Rangers' revival is gaining steam  —  The Yu Darvish contract drama will end this week.  Our fascination with the Texas Rangers will not.  —  For a once-irrelevant franchise, that's an achievement to rival the consecutive pennants.  —  Darvish and the Rangers must agree on a deal by 5 p.m. ET Wednesday …

An interview with Robert Creamer  —  He was born when Babe Ruth was in just his third season as a Yankee slugger.  He went to his first baseball game when John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson were still managing.  His tenure at Sports Illustrated began months before the first issue of the magazine printed in 1954.

Erick Aybar, Angels do one-year deal  —  The Los Angeles Angels have shelved discussions about a long-term contract with Erick Aybar, at least for now, by agreeing Tuesday to a one-year deal with the Gold Glove shortstop to avoid arbitration.  —  The deal is for $5.075 million, a source told ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com's Enrique Rojas.

Report: Reds, Ludwick reach 1-year, $2.5M deal  —  Ryan Ludwick and the Cincinnati Reds agreed to a $2.5 million, one-year contract Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.  —  Ludwick  —  The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday night …

Choo part of trio avoiding arbitration with Tribe  —  Cabrera, Perez among four players on path to February hearing  —  CLEVELAND — The Indians avoided arbitration with three players on Tuesday, signing right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, third baseman Jack Hannahan and reliever Joe Smith to one-year contracts.

Josh Lewin leading candidate to replace Wayne Hagin  —  According to Newsday's Neil Best, “Josh Lewin has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Wayne Hagin alongside Howie Rose in the Mets' radio booth.”  —  Last month, Mike Puma of the New York Post said WFAN recently auditioned Jim Duquette …

Herzog is off the disabled list  —  After his recovery from a serious fall in late September, Whitey Herzog finds himself reading a lot these days.  —  “I spend about 2½ hours reading the paper that's about a third as big as it used to be,” said Herzog.

Phillies and Cole Hamels avoid arbitration with $15 million deal  —  Cole Hamels is entering his final season of arbitration eligibility and the 28-year-old left-hander will avoid a hearing by agreeing to a one-year, $15 million deal with the Phillies.  —  Hamels earned $9.5 million last season …

Craig Counsell, the 1997 Marlins World Series hero, calls it a career  —  Congratulations to Craig Counsell, who is retiring today to take a job in the Milwaukee Brewers front office.  —  Counsell played all or part of 16 seasons, with just three of those in Florida.

Dodgers strike 1-year deals with Ethier, Loney  —  Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier and first baseman James Loney avoided arbitration on Tuesday by agreeing to terms on one-year contracts.  —  Ethier will receive $10.95 million this season and an additional $25,000 for each of 600 and 625 plate appearances.

Brewers Avoid Arbitration With Francisco Rodriguez  —  The Brewers announced they've avoided arbitration with reliever Francisco Rodriguez, signing the Scott Boras client to a one-year deal.  K-Rod had accepted the team's arbitration offer rather than continue as a free agent.

Cubs' apparent budgetary constraints stress need to find Next Big Thing  —  It seemed everyone at the Cubs Convention during the weekend wanted a bit of Theo Epstein's time.  Scott Stewart~Sun-Times  —  For all the new faces, packed ballrooms, countless autographs and hours of banter between fans …

White Sox Still Listening On Gavin Floyd  —  We haven't heard a ton about righty Gavin Floyd lately, but the White Sox are still listening on the soon-to-be 29-year-old, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  White Sox GM Kenny Williams has traded Carlos Quentin, Sergio Santos …

Rockies trade Smith to Oakland for two pitchers; offer deal to Jamie Moyer  —  Seth Smith spent the winter in wonderland.  On Monday, the questions and uncertainty ended.  —  With the outfielder viewed as a luxury item after the signing of free agent Michael Cuddyer, Smith was traded …