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 …

MLB, MLBPA To Talk International Acquisitions  —  Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced that they formed a committee to discuss the development and acquisition of international players.  Sandy Alderson of the Mets, Andrew Friedman of the Rays and Kim Ng …

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.

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.

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 …

Giants bringing back Mota for third season  —  The San Francisco Giants are close to finalizing a $1 million, one-year deal with free-agent reliever Guillermo Mota, according to The Associated Press.  —  Both sides have agreed to terms and are waiting to complete a physical and final paperwork …

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.

Darvish bidding process is cloak-and-dagger affair  —  The Yu Darvish sweepstakes is turning into a spy novel.  An international man of mystery.  Exorbitant amounts of money.  Suspense.  Lies.  Subterfuge.  The only things missing are a shifty mole and a double cross.

Re-Evaluating the Rasmus Trade  —  When Alex Anthopoulos and the Toronto Blue Jays acquired center fielder Colby Rasmus for Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, and Marc Rzepczynski just before the Trade Deadline last summer, the blogosphere and Twitterverse were exploding with praise for Toronto.

Pirates To Sign Ryota Igarashi  —  The Pirates have agreed to sign right-handed reliever Ryota Igarashi to a split contract, according to a Jiji Press article passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker.  Igarashi, who spent the past two seasons with the Mets, is a Wasserman Media Group client.

An In-Depth Look at the Mets' Finances  —  The Mets' financial situation is worse than we thought.  I've written a few things over the last week or so, and during the process, I keep finding new facts alleged by the media about the dollars and cents — or lack thereof — which make this team run.

Cubs, Dodgers Interested In Coco Crisp  —  The Cubs and Dodgers have been in discussions with Coco Crisp to play left field, MLBTR has learned.  The 32-year-old hasn't played left regularly since 2005 with the Indians.  —  The Cubs' inquiry on Crisp is interesting, since …

Role still being finalized, but Bill Smith likely returning to Twins  —  4:05 p.m. Twin Cities Sports Update - with John Heidt  —  SportsWire Twins Role still being finalized, but Bill Smith likely returning to Twins  —  Former general manager Bill Smith appears to have rejoined the Minnesota Twins' organization.