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.

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.

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.

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.

Pirates Close To Deal With Clint Barmes  —  2:36pm: The deal is expected to be worth roughly $11MM over two years once completed, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets.  —  1:02pm: The Pirates and Barmes are close to a deal according to Heyman (on Twitter).  —  12:35pm: The Pirates appear …

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.

Sizemore going back to Indians?  —  Grady Sizemore appears to be headed back to the Indians.  —  The free-agent outfielder is in serious discussions with his previous team, according to major-league sources.  —  One source said the odds of the Indians re-signing Sizemore were “70-30.”

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.

Twins To Sign Ryan Doumit  —  The Twins agreed to sign Ryan Doumit to a one-year deal, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick and Doumit's agency, Sosnick/Cobbe Sports (Twitter link).  The deal, which is pending a physical, is worth $3MM and includes performance bonuses, according to Crasnick.