Market for Pujols is a question  —  Image  —  DALLAS  • Albert Pujols possesses more than 400 home runs in 11 seasons, three NL Most Valuable Player awards, two Gold Gloves and widespread recognition as the game's best player.  —  Unclear is whether the superstar free-agent first baseman …

Ron Santo Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by Golden Era Committee  —  Chicago Third Baseman to Be Inducted in Cooperstown, July 22, 2012  —  DALLAS, TX — Ron Santo, a nine-time All-Star who amassed 342 home runs and five Gold Glove awards, has been elected to the National Baseball Hall …

Five teams in hunt for C.J. Wilson  —  The Rangers are one of five teams in the hunt for free-agent left-hander C.J. Wilson, but they might have to offer six years to snag him.  —  A major-league source said that one of the other four suitors has made an offer of six years.

Questions rampant at winter meetings  —  DALLAS  —  Before Scott Boras calls his first news conference, before mystery teams wrest Albert Pujols from the Marlins' moneyed hands, before caffeine-fueled conversations beget multimillion-dollar deals, I'd like to offer the following advice:

Phillies Interested in Ramirez  —  The Phillies are preparing for life without Jimmy Rollins.  —  Sources confirmed Monday they are seriously pursuing free agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez.  —  Ruben Amaro Jr. has said the “shortstop situation” is his top remaining priority this offseason …

Source: Red Sox cool on Bill Buckner  —  DALLAS — New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine wants to add Bill Buckner to his coaching staff and the former Boston first baseman wants the job, but the team's front office is resistant to the idea, a source close to Buckner said.

APNewsBreak: MLB Avg Salary Up 2.7 Pct to $3.1M  —  DALLAS (AP) — The average major league salary increased 2.7 percent this year to nearly $3.1 million, the largest rise since 2008.  —  The 913 players on Aug. 31 rosters and disabled lists averaged $3,095,183, the Major League Baseball Players Association …

Source: Dodgers closing in on deal with Harang  —  DALLAS — The Los Angeles Dodgers are close to an agreement with free-agent right-hander Aaron Harang, a deal that would give them a rotation full of established starters and likely would push rookie Nathan Eovaldi to the bullpen or the minor leagues to begin the season.

Meetings update: Transcript of Maddon media session  —  Maddon with his new brown hair, talking in the meda room.  Photo by Marc Topkin.  —  Here is the MLB-provided transcript of Rays manager Joe Maddon's 30-minute session with the media on Monday:  —  Q. Could you kind of just contrast …

Pirates, Mariners Interested In Jeff Francis  —  12:09pm: The Mariners are also interested in Francis, tweets Morosi.  Additionally, the Ms have interest in old favorite Jamie Moyer.  —  11:19am: The Pirates are among the teams with interest in free agent lefty Jeff Francis, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

Teams interested in Murphy, Mets like Dirks  —  Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Tigers, Blue Jays and Padres have contacted the Mets about Daniel Murphy.  —  In addition, Sherman says the Mets like Tigers outfielder Andy Dirks as a possible alternative to Angel Pagan in centerfield.