Top News:
Steve DeShazo / Sports and stuff:
Maine signs with Red Sox — John Maine will have a new team and a new role in 2012. — The Boston Red Sox confirmed Friday that they have signed Maine, a North Stafford High School graduate, to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training.
Discussion:
Over the Monster, Surviving Grady, SoxProspects News, Boston Globe, SI Tracking Blog, NESN.com and MLB Rumors
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Associated Press:
Red Sox tickets go digital to foil scalping — BOSTON—The Boston Red Sox are going to a new digital ticketing system for the cheapest seats at Fenway Park to keep them out of the hands of scalpers. — Fans with seats in the $12 upper bleacher section for high-demand games will receive only digital tickets.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com and Associated Press
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
Source: Oswalt likely to sign with Cards ‘soon’ — Free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt has elected to remain in the National League and is likely to sign with theSt. Louis Cardinals “soon,” a major league source said late Friday night. — Presumably, any agreement would be pending a physical for Oswalt …
Joe McDonald / ESPN:
Healthy Youkilis talks Bobby V, ‘witch hunt’
Discussion:
Boston Globe and NESN.com
Fox Sports:
MLB may still add wild cards in '12 — Baseball still could add two wild cards for the 2012 season, according to major-league sources. But to expand the postseason so quickly, the sport must confront a scheduling puzzle that might be impossible to solve. — Union and management officials plan …
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, Denver Post and HardballTalk
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Associated Press:
Source: MLB to decide division ties with one-game playoff — NEW YORK (AP) — A person familiar with the talks says baseball players and owners have reached an understanding that ties for division titles will be broken on the field under the new playoff format.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Bill Shaikin / Dodgers Blog:
Mark Cuban, Dennis Gilbert out of Dodgers' ownership derby — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and local baseball executive Dennis Gilbert did not advance to the second round of the Dodgers' ownership bidding, according to two people familiar with the process but not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Eye on Baseball and Chad Moriyama
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Associated Press:
Report: Dodgers begin narrowing bids — NEW YORK — Hedge fund head Steven Cohen and groups including Joe Torre and Magic Johnson have survived the first round of cuts in bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers. — Initial bids were submitted Monday to the financial firm handling the sale by Frank McCourt …
Discussion:
Dodgers Blog, ESPN and HardballTalk
Anthony M. Destefano / Newsday:
Picard seeks $83M payback from Mets owners — The trustee in the Bernard Madoff case wants a federal judge to order the owners of the New York Mets to fork over $83 million in fictitious profits received in the giant Ponzi scheme without having to wait for a scheduled March trial, new court filings show.
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue, ESPN, MetsBlog.com and NY Daily News
Jerry Crasnick / MLB:
Sources: Penny considering pitching in Japan — Veteran right-handed pitcher Brad Penny is weighing an opportunity to pitch in Japan, two baseball sources said Friday. Penny, 33 and a veteran of 12 seasons in the major leagues, has had discussions with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan's Pacific League, sources said.
Discussion:
Baseball Nation, MLB Rumors and Eye on Baseball
Kevin Kernan / New York Post:
Yankees interested in Ibanez — The Yankees have their pitching pieces in place, now it's time to come up with one more left-handed bat. — The Yankees officially announced yesterday the signing of free agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year deal worth $10 million with another million in incentives.
Discussion:
Mike Silva's …, The LoHud Yankees Blog, River Avenue Blues, Pinstripe Alley and MLB Rumors
John Shea / San Francisco Chronicle:
Got something to say to Lew Wolff? Show up Sunday — You think the A's are ignoring their East Bay fan base? You think San Jose is a better fit? You still wondering why All-Star pitchers Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey are gone? You want Manny Ramirez as your DH?
Discussion:
Oakland Athletics and Eye on Baseball
Baseball America:
Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects (How to subscribe) … At first glance, the Mariners' 2011 season wasn't much better than the year before, which was arguably the worst in franchise history. They finished 67-95, the third-worst record in baseball, had a 17-game losing streak and wound …
Discussion:
Seattle Times, Lookout Landing and U.S.S. Mariner
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