Closer Heath Bell and the Padres avoided arbitration by reaching a one-year, $4 million deal. That’s a big raise for Bell, who made $1.255 million last year, but Bell wasn’t a top closer yet when he struck last year’s deal, he was a setup guy. $4 million for one of the best closers in the…

I’d make a joke about the length of the meeting, but I’ve had barroom arguments about the DH alone that have lasted longer than that, so such lengthy discourse is to be expected. Sadly, however, no one is talking about what the big Special Committee is up to.  Joe Torre: “Please don’t ask me anything…

That’s what he said immediately after saying yesterday that 2011 would be his last year. I like it when baseball people allow themselves to be honest like that.  The L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin spoke with Torre on a bunch of other topics as well: He expects that Manny Ramirez will be back as “a middle-of-the-lineup…

UPDATE:  Byrnes has been designated for assignment. 10:00 A.M.: The Diamondbacks need to make room on the roster for Adam LaRoche, and according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, they’re most likely going to do it by releasing Eric Byrnes. Byrnes’ deal has to be one of the more spectacular contract disasters in recent…

The legal jeopardy Mark McGwire faced in 2005 was all rather murky at the time, but when things are murky is when things are dangerous.  As the Daily News reports, his lawyers certainly feared that he’d be dragged into BALCO, the FBI’s Project Equine or some mystery Florida steroids investigation if he testified, and that’s…

Now that Carlos Beltran is going to be missing some time the Mets need some help, and according to Ken Rosenthal they’ve made contact with free agent utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. Hairston hit .251/.315/.394 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI in 383 at-bats between the Reds and Yankees last season. Over that time he…

After McGwire started talking you just knew this was coming: If nothing else, Maris should at least have a spot in the Hall of Fame . . . Maris doesn’t have incredible career numbers — 275 homers and 851 RBIs in 12 seasons — but a few things stand out other than the 61 homers…

Steve Phillips’ voice may be gone from our collective consciousness after he was dumped by ESPN for his, um, indiscretions. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get your Phillips fix. All you have to do is buy the upcoming MLB 2K10 game. (From Pasta Padre, via Awful Announcing) Of note is the commentary which has…

Tom Glavine isn’t showing a lot of common sense regarding his pitching career, and he knows it. “I haven’t officially [retired] yet,” Glavine said. “I don’t know why. I think if anybody has any common sense, they can figure out that I’m probably not going to pitch again.” The 43-year-old, who will start the countdown…

We all know things are rough out there. A lot of people are out of jobs, struggling to make ends meet. The Cleveland Indians are trying to help, offering fans the ability to win 12-game ticket packages through an essay contest. But for those feeling a bit strapped on the cash front in these tough…

Yesterday, in the wake of Carlos Beltran’s surgery spat with his team, I wondered what else could go wrong for the Mets? I shouldn’t have asked, because today I saw this story in the New York Daily News: The Mets are suing a major advertiser they claim bounced $400,000 in checks. The Mets want the…

If you think the Mark McGwire steroids saga has been played out, think again. Reactions just keep rolling in from all sorts of folks like Jack Clark (ban him from baseball!), Mark Grace (why would you do steroids and ruin your sex life?), and Christine Brennan (hey everybody, let’s talk about Pete Rose!) While each…

That gun the union put to the Marlins’ head has paid quick dividends for Josh Johnson, who just had his arbitration and two years of free agency bought out by Florida, to the tune of four years, $39 million. Johnson turns 26 later this month.  He was 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and…

Phillies closer Brad Lidge had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Wednesday.  Something to do with “loose bodies and meniscal debridement.” I hate it when that happens. He’ll start throwing again in ten days or so.  It’s unclear if he’ll be ready to go by Opening Day.  If he can’t go, the Phillies will…

Yahoo!’s Tim Brown reports that Jose Valverde has reached a two-year agreement with the Tigers.  It’s for $14 million, with an option for a third year. I’m a bit surprised that a deal like that was signed this late in the hot stove season. Indeed, from Valverde’s perspective, this is the best deal any closer…

Multiple tweetings of this news, which has been brewing for some time. In other Pirates news, Maury Brown reports that they’re giving Ryan Church the #18 jersey.  Which used to be Andy Van Slyke’s number.  I always liked Andy Van Slyke.  I assume Pirates fans do too, even if the decision to keep him over…

At least that’s what USA Today’s Bob Nightengale says he says. Of course, Torre is only under contract through 2010. If the team implodes or if it goes broke and gets mired in McCourt nonsense, isn’t it possible that they’ll say thanks-but-no-thanks to a manager making $4 million or more for an additional year? UPDATE: …

Sports Business Daily caught up with Bud Selig at the owners’ meetings yesterday and got a couple of additional quotes from him about McGwire: “My public statement, which I wrote over and over and over, says exactly how I feel on the matter. I just don’t want to add to that. I painstakingly went over…

Tim Kurkjian reports that Ben Sheets is tan, rested and ready: “That was my first summer off. No baseball player can even remember the last summer he had off. I did July 4th and Labor Day with the family. The time off refreshed me. It made me realize how much I love baseball. I missed…

UPDATE:  The Mets have spoken.  Assistant GM John Rico says that they say that they had the conversations with Boras, but that “the conversation with Scott was very direct in we said we do not want him to have surgery until we’ve reviewed the info.” Ricco said that the team wanted a “third opinion.”  They…