Yankees talking to Damon about return  —  While the Yankees' primary focus remains pitching, they have been communicating with free agent Johnny Damon about a possible return to the Yankees for 2011, Newsday has learned.  —  Four sources said that Damon and the Yankees were talking about a role …

Greinke's light always shone through  —  OAKLAND — A ray of sunshine zapped through the dark cloud that hovers over the Royals these days.  His name is Zack Greinke.  —  Greinke pitched five solid innings in his highly-anticipated Major League debut on Saturday, providing some fresh hope …

Yanks hope for Andy Pettitte's return  —  NEW YORK — Not only are the Yankees hoping that Andy Pettitte returns, they are dreaming about it.  —  “I go to sleep every night hoping that Andy Pettitte makes his decision to come back and pitch another year,” Yankees team president Randy Levine said Wednesday on 1050 ESPN New York.

The Internet Zealot Responds  —  One Blyleven Internet supporter is such a zealot that he has guessed as to the motives for the non-support, and even on occasion taken to outing non-supporters or ridiculing them, perhaps in an attempt at persuasion.  Let me just say that I have nothing against Blyleven …

Eiland excited by opportunity to help Rays, beat Yanks  —  Dave Eiland is excited by his opportunity with the Rays as a special assistant, intrigued by the new duties and responsibilities he'll have in scouting and player development and pleased to return home, to the area where he grew …

Crawford thanks Rays with lunch  —  Carl Crawford left the Rays, but he didn't want to leave a bad taste in their mouths.  —  So Crawford, who signed a 7-year, $142-million deal with Boston, arranged for lunch to be catered and delivered Wednesday to team employees at Tropicana Field.

Driver who killed Nick Adenhart sentenced to 51 years-to-life in prison  —  Andrew Gallo, the driver who killed Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart has been sentenced to 51 years-to-life in prison.  —  In addition to Adenhart, Gallo killed Adenhart's friends Courtney Frances Stewart and Henry Pearson …

Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects (How to subscribe)  —  For the first time since the franchise arrived in Washington five years earlier, Nationals fans had legitimate reason to be excited in 2010.  The team still finished in last place for the fifth time in six seasons since moving from Montreal …

Adrian Gonzalez: A man and his word  —  When things looked bleak, it was trust that sealed the deal between Gonzalez, Red Sox … LA JOLLA, Calif. — There was little doubt in Adrian Gonzalez's mind that they were meant to be together, the skinny high school baseball player with the grand ambitions …

Blue Jays, Pirates, Rays interested in Dotel  —  The Toronto Blue Jays are still in pursuit of free-agent right-hander Octavio Dotel, and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays are also involved, a major league source told FOXSports.com.  —  Dotel pitched for the Pirates …

What's Wrong with Replacement-Level Valuing of Players  —  In my previous post on 15 tenets of sabermetrics, my response to one tenet received the bulk of the comments.  I showed that the talent of the league is distributed normally, and the assumption that there is an abundance …

Brewers Sign Sean Green  —  The Brewers announced that they signed right-hander Sean Green to a one-year contract.  MLB.com's Adam McCalvy hears that the contract is worth a non-guaranteed $875K.  —  Green missed most of the 2010 season because of a ribcage injury, but logged over 200 innings …

Yankees, Red Sox hit with luxury tax  —  Only two teams — the Red Sox and Yankees — will be forced to pay Major League Baseball's luxury tax.  —  The Associated Press reported Tuesday that New York and Boston have exceeded the league's payroll threshold and will be charged an additional tax …