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.
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Fox Sports:
Rays, Jays and Angels go gambling — 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. — January 21 figured to be a quiet day in baseball, a day for teams to work on arbitration cases and point toward spring training.
Mark Polishuk / MLB Rumors:
Rays Agree To Terms With Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez — The Rays have agreed to terms with both Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. The deals are pending physicals. Damon's deal is worth $5.25MM plus a potential $750K in bonus money based on attendance.
Discussion:
NESN.com, Yahoo! Sports, DRaysBay, baseballmusings.com, Getting Blanked, SOX & Dawgs and YFSF
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Jays, Angels Swap Vernon Wells For Napoli, Rivera — So much for the Angels' quiet offseason. The Angels and Blue Jays have announced a blockbuster trade that sends center fielder Vernon Wells to Los Angeles in exchange for catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera.
Discussion:
FanGraphs Baseball, SULLY BASEBALL, Yankeeist, HardballTalk and River Avenue Blues
Mark Saxon / ESPN:
Angels trade for Vernon Wells … The Los Angeles Angels, shut out in several bids to acquire free-agent hitters this winter, have acquired three-time All-Star Vernon Wells from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera.
Discussion:
Chicago Breaking Sports and Sons of Steve Garvey
Associated Press:
Angels Acquire All-Star CF Vernon Wells From Jays — The Los Angeles Angels acquired All-Star center fielder Vernon Wells from Toronto on Friday night, giving them the big bat they wanted to add this winter. — The Blue Jays shipped their high-priced fixture to the Angels for catcher Mike Napoli …
Discussion:
True Grich and baseballmusings.com
Defenderdog / rallymonkeys:
A very big deal — Here's what I like about the Angels' big deal with Toronto: everything. — It's an old-fashioned baseball trade, two for one - a pair of sluggers in exchange for one slugger with a glove of gold. Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera should flourish in Toronto …
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
Rays strike deals with Manny, Damon — Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez are returning to the AL East. — The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to terms with both former All-Stars. Damon agreed to a one-year deal worth $5.25 million plus incentives and Ramirez one year at $2 million. Both deals are pending physicals.
Discussion:
Over the Monster and The Big Lead
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Sports Illustrated:
Notes from an arbitration scorecard
Discussion:
Over the Monster, SOX & Dawgs, NESN.com and ESPN
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Source: Rays talking to Johnny Damon
Discussion:
ESPN, Halos Heaven, mlbbuzz, MLB Rumors, MLB, Joe Posnanski and HardballTalk
Trsullivan / Postcards from Elysian Fields:
Rangers going after Ramirez - Angels and Rays Also In the Mix
Discussion:
Getting Blanked, HardballTalk, MLB Rumors and Texas Rangers
Joe Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays reportedly closing in on deal with Damon
Discussion:
Sox #1 Fan dot com, Over the Monster, MLB Daily Dish, Boston Globe, Yahoo! Sports and DRaysBay
Joey Matschulat / Baseball Time in Arlington:
Report: Rangers “Aggressively Pursuing” Manny Ramirez
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Lone Star Ball, baseballmusings.com and MLB Rumors
Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Brewers, Loe avoid hearing, agree to deal — Reliever gets $1.25 million for 2011 after asking for $1.65M — MILWAUKEE — The Brewers and reliever Kameron Loe avoided a potential arbitration hearing by agreeing Friday to a one-year, $1.25 million contract.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
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AdamMcCalvy / Brew Beat:
Brewers, Loe have a deal — Update at 7:30 p.m. CT: Assistant GM Gord Ash confirms the sides have settled. Loe would need to make 78 appearances to max out his incentives. — The Brewers and reliever Kameron Loe avoided a potential arbitration hearing by agreeing Friday to a one-year deal …
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Brewers Sign Jeremy Reed — The Brewers announced that they signed Jeremy Reed to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. — The 29-year-old appeared in 14 games for the Blue Jays last year, but spent most of the season at Triple-A. He hit .279/.342/.412 in 358 plate appearances …
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Prospect Watch: Top 10 left-handed pitchers — Electrifying Chapman tops list of southpaws with big-time stuff … Once upon a time, left-handed pitchers seemed to fit a certain mold. They were soft-tossers, finesse types, guys with a keen sense about pitching. The top 10 southpaw prospects break that mold in a big way.
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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:
The Sommer Frieze, Bronx Baseball Daily, Sliding Into Home and River Avenue Blues
csnbayarea.com:
Giants to finalize Torres deal Saturday — SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants on Friday were on the brink of wrapping up a busy week of negotiations by agreeing to terms on a one-year deal for 2011 with their lone remaining arbitration-eligible player, outfielder Andres Torres.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
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
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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, HardballTalk and Yahoo! Sports
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Joe Christensen / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Twins ready to do without ‘insurance policy’ Punto
Discussion:
The Platoon Advantage, MLB.com, HardballTalk, THE BOOK and Around the Majors
