Top News:
Fox Sports:
Sources: Angels to trade Napoli to Jays — FOX Sports — The Angels, largely dormant for much of the off-season, are set to trade catcher Mike Napoli to the Blue Jays, major-league sources say. — The deal will become official once the players involved pass physicals.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Batter's Box Interactive … and SFGate
RELATED:
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Blue Jays To Acquire Mike Napoli — The Angels have agreed to send Mike Napoli to the Blue Jays, pending a physical, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Rays appeared to be targeting the catcher/first baseman earlier this evening, but their division rivals ended up acquiring him instead.
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Source: Rays talking to Johnny Damon — The Tampa Bay Rays are in discussions with free agent Johnny Damon to fill their vacant designated hitter spot and play some left field. But a source familiar with the negotations said a report that Damon is close to agreement on a deal with the club is “very premature.”
Discussion:
Halos Heaven, MLB Rumors, mlbbuzz, HardballTalk and Joe Posnanski
RELATED:
Joe Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays reportedly closing in on deal with Damon
Rays reportedly closing in on deal with Damon
Discussion:
DRaysBay
Joey Matschulat / Baseball Time in Arlington:
Report: Rangers “Aggressively Pursuing” Manny Ramirez
Report: Rangers “Aggressively Pursuing” Manny Ramirez
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Lone Star Ball, MLB Rumors, baseballmusings.com and The Process Report
Eno Sarris / FanGraphs Baseball:
The Yankees and Bullpen Allocation
The Yankees and Bullpen Allocation
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley, ESPN, Red Reporter, River Avenue Blues and baseballmusings.com
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Prospect Watch: Top 10 right-handed pitchers — Hellickson, Teheran, Drabek head list of potential future aces … The adage about never having enough pitching has some truth to it, and there appears to be plenty of pitching coming up through Minor League systems.
Discussion:
Mariners blog
RELATED:
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Prospect Watch: Top 10 left-handed pitchers
Associated Press:
Judge: Former players must testify — SAN FRANCISCO — Some of Barry Bonds' former teammates, along with other retired Major League Baseball players and perhaps current player Jason Giambi, will have to testify at the slugger's upcoming perjury trial, a federal judge said Friday.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com and Yahoo! Sports
RELATED:
Howard Mintz / Mercury News:
Bonds case: Judge rules former pro athletes can testify in upcoming trial — Federal prosecutors will be able to put former professional athletes on the witness stand to testify about their own connections to the Balco steroids scandal during the upcoming perjury trial of home run king Barry Bonds.
Discussion:
Fanhouse MLB Blog and HardballTalk
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Most underrated players in the game — The list includes Ryan Zimmerman, Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Ruiz, among others — The closer on my All-Underrated team, Trevor Hoffman, retired last week. You probably caught wind of that someplace. — So what better excuse is there to kick off a bunch of spirited saloon debates?
Discussion:
Around the Majors and Where Have You Gone …
Sports Illustrated:
Here's why Mark Teixeira could be the next Jason Giambi in pinstripes … Is Mark Teixeira facing a dip in his career? The New York Yankees first baseman turns 31 in April and is coming off a season in which he hit .256 — 34 points below his lifetime average entering the year (.290).
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily, Sliding Into Home and River Avenue Blues
Jeff Pearlman / CNN:
Tracking down my online haters — Editor's note: Jeff Pearlman is a columnist for SI.com. He blogs at jeffpearlman.com. — (CNN) — Matthew is a college student from a small suburban town in Missouri. He loves the Kansas City Chiefs and spending Sundays in front of the TV watching football.
Discussion:
Better Off Red, Patrick Flood and HardballTalk
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Cardinals Sign Nick Punto — The Cardinals announced that they signed Nick Punto to a one-year deal, according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach (on Twitter). It's a $700K deal, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Agent Charles Schneider represents the longtime Twin.
Discussion:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch and HardballTalk
RELATED:
Joe Christensen / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Twins ready to do without ‘insurance policy’ Punto
Twins ready to do without ‘insurance policy’ Punto
Discussion:
The Platoon Advantage, HardballTalk, THE BOOK and Around the Majors
Sports Illustrated:
Notes from an arbitration scorecard — • Prince Fielder's deal for $15.5 million, a record, was praised as a good one for the player. “Very high,” one competing exec called the number. Even so, it was nice to see the Brewers complete a wonderful winter by getting …
Discussion:
NESN.com and SOX & Dawgs
Joe McDonald / ESPN:
Lucchino anxious for 2011 season to start — BOSTON - Anytime you can hear the State of the Red Sox from a member of ownership, it's always interesting. — Team president and CEO Larry Lucchino was awarded with the Fuchs Award for meritorious service to baseball by the Boston Baseball Writers at the annual dinner Thursday night.
Discussion:
Over the Monster, YFSF and joy of sox
RELATED:
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Francona: Scutaro is the shortstop
Francona: Scutaro is the shortstop
Discussion:
Red Sox Beacon, HardballTalk, Yahoo! Sports, NESN.com and Fanhouse MLB Blog
Jim Shonerd / Baseball America:
Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects (How to subscribe) — After winning back-to-back National League West titles and making consecutive NL Championship Series appearances in 2008-09, the Dodgers fell to fourth place last year. As if its first losing record since 2005 wasn't bad enough …
Discussion:
True Blue LA, VIN SCULLY IS MY HOMEBOY and ESPN
Trsullivan / Postcards from Elysian Fields:
Rangers going after Ramirez - Angels and Rays Also In the Mix — The Rangers are pursuing free agent outfielder/designated hitter Manny Ramirez. He would be the big right-handed bat at DH and off the bench. It would likely mean far more playing time for Michael Young at first base and would cut into Mitch Moreland's playing time.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, MLB Rumors and Texas Rangers
Ted Berg / Tedquarters:
If park factor is so important, why don't they put it on the scoreboard? … - Jeff Francoeur. — OK, Jeff Francoeur, I don't want to come off as mean-spirited here or anything so please, don't take this the wrong way. But here's the thing, bro: You're a terrible hitter.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, HardballTalk and Mets Merized Online
Ben Badler / Baseball America:
Mariners Reduce Peguero's Bonus To $1.1 Million — Dominican shortstop Esteilon Peguero, who signed with the Mariners for $2.9 million in December, has had his bonus reduced to $1.1 million, according to international sources. — Peguero, 17, originally signed with the Mariners on Dec. 7 …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and Mariners blog
Steve Popper / NorthJersey.com:
New Met Young: My arm is ready to go — It was with little surprise that Mets manager Terry Collins announced Wednesday that he was handing the ball to Mike Pelfrey as his opening day starter. And a day later the Mets officially secured the final piece of their rotation when Chris Young passed …
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
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