Did Lee damage Yankees — and front office?  —  It's no surprise to hear someone say the Yankees overpaid for a free agent.  —  But it sure is a little strange when that someone is the general manager of the Yankees.  —  That would be the same general manager of the Yankees who joked …

Reyes likes NYC, but no contract during season  —  Yesterday at Citi Field, Jose Reyes told reporters he is not interested in talking about his contract during the season.  —  “I want to be focused trying to help this team win,” he explained.  “I just want to play baseball for now.”

Twins Agree To Terms With Carl Pavano  —  The Twins have agreed to terms with right-hander Carl Pavano on a two-year, $16.5MM contract, according to a team press release.  Pavano will earn $8MM next season and $8.5MM in 2012, plus an extra $500K should he reach certain incentive clauses.

It occurs to me that . . .  Emptying Out the Desk Drawer of the Sports Mind:  —  Tell me why anyone over 6-6 is allowed to enter a dunk contest.  —  As an aside, I saw Nate Robinson, who might be 5-8, touch a piece of padding that was a good foot above the rim at Celtics practice the other day.

Green shares approach in upcoming book  —  Former Dodgers slugger puts baseball philosophy on paper  —  LOS ANGELES — Shawn Green spoke to Dodgers prospects at last week's winter development camp, but he also spoke with new manager Don Mattingly, a conversation delayed by 15 years.

Who Gets the Scoop?  Major League Reporters, Ranked.  —  Ever wonder if there were standings ranking America's best baseball reporters?  —  Wonder no more.  This actually took a few hours, but I've compiled the standings of Major League deals broken to the public by reporter by scouring MLBTR …

Executive excellence  —  Lucchino worthy of Fuchs Award  —  You know the best thing you can say about Larry Lucchino in his role as CEO of the Red Sox?  He sticks up for his organization.  —  Whether it's challenging agents like Scott Boras, or defending the team's name nationally …

A's need to get moving or else  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since August 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  Follow him on Twitter.  —  Free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre was the player the A's wanted most this offseason.

Prospect Watch: Top 10 second basemen  —  Mariners' Ackley leads a diverse group at the position … The term “natural second baseman” doesn't come up very often.  It's not that it never happens, but it's more than common to see any list of second-base prospects consist of shortstops …

Rizzo on Gorzelanny, Hairston  —  It's turned into a busy day in NatsTown.  Actually, it's been a busy week already, with the Tom Gorzelanny trade (which was officially announced this afternoon) and the signings of Jerry Hairston, Todd Coffey and Alex Cora.

Padres Agree To Terms With Chad Qualls  —  The Padres have agreed to terms with right-hander Chad Qualls, according to a team press release.  The contract is for one year with a team option for 2012.  Qualls will earn $1.5MM next season and it will cost the Padres $1.05MM to buy out the 2012 option …

Mariners to use committee to fill Niehaus' spot  —  At least five announcers will rotate after Hall of Famer's passing  —  SEATTLE — The Mariners have made a decision on how best to replace Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Niehaus, with the answer being to use a group of familiar personalities …

Former Blue Jays skipper Hartsfield dies  —  Roy Hartsfield, the first manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, passed away on Saturday at his daughter's Atlanta-area home.  He was 85.  —  Hartsfield's death was the result of complications from liver cancer, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which first reported the news.