*The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Dave O’Brien believes the Braves and Rays could finalize a Rafael Soriano deal on Thursday. The Braves figure to get a decent prospect here, but the quality will depend on whether they’re willing to throw in a couple of million to help out with Soriano’s still undetermined salary, which presumably will be…

MLB.com’s Brian McTaggert reports that the Astros and Brandon Lyon have come to terms on a deal, pending a physical. The Astros lost LaTroy Hawkins earlier in the day because of an unwillingness to guarantee him a second year. They almost certainly had to in order to sign Lyon, and they probably paid a premium…

The Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton reports that the Royals have inquired about Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner’s availability in light of the Curtis Granderson trade. Given that he, like Granderson, is a left-handed-hitting center fielder, Gardner no longer seems like all that great of a fit with the Yankees. Switch-hitting Melky Cabrera might be more…

The Toronto Sun is reporting that the Angels have offered up Erick Aybar, Joe Saunders and Peter Bourjos in exchange for Jays ace Roy Halladay. The Aybar inclusion is big, given the complete lack of any other quality young shortstops on the market and Toronto’s intense desire for a long-term option at the position. A…

SI.con’s Jon Heyman is hearing the Phillies are in the mix for Roy Halladay, along with the Angels, Yankees and Red Sox. The Phillies are supposed to be just about out of money after signing Placido Polanco and loading up their bench, though they have kept enough in reserve to land a setup man along…

Apparently not satisfied with Ronny Cedeno as their lone option at shortstop, the Pirates have reportedly signed Bobby Crosby to a one-year deal worth $1 million in guaranteed money and another $500,000 in playing time-based incentives. According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette the Pirates “are bringing in Crosby with the idea that…

I’ve had a little bit of fun at the expense of our friends in the Japanese media over the past couple of days, but it’s time to be a little more fair.  Don’t worry, I’ll skip back to snarky and flip soon enough. There’s a reason why that guy I keep talking about keeps asking…

*FOXSports.com’s Tracy Ringolsby reports that the Rockies and Yorvit Torrealba are about $1 million apart on a two-year deal, with the Rockies offering $5 million. Ringolsby also has the Rockies looking at Miguel Olivo, Josh Bard and Jason Kendall as fall-back options. The Nationals’ decision to give Ivan Rodriguez $6 million for two years makes…

UPDATE: The deal is official now. Florida receives mid-level prospects Robert Bono and Luis Bryan, plus a player to be named later. And saves a bit of cash, of course. * * * * * * * * * * Houston has been shopping for bullpen help after closer Jose Valverde declined arbitration and setup…

According to the Providence Journal’s Joe McDonald, the Red Sox and Rangers are discussing a Mike Lowell deal, with Max Ramirez potentially being involved. The Rangers have been looking for a right-handed bat to pair with Nelson Cruz behind Josh Hamilton in the lineup, with Jermaine Dye’s name being mentioned frequently. Lowell, though, may well…

It was a prerequisite to the Rangers’ signing of Rich Harden; Kevin Milllwood’s $12 million salary simply had to be stricken from the books. To make it happen, the Rangers ate $3 million and sent the veteran to the Orioles for former closer Chris Ray and a player to be named. Millwood is coming off…

Josh Byrnes, Dave Dombrowski and Brian Cashman were just brought before us to “announce” the Granderson trade.  I think I could rip into about 2,000 words on the metaphysics of it all (i.e. has the trade really happened if no one has yet to announce it?) but I’ll save that for the bar and my…

As our own Craig Calcaterra reported earlier, Rich Harden is joining the Rangers on a one-year, $7.5 million deal with an $11.5 million option for 2010. The price seems about right, but the destination is still rather surprising. It’s hard to imagine that there weren’t going to be teams willing to present similar, if not…

Update 2: Craig has confirmed that the deal is with the Rangers. One year, $7.5 million with the option for 2011. ***** Update: Craig’s source is hearing one-year, $7.5 million with an $11.5 million option for 2011. Possibly with the Mariners. ***** Sources are telling ESPN’s Buster Olney that free agent Rich Harden is on…

The speculation Tuesday was that the Mariners were cooling on free agent Jason Bay, but that the Angels were becoming more and more interested. Apparently, that wasn’t quite the case. Said manager Mike Scioscia on Wednesday: “I have not reached out personally to him, but he has been in internal discussions that we’ve had as…

They just announced that the GMs from the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Tigers will be up on the stage in front of us all at 4:30 “for an announcement.” I’ll totally tell you what they say.  Word on the street is that there was a trade or something. Aren’t you glad you have me here to…

Austin Jackson is arguably the centerpiece of the package heading to the Tigers from the three-team trade with the Yankees and Diamondbacks, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Detroit plans to have him replace Curtis Granderson as the Opening Day center fielder. Teams feeling the need to show immediate results from…

It’s a pretty horrible story, one we might be hearing about more in future weeks. According to the Washington Post, Elijah “David” Dukes Sr. died Nov. 23, just three weeks after being released following a 14-year sentence for murder. The 43-year-old fell ill after his release and was quickly diagnosed with cancer, which went undetected…

I’ll give you three guesses what this guy was asking Mike Scioscia.

The Indians already have Matt LaPorta as a question mark for Opening Day after he required hip surgery in October. Now two more of their top youngsters have required procedures that leave their statuses for 2010 in question. Carlos Santana, one of the game’s very best prospects, suffered a broken hamate bone in his right…