Nationals aggressively shopping Lannan  —  The Washington Nationals, even after acquiring left-hander Gio Gonzalez and signing him to a five-year, $42 million extension, might not be done adjusting their starting rotation.  —  The team is aggressively shopping left-hander John Lannan, according to major-league sources.

Steven Cohen, Dodgers bidder, may buy a piece of the Mets  —  The billionaire investor, in the running for purchase of the Dodgers, is on the verge of buying a share of the Mets.  If he were to buy the Dodgers, he would have sell any interest in the Mets.  —  Billionaire investor Steven Cohen …

Dear Brian Cashman, I Am Wearing Your Pajama Pants In Your Mistress's Living Room  —  Back in October, Deadspin acquired photos that showed Brian Cashman, general manager of the Yankees, meeting with an alleged girlfriend in February 2009.  Soon after that story ran, we were tipped off that Cashman …

Tampa Bay Rays, pitcher Jeff Niemann set to begin arbitration hearing  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Neither side particularly wants to be in a hotel room today, arguing over how much pitcher Jeff Niemann should be worth to the Rays this season.  —  But the lack of an agreement by the Jan. 17 filing deadline led …

Designated hitter skews home-run totals  —  No question, baseball's home run records are tarnished by those who spent part of their careers with artificially enhanced bodies, or have been suspected of it.  —  That said, why don't folks talk much — if at all — about that other great evil in this regard called the designated hitter?

ARREST ORDER ISSUED THEN REVOKED FOR PADILLA  —  According to La Prensa newspaper in Nicaragua, pitcher Vicente Padilla — who signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox earlier this month — had an arrest warrant issued for his failure to show up in court for a child support hearing, only to have the arrest order revoked later.

Inbox: Do Giants have sluggers on horizon?  —  Beat reporter Chris Haft answers fans' questions  —  I am a dyed-in-the-wool Giants fan.  I love our pitchers and putting money into the assets we already have.  We won our first World Series in 56 years with them.  But I miss the sluggers.

Mets still looking for left-handed bat  —  The Mets are still interested in a left-handed hitting outfielder, CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman said last night on Twitter.  —  According to Heyman, at present, “the team appears to be trying to scrounge up the money.”

How are wins, attendance and payroll all related?  —  “...there are rich teams and there are poor teams.  Then there's fifty feet of crap.  And then there's us.”  — Moneyball (2011)  —  The release of Moneyball helped bring baseball economics into the mainstream.

Power rankings: No. 15 Blue Jays  —  Blue Jays are just 1 blockbuster trade away (think Votto)  —  Joey Votto hits a home run.  (Harry E. Walker / MCT Photo)  —  On Baseball  —  No. 15 Blue Jays: 16th in a series counting down to spring training.  Next: Dodgers.  —  One more year, two at the most.

Verducci Effect: Fact or Fake?  —  It's that time of year again!  No, I'm not talking about that rascally Puxatawny Phil (though his predictions may be more accurate than the ones I'm about to discuss).  Rather, it's that time of year for the “Year After Effect” (or the “Verducci Effect") to start making the rounds.