Reds Avoid Arbitration With Aroldis Chapman  —  9:20am: Chapman settled at an $8.05MM figure, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.  That sum is a fairly sizable $375K higher than the midpoint of the two figures, suggesting that the Reds may have been particularly motivated to avoid a hearing.

Right-hander appeared in 14 games for independent league T-Bones in 2014  —  Alex Gordon's younger brother, Derek, a 6-foot-6 right-hander, was signed from the Kansas City T-Bones.  —  KANSAS CITY — Left fielder Alex Gordon will have a very familiar face hanging around Spring Training this year.

Joe Blanton Signs Minor League Deal With Royals  —  10:40am: The Royals have announced the signing, noting that Blanton will be in Major League Spring Training.  Heyman adds that Blanton can receive $3MM worth of incentives, and his contract contains opt-out clauses on April 1 and May 15.

James Shields' agent on contract negotiations: We didn't overreach  —  FOX Sports  —  James Shields' agent says his client ‘has been one of the best pitchers in the game for eight years,’ so when it comes to his contract negotiation, 'I don't understand what “overreached” means.'

Is scrutiny of Taveras patch proper?  —  Cardinals' memorial raises questions about how teams honor the deceased  —  Oscar Taveras was over the legal limit when he and his girlfriend were killed in a car accident.  —  Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to spring training camps …

Phillies continue to have trouble dealing Papelbon  —  FOX Sports  —  Trading Jonathan Papelbon continues to be a problem for the Phillies.  —  To illustrate the difficulty that the Phillies are experiencing in trying to trade Jonathan Papelbon, consider a recent turn in their discussions with the Brewers.

Pitcher's revised plan included mixing in high fastball  —  Adam Ottavino discusses the importance of Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez to the Rockies and the challenges of playing at Coors Field  —  DENVER — The metrics tell Rockies right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino to go for the high hard one.

Ray Rice issues statement thanking Baltimore, apologizing for domestic-violence incident  —  As the one-year anniversary of his high-profile domestic-violence incident approaches this weekend, former Ravens star running back Ray Rice issued a statement Friday morning to The Baltimore Sun.

Astros Discussing Minors Deal With Joe Thatcher  —  The Astros are interested in Joe Thatcher and a source tells Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) that he believes Houston will sign the veteran left-hander to a minor league contract.  Another source says no deal is done …

Belleville grad/MLB umpire Cuzzi promoted  —  Belleville native Phil Cuzzi, who has been a full time, Major League Baseball Umpire for 16 years, has been promoted to the second man in his crew rotation, starting this upcoming season.  —  Cuzzi will work on the usual four-man crew …

Pioneering Toronto Star baseball writer Alison Gordon dead at 72  —  Gordon, who covered the Blue Jays for the Star from 1979 to 1984, was Major League Baseball's first female beat writer.  —  Alison Gordon, shown here in 2001, was the Toronto Star's Blue Jays' beat writer from 1979-84.

Gallardo, Ludwick prominent veterans acquired after club's tough 2014 season  —  Yovani Gallardo was durable and made the adjustments necessary to remain effective in 2014 and he could be due for another solid season  —  ARLINGTON — When a team loses 95 games, there are bound to be new faces in Spring Training the next season.

As Scott Walker mulls White House bid, questions linger over college exit  —  (Family Photo/For The Washington Post)  —  MILWAUKEE — Scott Walker was gone.  Dropped out.  And in the spring of his senior year.  —  In 1990, that news stunned his friends at Marquette University.

Matt Harvey: A-Rod's return is ‘exciting, good for baseball’  —  PORT ST. LUCIE - Matt Harvey is busy forging his comeback from Tommy John surgery, but he is keeping an eye on the Alex Rodriguez saga with the Yankees.  He offered words of support to Rodriguez, who apologized to Yankees brass on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.