Top News:
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals sign All-Star Beltran — ST. LOUIS • All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran finalized a two-year deal with the Cardinals on Thursday evening, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to the Post-Dispatch. — The switch-hitting outfielder brings some desired depth …
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Mark Polishuk / MLB Rumors:
Cardinals Agree To Two-Year Deal With Carlos Beltran — The Cardinals have addressed the Albert Pujols-sized void in their lineup by agreeing to terms with free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran. The contract is a two-year, $26MM deal that includes a full no-trade clause and will be finalized once Beltran passes a physical.
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MLB:
Carlos Beltran, Cardinals agree — Free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran has reached an agreement on a two-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. — Beltran — The $26 million deal includes a full no-trade clause, a source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.
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baseballmusings.com, Faith and Fear in Flushing and Chicken Fried Baseball
Matthew Leach / MLB.com:
Beltran reaches two-year deal with Cards — ST. LOUIS — A familiar face on the other side of the diamond, Carlos Beltran is finally going to be on the Cardinals' side. — The six-time All-Star, coming off an impressive rebound season, agreed to terms on a two-year contract with St. Louis on Thursday evening, pending a physical.
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JSOnline
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals' talks with Beltran intensify
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Viva El Birdos, Beyond the Box Score, Baseball Nation and HardballTalk
Marc Topkin / The Heater Feed:
Would Rays and Beltran be a good match?
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MLB Daily Dish and MLB Rumors
ESPN.com:
Source: Nationals get Gio Gonzalez — Oakland Athletics left-hander Gio Gonzalez, highly coveted by a number of teams, was dealt to the Washington Nationals Thursday for four prospects, a team source told ESPN Insider Keith Law. — The Athletics will receive right-hander Brad Peacock …
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baseballmusings.com, ESPN, MLB.com, MLB, Yahoo! Sports and Batter's Box Interactive …
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Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
A's Talking Gio Gonzalez, Andrew Bailey — 3:02pm: Rival executives say the Nationals have the best chance at obtaining Gonzalez and some believe Danny Espinosa or Ian Desmond could be in play, according to Heyman. — 2:44pm: The Red Sox are trying to get Gonzalez and Bailey in a “monster deal,” tweets Rosenthal.
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Nationals To Acquire Gio Gonzalez
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HardballTalk, The LoHud Yankees Blog, Nationals Buzz, Federal Baseball and Angels blog
Dave Krieger / Denver Post:
Only fair to give Rockies some props in Hall voting — Strangely, the year before the Baseball Hall of Fame's year of the steroid abuser is the year of the Rockie. Three of them appear on the ballot for the class of 2012, constituting 11 percent of the nominees.
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Pinstripe Alley and HardballTalk
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Associated Press:
Yanks, Red Sox hit with luxury tax — The New York Yankees have been hit with a $13.9 million luxury tax bill, their lowest since 2003. — The fee, assessed Thursday by Major League Baseball under its labor contract, is down from $18 million last year and $25.7 million in 2009, when the Yankees won the World Series.
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Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Red Sox hit with $3.4 million luxury tax — The Red Sox have to pay $3.4 million in luxury tax to Major League Baseball, up from $1.5 million last season. The Associated Press obtained the figures. — The only other team over the limit were the Yankees, who were hit with a $13.9 million bill.
MLB.com:
MLB Network — Clubhouse Confidential serves as an open forum to discuss and debate the day's news and moves using modern statistical research and value projection. Don't understand the stats-speak? Check out the glossary of terms below. Catch up on highlights and interviews here.
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THE BOOK
JonPaulMorosi / mlbbuzz:
Trade market for Rockies' Smith taking shape — Rockies outfielder Seth Smith, expendable after the team signed Michael Cuddyer, is drawing trade interest from the Mariners, Athletics, Braves, Mets, and Rays, major-league sources said. — Smith could earn close to $3 million in salary arbitration …
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Baseball Nation, HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
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Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Mets among 5 teams interested in Rockies OF Seth Smith
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Amazin' Avenue
Joe Frisaro / The Fish Pond:
Stanton, Morrison off limits — MIAMI — With Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison regarded as “off limits,” the Marlins are finding it difficult to trade for frontline starting pitching. — Miami pursued Gio Gonzalez for more than a month, but Oakland's asking price always included either Stanton or Morrison.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
Shannon Drayer / MyNorthwest.com:
Why you do not trade Felix Hernandez right now — Listen: Should the Mariners trade Felix Hernandez? — Mariners insider Shannon Drayer joined Matt Pitman and Jim Moore on the Kevin Calabro Show, where they discussed the implications behind a potential Felix Hernandez trade.
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
New York Notes: Thole, Wright, Yankees — The Yankees and Mets play in baseball's biggest market, but both are in the midst of quiet offseasons, as our Free Agent Tracker shows. The Bronx Bombers re-signed Freddy Garcia and extended C.C. Sabathia after exercising options on Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano.
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New York Post, MetsBlog.com and Boston Globe
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Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Josh Thole says he has to prove himself every day
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SNY Why Guys
