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.

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 …

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.

O'Dowd, Rox patient in pursuit of relief help  —  DENVER — It looks as if Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd will wait until after the holidays to continue his shopping for a relief pitcher — the last big-ticket item on the club's list.  —  The Rockies have been exploring free agency …

Rodgers: 'I'm baaaaaaacckkkk'  —  GREEN BAY - The text message was brief and to the point, and the only thing easier to read Tuesday evening was the excitement coming from Aaron Rodgers' iPhone.  —  I'm baaaaaaacckkkk.  —  Yes, after seeing his 46-game consecutive starts streak …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …