Rays reportedly closing in on deal with Damon  —  The Rays may be getting close to finding another bat for their lineup.  —  Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports is reporting Tampa Bay and free agent LF/DH Johnny Damon “appear to be closing in on a deal,” though there is “still some work to be done.”

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.

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 …

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 …

Reds, Cueto Agree To Four-Year Extension  —  The Reds and right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $27MM, tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com.  Reds GM Walt Jocketty says the deal is not done but confirms that the sides are close, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Yankees reach deal with Jones … The Yankees have reached an agreement with veteran outfielder Andruw Jones on a one-year deal worth $2 million plus $1.2 million in performance bonuses.  —  Jones, 33, is a veteran of 15 seasons in which he has made five All-Star teams and won 10 Gold Glove awards.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is damaging its legacy  —  Ray Doswell is on the phone.  You might know that he is the interim president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and you might know that place is in serious trouble.  —  Ray is a good man.  Smart, passionate, thoughtful.

Hearing to begin over Bonds perjury trial evidence  —  SAN FRANCISCO—The refusal of a convicted steroids dealer to testify at Barry Bonds' perjury trial has already left the prosecution without key evidence, and the defense wants even more of it barred.  —  Just how much damage Greg Anderson's decision …

Molding of Clay advances  —  So now the real journey is about to begin for Clay Buchholz.  —  This is the first season of the rest of his career.  From here on, he begins to answer the question, “Is he an elite starting pitcher?”  —  His numbers last season shouted yes …

CBA Year  —  The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) expires on Dec. 11, 2011.  That means from now until a new contract is reached, we will be hearing about negotiations, what the players want to gain, what the owners hope to accomplish.