How low are the Red Sox willing to go in their search for a new shortstop? Well, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald they’ve “expressed interest” in free agent Bobby Crosby. Crosby is a recognizable name thanks to being a former first-round pick who was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2004,…

A couple of rumors that could impact the Cubs this morning. First, according to Joel Sherman at the New York Post, the Rays and Cubs are still talking about a Milton Bradley for Pat Burrell trade, and there’s a “strong possibility” that the deal goes down. The second rumor has the Mets shopping outfielder Angel…

Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Twins, Brewers, Mariners, and Rangers are in the mix to sign free agent Jarrod Washburn. Meanwhile, the Tigers declined an arbitration offer and apparently have no interest in re-signing Washburn despite trading two prospects to get him at midseason. Washburn went 1-3 with a 7.33 ERA in…

Outgoing union head Don Fehr, the guy baseball fans love to hate, sat for an extended interview and as you might expect, said a few interesting things.  Most interesting to me is his answer to the question about his biggest regret: “There’s not anything that I’m prepared to talk about with one exception. In 1994,…

A couple of years ago Congress started making Major League Baseball turn over figures showing how many drug exemptions it gave out in light of concern that players were falsely claiming to have ADHD or related disorders in order to get their hands on banned stimulants.  The numbers are in for this year, and they…

John Henry, regretting that the Red Sox are raising ticket prices again: “I am concerned with how expensive it is for four people to attend a game these days . . . Unfortunately virtually all contracts in baseball go up each year for on-field and off-field members of the organization.” As Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan…

On the heels of Hal Bodley’s questionable bit of reasoning comes Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer who likewise won’t be voting for Alomar this year.  His reasons? In addition to the idiotic “he’s no first ballot Hall of Famer” thing, he says Alomar failed to run out two ground balls that resulted in…

I’ve been hearing that the winning bidder for the Rangers is going to be announced this week. Today SI’s Jon Heyman reports that a front runner has emerged: Former baseball superagent Dennis Gilbert and his ownership group have emerged in recent days as the surprise frontrunner to buy the Texas Rangers SI has learned. The…

Derek Jeter told reporters last night that Brian Cashman picks his brain about potential transactions, and that Cashman tells free agents talking with the Yankees to call Jeter to answer any questions they may have about playing in New York.  I can totally see these conversations: A.J. Burnett: So, Derek, what’s it like playing in…

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that both Texas and Houston are interested in Brett Myers.  This jibes with Matthew’s prediction that he’d wind up with the Rangers on a one-year deal. As long as the guy isn’t on my team I don’t care where he goes.

Yesterday Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan reported that Joe Mauer had imposed an Opening Day deadline on extension talks with the Twins. Mauer’s response? Wha?! “I’m not going to react to every story/rumor that comes out or comment on any negotiations. As far as that report, I don’t know where that came from . . .…

A source told FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal that the Braves and Billy Wagner have come to terms on a one-year, $7 million contract with a vesting option for 2011. The Braves were expected to be in on Wagner, but it’s a curiously timed move, given that the team just offered arbitration to both Rafael Soriano and…

With the deadline here, we now have official word on the free agents offered arbitration by their teams. Type A free agents: Jason Bay, Red Sox – Yes Rafael Betancourt, Rockies – Yes Orlando Cabrera, Twins – No (Contract rules out an arbitration offer) Johnny Damon, Yankees – No Octavio Dotel, White Sox – No…

St. Louis has offered arbitration to Matt Holliday, Joel Pineiro, and Mark DeRosa while passing on Troy Glaus. Obviously the Holliday decision was a no-brainer, but there was quite a bit of speculation that the Cardinals might pass on offers to Pineiro or DeRosa. Both players are Type B free agents and the Cardinals wanted…

A couple of months ago the new minor league team in Richmond, Virginia announced that it would be known as “The Flying Squirrels.”  My thought at the time: “Um, OK.” All is forgiven, though, because they released their logos today, and I think they’re pretty damn sweet (yes, I’m going to make you click through…

A major league source told FOXSports.com that the Red Sox are serious about pursuing free agent Rich Harden. Given the Red Sox tendency to favor upside over stability when it comes to short-term deals for pitchers, Harden always figured to be at or near the top of their list of potential pitching upgrades. Ben Sheets…

Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman sat for an extended, public interview today and Joe Pawlikowski from the excellent River Ave Blues blog was there. He has video and an extended synopsis up over at RAB.  My favorite part is about the process Cashman went through when looking for Joe Torre’s replacement in 2008: He put the…

Today has been filled with all sorts of news on the arbitration front and there will be more offers and non-offers rolling in tonight, but I’m particularly curious about one player’s status. Minnesota offered Carl Pavano arbitration and because he’s a Type B free agent that guarantees the Twins a draft pick if he signs…

The Yankees declined to offer arbitration to any of their free agents, a group that included Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady. Damon and Pettitte were the candidates to get offers. Damon, a Type A free agent, could have brought in two draft picks had he left. However, he also had a case for…

Seems like everyone is writing Hall of Fame articles today. You’ll have that when the biggest news out there involves backup catchers.  Anyway, here’s MLB.com’s Marty Noble, first on his Hall of Fame criteria: When putting check marks on the ballot, the rule–to me–is to be as selective as Ted Williams with a 3-1 count.…