Inside the Phillies: Phillies' deal for Howard not all that bad in light of Pujols and Fielder situations  —  DALLAS - Imagine, for a second, that this free-agent market being sorted through at the Hilton Anatole included a third high-profile first baseman.  —  That's what would have happened …

Source: Darvish to be posted Thursday  —  A day long anticipated by major league teams finally has arrived.  —  Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish will be posted on Thursday, taking the first step toward pitching in the majors next season, according to a source familiar with his plans.

Kelly Johnson accepts Blue Jays' arbitration offer  —  Toronto second baseman Kelly Johnson will remain with the team after accepting an offer of salary arbitration.  —  Johnson had until 11 p.m. CST to take the offer.  He made $5.85 million last season.  —  The Blue Jays got him from Arizona …

Marlins To Sign Mark Buehrle  —  The Marlins' heavy offseason spending continued today, as they agreed to sign lefty Mark Buehrle to a four-year, $58MM deal, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The durable lefty will head to the National League for the first time in his career to bolster Miami's rotation.

Clubs eyeing undervalued talent in Rule 5 Draft  —  Unprotected Minor Leaguers can be taken by others Thursday  —  DALLAS — The final act of the Winter Meetings — the Rule 5 Draft — might seem to be an anticlimactic conclusion every December, what with all the talk of free-agent signings and trade rumors.

NY Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese is on Yankees' shopping list  —  Yankees among teams looking into Mets' starting pitcher  —  Mets find Jonathon Niese draws interest from Yankees as well as Boston, San Diego, Colorado and Toronto.  —  DALLAS — As of Wednesday night, the Mets had not decided whether …

Ortiz accepts arbitration from Red Sox  —  DALLAS — It's official, David Ortiz has accepted salary arbitration from the Red Sox, according to a team source.  That binds him to the team for 2012 with at least a one-year contract.  —  The sides can continue to work on a multi-year deal up until conceivably February.

Bucs swing deal to acquire Navarro  —  The Pirates made a trade late on Wednesday to acquire infielder Yamaico Navarro from the Royals in exchange for Minor Leaguers Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris.  Pittsburgh will officially add Navarro to the 40-man roster on Thursday …

Moore interested in long-term deal for Gordon  —  DALLAS — Getting left fielder Alex Gordon's name on a long-term contract is being explored by Royals general manager Dayton Moore.  —  “We respect Alex a great deal in what he's accomplished here,” Moore said Wednesday at the Winter Meetings.

Huston Street says trade from Rockies to Padres is “bittersweet”  —  DALLAS — Huston Street heard the rumors, read the stories, received the text messages.  He knew his days with the Rockies were numbered given the team's bullpen depth and desire to use his money to pursue a veteran starter or everyday player.

Bobby Valentine touches on some topics ... and says he hates the Yankees  —  DALLAS — Bobby Valentine did a session with the media just now and after a few questions, Bob Klapisch of The Record in New Jersey asked him about facing the Yankees.  —  A smiling Valentine cut him off.

Melvin: K-Rod not a miscalculation  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  Dallas - Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said the club did not make a miscalculation when it offered salary arbitration to free-agent reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who accepted Wednesday night before the 11 p.m. deadline.

Photo: Jose Reyes in a Marlins hat, thanks the Mets  —  “I have to thank the New York Mets for giving me the opportunity to play in the big leagues,” Jose Reyes said this afternoon, while wearing his new Marlins hat and jersey.  “Right now, I'm really excited and happy to go to Miami.I'm part of this family now, and I have to move on.”