Cardinals interview Francona  —  The Cardinals interviewed former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona today in their process to replace Tony La Russa.  —  The interview took place in Cincinnati, where Cards chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. resides and operates his private equity firm, Reynolds DeWitt & Co.

Duquette re-enters Majors with Orioles position  —  Former Red Sox GM introduced as VP of baseball operations  —  BALTIMORE — After more than nine years out of Major League Baseball, Dan Duquette was officially introduced Tuesday morning as the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations …

Bailey could be the answer for Toronto  —  Buster Olney writes that the Toronto Blue Jays are looking at myriad ways to improve the back of their bullpen after a season with many blown saves.  Oakland closer Andrew Bailey could make a lot of sense for Toronto.  Plus, hot stove notes.

Money Wins: Is There Enough Parity In Baseball?  —  Yesterday afternoon, Jayson Stark considered the question, “Is the MLB's competitive balance a joke?”  His answer was a rather blunt no: … Stark's method of proving it — plucking facts from the recent playoff series and comparing …

Notebook: Oswalt looking good; Pap, too  —  The Nationals plan a major push for free-agent right-hander Roy Oswalt, viewing him as the perfect veteran complement to Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, John Lannan and Chien-Ming Wang, major-league sources said.

Orioles' Simon cleared of manslaughter charge  —  SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Baltimore Orioles reliever Alfredo Simon has been acquitted of an involuntary manslaughter charge.  —  Simon  —  Defense attorney Dinora Dilone said Simon was acquitted Tuesday in the New Year's Eve shooting death …

Rockies eye starting pitching through trade, free agency  —  Adding a starting pitcher remains a top priority for the Rockies, leading them to discuss trades internally and express interest in free agents Kevin Millwood, Rich Harden and Bruce Chen.  —  The rival Giants set the bar …

Ballplayers fear induction into ‘Get Smart Club’  —  Significant statistics ending in ‘nine’ can haunt players, careers  —  A highly-anticipated movie entitled “Nine” — with the subtitle, “Be Italian” — opened during the holiday season in 2009.  —  Had that flick been about baseball, the subtitle would have been, “Be Frustrated.”

Royals interested in Zambrano  —  While Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, and company continue the interview process for a new field manager this week on a parallel track of importance is what they can do to dramatically improve a Cubs team that finished the 2011 season 71-91 and 25 games …