Top News:
C. Trent Rosecrans / Eye on Baseball:
Yankees agree to trade Montero for Pineda — So much for that quiet Yankees winter. New York has finally made its move for a pitcher, agreeing to trade for right-hander Michael Pineda from the Mariners in exchange for top prospect Jesus Montero, CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman reports.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, U.S.S. Mariner and WasWatching.com
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Greg Johns / MLB.com:
Mariners, Yanks nearing Pineda, Montero swap — SEATTLE — A quiet offseason for the Mariners and Yankees is about to get a lot louder as the teams are in the process of finalizing a four-player trade that would swap two of the Major League's top young prospects — power-hitting catcher Jesus Montero …
Discussion:
Seattle Mariners blog and Lookout Landing
Mark Polishuk / MLB Rumors:
Mariners, Yankees Swap Pineda For Montero — The Mariners needed hitting, the Yankees needed pitching. The two teams addressed each other's needs in a blockbuster trade of young stars, as right-handers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos will go to the Bronx in exchange for catcher/DH Jesus Montero and righty Hector Noesi.
Discussion:
NESN.com, River Avenue Blues, New Jersey Online and FenwayNation
Mark Polishuk / MLB Rumors:
Yankees Agree To Terms With Hiroki Kuroda — The Yankees have agreed to a one-year contract with Hiroki Kuroda, pending a physical, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link). The deal will pay Kuroda between $10-$11MM in 2012.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, MLB Daily Dish and Bronx Baseball Daily
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Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Asking Price Drops For Oswalt, Kuroda, Jackson — The asking prices for top free agent starters have dropped significantly, ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweets. Roy Oswalt is said to be asking for $8MM, Hiroki Kuroda's asking for $10-11MM and Edwin Jackson's asking price has also dropped.
Jayson Stark / MLB:
Stark: New CBA, luxury tax affecting free-agent market — Why the Yankees and Red Sox aren't spending big on free agents this offseason — Here's a little offseason quiz for you. The biggest-name free agent the Yankees have signed this winter from outside their organization was:
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Sports of Boston and Seattle Times
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Baseball Insider:
Red Sox invite Varitek to camp; hes weighing it — Respected longtime Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek has been invited by the team to come to camp as a non-roster player with only an outside chance to make the team, and Varitek seems likely to decide between accepting that invitation or retiring, people familiar with his situation said.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, MLB Rumors, HardballTalk and Eye on Baseball
Bruce Levine / ESPN:
Kerry Wood, Cubs agree on 1-year deal — The Chicago Cubs and Kerry Wood have agreed to a one-year contract with a club option for 2013, the team announced Friday at the Cubs Convention, the club's annual fan festival. — The deal is worth $3 million, according to a source.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Yahoo! Sports and MLB
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Mark Polishuk / MLB Rumors:
Braves Avoid Arbitration With Martin Prado — The Braves have agreed to a one-year, $4.75MM contract with Martin Prado, avoiding arbitration with the infielder, reports MLB.com's Mark Bowman (both Twitter links). The $4.75MM figure was slightly higher than the $4.4MM projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz as Prado's 2012 salary.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Talking Chop and HardballTalk
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
Prince Fielder meets Friday with Texas Rangers about deal — The Texas Rangers are having a face-to-face meeting Friday afternoon with free-agent slugger Prince Fielder at a Dallas-area hotel, USA TODAY has learned. — Fielder and Jon Daniels were both in the hotel lobby together …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Fox Sports, JSOnline and Federal Baseball
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Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Tampa Bay Rays won't limit search for another bat to first basemen — Andrew Friedman prefers a deep pool of options. — ST. PETERSBURG — With Luke Scott signed and set for everyday duty, the Rays are now focused on adding another hitter to complete the planned upgrade of their offense.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
Gerry Fraley / Rangers Blog:
Roy Oswalt on Rangers' radar; Ryan optimistic Darvish will sign — ARLINGTON — The Rangers could add two more starting pitchers. — As what team president Nolan Ryan labeled promising negotiations with Japanese righthander Yu Darvish continue, the Rangers have also made inquiries …
Discussion:
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, MLB Daily Dish, HardballTalk, Lone Star Ball, MLB Rumors and mlbbuzz
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Richard Durrett / ESPN:
Rangers CEO ‘optimistic’ about signing Darvish
Discussion:
Baseball Nation and Yahoo! Sports
