Yorvit Torrealba suspended in Venezuela … Texas Rangers backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba has been suspended 66 games by the Venezuelan League for striking an umpire, league president Jose Grasso Vecchio announced Monday morning on Twitter.  —  The suspension covers the rest of this season …

Knuckleballs of Kilimanjaro: Dickey Plots Ascent  —  When he goes out for his daily run, Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey straps on a black mask covering his eyes, nose and mouth.  The guise has two distinct effects.  The first is to limit his oxygen intake, simulating the conditions at a high altitude.

Will David Wright situation force Bud Selig's hand when it comes to Mets?  —  First, a belated Merry Christmas to all of you.  I actually posted something Friday, but for some reason it never made it to the blog.  In short, I wore my Turk Wendell jersey around on Friday …

‘Rarity’ Fielder remains unsigned  —  Image  —  If a team potentially interested in free agent Prince Fielder wonders how his power production compares to Harmon Killebrew or how his durability ranks with Pete Rose, Ichiro Suzuki and newly announced Hall of Famer Ron Santo, all that team has to do it ask.

Offseason twists to continue into 2012  —  In a typical offseason, most teams would be done making big moves by now.  —  This is not a typical offseason.  —  The week between Christmas and New Year's Day tends to be quiet in the baseball industry, when front offices sit empty and trade chatter is silenced.

Red Sox pitching coach Bob McClure on The Big Show: ‘Kick ass and win’  —  New Red Sox pitching coach Bob McClure has seen the benefits of shifting starters to the bullpen.  (AP)  —  Asked to articulate his pitching philosophy in an interview on The Big Show, new Red Sox pitching coach Bob …

Cubs Agree To Sign Andy Sonnanstine  —  The Cubs have agreed to sign Andy Sonnanstine to a non-guaranteed split contract for the 2012 season, the team announced.  The Rays non-tendered the Beverly Hills Sports Council client earlier this month rather than give him a raise his second time through arbitration.

Red Sox can often be late risers  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  If anything will help the case of Varitek, who will turn 40 in April, it is that in a limited role last season — 64 starts — he tended to get pretty good results from the pitching staff.

MLB teams haven't finished shopping yet  —  You want established pitching?  Then you will pay through the nose for it.  —  That's the precedent set by the deals that transpired before Christmas: The Rangers won the posting bid for Japanese star Yu Darvish for $51.7 million …

An entertaining package to open on Christmas  —  NEW YORK - It looks like the Jets are out of the way, but brace yourself for some weeks, maybe months, of chest-thumping from your obnoxious friends from New York.  Make way for the Big Apple Frauds.  The Knicks think they are finally better than the Celtics.

MLB's new security chief understands danger — and baseball  —  NEW YORK - It's actually a boring job for the most part, being Major League Baseball's vice president for security.  A lot of chasing after counterfeiters and licensing violators.  A lot of crafting of memos and standardizing of procedure across all 30 teams.

Writer picks his Baseball Hall of Fame final four: Bagwell, Morris, Larkin, McGriff  —  This business of voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame gets harder for me every year.  —  That's quite a statement, considering this was only my second year of doing it.