MLB

It looks like the Oakland Athletics will retain their main source of power from the past three seasons by bringing back Jack Cust for a one-year, incentive-laden deal. The deal is reportedly similar to the $2.8 million he made last season. 

Cust was targeted by several teams this offseason, but decided to stick with the A's instead. In 2009, the A's slugger had a .240/.356/.417 season, blasted a team-leading 25 homers, and walked 93 times.

The other day, Baseball America released their Top 10 Indians Prospects for 2010 .

This announcement is always fun, because not only does it list the best up-and-comers in the organization, but it also looks at the best tools and tries to predict a future lineup. In this case, BA looks ahead to the year 2013.

The Lowell Spinners, Class-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, have announced that the team and the city of Lowell have been awarded the 2011 New York-Penn League All-Star Game and are kicking off preparation with a contest to create a logo for the event.

Spinner Vice President and General Manager Tim Bawmann shared the news and was excited to announce plans for the upcoming logo contest. 

Excessive Politics and Subjectivity in Uneven Voting Process

When someone asks me if so-and-so should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, I have always stuck to my rule of thumb:

If you can't say yes in three seconds, the guy doesn't belong.

It's that simple, yet every year we argue about who belongs and who doesn't.

This year, Andre Dawson got in and Roberto Alomar did not. How could that be? How does Dawson get in and Roger Maris and Dale Murphy not?

Matt Kemp and Rihanna are still in Mexico, and they don't care who knows it. The two were romantically linked earlier this week, and those reports seem to be right on the money judging by these latest pics. The two are pulling no punches, and have no problem playing to the camera. The life of a professional baseball player, and that of a pop princess. Does it get any better than this?

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As some of us Sox fans might remember, the Evil Empire outbid the Red Sox all of last winter and, in turn, won itself another World Series. Many people, myself included, figured that the Sox would end up responding this year.

Well, my friends, it appears that is not the case. With issues at the dish last year, names like Jason Bay and Matt Holliday on the market, and plenty of revenue, the Sox seemingly downgraded their lineup this year.

So it seems that the Braves are probably done for the offseason with the Hinske and Glaus signings.

Time for Frank Wren's off-season grades.

Starting Pitcher :

The offseason started out with signing Hudson to a three-year, $28 million extension. Below market value for Hudson, a great leader in the clubhouse and community. The type of player the Braves want to build around.

Unfortunately, once the Braves signed Hudson to an extension, they were put into a position where they needed to trade Lowe or Vazquez.

Over the past week, talks between the Minnesota Twins and left-handed starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn have begun to heat up.

Scott Miller of CBSSports.com  reported on Tuesday that the Twins made an offer to the lefty but the figures of the deal had not yet been disclosed.