Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets that the Angels, Dodgers and Mets are “all in” on free agent Joel Pineiro. The Mets have been connected to the 31-year-old right-hander all winter, while the Dodgers have stepped up their pursuit in recent weeks. The Angels, meanwhile, expressed interest early on, but have money to spend after losing…

The White Sox and reliever Bobby Jenks avoided arbitration on Saturday by agreeing to a one-year, $7.5 million contract. Jenks, who turns 29 in March, will receive a $1.9 million raise over a 2009 season that saw him post a 3.79 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 27 saves in 35 chances. Jenks fought a very public…

Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Cubs are planning a complete renovation of Wrigley Field in conjunction with the 100-year anniversary of the park in 2014. The “Wrigley 20-14″ project includes the long-rumored “triangle building,” a large open-air courtyard, the possible addition of a restaurant, widened concourses and expanded restrooms, some…

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…

Everybody already assumed as much, but Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak finally confirmed it on Saturday when he said his willingness to hire Mark McGwire as the team’s new hitting coach was contingent upon him addressing his past use of performance enhancing drugs: “He needed to be honest,” Mozeliak told the media during a press…

There’s plenty of activity this weekend, as players and teams settle on new contracts to avoid arbitration. Here’s a couple deals that were announced on Saturday: – The Reds signed reliever Nick Masset to a two-year, $2.58 million contract. Masset entered 2009 as a potential rotation candidate, but ended up being one of the most…

3:10 PM: Yikes. Donnelly signed for $1.5 million guaranteed, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. He could make $3 million with incentives. 2:02 PM: Kovacevic confirms that the Pirates have come to terms with Donnelly on a contract, pending a physical. 11:15 AM: The Pirates have officially signed right-hander D.J. Carrasco to a minor league…

Mets general manager Omar Minaya quickly tried to smooth things over with Carlos Beltran after the team publicly expressed their displeasure in his decision to undergo surgery on his right knee this week, telling David Waldstein of the New York Times that the whole controversy may have stemmed from a miscommunication of protocol: “It was…

There’s a war of words in St. Louis. You may have already heard that Jack Clark, who spent three years with the Cardinals, thinks Mark McGwire should be banned from baseball. He also questioned Tony La Russa’s claim that he didn’t know McGwire was on steroids during his tenure in Oakland and St. Louis: “[McGwire's]…

Tim Lincecum was one of 128 players to file for arbitration on Friday, paving the way for him to surpass the record $10 million salary for a first-time eligible player. Ryan Howard set the bar in 2008, a year after he won the National League MVP award. Lincecum, 25, has won the National League Cy…

The Mets and right-hander John Maine avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.3 million contract on Friday. Maine, who turns 29 in May, could earn an additional $225,000 in performance bonuses based on number of starts. Limited to just 15 starts last season due to shoulder problems, Maine was 7-6 with a 4.43 ERA…

Their exclusive 30-day negotiation window has closed without a deal, but an investment group led by Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan said “extraordinary progress” had been made in talks to buy the Rangers from Hicks Sports Group. “We are on the verge of an agreement that would provide…

During an introductory conference call on Friday, new first baseman Adam LaRoche called the Diamondbacks his “first choice.” ‘This all came together obviously really fast,” LaRoche said. “There were some other options out there and to be honest with you, this was at the top of the list if we could work it out. From…

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…

The Red Sox have signed six guys to minor league deals: Fernando Cabrera, Edwin Moreno, Jorge Sosa, Angel Sanchez, Gil Velazquez, and Darnell McDonald. Since 1998, the Red Sox and their fans have celebrated “truck day” in early February which is the day the moving truck that transports the team’s spring training gear from to spring training in…

The next time your football fan friends talk about how boring baseball is, shoot them this link: According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent broadcasts, and similar estimates by researchers, the average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes. In…

Heyman tweets that Felix Hernandez and the Mariners are making progress on a five or six year deal but will “do the 1-year thing first to buy time.” Makes sense. No sense in rushing this thing. Hernandez made $3.8 million in 2009.  No telling what a one year deal would mean for him money wise,…

As I’ve said over and over again, when you get a Jon Heyman-reported, almost-nothin’-to-it rumor connecting a Scott Boras client to a second team there’s a more than decent chance it’s noise designed to trick the first team into thinking it’s a bidding war.  Damon’s talking to the Braves, and then suddenly the Tigers are…

If you believe some of the looser talk this week, you’d think that Mark McGwire was Igor to Jose Canseco’s Dr. Steroidstein and that no one juiced before the A’s got good in the late 80s.  Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, as this handy-dandy PED timeline that ran in Sports Illustrated…