Baseball Is to Begin Blood Testing for H.G.H.  —  Major League Baseball's owners and players are close to completing a new collective bargaining agreement that for the first time will include blood testing for human growth hormone, according to two people in baseball briefed on the matter.

New push in A's San Jose quest  —  Finally, there is movement toward solving one of baseball's most vexing problems.  —  Baseball is trying to accelerate a decision on whether to allow the Oakland Athletics to relocate to San Jose, according to major league sources.

Braves have asked Yankees about shortstop Eduardo Nunez as trade posibilities grow  —  Braves could make stater Jair Jurrjens part of a deal  —  Brian Cashman has always said he never regretted clinging tightly to Eduardo Nunez back in July of 2010 when the young infielder might …

Epstein immersing himself in Cubs' background  —  He's looking to determine what's good in organization and build upon it  —  Theo Epstein has had a month now to try to figure out this Cubs thing.  —  From the Wrigley Field offices to a Ukranian Village bar, Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer …

From bad to worse in offseason  —  Can the Red Sox do anything else to boost their image as a doofus organization?  —  Remember when the Yawkey Way boys were a mere team, playing baseball games?  —  Not anymore.  The Sox don't play games in November (they don't play in October anymore, either, come to think of it).

Mattison earns AFL sportsmanship honor  —  Marlins prospect takes home Stenson Award before title game  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It's been a pretty good couple of days for Marlins outfielder Kevin Mattison.  —  On Friday, the 26-year-old found out he had earned a spot on Miami's 40-man roster.

Yankees may need more RBI singles to find success in postseason  —  Analyzing the Yankees is never easy.  —  They win 97 games but leave you searching for reasons why they fell in a best-of-five American League Division Series to the Detroit Tigers.  They go to the postseason 15 of the past 16 years …

Mike Matheny lost his home in legal fight with bank over business debt  —  • jwagman@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8268 and JENNIFER MANN  • jmann@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8315 |  Loading...  WILDWOOD  • Before he was handed his dream job, new Cardinals manager Mike Matheny lost his dream house.

Pads Feel It'll Be Easier To Deal Bartlett Than Hudson  —  Earlier this week we heard that the Padres hope to trade either Jason Bartlett or Orlando Hudson this offseason, and today Dan Hayes of The North County Times heard from a source that the team believes it will be easier to trade Bartlett because of his contract (Twitter links).

UPDATED: Giants add Angel Villalona (no longer on restricted list) to 40-man roster, designate Darren Ford, Waldis Joaquin (4)  —  UPDATE: Giants VP Bobby Evans said Major League Baseball took Villalona off the restricted list and he is applying for his U.S. work visa now.

Pirates Close To Deal With Clint Barmes  —  8:03pm: Heyman tweets that it will be a two-year contract worth $10.5MM.  The two sides are just putting the finishing touches on the deal.  —  2:36pm: The deal is expected to be worth roughly $11MM over two years once completed, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets.