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ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports that Preston Wilson is on the hunt for a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Wilson, 35, played for the Long Island Ducks along with fellow former major league outfielders Lew Ford and George Lombard last year and hit .302/.344/.474 with seven homers in 48 games. He had…

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the Brewers and left-hander Doug Davis have agreed to terms on a one-year, $5.25 million contract with an option for 2011. The deal will pay Davis $4.25 million in 2010. The option for 2011 is worth $6.5 million and includes a $1 million buyout. It will be Davis’ second stint…

The Rockies are considering signing Paul Lo Duca to a minor league contract, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Such a deal would seem to give Lo Duca nothing more than a chance to prove he can still play. The Rockies would only have room for him on the major league roster if…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Atlanta Braves Rotation 1. Tim Hudson 2. Jair Jurrjens 3. Derek Lowe 4. Tommy Hanson 5. Kenshin Kawakami 6. Jo-Jo Reyes 7. Kris Medlen 8. James Parr 9. Todd Redmond 10. Kyle Cofield The Braves had one starter…

As we covered yesterday, there are more outfielders available than jobs open at the moment. The odds of anyone stepping up and offering Johnny Damon the two-year, $20 million+ deal he expected at the beginning of the offseason fall somewhere in between slim and none. Cincinnati is the one team that has an obvious need…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Toronto Blue Jays Rotation 1. Shaun Marcum 2. Ricky Romero 3. Brandon Morrow 4. Mark Rzepczynski 5. Brett Cecil 6. Scott Richmond 7. Brian Tallet 8. David Purcey 9. Dustin McGowan 10. Robert Ray 11. Brad Mills 12.…

Jim Edmonds, Jay Payton, Shannon Stewart, Luis Gonzalez, Geoff Jenkins. All had their careers cut short a year ago because teams decided to go young and cheap in the outfield. Edmonds and Jenkins are currently contemplating comebacks, but there’s still a crunch at the position, with few spots available and more than enough players to…

Clearing a 40-man roster spot for Brendan Donnelly, the Pirates on Monday traded infielder Brian Bixler to the Indians for fellow infielder Jesus Brito. The Pirates looked at Bixler as the most expendable player on their roster, and they had made it clear he wasn’t in their 2010 plans after they signed Bobby Crosby, giving…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Oakland Athletics Rotation 1. Justin Duchscherer 2. Dallas Braden 3. Brett Anderson 4. Trevor Cahill 5. Gio Gonzalez 6. Dana Eveland 7. Vin Mazzaro 8. Clay Mortensen 9. Lenny DiNardo 10. James Simmons Particularly since Duchscherer is such…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Houston Astros Rotation 1. Roy Oswalt 2. Wandy Rodriguez 3. Brett Myers 4. Bud Norris 5. Brian Moehler 6. Felipe Paulino 7. Yorman Bazardo 8. Wesley Wright 9. Gustavo Chacin 10. Polin Trinidad 11. Chris Sampson 12. Josh…

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Athletics have acquired third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and prospect Eric Sogard from the Padres out outfielders Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham. Kouzmanoff was long expected to be dealt, but this is a stunning destination for him given his horrible on-base percentages and seemingly overrated defense. Kouzmanoff made some…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Rotation 1. Jered Weaver 2. Joe Saunders 3. Ervin Santana 4. Scott Kazmir 5. Matt Palmer 6. Sean O’Sullivan 7. Anthony Ortega 8. Trevor Reckling 9. Trevor Bell 10. Tommy Mendoza The Angels…

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Matt Holliday will return to the Cardinals on a seven-year, $120 million contract, a deal that Holliday later confirmed on ESPN Radio. The contract becomes the fourth-largest ever given to an outfielder, behind Manny Ramirez’s eight-year, $160 million deal with Boston, Alfonso Soriano’s $136 million…

Anyone else see anything wrong here?

If there was ever a winter for the Mets to forgo their obsession with stars and improve their depth instead, this was the one. Injuries practically everywhere on the diamond devastated the team in 2009, forcing the team to turn to such non-entities as Angel Berroa, Lance Broadway and Wilson Valdez. It’s certainly true that…

The first alphabetically of the 26 players on the 2010 Hall of Fame ballot might also be the most qualified. Even with his stunning decline during the early portion of the decade, Roberto Alomar ranks first in the group in both the Bill James HOF Monitor and the HOF Standards list. He was named to…

The Mike Lowell-for-Max Ramirez deal is off, with the Rangers canceling the trade after a physical determined Boston’s third baseman would need surgery to repair a torn thumb ligament. The surgery has a recovery timetable of 6-8 weeks, so Lowell should be fine for the start of spring training. Still, the Rangers didn’t want to…

The Cubs finally got off their collective butts on Friday by pulling the trigger on the Milton Bradley-Carlos Silva deal and closing in on an agreement with Marlon Byrd, but let’s face it, they were better off when they were doing nothing. The offseason’s proceedings have only made it increasingly clear that Jim Hendry is…

According to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff, free agent Nick Johnson will return to where he began his career and sign a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Yankees. It seems like quite a bargain, though Johnson isn’t necessarily any better of a bet for the Yankees than Hideki Matsui would have been. Johnson can still play…

We’ve been playing this game for nearly six months now: some team is talking to the Padres about Adrian Gonzalez — usually the Red Sox — and then the report goes on to state, in some similar but perhaps not identical fashion, “yet the Padres have no reason to trade their first baseman.” But they…

While the Dodgers have yet to confirm the Jamey Carroll signing (his agent has, however), they did add several veterans on minor league deals announced Thursday, including first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, infielder Angel Berroa, RHP Josh Towers and RHP Luis Ayala. It’s necessary depth for a team that’s bled prospects recently and can’t afford a…

The Mets confirmed the signing of reliever Ryota Igarashi to a two-year contract on Thursday. The financials weren’t disclosed, but it’s believed the deal is worth around $3 million. It’s a nice little gamble for the Mets, and I thought Igarashi would get twice as much when he announced he was coming over. The 30-year-old…

Matthew Cerrone has a fine interview with sabermetric whipping boy Jeff Francoeur over on Metsblog.com, where you can watch the video or read the text. I’ll just post the first question and response, since it was the one most interesting to me: Cerrone: Yesterday, you did a chat with MLB.com, and, on it you were…

Not satisfied with adding Mike Gonzalez on the day, the Orioles have also reached an agreement with free agent Garrett Atkins on a one-year deal. Atkins to Baltimore seemed like a pretty obvious call from the moment the 30-year-old was non-tendered by the Rockies. The Orioles wanted a one-year stopgap at third base before they…