Top News:
Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Brewers offer arbitration to Fielder, K-Rod — Club declines same treatment for Type B free agent Betancourt — MILWAUKEE — The Brewers offered arbitration Wednesday to Type A free agents Prince Fielder and Francisco Rodriguez, positioning the club to receive four premium picks in next year's …
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter and Yahoo! Sports
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Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Deadline arrives on arbitration offer for Ortiz — There is some baseball business to handle on Thanksgiving eve. Teams have until 11 p.m. (EST) to offer their free agents arbitration. — David Ortiz joins Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, C.J. Wilson, Roy Oswalt, Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins …
Discussion:
Phillies Nation, Surviving Grady, Bless You Boys, MLB Rumors and FenwayNation
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of MLB's New Labor Agreement — (L-R) Rob Manfred, Bud Selig, and Michael Weiner will have 21-years of labor peace at — the end of the new labor agreement, but is this new deal really good or bad for the game? — Labor negotiations are like a marriage …
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Jeff Passan / Yahoo! Sports:
Landmark CBA's draft dollars cause consternation — The grumbling from front offices trickled out upon word last week that Major League Baseball and the players' union had agreed on a new collective-bargaining agreement. Details were scant. They just knew they didn't like it.
Discussion:
THE BOOK and South Side Sox
Fox Sports:
MLB deal a dagger to small-market teams — The deal got done, and that fact overrides every other. As the NBA will learn, labor peace alone carries great value, helps a sport achieve continued growth. — Unfortunately for baseball, low-revenue teams got trampled in its new collective …
Discussion:
Baseball Time in Arlington, The Yankee Analysts, WasWatching.com and The Captain's Blog
George A. King III / New York Post:
Yankees' Rivera hints 2012 could be final season — Mariano Rivera, while he waits to find out if he needs a surgical procedure done on his vocal cords, speculated on Tuesday that 2012 could be the final year of his career. — “I don't know what will happen,” said the Yankees closer …
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily, HardballTalk, Yankees Daily, Full Count and Deadspin
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Anthony McCarron / NY Daily News:
Mariano Rivera says he might need vocal cord surgery, giving Yankees offseason jolt
Discussion:
Bombers Beat
Barbara Barker / Newsday:
Mariano Rivera may need surgery on vocal cords
Discussion:
New Jersey Online
Paul White / USA Today:
What's new in baseball's new labor deal? — The negotiating path to baseball's new labor deal might have been the smoothest ever between the once-contentious sides. But it's full of significant changes for fans. — Realignment, expanded playoffs, more replay, testing …
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley and Surviving Grady
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Jayson Stark / MLB:
Stark: Baseball's new labor deal truly a historic one
Discussion:
Where Have You Gone …, FanGraphs Baseball, True Blue LA, ESPN, Bucs Dugout, Baseball Nation, It's About The Money and Denver Post
Jim Callis / Baseball America:
Draft Cap May Not Be So Harsh
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter and redsminorleagues.com
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Royals To Sign Bruce Chen — Piece by piece, the Royals' rotation is taking shape. They have agreed to sign Bruce Chen to a two-year deal worth $9MM. The deal also includes a $1MM roster bonus and up to $1MM in incentives. — Before agreeing to terms with Chen, Royals GM Dayton Moore told Bob Dutton …
Discussion:
Kansas City Star, Yahoo! Sports, HardballTalk, Baseball Nation, Royals Review, MLB Daily Dish, Al's Ramblings and Bucs Dugout
Bruce Levine / ESPN:
Aramis Ramirez offered arbitration — The Chicago Cubs have offered arbitration to free agents Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena, the team annouced Wednesday. — Both players are classified as a Type B free agents by Major League Baseball. That classification could behoove the Cubs if either player signs elsewhere.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports and Associated Press
Jeff Jacobs / Hartford Courant:
Bobby Valentine Will Be Fun With Red Sox, But It Won't End Well — This started Nov. 3 at the Hartford Club. And make no mistake, it would end spectacularly. This started with an arranged meeting before a World Affairs Council event on Prospect Street. And the prospect of it ending …
Jordan Schelling / MLB.com:
After getting life in order, Hanel helps others — Bullpen catcher donates coats through his Koos for Kids charity — MILWAUKEE — Everything changed 10 years ago for Marcus Hanel. — The Brewers' bullpen catcher had hit rock bottom, realizing at that point that he needed to do something different in his life.
Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Mets Owners Will Face Jury if Madoff Case Goes to Trial — The owners of the Mets will face a jury should there be a trial in the case filed against them by the trustee for the victims of Bernard L. Madoff's fraud, a federal district judge ruled Wednesday. The Mets' owners had opposed a jury trial.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:
Sveum hoping to hire Bosio as Cubs' pitching coach — Cubs manager Dale Sveum has asked former teammate Chris Bosio to become his pitching coach in Chicago. — Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel the Cubs asked permission last week to talk to Bosio …
Discussion:
HardballTalk, JSOnline and Al's Ramblings
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Cesar Izturis Drawing Interest — Cesar Izturis is looking for a Major League deal and has drawn interest from several teams, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The infielder won't be re-signing with the Orioles, according to Connolly.
