Top News:
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
RELATED:
ESPN:
Theo Epstein, Terry Francona talking … 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 to gauge whether Francona …
Discussion:
SI Tracking Blog and MLB
Rob Bradford / WEEI:
ORTIZ SAYS STILL NO OFFER FROM RED SOX — David Ortiz told WEEI.com Thursday that to his knowledge the Red Sox have yet to make an offer to him. The designated hitter officially became a free agent at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, with the Sox' exclusive negotiating period — extending five days …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and NESN.com
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
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, NESN.com and MLB Rumors
Gordon Wittenmyer / Chicago Sun Times:
Mike Maddux, Dale Sveum take center stage in Cubs' search
Discussion:
Gaslamp Ball, NESN.com, Boston Globe, joy of sox, Yahoo! Sports and HardballTalk
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
RELATED:
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:
HardballTalk, Talking Chop and MLB Daily Dish
RELATED:
Mark Polishuk / MLB Rumors:
Braves Open To Trading Jurrjens, Prado — The Braves have told some teams they would be willing to move Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado in a trade, a Major League source tells MLB.com's Mark Bowman. Atlanta is known to be looking for a power-hitting outfielder and possibly a new shortstop …
Discussion:
Twinkie Town
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
RELATED:
Jane Lee / MLB.com:
Willingham among five A's to hit open market — Seeking multi-year deal, slugger unlikely to return to Oakland — OAKLAND — Stuck in wait-and-see mode because of a stadium decision that's been looming for nearly three years, the A's were forced to let Wednesday's exclusive negotiating window …
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish
RELATED:
Susan Slusser / San Francisco Chronicle:
None of 5 free agents gets offer
Discussion:
McCovey Chronicles, MetsBlog.com, HardballTalk, Athletics Nation and MLB Rumors
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
RELATED:
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 and ESPN
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
