contract negotiations for the No. 1 overall pick, which will end with or without a deal at midnight on Tuesday.  But that doesnt mean things arent heating up behind the scenes.

Duquette on Statistical Analysis & Decision Making  —  Readers of the site know about some of the spirited debate going on here regarding statistical analysis.  I questioned our good friends at Amazin Avenue, who tend to look at the game from a very numbers centric perspective.

Prospectus Roundtable: The Problem with Young Pitchers Is... by Baseball Prospectus  —  Remember when Mark Prior was on his way to Cooperstown?  Or when Edwin Jackson was a bust?  Every year, it seems like some young hurler is defying our expectations, yet we are constantly forgetting …

Players not only ones moving in trades  —  Families forced to make big adjustments after Deadline deals  —  Jarrod Washburn had been hearing the whispers for over a year, and two weeks ago they finally turned into a scream.  —  After revitalizing his career at the age of 34 with a 2009 season …

Yankees' Pen Clamps Down  —  Over the past seven days the Yankees have played seven games and won six of them.  Their hitting was good and there starting pitching very good, but I wanted to highlight the contribution of their bullpen.  Seven games in seven days including two extra innings games …

WAR and WSAB  —  Long-time readers of the Hardball Times may know that I've done a lot of work with Win Shares, creating Win Shares Above Bench and ranking the all-time greats.  —  Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, is newest win-based stat of choice (I'm still a fan of WPA, too).

Hide the women and children: Vintage CC might be coming  —  Needless to say, it's already looking prettay-prettay-prettaaay good for the league-leading Yankees these days.  —  Mark Teixiera is the leading candidate for AL MVP, the team has been avoiding serious injuries and even Jerry Hairston …

New York Mets Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review  —  More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP  —  New York Mets' outfielder Fernando Martinez (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)  —  New York Mets Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review  —  This list was originally published December 20, 2008.