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 …

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Red Sox add three players to 40-man roster  —  This release from the Red Sox: … This protects Britton, Lin and Middlebrooks from the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 8.  Through Britton had a poor season, a young lefty with a good arm is a typical Rule 5 pickup and the team did not want to take that risk.

Re-evaluating a Gruff, Tough Yankee  —  With 182 victories and 1,423 strikeouts over 13 seasons, the hard-throwing Yankees pitcher Allie Reynolds lacked the shoo-in credentials of 300 wins or 3,000 strikeouts to usher a pitcher into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Offseason moving slowly for Yankees  —  Late Thursday night — or yesterday morning, to be precise — Brian Cashman finally turned off his phone.  —  It was 3:49 a.m. and unlike other long nights when the Yankees' general manager might be working on a trade or talking with an agent, this time Cashman was just trying to fall asleep.