Source: Rangers eye Brandon Webb  —  The Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals continued to show strong interest in Brandon Webb on Tuesday, while a third reported suitor, the Chicago Cubs, fell off the pace in their pursuit of the free-agent starter.  —  A source confirmed that Webb …

Vinas, one of 'Hank's Yanks,' gets Minors deal  —  Ace of Steinbrenner's youth ballclub has chance at pro career  —  NEW YORK — For Leonel Vinas, it had been enough to spend a summer wearing a uniform for “Hank's Yanks,” the youth ballclub sponsored by Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

Patterson among six to sign with Blue Jays  —  Club brings aboard outfielder with Minors deal, spring invite  —  TORONTO — The Blue Jays completed some last minute holiday shopping Tuesday morning by signing outfielder Corey Patterson and five other players to Minor League contracts with invites to Spring Training.

Five votes for the Hall of Fame  —  Roberto Alomar played for seven teams from 1980 to 2004.  —  My first Hall of Fame ballot was submitted today.  As promised, here is who I voted for:  —  Roberto Alomar  —  Bert Blyleven  —  Barry Larkin  —  Alan Trammell  —  Tim Raines  —  Explanation

Greinke.  Gone.  —  I've got to hand it to Dayton Moore - I didn't think he could do it.  I didn't think he could find anyone to take Yuniesky Betancourt off his hands, and I didn't think he had it in him to admit he made a mistake in acquiring Yuni in the first place.  And he did.

Jenks finalizes two-year deal with Red Sox  —  BOSTON — The Red Sox have officially landed Bobby Jenks with a two-year, $12 million deal that was agreed on last week and finalized Tuesday.  —  Jenks broke into the Major Leagues with the White Sox during the 2005 season, and spent the last five seasons as their closer.

Currently at impasse with LaRoche, O's turn attention to Lee  —  While the Orioles haven't abandoned hope of signing free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche, their inability to get a deal done has prompted them to renew talks with Derrek Lee, according to multiple sources.

Angels pull offer to Adrian Beltre off table, but ‘door is still open’ to sign third baseman  —  The Angels have pulled their free-agent offer to Adrian Beltre, a deal that was believed to be in the five-year, $70-million range, but a major league source familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday that …

RHP Rich Harden rejoins A's on $1.5M, 1-yr deal  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Rich Harden is rejoining his first major league team.  —  The right-hander and the Oakland Athletics finalized a $1.5 million, one-year contract Tuesday after he passed a physical.  —  Harden went 5-5 with a 5.58 ERA …

One nickname for Phillies' aces rises to top  —  IF YOU want to create a nifty nickname for a player, a team or part of a team, you have to think like a bride.  Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.  —  Well, maybe not too blue because the kids are gonna …

Brewers Claim Roque Mercedes  —  The Brewers claimed righty reliever Roque Mercedes off waivers from the Diamondbacks, tweets MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.  This gives the Brewers 37 players on the 40-man roster.  Mercedes had been designated for assignment by Arizona on Friday along …

Ankiel lands one-year contract with Nationals  —  NEW YORK — The Nationals agreed to terms with outfielder Rick Ankiel on a one-year deal Monday, according to a baseball source.  The signing will be made official once Ankiel passes a physical.  —  Terms of the agreement were not disclosed …