Top News:
Gordon Wittenmyer / Chicago Sun Times:
Mike Maddux, Dale Sveum take center stage in Cubs' search — Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux is a candidate for the Cubs' managerial job. Leon Halip~Getty Images — It took more than three months for the Cubs to get their new front office team in place.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Gaslamp Ball, NESN.com, ESPN, HardballTalk and Yahoo! Sports
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Paul Hoynes / Plain Dealer:
Cleveland Indians grant Boston permission to interview Sandy Alomar Jr. for manager's job; are Cubs also interested? — CLEVELAND, Ohio — Boston has received permission to interview Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. to be their manager. But the Red Sox may have company when it comes to Alomar.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports and SI Tracking Blog
ESPN:
Cubs' Epstein: Francona a top skipper option … The Theo Epstein-Terry Francona combo worked in Boston and there's a chance the duo might play in Chicago. — The new Cubs president of baseball operations said he spoke with the former Red Sox manager on Thursday and will speak again …
Discussion:
SI Tracking Blog and MLB
Rob Bradford / WEEI:
RED SOX TO INTERVIEW MADDUX, ALOMAR JR. — A source has confirmed that the next two candidates to be interviewed by the Red Sox for their vacant managerial opening will be Mike Maddux and Sandy Alomar Jr. Both the Rangers (Maddux) and Indians (Alomar Jr.) have granted the Sox permission to talk to the coaches.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, MLB Rumors and NESN.com
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Dale Sveum discusses interview with Red Sox — and other notes from Fenway
Discussion:
joy of sox, Yahoo! Sports and MLB.com
Atabey / DominicanToday.com:
Baseball great Matty Alou dies in Miami — Santo Domingo.- One of the most inconic Major League Baseball greats from the Dominican Republic, Mateo Rojas Alou (Matty Alou) died early Thursday in Miami of unspecified ailment. — Alou, one of the famous brothers Jesus and Felipe …
Discussion:
Hardball Times, HardballTalk, Baseball Nation and Yahoo! Sports
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Duk / Yahoo! Sports:
Dominican baseball legend Matty Alou dies at age 72 — There's great sadness in the house of one of baseball's greatest families as Dominican Today reports that Matty Alou has passed away at age 72 from an undisclosed ailment. — That's Mateo Rojas Alou in the middle of the above picture …
Discussion:
Batter's Box Interactive … and WasWatching.com
Baseball Hall of Fame:
Ten Named To Golden Era Ballot for Baseball Hall of Fame Election — Eight Players, Two Executives from 1947-'72 Era to Be Considered at Winter Meetings — Watch a video about the Golden Era ballot — COOPERSTOWN, NY - Eight former major league players and two former executives comprise …
Discussion:
Dodgers Blog
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Mark Bowman / Bowman's Blog:
Braves willing to trade Jurrjens and Prado — The Braves gained some financial flexibility by trading Derek Lowe to the Indians earlier this week. They are now exploring the possibility of gaining more flexibility while talking to clubs interested in trading for Jair Jurrjens and/or Martin Prado.
Discussion:
Talking Chop, HardballTalk and MLB Daily Dish
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Doug Miller / MLB.com:
MLB All-Stars earn hard-fought win in Taiwan — Major Leaguers go ahead late to take Game 2 vs. Chinese Taipei — TAICHUNG, Taiwan — The quality of baseball in Taiwan is getting better quickly, and the stars of the Major Leagues got a good taste of that improvement Thursday night.
Discussion:
Federal Baseball
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Rob Bradford / WEEI:
RED SOX FIRE STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH — The Red Sox have let go strength and conditioning coach Dave Page and assistant trainer Greg Barajas, according to multiple sources. — Page had been with the organization since 2006, serving as the strength and conditioning coach …
Discussion:
Boston Globe, HardballTalk and NESN.com
Associated Press:
Verlander Selected Player of Year in Union Vote — NEW YORK (AP) — Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander has been selected player of the year in voting by the Major League Baseball Players Association, becoming the second pitcher to earn the honor. — Verlander beat out Boston …
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Kemp touches on contract, Prince, NL MVP — Dodgers star wants to stay in LA, hopes club can lure Fielder — LOS ANGELES — Matt Kemp took time out from an offseason of collecting awards Thursday to talk about some really big awards he still might collect.
Discussion:
True Blue LA
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Furcal willing to wait on manager search — ST. LOUIS • The agent for shortstop Rafael Furcal said he's told Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak that his client is willing to wait until the Cardinals' search for a manager is complete before making a final decision on where he'll play in 2012.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
Duk / Yahoo! Sports:
Would Pujols really agree to a statue if he were leaving St. Louis? — Should Albert Pujols(notes) bolt town through free agency this hot stove season, at least St. Louis Cardinals fans will have an awkward memento to remember him by. — A 1o-foot, 1,100-pound statue of the two-time World Series winner …
RELATED:
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals start manager interviews Thursday
Discussion:
NESN.com, HardballTalk, SI Tracking Blog, FenwayNationWorld and MLB Rumors
Los Angeles Times:
Peter O'Malley joins list of potential bidders for Dodgers — The former owner of the team says he will work on forming a group to take part in an auction for the team, Dodger Stadium and property surrounding the ballpark. — Former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley sold the team to Fox in 1998.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times and Dodgers Blog
RELATED:
Ramona Shelburne / ESPN:
Steve Garvey prepping proposal to purchase Los Angeles Dodgers
Discussion:
Associated Press and MLB Daily Dish
