Marlins ready to make major noise  —  The meetings with Buehrle and Reyes will take place in South Florida, one source said.  The meeting with Cespedes, which will include Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, will take place in the Dominican Republic.  —  The Marlins' No. 1 priority is upgrading their rotation.

Royals Acquire Jonathan Sanchez For Melky Cabrera  —  The Royals acquired lefty Jonathan Sanchez and minor league starter Ryan Verdugo from the Giants for outfielder Melky Cabrera, announced the team.  —  Sanchez, 28, may have been a non-tender candidate for the Giants after a disappointing 2011 season …

Maddux withdraws from Sox's manager search  —  BOSTON — One day before he was scheduled to interview at Fenway Park, Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux withdrew his name from consideration for the managerial position of the Boston Red Sox.  —  Maddux cited family reasons for his decision, putting out a statement through the Rangers.

McCourt might still try selling Dodgers' TV rights  —  Frank McCourt soon could ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to let him sell the Dodgers' television rights along with the team, a strategy that could violate his sale agreement with Major League Baseball and revive his dormant litigation with Fox Sports.

Cards hope to have manager by next week  —  Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said he remains “hopeful” the club will have a new manager hired before the start of next week's general manager meetings but added he didn't want to artificially hasten the process.

Twins dismiss GM Smith, return Ryan as interim  —  MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have fired general manager Bill Smith and returned Terry Ryan to the role on an interim basis.  —  The change was announced Monday.  —  Smith was one of Ryan's assistants who took the job four years ago …

Prospect Gose working on consistency at plate  —  Centre fielder aiming to live up to expectation of ideal leadoff man  —  Prized center-field prospect Anthony Gose, fresh off taking part in the Arizona Fall League's esteemed Rising Stars Game, has long been coveted by the Blue Jays.

Phillies Making Strong Push For Ryan Madson  —  9:26pm: The Phillies have also had talks with Jonathan Papelbon and seem determined to sign him or Madson, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).  —  8:18pm: Talks are “advancing, but not complete,” a source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links).

Obama congratulates Cardinals on World Series win  —  President Barack Obama says the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals kept him up late during an extra-inning thriller that helped lead the team to victory.  —  Obama called manager Tony LaRussa Monday and congratulated him on his team's championship season.