Here’s video of the incident that got Jose Offerman suspended for life from the Dominican winter league: Not that the quality of the punch should really matter when it comes to Offerman’s suspension, but it sure seems like the umpire took a dive. Click here to contact Aaron Gleeman or follow him on Twitter.

UPDATE:  Rob Bradford of WEEI.com is reporting that the Sox and Papelbon have a deal in place for $9 million for 2010. 9:55 A.M.: Or else they’re going to arbitration.  I’d bet on arbitration, as the Sox don’t seem all that interested in a long term deal, and Papelbon is reported to want to “raise…

We’re getting some partial scouting reports from Ben Sheets workout down in Louisiana today, courtesy of a series of tweets from Trenni Kusnierek of the MLB Network. The summary: there were about 20 scouts watching Sheets.  He started a bit erratically, hitting 88-90 on the gun and sometimes missing his spots, but then got comfortable…

MLB.com Mets beat writer Marty Noble, responding to criticism of his Hall of Fame ballot: And those who have their noses pressed against their computer screens and think VORP is a valid means of measuring a player’s performance ought to get a life and a credential that would allow them to see and hear the…

The Mets have played Paul McCartney to Bengie Molina’s Jane Asher all offseason.  It made so much sense. You just knew they were gonna be together. Then one day — bammo — Molina comes back from performing in a play at the Old Vic, finds the Mets in bed with someone else, and the Mets…

With the deadline to submit figures for arbitration looming, the Rockies have agreed to multi-year deals with arbitration-eligible relievers Huston Street and Rafael Betancourt. According to FOXSports.com’s Tracy Ringolsby, Betancourt will get $7.5 million over two years while Street’s deal is worth $22.5 million over three years with an option for 2013. Colorado had previously…

More of the arbitration filing deadline insanity Part I is here (UPDATE: We now have a Part III too!).  All are one-year deals unless otherwise specified: Jeff Francoeur, Mets, $5 million.  I’d lay into the guy here, but at this point I’d be like ripping on that awful, horrible girl you used to date but…

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told NBCPhiladelphia.com that he’s lost 56 pounds since signing a deal to do advertisements for Nutrisystem. He’s never going to be svelte, but the 65-year-old Type 2 diabetic has gone from 286 pounds to 230 pounds in less than a year, and as you can see from the photo there’s definitely…

A metric crap-ton of arbitration-avoiding deals went down before noon, and they’re all starting to trickle in tweets and stutters. While we may highlight some notable ones as they get reported, rather than spend all day posting these little nuggets, we’ll simply do an omni-post running down the signings later this afternoon, kind of like…

He sounds certain, but will FOX’s Tracy Ringolsby bet his hat on it? A month before spring training, fans of all 30 major league teams are supposed to have hope about what the coming season will bring.  Makes for good marketing. Bottom line, however, is while there is reason for hope with most teams, there’s…

Peter Gammons shed some new light on Jason Bay signing with the Mets, reporting that the Red Sox and Bay “had agreed on the framework” of a four-year, $60 million contract in July before an MRI exam raised red flags about the health of his knees. According to Gammons the Red Sox then lowered their…

The Yankees’ AAA hitting coach, Butch Wynegar on Austin Jackson: “He still is raw, still has a lot to learn, but he’s an intelligent kid and a good athlete — and he wants to learn. I basically told the Yankees at the end of the year, if they were thinking about him being their center…

MLB.com has a story up today about the “next wave” of shortstops. The “new guard”  of “younger stars rising to the top at their position.”  Bet you can’t wait to click through and find out who all these hot young talents are! Maybe you’ll find out about them before your fantasy draft and scoop them…

The New York Daily News’ Denis Hamill wants you to think of the children. His own, who allegedly had this conversation in the back seat of his car on the way to basketball practice the other day: These kids, who will be playing on the same Little League team in a few months, were representative…

9:52: Heyman and others are now tweeting that it is a five year deal worth $78 million. 9:19 A.M:  Francisco Blavia tweets that the deal is worth $78MM over five years. However,  Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider says the deal “may very well be six years guaranteed and less than $100 million, with some incentives…

Though the deal was reached several weeks ago, the new contract between Major League Baseball and the umpires was finally ratified and signed by the men in blue late last night.  Rob Neyer was looking at it and found the provision on buyouts for older umpires to be quite interesting, seeing it as a means…

Peter Gammons has this habit — which I love by the way — of casually dropping bombs in such a way that is sounds like it’s not news at all. But as far as I can tell, this is news: Everyone in the business understands that the Mets did not insure Beltran, so that when…

King Felix’s extension is obviously the biggest news in advance of today’s deadline for signing arbitration eligible players, and we’ll update that story with the details of the deal as they become available. We’ve also already filled you in on Dan Uggla, Jody Gerut and Shaun Marcum. In the meantime, here’s a rundown of some…

As everyone takes the time to honor Martin Luther King today, let’s also take a moment to remember Jackie Robinson, was breaking down racial barriers before King sparked the Civil Rights movement. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945. Two years later, he would break the Major League’s color…

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.…