Rangers close to deal with Beltre  —  Two-time Gold Glove third baseman had stellar 2010 for Boston  —  ARLINGTON — The Rangers' big free-agent purchase of the offseason is close to being completed.  Get ready for Adrian Beltre to take over for Michael Young as the Rangers' third baseman.

O's agree to terms with Gregg on two-year, $10 million deal with club option for 2013  —  The Orioles added another important piece to the back of their bullpen today, agreeing to terms with veteran right-hander Kevin Gregg on a two-year, $10 million deal, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Hall of Fame needs to deal with steroids era  —  Powers in Cooperstown need to fix the process instead of making votes so hard to cast  —  There's a Cooperstown crisis coming.  Nobody seems to want to acknowledge it.  Nobody seems to want to deal with it.  But it's coming, all right, whether the Hall of Fame is ready or not.

Braves Agree To Deal With Dan Uggla  —  The Braves and Dan Uggla have agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $62MM, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the salary in the first year of the deal is believed to be low, under $10MM.

Yankees: Andy Pettitte situation not affecting moves  —  NEW YORK — Even as Andy Pettitte stays silent on his future, two of the lefthander's friends believe that he'll come back for a 17th season.  But the Yankees continue to act as though Pettitte will retire, and general manager Brian …

ESPN: Hall passes for Alomar, Blyleven  —  ESPN.com asked 18 of ESPN's Hall of Fame voters to submit their ballots for the Class of 2011, which will be announced Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.  —  To be elected, players must receive at least 75 percent of the Baseball Writers' Association of America vote.

Bill Buckner to manage Brockton Rox  —  BOSTON — Bill Buckner is coming back here, and in uniform, too.  —  The former Red Sox first baseman has been hired to manage the Brockton (Mass.) Rox, a team in the independent Can-Am League, Rox co-owner Van Schley confirmed Tuesday.

David Price to accept Warren Spahn Award  —  Rays lefthander David Price may not have won the American League Cy Young, but he'll pick up a special award this offseason.  —  Price will accept the Warren Spahn Award as the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in a gala Jan 20th …

Miami Heat's Udonis Haslem eyes return in late March, April  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Forward Udonis Haslem, sidelined since sustaining a foot injury Nov. 20, said Tuesday that doctors have told him he should be able to return by late March or April “if everything goes as planned.”

Nationals Agree To Sign Adam LaRoche  —  7:42pm: MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling tweets that the deal is believed to be in the neighborhood of $16MM, though that remains unconfirmed.  —  6:40pm: The Nationals have agreed to sign Adam LaRoche to a two-year deal, according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (on Twitter).

Stadium Boom Amounts to Fountain of Youth for MLB Parks  —  When conducting baseball research, my thoughts often turn to the state of the baseball economy and the effect of new ballparks on the game.  However, I've personally never seen the new stadium boom quantified—let alone visualized—so I decided to take a swing at it.

The 2010 Seattle Seahawks: Worst.  Playoff.  Team.  Ever?  —  By defeating the St. Louis Rams Sunday night, the Seattle Seahawks qualified for the N.F.L. playoffs in spite of having lost nine games and won only seven.  —  They are not, technically speaking, the first N.F.L. team …

Brandon Webb feeling good, but won't rush  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Rangers pitcher Brandon Webb and general manager Jon Daniels are not fans of timetables.  Asked repeatedly if Webb's shoulder will make him ready to start the season in the rotation, both Webb and Daniels said they'd have to wait until spring training starts.

Who replaces Dave in 2011?  Maybe no one  —  They have given no indication that the position is available, but the Seattle Mariners have received between 50 and 100 resumes, digital recordings and applications from broadcasters hoping to replace Dave Niehaus in 2011.

(2 of 2)  —  In Blyleven's second year on the ballot, he received 14.2 percent of the vote.  —  The last Hall of Famer to rebound from a percentage of 14 or lower to make it was slugger Ralph Kiner, who was elected in 1970 with 75.4 percent of the vote.  In 1962, only 1.1 percent of writers thought he was worthy.