Willingham signs 3-year, $21M deal with Twins … EDITIONS:  —  CITIES:  —  ESPN MLB  —  Shop  —  Josh Willingham passes Twins physical  —  ESPN.com  —  Veteran outfielder Josh Willingham passed his physical with the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, completing a three-year, $21 million deal with the club.

MLB, Union Form International Talent Committee, Move Toward International Draft  —  Major League Baseball has taken another step toward its goal of implementing an international draft.  —  MLB and the MLB Players' Association today announced they have formed an International Talent Committee …

Notebook: Rangers might grab Fielder with kick at the finish  —  If the Rangers do land Prince Fielder, they will likely look to move Mitch Moreland.  (Getty Images)  —  The early word was that lone remaining free-agent superstar Prince Fielder would shoot for a “Mark Teixeira contract,” meaning $180 million over eight years.

Sox get relief in deal  —  Melancon costs Lowrie, Weiland  —  Ben Cherington's first major trade since taking over for Theo Epstein as general manager of the Red Sox focused on a much-needed piece, the future closer.  —  Mark Melancon, once considered Mariano Rivera's successor …

Sources: Nakajima explores alternatives  —  If Japanese infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima does not want to play for the New York Yankees, there still might be a way for him to join a major-league team next season.  —  The Yankees could work a sign-and-trade involving Nakajima …

Twins Sign Steve Pearce, J.R. Towles  —  The Twins announced a major signing today, and GM Terry Ryan also stayed busy on the minor league front.  The Twins signed Steve Pearce and J.R. Towles to minor league deals, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter links).

The case for Pence as next season's NL MVP  —  While the Philadelphia sports universe awaits a decision on Jimmy Rollins' future, I have begun to think about the upcoming season and how the lineup will shake out with or without J-Roll.  —  Every time I engage in this mental exercise …

Source: Cubs bid on Yu Darvish  —  The Chicago Cubs are one of numerous teams to put in a bid on Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, according to a major league source.  —  Darvish, 25, was posted by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters earlier this week.  Bidding closed Wednesday, and the Ham Fighters have until Tuesday to accept a bid.

Sports today is all a twisted fantasy  —  This sure isn't the Golden Age of Sport.  —  I don't know what you'd call it — the Aluminum Age, the Strontium-90 Age? — but it's rare and shimmering only in the way a nuclear explosion is.  —  The 2011 MVP of Major League Baseball testing positive …

Braves Interested In Ronny Cedeno  —  The Braves are among the teams interested in free agent shortstop Ronny Cedeno, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).  The Peter E. Greenberg & Associates client has been on Atlanta's backup shortstop and utility list all offseason, O'Brien reports.

The Angels' Artie Moreno finishes first in ‘Dumb Owner of the Year’ balloting'  —  Winter baseball amuses us.  The winners and losers are out-numbered by the suckers.  Everyone is an all-star.  Hustle begets illusion.  Here in the land of the Bean and the Cod we know all about that stuff.