Baseball

I was born in 1975 and have been a Cincinnati Reds fan ever since. For the majority of my life, the shortstop position has basically been manned by two people: Dave Concepcion and Barry Larkin.

Since Larkin's final season in 2004, the Reds have been unable to find stability at the position. It appears that the latest person to get a chance to play shortstop on a regular basis is Paul Janish.

The news that 33-year-old left-hander Randy Wolf has signed a three-year deal with Milwaukee worth $29.75 million broke this morning.

ESPN's Buster Olney cited a Major League Baseball source close to the team and player. And so Milwaukee made one of the first more significant pitcher free agent signings this offseason.

According to reports, including ESPN's Jayson Stark, the Milwaukee Brewers have landed another veteran free agent.

Reliever LaTroy Hawkins has agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million deal to potentially close in Milwaukee.

Hawkins was in Houston last year and rebounded from a stretch of rough seasons starting when he left Minnesota for the Chicago Cubs.

With rumors swirling throughout the baseball world at this year's Winter Meetings, the biggest move so far has been the three team trade between the Yankees, Tigers, and Diamondbacks.

It is rumored the Yankees will receive Curtis Granderson, the Tigers will receive Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth, Phil Coke, and Austin Jackson, and the Diamondbacks would receive Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. 

The trade featured two big time prospects.

(Originally posted on 4SportBoston.com )

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(Originally posted on 4SportBoston.com )

It maybe too good to be true but it is.

MLB.com is looking for stat stringers to watch games and enter information about it for their website and applications like MLB GameDay.

I originally saw this post over at Baseball Prospectus and here's the text of the posting that they had:

Baseball's hot stove has been on full blast putting Milton Bradley trade rumors into motion.

Late Tuesday rumors of a "mystery" suitor came to light that could join the favorite Tampa Bay Rays, this according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat and Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. So far, we know the Royals, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Mariners have pretty much ruled themselves out of the race.

What an interesting week this has been for Braves fans and front office exec's.

Rarely do the two of those entities go hand-in-hand, but this time around there is no doubt it applies.

Rafael Soriano shocked GM Frank Wren and other higher-up's by accepting arbitration and Wren was quick to announce that Soriano will be traded "well before opening day."

Considering Wren and the rest of Major League Baseball's top executives are in Indianapolis for the Winter Meetings there is a reasonable expectation a deal could be done within the next 48 hours or so.

By now, everyone has heard that the Yankees made a three-way deal with the Tigers and Diamondbacks to acquire centerfielder Curtis Granderson for 2010.

This deal almost ensures the Yankees have found their new permanent fixture in centerfield, and it could mean Melky Cabrera might be on the trading block now.

With this trade, you also have to wonder if the Yankees will be big players for Roy Halladay like they were rumored to be.