Top News:
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Cooperstown calls for Alomar, Blyleven — NEW YORK — Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday as part of the Class of 2011, ending a year of anxiety and trepidation for the pair of stellar players. — Alomar was named on 90 percent …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven in Hall — NEW YORK — Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven have been elected to baseball's Hall of Fame. — Alomar and Blyleven were chosen Wednesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America after narrow misses last year. — Blyleven — Alomar
Discussion:
Halos Heaven, Faith and Fear in Flushing, MLB Daily Dish, River Avenue Blues and Fox Sports
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Blyleven, Alomar elected to Hall of Fame — + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email — The Baseball Hall of Fame just opened its doors to Bert Blyleven and Robbie Alomar. — The durable Blyleven, whose 3,701 strikeouts are the fifth-highest total for any pitcher and 60 shutouts are ninth-most …
Discussion:
Lookout Landing and Boston Globe
Sports Illustrated:
Palmeiro on Hall of Fame snub: ‘I feel like the forgotten man’ … Rafael Palmeiro is one of four players to have 3,000 hits and 500 home runs in his career, but Wednesday, those elite accomplishments couldn't get him even close to the Hall of Fame. — In his first year on the ballot …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Fanhouse MLB Blog
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Is The Hall of Fame Too Small? — Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame this afternoon, becoming the 234th and 235th players so honored. — Others were left on the sidelines, however. Jeff Bagwell, the Astros slugger who according …
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com, Bats, Associated Press and Tedquarters
Chris Jaffe / Hardball Times:
Me vs. reality: 2011 Cooperstown — Well, the results for the BBWAA vote for the Hall of Fame just came out. Congratulations to Roberto Alomar and Rich Lederer, er, I mean - congrats to Alomar and Bert Blyleven. They're the newest Hall of Famers. — This means something extra special …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Red Reporter
Baseball Hall of Fame:
Alomar, Blyleven Elected to the Hall of Fame — Will Join Pat Gillick in Class of 2011 to be Inducted on July 24 — NEW YORK, N.Y. — Roberto Alomar, a 12-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winning second baseman, and Bert Blyleven, a 287-game winning pitcher who ranks fifth …
Discussion:
Baseball-Reference Blog
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Complications make Baseball Hall of Fame voting less fun than it used to be
Complications make Baseball Hall of Fame voting less fun than it used to be
Discussion:
Beyond the Box Score
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Rangers land Beltre with six-year deal — ARLINGTON — The Rangers have called a news conference for Wednesday afternoon to officially announce the signing of free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre. — Beltre, a two-time American League Gold Glove Award winner who was an All-Star …
Discussion:
Boston Globe and Over the Monster
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Susan Slusser / San Francisco Chronicle:
eric chavez — Ex-A's infielder to hold workouts — Eric Chavez will work out for the Dodgers on Jan. 20, the longtime A's third baseman told The Chronicle, and his agent said that Chavez will hold private workouts this month for two American League teams (not the A's) as well.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and HardballTalk
Thomas Boswell / Washington Post:
Adam LaRoche signing shows Washington Nationals now know nothing is free — Nothing is free. Billionaires aren't exempt. As the Washington Nationals' owners are now learning, in baseball there is even a steep price to be paid for the money you didn't spend in the past.
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Michael O'Keeffe / NY Daily News:
Fraud charges for Victor Baez after he allegedly lies about ages of players from Dominican Republic — An influential baseball scout who was arrested in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday allegedly gave new identities to his players to make them appear younger - and therefore more appealing …
Discussion:
Baseball America and HardballTalk
RELATED:
Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
Selig Is Said to Be Unsatisfied With Union's Stance on Boras
Selig Is Said to Be Unsatisfied With Union's Stance on Boras
Discussion:
HardballTalk and IT IS HIGH!
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Michael Young to work out at first base and other important stuff from Adrian Beltre press conference — ARLINGTON - During Wednesday's afternoon's press conference to announce that Adrian Beltre had agreed to a six-year, $96 million deal with the Rangers, manager Ron Washington referred to the new third baseman as a “defensive whiz.”
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and baseballmusings.com
RELATED:
Jon Paul Morosi / Fox Sports:
Sources: Rangers to sign Beltre for $96M
Sources: Rangers to sign Beltre for $96M
Discussion:
Lookout Landing, Lone Star Ball and baseballmusings.com
Chad Jennings / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Yankees claim RHP Brian Schlitter — The Yankees have claimed right-hander Brian Schlitter off waivers from the Cubs. — Schlitter is a 25 year old who pitched out of the Cubs bullpen seven times last year. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Iowa, going 2-1 with 13 saves and a 3.15 ERA …
Discussion:
The Sommer Frieze and It's About The Money
J-Doug / Beyond the Box Score:
Benefit of the Doubt: The Cruel Umpire — In last week's episode of Benefit of the Doubt, I put my own spin on the interesting phenomena of the “compassionate umpire.” Essentially, as the count becomes more favorable to the hitter, the strike zone grows and the zone advantage increases.
Discussion:
THE BOOK
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals Wednesday chat transcript — Joe Strauss: Happy New Year from atop the big wave. As promised, 2011 has ushered in greater urgency regarding Albert Pujols' uncertain status beyond the upcoming season. The team has entered talks with Pujols' agent and we'll see where things go from here.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Jim Caple / ESPN:
HOF voters need to open their eyes — I have a message for BBWAA members who continue to withhold votes from players who used, or are suspected of using, performance enhancers: Get off your @#*& high horse. — Hey, I get that you think steroid use is really, really bad. Or at least, that this is your view now.
Discussion:
TYU, Baseball Crank and HardballTalk
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals open talks with Pujols — The Cardinals have wasted little time addressing their most pressing New Year's resolution: tying up Albert Pujols. — Negotiations between the club and Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano, resumed this week and have taken on a “positive” tone, according to several sources familiar with the process.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and Fanhouse MLB Blog
AdamMcCalvy / Brew Beat:
Saito deal could cap Brewers winter — The Brewers on Wednesday finalized their one-year contract with right-reliever Takashi Saito, a move that might signal the end of their major offseason acquisitions. — Saito will draw a base salary of less than $2 million but could earn incentives …
Thomas Harding / MLB.com:
Rox sign utility man Iribarren to Minors deal — DENVER — Utility man Hernan Iribarren, who appeared in 24 games from 2008-09 with the Brewers, has agreed to terms on a Minor League contract with the Rockies, player development director Marc Gustafson said Wednesday.