Here go the New York Yankees again, making their huge splashes in free agency. Who is it this time? Clemens? Kevin Brown? A-Rod?

Nope, they’ve signed heavyweights Russell Branyan and Bill Hall to minor league contracts. Both will get invites to spring training.

Hall will make $600,000 if he makes the club and there are $600,000 more worth of incentives there. He’ll most likely be used as a utility man.

And who cares what Branyan will make? He’s 36-years old and has back problems. He could pop a couple off the bench, but so what?

Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton has had some issues in the past. After being the No. 1-overall pick by the Tampa Bay Rays, he missed the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons due to drug and alcohol addiction. Some would say that it was disappointing.

But, Hamilton battled back and has become the player everyone thought he’d become. He cleaned himself up and became the AL MVP in 2010.

For the most part he’s been completely straight, but you may have heard about his relapse at a Dallas bar/restaurant this week, in which he says he had “three or four” drinks. The media has made a big deal about this, even though it’s really not. And Hamilton is now apologizing for the incident, even though he shouldn’t. Why shouldn’t he? Because it’s no one’s business but his and his family’s

“Things happened that me, personally, I’m not proud of after I drank, and they are personal and are being handled as that,” he said Friday. “Knowing this was going to get out in social media, Twitter, people get excited. There was no pictures taken of me having a beer with somebody or anything like that, but I did take pictures with people.”

Hamilton said that his latest actions “hurt a lot of people very close to me.” He also said that his relapse stemmed from “personal reasons,” but didn’t elaborate, mainly because it’s no one else’s f’ing business.

After apologizing for the incident, he still kept his appearance at a Christian event in Katy, TX that night.

“I could hide in shame, and not show up tonight and be withdrawn, but I didn’t want to do that,” Hamilton told the group. “I’m doing what I had to do today. I am fessing up. I am going to be a man about it; I am fessing up. People are going to call me a hypocrite, but I am a sinful man.”

Hamilton has a tough road ahead of him. It can’t be easy to want booze and drugs that badly and not be able to have any of it.

It’s generally well known that the Washington Nationals blow. The main team down there is sadly the Baltimore Orioles and people just tend not to care about the Natties. But, could that be changing? They already went out and got Gio Gonzalez and they have young guns like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg on the way. Could people actually start to care about this team?

Well, for one thing it seems that they aren’t done this offseason. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Nationals are actively shopping left-hander John Lannan, who will certainly command a huge haul after a 10-13 season. The biggest problem with that is where you’ll play all the great players that you get in return.

Actually, it seems like they are clearing up some money (his arbitration got him $5 million this season) to make room for Edwin Jackson, who Rosenthal says they are making a pitch for. Landing Jackson (or maybe Oswalt, but I doubt he’d go there) would actually make for a decent rotation with Strasburg and Gonzalez. It wouldn’t make them the Phillies, but they also wouldn’t be an easy sweep every time either.

Regardless, it’s clear that the NL East is getting better and better (except for the Mets) and the Phillies will not remotely be able to walk away with the division like they did last year.

UPDATE: The Nationals have agreed to sign Jackson, so it doesn’t seem like moving Lannan had to come first.

The sports world is stunned today as they have learned that Pat Burrell plans to retire. The 35-year old has had foot problems that will just make it too painful to continue.

He told the AP back in November that it’s too problematic to keep playing, even though he wasn’t sure of his decision at the time.

“I have not decided yet, but I don’t think I can play anymore [due to a chronic foot injury]. It hurts me to say that,” he said.

He will retire with the fourth most home runs in Philadelphia Phillies history with 251. He’s behind Del Ennis, Ryan Howard and Mike Schmidt.

The first-overall pick in the 1998 draft, Burrell will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2016.

You can never have enough depth. For the Philadelphia Phillies, that depth is needed in the outfield. Shane Victorino is back in centerfield, but they are trusting John Mayberry to play a full season in left and maybe hoping that Dom Brown emerges in right after competing with some of the average joe’s they signed in the offseason.

So, why not roll the dice on a low-risk, decent-upside deal with a guy who was once a damn good player?

According to Jim Salisbury of CSN, that’s what the Phillies have done. He says they’ve signed Juan Pierre to a minor-league deal.

“Confirmed. Pierre agrees to minor lg deal. “@Ken_Rosenthal: Pierre minor-lge deal with #Phillies – @JSalisburyCSN reports serious talks,” Salisbury tweets.

If Pierre even has a decent spring, expect him to stay up with the club.

Jon Heyman of SI reported earlier that the Boston Red Sox have made an offer to free agent right-hander Roy Oswalt. Oswalt must have plenty of options out there, because Heyman says that he hasn’t accepted it yet.

“#Redsox made offer to oswalt but are unsure hed go since hes yet to accept. he rejected det. may prefer cinc, tex, stl,” he tweeted with terrible use of capitalization.

But, maybe they are hoping he doesn’t accept the offer. According to Jim Bowden of ESPN, they have also reached out and made an offer to former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Edwin Jackson. And Bowden says they’d actually prefer Jackson over Oswalt.

“Red Sox have made offers for Edwin Jackson and are presently in discussions with him and prefer him over Roy Oswalt according to source,” Bowden tweets with much better use of punctuation and capitalization than Heyman.

Jackson is a nice pitcher, but he’s not on Oswalt’s level when healthy. Then again the “when healthy” part could be what the Red Sox aren’t thrilled with.

One of the highest profile free agents in baseball this year is/was Prince Fielder. It was believed that he was looking for a deal in the neighborhood of eight years, $200 million.

And obviously, he wasn’t worth that because no one would give it to him. Hell, that’s why he was on the market for so long.

But, it only takes one team. And that team is the Detroit Tigers.

According to SI’s Jon Heyman, the Tigers have signed Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract. Seriously.

Fielder is a phenomenal hitter, but is he really worth that much? He’s only 27-years old, which means I automatically like this deal better than Pujols’ deal with Anaheim. But, Fielder hit a career high .299 last year and you have to think that won’t happen again as he’s .282 for his career. He’ll always get you 30 HR’s and might even get 40 or 50. For that money, he better be north of 40 every year.

Time will tell if it’s truly a bad signing, but right now, I can’t see committing that many years and that much money to one guy.

Hope you like chubby guys, Detroit. ‘Cause you just got a very pricey one.

Well isn’t this interesting? If this doesn’t shine even more light on the fact that MLB has no clue what it’s getting from player’s from foreign countries, I don’t know what does. First we had the Leo Nunez fake identity scandal, and now this.

You know that pitcher on the Cleveland Indians, Fausto Carmona, that you love so damn much? Well, his name ain’t Fausto. It’s Roberto Hernandez Heredia and he’s been using the identity of Fausto Carmona since he’s been in baseball. Heredia was arrested by the U.S. government when he went to show up for his work visa, because Carmona’s actual mother outed him on a radio station several weeks before.

Heredia was paying Carmona to use his identity, but apparently Carmona wanted more when Heredia got his $7 million option picked up. So, you get this situation.

Heredia was released from jail on $13,000 bond and has apologized to the U.S. government and his fans. But, what about the fact that he’s supposedly 31-years old now, a full three years older than the Indians and everyone else thought he was? I guess it’s a good thing it was just a one-year deal. If it was four or more, this thing really could have gotten ugly.

Most are speculating that Heredia won’t be charged with anything because “Leo Nunez” wasn’t. Not sure how they’d let this slide, but whatever.

The New York Yankees have been a bit quiet this offseason. That is, until now. It seems to have started yesterday, and now the news just keeps on coming.

It was reported on Friday that the Yankees had agreed to a trade with the Seattle Mariners. They would be sending catcher Jesus Montero and right hander Hector Noesi to Seattle in exchange for rookie phenom Michael Pineda and prospect Jose Campos. Pineda had a 3.74 ERA last year and will most likely be the Yankees No. 2 behind C.C. Sabathia.

Then, we hear that they are after Hiroki Kuroda, the 37-year old right-hander whose price had supposedly come down. And yes, they got him. They agreed to a one-year deal worth between $10-$11 million. His 3.45 ERA over the past four seasons should help the Yanks rotation tremendously.

So after all this, the Yanks still need another bat. Montero was penciled in as their DH this season, so they’ll need to replace that. And according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the Yankees are turning their attention to free agent Carlos Pena. Pena was damn good a few years ago with the Tampa Bay Rays, but hit just .225 last season. However, he did still hit 28 bombs so his power could still be there. It’s not like they’d need a ton from him anyway with that lineup.

There have been a lot of hot stove rumors about starting pitchers in the last few months, but not a ton of action. That’s probably because starters such as Roy Oswalt, Edwin Jackson and Hiroki Kuroda have been way too high.

But, ESPN‘s Buster Olney says that’s changing. We’re roughly a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training and teams would like to get their rosters nailed down. And these pitchers would like to know what the deal is so they aren’t twisting in the wind in February. So, it looks like they are willing to be more reasonable in terms of pay.

“The asking prices have come down significantly for veteran FA starters: Oswalt (said to be at $8m), Kuroda (10-11m), Edwin Jackson,” Olney tweets.

Jackson was supposedly looking for some $15 million per year. Really? $15 million for 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA? And no one lined up to sign him immediately?! Christ, what is this world coming to?

Oswalt had back trouble (again) in 2011, but at $8 million, he’s worth a gamble. When he’s healthy, he’s still as sharp as ever. I have a feeling he’s got “Washington Nationals” written all over him, but that’s just a guess.

This season, the Chicago Cubs believed that they had found their shortstop of the future in Starlin Castro. And maybe they have. A 21-year old kid who hit .307 for the Cubbies while missing only two games, Castro has tons of upside.

But, maybe he has downside too. He’s being accused of sexually assaulting a girl back on September 29th after they left a Chicago bar. The girl went back to his apartment and she says she blacked out. She awoke later to Castro sexually assaulting her, according to the police report.

Castro hasn’t been questioned by police because he was on a plane back to the Dominican Republic the following morning after this allegedly occurred.

His attorneys have released a statement on his behalf.

“We are aware of certain allegations that have been made against our client, Starlin Castro,” the statement reads as far as you know. “We have thoroughly investigated this matter, and we are confident that these allegations are baseless. Given the sensitive nature of this matter, we cannot comment any further.”

Castro isn’t officially charged with anything yet, but police would like to have a little tete-a-tete with him at some point.

The Cubs have also released a statement:

“We are aware that a police report was filed regarding an incident involving Starlin, but we have received limited information. While this is something we take very seriously, there is not enough information to make any further comment or take action at this time. We are hopeful when the facts are brought to light, Starlin will be cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Is it physically impossible for the Oakland A’s to keep any good players? Every time you turn around, they are shipping off proven talent for prospects. And they just did it again.

The A’s have sent closer Andrew Bailey and OF Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for RHP Raul Alcantara, 3B Miles Head and OF Josh Reddick. The Red Sox get their closer to replace Jonathan Papelbon, and the A’s get whatever these three become. If they turn out to be stars, great, they can trade them.

The Red Sox had previously shown interest in Phillies closer Ryan Madson. As did the Phillies before signing Papelbon. But, now, it seems like Madson has been left out in the cold as neither team went with him.

So, poor Ryan Madson, who now is still a free agent and may have to sign for less with a team that just doesn’t have a sizable payroll.

Have you heard all the rumors regarding Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder and where he might sign? No? We haven’t either. It’s been pretty damn quiet for the chubby guy this offseason, and when it’s this quiet surrounding someone that’s this good, it probably means that your demands are too damn high.

Just ask Jimmy McMillan. His demands are TOO! DAMN! HIGH!

So, there were some reports floated that it’s possible that Fielder would be willing to accept a three-year deal at $26 million per year. Hardly unreasonable. But, his agent Scott Boras says those reports are absolute nonsense.

“Not only is that inaccurate and delusional, but it seems that some people have gotten into their New Year’s Eve stash just a little bit early this year,” Boras told ESPNChicago.com.

Sure, who would want to bank a quick $78 million and then hit the free agent market again when they’re only 30? But no, Boras has said that the bidding starts at seven years.

“It appears some baseball people are just bored,” Boras said. “That’s when you hear ideas like that floated.”

While nothing is set in stone as of yet for most MLB clubs, St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak thinks he knows what they’ll do with newly acquired Carlos Beltran. He told Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he thinks he’ll bat second.

“Mozeliak isn’t choosing lineup. He relayed the info about Beltran batting 2nd — comes from conversation with Matheny,” Miklasz tweets.

There was a time when hell would freeze over before you’d put a bat like Beltran’s second. But, he’s not the young bomber he used to be, so second is a logical place for him.

That would put Furcal leading off (obviously), Beltran in the two slot, then Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman with David Freeze hitting five. Add some guys like Yadier Molina in there and Allen Craig and you don’t have an awful lineup.

Then you think about getting Adam Wainwright back in the rotation and you can make the case that the Cardinals are going to make problems again in the NL Central.

We’ve been wondering for a while now (not really) where former New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran would land. Once an elite player, Beltran has broken down physically over the last few years, even though he continues to put up some decent number.

Well, wait no more!

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that the Cardinals have signed Beltran to a two-year contract.

“#Cardinals and Beltran have agreed upon a two-year deal, according to sources. News posted on Stltoday.com #stlcards,” he tweets.

It’s reportedly worth $26 million, which is kind of a lot for a 34-year old who has hardly been a model of fitness and health the last few years.

However, it’s tough to argue with Beltran’s numbers despite the injuries. His power isn’t remotely what it used to be, as he hit 22 bombs and just 84 RBI’s in 142 games in 2011. You’d be well within your rights to point out that he wasn’t in hitters parks in Queens and San Francisco (it’s not Russia after all), but those still aren’t dominant power stats.

However, he did hit .323 at the end of last season with the San Francisco Giants, and there wasn’t much (any) protection in that lineup.

Still, $13 million per year is a lot and he could spend most of the year on the DL.

Remember when we told you about 20 minutes ago that the Boston Red Sox were trying to trade for Oakland A’s pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey? Well…we ummm…see it wasn’t our report, we were just running with someone else’s crap.

Anyway, my point is that you can ignore that talk. There was too much of it anyway. According to Keith Law on Twitter, the A’s have sent Gonzalez to the Washington Nationals in exchange for four prospects. He’ll also be asked to help with the federal deficit, and to urge Republicans to extend the Payroll tax cuts.

“Gio to Nats for Cole, Norris, Peacock, and Milone. Love this for Oakland,” he tweets.

So, Gio is now a National (our condolences to him and his family) and A.J. Cole, Brad Peacock, Derek Norris and Tommy Milone are headed to Oakland.

Here is a breakdown on the new A’s from Rotoworld.com:

Cole, a 19-year-old right-hander, posted a 108/24 K/BB ratio in 89 innings this past season at the Single-A level. Peacock, a 23-year-old righty, had a 2.39 ERA and 177/47 K/BB ratio in 146 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2011. Norris, a 22-year-old catcher, has an .861 career OPS in the minors, and Milone registered a 155/16 K/BB ratio in 148 1/3 innings this past season at Triple-A.

It looks like Billy Beane has done it again. Maybe it’s time for another movie.

If this is true, it would be quite a huge deal. The Red Sox made a huge splash last offseason when they acquired Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, and they look like they might make huge waves again this year.

Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com, is reporting that the Red Sox are actively (as opposed to passively? “No, we have no interest. Please…don’t call us.”) trying to obtain Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey from the Oakland A’s.

“Sources: #RedSox trying to get G. Gonzalez, Bailey in “monster” deal. #Rangers, #Rays also on Bailey. #Nationals team to beat on Gio. #MLB,” Rosenthal tweets.

One would have to think that for the A’s to be interested, that the Sox would have to include third-base prospect Will Middlebrooks. The Red Sox, meanwhile, will probably try to sell the A’s on the virtues of John Lackey and his awesome contract. Who will blink first?!

Rosenthal, for what it’s worth (and we think it’s worth quite a bit because he spends his entire day speaking with league insiders) still has the Washington Nationals as the favorites to land Gonzalez. And the Rangers and Rays are still in play for Bailey.

So who knows? The Red Sox could land both or neither. ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

There was a Baltimore Sun report earlier that said that the Atlanta Braves had offered the Baltimore Orioles Jair Jurrjens, Martin Prado and a pitching prospect for Adam Jones. The report said that the Orioles told them no.

If that’s the case, then the Orioles are moronic. Jones is a hell of a player, but if you could have gotten a really nice pitcher (when he doesn’t get hurt and flame out at the end of the year) and a versatile and talented hitter to go with a pitching prospect (the Braves usually have good ones), you have to take that.

Photo Caption: Jones’ love of baseball is surpassed only by his affection with touring.

But, maybe the O’s aren’t as dumb as we thought. According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the Braves called the Orioles about Jones and were initially told that he wasn’t available. The Orioles, according to Bowman’s source, then called them back and said they wanted Jurrjens, Prado and two “premium guys.” As you can guess, the Braves told them to go pound sand.

Bowman’s source said the two clubs haven’t talked since.

It’s a good thing that we added a question mark to our last item regarding the Philadelphia Phillies and SS Jimmy Rollins agreeing to a deal, because it never took place. It seemed like it was about to happen for a while, but it just hasn’t gone down.

Now, Scott Miller of CBS Sports is saying that not only has a deal not happened, but that it’s not close to happening.

“Phillies, Jimmy Rollins continue “dialog” but the sense is that a deal is not close,” he tweets.

Rollins’ agent is still talking to the Phillies, but he says there is another unidentified team that he’s talking to as well. Many have speculated that it’s the Detroit Tigers lurking in the mist. Whatever that means.

We’ll see what happens, but clearly Jimmy is coming back down to Earth in terms of what he thought he was going to get on the open market. Teams are filling their shortstop voids and he’s still at the prom with no one to dance with. Whatever that means.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Colorado Rockies are out there actively trying to improve their team (as they should be for god’s sake). He says that while they did make an offer to Michael Cuddyer, they are also going pretty hard after Carlos Beltran.

“#rockies are making a push for carlos beltran. they also made an offer to cuddyer. want 1 or the other,” Heyman tweets.

Every time I watch Beltran, I see someone who is ailing, old, slow and broken down. But, you look at his numbers and you see that he can still do it. In 44 games last year with the San Francisco Giants, he hit .323 with seven bombs. That’s not bad at all.

And then, throw in the thin air and Beltran could have a huge year with the Rockies. That is, if they get him.

You’ve probably heard by now that the reigning 2011 National League MVP may have had some help this year. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun had an outstanding year, but it would seem that he cheated. It came out a couple days ago that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and is facing a 50-game suspension.

And, according to the New York Daily News, it wasn’t just some slight bump in his testosterone levels that triggered a positive test. A source tells the paper that Braun’s testerone levels were “insanely high.”

Photo Caption: “I am SO f’ing pumped for BASEBALL!!”

The source added that it was “the highest ever for anyone who has ever taken a test, twice the level of the highest test ever taken.”

Wow.

But, wait! Braun’s camp says that he didn’t do it. Phew! Now that that’s out of the way!

“There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan’s complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program,” Braun’s spokesman Matthew Hiltsick said. “We are confident he will ultimately be exonerated.”

David Cornwell, Braun’s attorney, also told the Daily News that his client’s positive result had nothing to do with taking anything illegal.

“He did not take performance-enhancing drugs,” Cornwell said, apparently with a straight face. “And anyone who writes that is wrong.”

Braun plans to appeal the failed test, but it won’t be easy. MLB is 13-0 in its appeals with this kind of thing. Of course Braun continues to say that this is total nonsense and that he didn’t do anything wrong, but he has to understand that no one is going to give baseball players the benefit of the doubt at this point.

The Miami Marlins just signed SS Jose Reyes to a huge six-year, $106 million contract that the team will regret after his third DL stint with hamstring problems. The only problem? They already have a superstar at that position named Hanley Ramirez.

The team says that they have no plans to trade the frequent malcontent, but are simply moving him to third base. However, ESPN‘s Buster Olney says that’s not exactly the case.

“Under category of Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Marlins have poked around in the market to get a feel for interest in Hanley Ramirez,” Olney tweets.

It would make sense for them to do their due diligence, but we’re curious what the market would be for him since he’s still owed $46.5 million over the next three years. There are only a few teams that can afford that and have what the Marlins would need in return. While the guy has turdish tendencies and is coming off of a down year (he was hurt a lot and hit .243), he is one of the game’s best hitters when he’s healthy and motivated.

Who knows, maybe some team can get a good deal on him if the Marlins feel like he’s going to be a problem.

Sure, we could have posted about Albert Pujols and the Angels giving him a $254 million contract. But, we saw this story and thought it was far more intriguing.

Remember the Miami Marlins closer Leo Nunez who got in trouble for using a fake identity in September? Well, he was arrested in his native Dominican Republic on Thursday on those same charges. His real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo and he is actually a year older than it says in your gameday program, which you wouldn’t know because no one actually goes to Marlins games.

The Marlins put him on the reserved/restricted list in September and it doesn’t seem as though he’ll be coming back to the United States any time soon.

The Philadelphia Phillies had to be seriously considering a back-up option in case they couldn’t sign SS Jimmy Rollins, who had said that he had no interest in giving the club a hometown discount. But what would that option be? Freddie Galvis just isn’t ready to take over the shortstop position for a team with championship aspirations.

But, maybe they don’t have to worry about that now. According to MLB analyst Jim Duquette, the Phils and Rollins have agreed to terms on a new contract.

“Source- #Phillies and Jimmy Rollins have agreed to terms. Announcement expected later today,” Duquette tweets.

Right now, it seems that Duquette is the only one reporting it, but that’s all we have to go on right now. And you know how we are about fact checking around here.

Our guess is that it would be around a four-year deal with a club option for a fifth. We are completely guessing, but that would seem like a fair deal for both sides.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the New York Yankees would reportedly be okay parting ways with an old, overpaid pitcher who has a nasty contract they can’t seem to get rid of. Yes, according to the New York Post, the Yankees are shopping A.J. Burnett at the Winter Meetings.

Teams have told the Post that the Yankees have said that they will eat $8 million of the remaining $33 million that he has on his contract.

“We will listen on anybody,” GM Brian Cashman said.

Burnett was 11-11 this season with a brilliant 5.15 ERA, so teams should be knocking down the door.

But, what will they get in return? Some team may not want to part ways with an entire bag of crew socks. And $50 Target gift cards don’t grow on trees, so don’t expect some team to hand one of those over. Maybe they give up a few Brita pitchers, but do not expect extra filters thrown in.

In all seriousness, they’ll have to eat more than $8 million for someone to take this guy.

In what can only be described as “absurd,” the Miami Marlins are apparently upping their ante to get baseball’s prized free agent, Albert Pujols. After already nailing down former New York Mets SS Jose Reyes, they have now reportedly added another year to their offer for Pujols.

According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, they have now thrown out a 10-year contract to him.

“Hearing #Marlins boosted offer to pujols to 10 years, matching arod’s in length. they are obvs pushing hard,” Heyman tweets.

We have no idea what the money situation in the contract is like, but we don’t really care either. You’re offering 10 years to a guy who will be 32-years old by the time spring training rolls around? You have to be kidding.

You never know what’s going to happen, but what if this guy starts breaking down around 35 or 36. You’ll be stuck with an overpriced waste of space for a good seven years!

Well, anyway, have fun with that, Miami.

We mentioned previously that the Miami Marlins hosted free agent shortstop Jose Reyes a few weeks ago. They are trying to lure in big-name talent (especially Latino talent) as they open their new stadium next year. But, it was reported that the Marlins low-balled Reyes, offering him less than $90 million over the length of the deal.

Now, Jim Bowden of ESPN, tweets that the Marlins are going very hard for Reyes.

“Marlins putting an all-out press on Reyes hoping for an agreement prior to Dallas…but don’t count out Mets…Reyes is the FA on the clock,” he says.

This is similar to what Jon Heyman of SI.com reported on Friday when he said that the Marlins are “pretty optimistic” about landing Reyes.

We’re just curious to see what happens with Hanley Ramirez if they sign another big-name shortstop. There had been talks of moving him to the outfield, but he didn’t sound thrilled about that. He’s already got some dickish tendencies, so we’d be curious to see his behavior if Reyes came to town.

That is, if the Marlins ever decide to grow up and offer fair market value for him.

One of the bigger names out there on the market (sort of) is Milwaukee Brewers overweight first baseman Prince Fielder. He’s one of the best sluggers in all of baseball, so one would think that the Brewers will do everything they can to keep him.

However, he’s supposedly looking for something in the neighborhood of $200 million over eight years. Good luck with that.

But, Andy McCalvy of MLB.com tells us that the Brewers will offer Fielder arbitration.

“#Brewers just made moves official: Offered arbitration to Prince Fielder and Francisco Rodriguez, declined on Yuniesky Betancourt,” he tweets.

Fielder is a Type A free agent and will yield two draft picks in return when someone else signs him.

Dutch-born Greg Halman, an outfielder for the Seattle Mariners in 2010 and 2011, was stabbed to death Monday in Rotterndam. His younger brother was arrested in connection with the crime.

“A 24-year-old died this morning in a stabbing and we have arrested the 22-year-old brother of the victim,” a police spokesman told Rueters.

Halman played baseball in a number of countries including France, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Italy before ultimately signing with the Mariners when he was just 16 years old. After six years in the minors, he was called up to the majors last year.

He played in 35 games for the Mariners last season, scoring seven runs and holding a batting average of .230 before being sent back down.

Known for his infectious smile and passion for the game, Halman had a tattoo of a baseball that looked like a globe with the words “My World” next to it. He also wanted to share his love of the game by encouraging European youth to play.

“Greg was passionate about the game of baseball and generously gave of himself to share his passion with others in an attempt to help grow the sport’s popularity across Europe. He will be sorely missed,” said Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

You don’t see this very often. There is no surprise that Detroit Tigers fireballer Justin Verlander won the Cy Young award for the American League this season. Going 24-5 with 250 strikeouts and a 2.40 ERA will usually land you that award.

However, it’s well-known that position players usually get the MVP award because they are out there everyday, whereas a starting pitcher plays once every five days.

But, this year was different. Verlander had the most of any pitcher since Bob Welch in 1990. And he took down the AL pitching Triple Crown with wins, strikeouts and ERA. In other words, he’s good at baseball.

He’s the first pitcher to win the MVP award since Dennis Eckersley in 1992 and the first starting pitcher to do it since Roger Clemens in 1986. Wow.

With 13 first-place votes, he came in ahead of Jacoby Ellsbury, Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson and his own teammate, Miguel Cabrera.