Top News:
ESPN:
Angels Land Pujols — DALLAS — The Los Angeles Angels have landed the two biggest prizes of the offseason. — First, Albert Pujols agreed to a 10-year deal for at least $250 million with the team, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney on Thursday.
Discussion:
LA Times Sports Blog, Batter's Box Interactive …, New York Magazine, ESPN and Plain Dealer
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Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Sources: Albert Pujols talks ongoing — DALLAS — For four days, the parade of bidders has traipsed through the winter meetings hotel suite of Albert Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano. But when the meetings end Thursday, it's now clear that Pujols' negotiations will be far from over, sources told ESPN.com.
Discussion:
Athletics Nation, Halos Heaven, River Avenue Blues, Phillies Nation, ESPN and USA Today
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Angels To Sign C.J. Wilson — Lefty C.J. Wilson will join Albert Pujols in Los Angeles, as the Angels continue a surprising free agent spending spree. The Halos completed a deal with Wilson today, learned Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It's a five-year, $77.5MM contract …
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Baseball Nation, Lone Star Ball, 6-4-2 and Pinstripe Alley
Tim Brown / Yahoo! Sports:
Pujols agrees to terms with Angels on landmark deal — Albert Pujols(notes), the heart and hammer of the St. Louis Cardinals for more than a decade, will leave St. Louis and sign with the Los Angeles Angels, a person with knowledge of the deal told Yahoo! Sports.
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Deadspin
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Angels To Sign Albert Pujols — The Angels are the bridesmaid no more. Albert Pujols will sign with the Angels for ten years and $250-260MM, reports Yahoo's Tim Brown. He'll receive a full no-trade clause. Pujols decided this morning, writes Brown. The contract will be the second …
Discussion:
New York Times, SI Tracking Blog and Baseball Nation
Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com:
Angels land both Pujols and Wilson — Iconic slugger departs St. Louis; lefty goes home to West Coast — DALLAS — The Angels' huge Winter Meetings splash didn't stop with Thursday's stunning agreement with Albert Pujols. They also came to terms on a deal with free-agent left-hander C.J. Wilson.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
Fox Sports:
Angels in lengthy negotiation for Pujols — The most compelling question of the baseball offseason — Where is Albert Pujols going to sign? — isn't nearly as straightforward as it seemed. — Sources told FOXSports.com on Wednesday evening that the Los Angeles Angels …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Halos Heaven, Baseball Nation, Viva El Birdos and Sports Illustrated
Philly.com:
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 …
MLB:
Marlins, lefty Buehrle agree to four-year deal
Discussion:
Twinkie Town, Globe and Mail, Federal Baseball, ESPN and baseballmusings.com
Bill Madden / NY Daily News:
Miami Marlins out of running for Albert Pujols, turn attention to Prince Fielder
Discussion:
HardballTalk, CBSSports.com Blogs and Eye on Baseball
Jayson Stark / ESPN.com:
Sources: Marlins want pitching if Pujols says no
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Viva El Birdos, Lone Star Ball, Pinstripe Alley, Phillies Nation, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN, HardballTalk, MLB, NESN.com and St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
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.
Discussion:
Federal Baseball, Talking Chop, South Side Sox, Chicago Tribune, The Crawfish Boxes, Twinkie Town, Twins Geek and Minor League Ball
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J.J. Cooper / Baseball America:
2011 Rule 5 Draft Results — Here are the results of the 2011 Rule 5 draft. — Team — Player, Pos. — Old Team — 1. Astros — Rhiner Cruz, rhp — Mets — A hard-throwing righthander who has impressed in winter ball (14 strikeouts in 11 innings with reports that he's touching the high 90s).
Discussion:
Where Have You Gone …
Susan Slusser / San Francisco Chronicle:
Blue Jays enter the Gio Gonzalez sweepstakes — Dallas — Toronto became the latest team to join the Gio Gonzalez fray at baseball's winter meetings, and the Blue Jays just might be a fine match for the A's All-Star left-hander. — The Blue Jays and A's are frequent trade partners …
Discussion:
Batter's Box Interactive …, MLB Rumors and NESN.com
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Richard Griffin / Toronto Star:
Kelly Johnson to accept Jays arbitration offer
Discussion:
Globe and Mail and Batter's Box Interactive …
Fox Sports:
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.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
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Steve Adams / MLB Rumors:
Yu Darvish To Be Posted Thursday — Nippon-Ham Fighters ace Yu Darvish will be posted tomorrow, tweets agent Don Nomura. Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweets confirmation from Darvish himself, while NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman provides a translation of Darvish's message to fans.
Discussion:
Oakland Athletics, Rangers Blog, NPB Tracker, Amazin' Avenue, Bluebird Banter and Yahoo! Sports
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
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.
Discussion:
South Side Sox, Pinstripe Alley, The Big Lead, MLB Daily Dish, Baseball Nation, Fish Stripes and River Avenue Blues
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Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
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.
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus, Over the Monster, Bless You Boys, HardballTalk, FanGraphs Baseball and ESPN
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
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.”
Discussion:
Fish Stripes
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