Tampa Bay made a nice low-cost pickup this afternoon, signing Joaquin Benoit to a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training. It remains to be seen if Benoit can rediscover his old stuff after missing part of 2008 and all of 2009 following shoulder surgery, but prior to the injury he was a reliable…

UPDATE: The Chron’s Susan Slusser reports that Mark Mulder’s agent is saying that reports that Mulder is retiring are “not accurate” and that “Mark has not made a decision.” Interesting. Earlier Brewers’ pitching coach Rick Peterson said Mulder was retiring, but maybe he misinterpreted.  Or maybe it’s like when I told my buddy at work…

When the A’s traded for and then almost immediately released Willy Taveras last week I wrote: “Expect him to land a bench gig at the minimum salary with a team that likes outfielders who run fast and make tons of outs.” Apparently the Nationals fit that description, because this afternoon they signed Taveras to a…

In the interests of equal time, I report good news relating to both my own team, the Braves, and my team’s quasi-nemesis, the Mets. For the Braves, it’s FanGraph’s David Cameron opining that one of the team’s putative weaknesses — Melky Cabrera in leftfield — will actually be a positive: He may not look like…

Pat Neshek reported to the Twins’ spring training complex early to get back on the mound and face live hitters again 14 months after Tommy John elbow surgery. And because he’s a blogger in addition to being a side-arming setup man, Neshek wrote an interesting update on his progress: On Tuesday I faced hitters for…

It was reported last week that Bob Bowman, the CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media, had filed papers to run for governor of Michigan.  Today, however, he says that he isn’t going to run. My theory: His initial filing was the product of depression brought on by baseball withdrawal, but now that he’s heard…

Last week, after reports varied about whether Chien-Ming Wang had signed with the Nationals or not, Craig declared himself “out of the Wang business.” I’d hate to force him back into such a business, so instead I’ll provide the latest update on the free agent right-hander … Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports that Wang is…

Victor Martinez wants to stay, but just how badly is an open question: “A lot of guys like to be free agents, but I’m going to be really honest on this answer. I don’t want to be jumping around, I don’t want to go somewhere else.” But: “As soon as the season starts, I don’t…

Tweet from WEEI’s Chad Rob Bradford, who is on the ground at Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers this morning: Buchholz at 198 pounds after pitching at 185 last year. Somebody didn’t get the “best shape of his life” memo! In other news, I have come to view Twitter as positively essential to doing…

The biggest reason the sale of the Texas Rangers still hasn’t gone final is because the team’s creditors are angry that all kinds of cash is coming off the top of the deal to go to Tom Hicks and others, leaving less for them.  One of the “others,” SBJ reports today, is a deferred compensation…

Money don’t get everything it’s true, but what it don’t get . . . wait, I think it gets pretty much everything these days: On Monday, fans will be able to buy tickets to every Cubs home game, but at a premium of 20 percent over the face value, or 15 percent if they pay…

The Daily News had an in-depth article about Yankees’ catching prospect Jesus Montero over the weekend. The focus follows the standard Montero storyline: kid can hit a ton, but his defense is lacking. As you might expect, there’s lots of stuff in there about bruised arms from ball-in-the-dirt drills, speculation as to whether he can…

The Sox weren’t happy with Dice-K’s conditioning last year, but his offseason was good enough that I feel comfortable giving him the official BSOHL seal of approval: The righthander arrived here Thursday and worked out at the team complex the last two days. After a winter that included several sessions at the Athletes’ Performance training…

If you’re the sort of person who doesn’t want to read a column in which Ernie Harwell tells spring training stories from the 1940s to the 1960s then I don’t have much use for you. And for those of you unfamiliar with his work, Harwell used to begin the first spring training broadcast of each…

SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Diamondbacks and arbitration-eligible right-hander Edwin Jackson have agreed to a two-year, $13.35 million contract. The pact takes Jackson up to his first year of free agency. The 26-year-old asked for $6.25 million and was offered $4.6 million for 2010 when figures were exchanged last month. With a midpoint between…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Colorado Rockies Rotation 1. Ubaldo Jimenez 2. Aaron Cook 3. Jorge De La Rosa 4. Jason Hammel 5. Jeff Francis 6. Jhoulys Chacin 7. Greg Smith 8. Tim Redding 9. Franklin Morales 10. Greg Reynolds 11. Samuel Deduno…

If you’re a Dodgers fan, or simply love tracking millionaire divorce proceedings, Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports has a massive Sunday column chock-full of updates on the ongoing marital battle between Frank and Jamie McCourt. The proceedings have obviously centered around ownership of the Dodgers and the two sides have very different ideas of how…

Jamie Moyer underwent three different surgeries this offseason and turned 47 in November, but he’s not yet thinking retirement.  He spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Andy Martino on Saturday: “The way I look at it, why limit myself? If I would have limited myself at 29, when I was released for the second or third…

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com unleashed a flurry of tweets from the Marlins’ FanFest at Sun Life Stadium on Saturday. Among them: The Marlins have no interest in former first baseman and current free agent Carlos Delgado, or Russell Branyan for that matter. Even after adding Mike Lamb on a minor league contract, the Fish are…

Update: According to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, the Rays have won the hearing, so Upton will earn $3 million this season instead of $3.3 million. 11:00 am: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reports that a decision from a three-person panel of arbitrators regarding the Rays and outfielder B.J. Upton is…