Sabathia to opt out of Yankees contract, become free agent … Left-hander CC Sabathia plans to opt out of his long-term contract with the Yankees by the Monday night deadline and become a free agent, SI.com has learned.  —  Sabathia, 31, has four years worth $92 million left on his current seven-year …

Red Sox exercise 2012 option on Scutaro  —  Talk about a nice birthday present.  The Red Sox today picked up their $6 million team option on Marco Scutaro.  —  The shortstop, who turned 36 today, hit .299 with a .358 on-base percentage in 2011 over 113 games.  He hit .387/.438/.581 in September.

Hundreds of Thousands at Cardinals Parade, Rally  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — A red sea of fans jammed downtown St. Louis Sunday to honor the World Series champion Cardinals and send a clear message to Albert Pujols: Please stay.  —  An official crowd estimate was not immediately available …

Report: Giants' Javier Lopez to re-sign  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Left-handed reliever Javier Lopez has agreed to an $8.5 million, two-year contract to stay with the San Francisco Giants, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Sunday.  —  Lopez

Is Javier Vazquez willing to put off retirement?  Marlins will to find out  —  In the days before he left Sun Life Stadium for Puerto Rico late last month, Marlins pitcher Javier Vazquez continued to strongly hint that he had thrown his last pitch.  —  Could Vazquez be having second thoughts on retirement?

Aramis may be headed for free agency  —  CHICAGO — Aramis Ramirez appears headed for free agency.  —  The Cubs announced Sunday night that they will exercise their side of the $16 million option for 2012, and the third baseman has two days to declare his interests.

Ranking postseasons: 1995-2011  —  It was fun while it lasted.  The 2011 postseason with its World Series for the ages is now over.  Its end brings a question to my mind—where does it rank among all postseasons?  —  More specifically, where does it rank among other postseasons of the three-round era: LDS, LCS, and World Series.

La Russa retiring as Cardinals manager  —  NEW YORK (SI.com) — Tony La Russa is retiring as manager of the Cardinals, just two days after guiding St. Louis to its 11th World Series championship in franchise history, according to a tweet from Major League Baseball.

Official free agency list  —  Here is the official free-agency list supplied by the union ...  Atlanta Braves  —  Gonzalez, Alex  —  Linebrink, Scott  —  Nate McLouth  —  Nate McLouth  —  #13 CF  —  Atlanta Braves  —  2011 STATS  — GM81  — HR4  — RBI16  — R35

Rangers begin a new World Series dream  —  AM ET