Check out Mini-Ballbug for simple mobiles or Ballbug Mobile for modern smartphones.
5:55 PM ET, January 5, 2015

Ballbug

 Top News: 
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Big-money James?  Market for Shields is strong, unpredictable  —  FOX Sports  —  Free-agent pitcher James Shields seems on track to get a contract worth $100 million.  The question is from what team.  —  Think the Max Scherzer market is a mystery?  Try figuring out which team is getting James Shields.
RELATED:
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Club still looking to improve rotation through trade or free agency  —  Ken Rosenthal discusses contract expectations for James Shields, prospective deals for the Yankees and Hall of Fame voting  —  ARLINGTON — The Rangers met with free agent pitcher James Shields during the Winter Meetings last month …
Discussion: Lone Star Ball and HardballTalk
MLB:
Phillies, P Harang agree to 1-year, $5M deal  —  The Philadelphia Phillies and pitcher Aaron Harang have agreed to a one-year, $5 million deal, the team announced Monday.  —  The 36-year-old right-hander had a bounce-back season after signing with the Atlanta Braves before last season, finishing 12-12 with a 3.57 ERA in 33 starts.
RELATED:
Jerry Crasnick / MLB:
Former Phillies closer Madson joins Royals  —  Former Philadelphia Phillies closer Ryan Madson has agreed to a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals that includes an invitation to major league spring training camp, the team announced Sunday.  —  Madson, 34, is 47-30 with a 3.59 ERA …
Espn Com / MLB:
ESPN's 2015 Hall of Fame ballot  —  The Baseball Hall of Fame will announce the Baseball Writers' Association of America election results at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday.  Seventeen voters from ESPN submitted ballots this year, and their votes are listed below.  —  The eligible players needed …
Discussion: baseballmusings.com
RELATED:
Anthony DiComo / MLB.com:
Catcher fell short on first two ballots, but believes career speaks for itself
Discussion: Metsblog
Jerry Green / The Detroit News:
Hall of Fame voting is serious business
Mike Klingaman / Baltimore Sun:
Hank Peters, former Orioles GM, dies at 90  —  Not one to show emotion, Orioles general manager Hank Peters whooped it up one mid-October day in 1983.  That afternoon, Baltimore clinched the World Series with a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.  That evening, Peters learned …
Roch Kubatko / School of Roch:
Rasmus, Aoki and Ethier still among Orioles' outfield options  —  While the Orioles apparently still rate Colby Rasmus as their likeliest choice among available left-handed hitting outfielders, they haven't eliminated two others from the discussion.  —  They maintain a lower level of interest …
RELATED:
Dan Connolly / Baltimore Sun:
Orioles notes and observations on Ryan Webb and free agent Colby Rasmus
Discussion: MLB Trade Rumors and HardballTalk
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Braves' rebuild will hinge on success of young pitchers  —  FOX Sports  —  Star outfielders Jason Heyward and Justin Upton have been replaced in Atlanta by a handful of talented but unproven young pitchers.  —  It has become a common refrain among rival executives this offseason:
Discussion: Metsblog and Gaslamp Ball
RELATED:
Mark Bowman / MLB.com:
Loss of Heyward, J-Up will be felt, but gains strengthen club's future
Discussion: Talking Chop
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Mets Re-Sign Buddy Carlyle To Minor League Deal  —  The Mets announced that they have re-signed right-hander Buddy Carlyle to a minor league contract with an invite to big league Spring Training.  Carlyle is a client of Octagon.  —  Caryle, 37, made a surprising return to he Majors at age 36 …
Discussion: Amazin' Avenue
RELATED:
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
White Sox To Sign Emilio Bonifacio  —  9:00am: Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com tweets that Bonifacio will earn $3MM in 2015, and the option is valued at $4MM with a $1MM buyout.  —  8:36am: Bonifacio's contract also contains a club option for the 2016 season, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
RELATED:
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
White Sox prospect hopes to become GM after his playing career is done
Jon Paul Morosi / Fox Sports:
MLB highly unlikely to adopt pitch clock in 2015  —  FOX Sports  —  Take your time, Clayton Kershaw.  MLB isn't likely to adopt a pitch clock any time soon.  —  Major League Baseball is highly unlikely to institute a 20-second pitch clock for the 2015 regular season, sources say, following a trial during the Arizona Fall League.
Nick CafardoGLOBE / BostonGlobe.com:
In 2015, Red Sox' climb out of cellar among storylines to follow  —  While we can never be sure what major issues will evolve from year to year in major league baseball, we will attempt to recognize the ones that may develop in 2015:  —  1. Alex Rodriguez returns — After serving …
Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com:
Son of former big league star a top international prospect, next in long line of swinging Guerreros  —  Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is looking for big league success like his father, Vlad, a former All-Star.  —  DON GREGORIO, Dominican Republic — The lonely dirt road that leads to the famous iron door …
Discussion: Amazin' Avenue and Metsblog
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Ballbug at 5:55 PM ET, January 5, 2015.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 See Also: 
Ballbug: site main
Ballbug River: reverse chronological Ballbug
Ballbug Mobile: for phones
Ballbug Leaderboard: Ballbug's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Ballbug RSS feed
 
 
 More News: 
John Manuel / Baseball America:
2015 Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects
Rob Neyer / Fox Sports:
IS THERE ROOM IN TODAY'S BASEBALL FOR ANOTHER TONY GWYNN SR.?
Discussion: baseballmusings.com
Jamal Collier / MLB.com:
Royals left fielder expected to be ready for Opening Day
Discussion: Baseball Essential
 Earlier Picks: 
Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com:
Beat reporter Gregor Chisholm fields Blue Jays fans' questions
Discussion: HardballTalk
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Yankees finally have the prospects to make something happen
 

 
From WeSmirch:

Liz Jassin / NewsNation:
Diddy court witness says he saw 8 sex tapes with at least 2 celeb minors

Mikael Wood / Los Angeles Times:
Mariah Carey is (almost) ready to bring Christmas to you

Erik Ortiz / NBC News:
Young Thug changes plea to guilty in Georgia's longest-running criminal trial

 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page