Red Sox get their lightning rod with Valentine  —  The greatest soap opera in baseball just got a hero — or a villain.  —  Bobby Valentine, who makes lifelong friends and enduring enemies in near-equal numbers, has reached an agreement to become the Red Sox manager, completing a process …

Competitive Balance Lottery to shake up Draft  —  Small-market, low-revenue teams to get chance at extra picks  —  There's enough information to digest from the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to make Thanksgiving dinner seem like an appetizer.  Getting a grasp on how the First-Year Player Draft …

Slimmer Teixeira seeks improvement vs. righties  —  NEW YORK — Mark Teixeira says that he is already about 10 pounds lighter thanks to diet and exercise, but what the Yankees first baseman really wants to do is bulk up his batting average from the left side.

Williams, Mueller among HOF ballot newcomers  —  NEW YORK — Former AL batting champions Bernie Williams and Bill Mueller are among 13 newcomers on baseball's 2012 Hall of Fame ballot, joining top holdovers Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, Lee Smith and Jeff Bagwell.

Cubs Reach Agreement With David DeJesus  —  The Cubs reached an agreement with outfielder David DeJesus, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  It's a two-year deal, tweets MLB.com's Jane Lee.  The Cubs confirmed the deal on Twitter, noting the inclusion of a club option for 2014.

Cards seek clarity in Pujols talks  —  While the market for free-agent first baseman Albert Pujols continued to develop Tuesday with news of the Chicago Cubs' interest, the Cardinals are hoping that their chance of re-signing the three-time MVP gains clarity in the next couple of weeks so they can move forward or move on.

Giants Trying To Trade Affeldt Or Ramon Ramirez  —  The Giants have a ton of money tied up in the bullpen right now, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, so they're trying to move Jeremy Affeldt or Ramon Ramirez.  Many teams seek bullpen help, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers …

Guillen: “I'd play for me.”  —  The Miami Marlins manager says what he feels — not what you want to hear  —  “I named my bulldog DH because he's lazy,” says Guillen.  —  *"If you are engaged to a girl for eight years and she asks if you're going to marry her and you say no, then it's not going to work.

Baseball America honors Melvin  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  Just got my new issue of Baseball America in the mail today and it's their annual awards double-issue.  In it, they salute Brewers general manager Doug Melvin as their 2011 major league executive of the year.

Lingering knee discomfort has Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison wondering if he needs surgery  —  Logan Morrison's right knee took a beating in 2011 - from a bad cut that required five stitches to two separate collisions against outfield walls.  —  But nearly two months after the season ended …

Astros must go all out to land Friedman  —  You're Jim Crane.  You just bought the Astros.  You want Andrew Friedman to be your general manager.  —  What should you do?  —  Offer Friedman autonomy, the title of his choosing, a five-year, $20 million contract, maybe even equity in the club.