Top News:
Jon Paul Morosi / Fox Sports:
Source: Tigers, Brad Penny close to deal — The Detroit Tigers are on the verge of signing free-agent starter Brad Penny to a one-year, $3 million contract, a major-league source told FOXSports.com early Tuesday morning. — Penny, 32, will have the chance to earn more through incentives.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Bless You Boys, Beck's Blog, HardballTalk, Yahoo! Sports, Projo Sox Blog and MetsBlog.com
RELATED:
MLB:
Sources: Brad Penny, Tigers agree — The Detroit Tigers and free-agent right-hander Brad Penny have agreed to a one-year deal worth $3 million, plus $3 million in incentives, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney. — Penny is recovering from an upper-back injury that limited him to just nine starts in 2009.
Discussion:
The Detroit Tiger Weblog, Bless You Boys and NESN.com
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
All-time saves leader Hoffman retires — Closer finishes stellar 18-year career with 601 saves — Trevor Hoffman, certainly the top National League closer of his era, has decided to retire, ending his stellar 18-year career, he told MLB.com in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, baseballmusings.com, MLB Rumors, Yahoo! Sports, Fanhouse MLB Blog, Gaslamp Ball and 6-4-2
RELATED:
MLB:
Trevor Hoffman retiring — Trevor Hoffman, the Major League Baseball leader in saves, has decided to retire, the Beverly Hills Sports Council, who represents Hoffman, confirmed Tuesday. — Hoffman ends his 18-year career with an all-time record 601 saves, 41 ahead of New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera, who is in second place with 559.
Discussion:
BronxBanterBlog.com
Buster Olney / ESPN:
Leaders of the youth movement — Craig Kimbrel participated in the union's seminars over the past week, a means for educating young players like the Braves' reliever. They talked about dealing with the media, the good and bad of social media, investing money, that sort of thing.
Discussion:
Memories Of Kevin Malone, HardballTalk, It's About The Money and Twinkie Town
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Craig Calcaterra / HardballTalk:
Could Lew Wolff end up owning the Dodgers? — There's an interesting — but troubling — musing in Buster Olney's latest column. First Olney notes that Frank McCourt is in dire financial straits — no surprise — but then speculates about one possible outcome:
Discussion:
VIN SCULLY IS MY HOMEBOY and baseballmusings.com
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Source: New York Yankees step up pursuit of Justin Duchscherer — The New York Yankees, still in the market for pitching help, are stepping up their pursuit of free agent Justin Duchscherer, a baseball source told ESPN.com. — Duchscherer, 33, has a career record of 33-25 with a 3.13 ERA …
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Dave Bush On Mets' Radar — Dave Bush is among the starting pitchers on the Mets' radar, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). As Crasnick notes, current Mets exec J.P. Ricciardi was the Blue Jays' GM when Toronto selected Bush in the second round of the 2002 draft.
RELATED:
Michael Baron / MetsBlog.com:
Mets Interested in Dave Bush for Rotation
Discussion:
Tedquarters and Mets Merized Online
Jon Paul Morosi / Fox Sports:
Benson says he's done pitching — In 1996, the Pittsburgh Pirates made Kris Benson the No. 1 overall pick in baseball's amateur draft. Within four years, he had thrown more than 400 innings in the majors and appeared on his way to realizing much of the potential he showed as a star at Clemson University.
Discussion:
Fanhouse MLB Blog, HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
RELATED:
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Selig: No expansion of playoffs, replay this year — PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — As owners and general managers prepared to gather this week for their first meetings of the new year, Commissioner Bud Selig told MLB.com that the playoffs and instant replay won't be expanded this coming season.
Discussion:
New York Times, HardballTalk and Beyond the Box Score
Amanda Covarrubias / L.A. NOW:
Lenny Dykstra accused of sexual assault by housekeeper; no charges filed — Former pro baseball player Lenny Dykstra's housekeeper accused him of sexual assault, according to records, though prosecutors declined to file charges this month citing a lack of evidence.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball and HardballTalk
Jonah Keri / FanGraphs Baseball:
The Success Cycle is Full of Crap — We're pleased to welcome our newest addition to the FanGraphs team - Jonah Keri. You may be familiar with his work, as he's written for every publication known to man. We're thrilled that he's going to be writing for us going forward.
Discussion:
The Crawfish Boxes and DRaysBay
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Angels, Callaspo Avoid Arbitration — The Angels agreed to a one-year contract with Alberto Callaspo, avoiding arbitration, according to the team. The sides agreed to a $2MM deal, according to the AP (via the Miami Herald). The 27-year-old was arbitration eligible for the first time.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Ken / Red Reporter:
Red Reporter Talks With Sean Casey — The Mayor celebrates a Home Run. via a.espncdn.com … Ken: How did you get involved with the MLBN and how do you like it so far? — Sean Casey: I was playing with the Red Sox in 2008 when we played the Rays [in the ALCS]. Harold Reynolds was working for TBS for the playoffs.
Discussion:
Cincinnati Reds
Todd Zolecki / The Zo Zone:
Amaro Talks Blanton, Durbin and Manuel's Contract — Ruben Amaro Jr. sounds pretty comfortable with the 59 players he has coming to Spring Training next month. — He has been shopping and continues shopping Joe Blanton, who will make $17 million over the next two seasons, although he said this week he does not have to shed payroll.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and HardballTalk
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Rothschild Yankees' only coaching change — NEW YORK — The Yankees have finalized their coaching staff for the 2011 season, and they announced on Tuesday that five members will return to their respective positions. — Mike Harkey, Mick Kelleher, Kevin Long, Tony Pena and Rob Thomson …
Troy Renck / All Things Rockies:
Breaking down CarGo's new contract with Rockies — Time to fill in the blanks. Or more specifically, the numbers after the decimal point in the new seven-year, $80-million contract for Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. — I have previously posted the signing bonus of $3 million …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Fanhouse MLB Blog
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Will Cards use the A-Rod approach? — The last time a team sought to re-sign perhaps the best player in the game, Alex Rodriguez was speeding toward baseball's cherished milestones and the New York Yankees knew that to meet his one-of-a-kind price it would take a one-of-a-kind contract.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
Zachary Levine / blogs.chron.com:
Who's winning all these Astros-Phillies deals? — It's been hinted at, snarked about if that's a word and generally mocked for the better part of three years. Monday, it was asked, and there's no reason to avoid the topic since it was clearly in the forefront of many minds when Monday's trade happened:
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
