The Brewers dealt shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Twins for speedy center fielder Carlos Gomez.

It eases the shortstop logjam between Hardy, a former All-Star, and Alcides Escobar, the organization's top prospect, essentially handing the baton to Escobar for 2010.

It gives the Brewers their center fielder and perhaps their leadoff hitter, making Milwaukee even more unlikely to pursue two of its outgoing free agents, Mike Cameron and Felipe Lopez. [READ]

The Yankees aren't expected to be big players in the free agent market this winter.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that, "based on conversations with multiple Yankees officials, I sense that financially and philosophically the Yankees will not big-game hunt in free agency."

The three biggest free agents are expected to be Matt Holliday, John Lackey and Jason Bay. [READ]

Braves pitcher Tim Hudson wants to see the club re-sign Adam LaRoche.

While discussing the three-year extension he agreed to recently, Hudson publicly lobbied for the Braves to retain LaRoche in a conversation with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [READ]

Jose Canseco would like to fight Alex Rodriguez.

In fact, Canseco told MassLive.com that he'd "beat (Rodriguez) to a pulp."

He was asked the following question by reporters: "Of all the players in baseball, who would you most like to box?"

However, Canseco took the question and ran with it.

"That lying little idiot," he added. "I'd like to get him in the ring." [READ]

The Brewers have not picked up the 2010 option on the contract of relief pitcher David Weathers.

Weathers, 40, went 4-6 with one save and a 3.92 ERA in 2009. [READ]

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is being scratched from his next scheduled start with a strained neck.

Washington said he is being held out of the appearance as a precaution and that his status is day-to-day.
[READ]

The Diamondbacks have picked up the $8.5 million option on the contract of pitcher Brandon Webb.

Arizona is hoping that Webb will return successfully from shoulder surgery.

The team would have had to pay him $2 million in a buyout if they had declined the option.

"He's worked very hard since the surgery," general manager Josh Byrnes told the Associated Press, "and we're confident that he'll return to be a very healthy, effective pitcher." [READ]

The White Sox announced Friday that they have bought out the 2010 mutual option on outfielder Jermaine Dye's contract for $950,000 rather than pay the outfielder a $12 million salary for next season. He is now eligible to become a free agent.

Dye, 35, batted .250 with 27 home runs and 81 RBIs in 141 games with the White Sox in 2009. That included a difficult second half, in which he hit .179 with just seven homers. [READ]

The Phillies announced their first big move of the offseason on Friday when they picked up left-hander Cliff Lee's $9 million club option.

Lee went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 regular-season starts for the Phillies, who acquired him and outfielder Ben Francisco on July 29 from the Cleveland Indians for prospects Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson. Lee also went 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five postseason starts as he led the Phillies to the World Series.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the team had spoken with Lee's agent a couple times during the postseason, and said it would consider thinking about a contract extension for Lee.

"That said, we have some time on that," Amaro said. [READ]

The Kansas City Royals have announced that they have acquired infielders Chris Getz and Josh Fields from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen and cash considerations.

Teahen, 28, was a .269 career hitter for the Royals in five seasons. He hit .271 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI in 144 games in 2009.

The deal was largely rumored to be close to completion on Thursday. [READ]

Of the 183 players that were eligible for free agency, 79 of the veterans elected to hit the market.

Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, John Lackey and Randy Wolf were among the veterans that became free agents.

Under rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, players may file for free agency the day after the conclusion of the World Series. They have 15 days to do so. [READ]

Yankees manager Joe Girardi could change his number to 28 in the wake of the team's World Series victory.

Girardi picked No. 27 when he was hired prior to the 2008 season, which represented the number of championships that New York coveted.

"I think I'll make a number change," Girardi told WFAN after the team won their 27th World Series title earlier this week.

"That's something I talked to [general manager] Brian Cashman briefly about today," he continued. "I think I will. I've got to talk to Shelley Duncan to see if he allows me to wear it." [READ]

The Dodgers have decided to decline the mutual $10 million option on the contract of pitcher Jon Garland.

Garland is now eligible for free agency.

In turn, the pitcher gets a $2.5 million buyout.

Garland was 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA in six games for the Dodgers, but he didn't make their playoff roster. [READ]

The Rockies haven't wasted any time fortifying their bullpen.

Colorado announced one-year major-league contracts with right-hander Matt Belisle and left-hander reliever Randy Flores on Thursday.

They also are exploring a long-term deal with closer Huston Street. [READ]

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was serious when he said he wants to pitch until he's 45.

As the team celebrated their World Series title on Wednesday night, Rivera said on FOX that despite considering retirement, he wants to pitch for five more years.

"I'm serious," Rivera told the New York Times. "I hope the organization does whatever it takes to bring me back. I know I have another year under my contract, and then whatever happens happens."

Rivera converted 44 saves in 46 chances in 2009.

"There's nothing Mariano can't do," Alex Rodriguez said. "He's basically a superman." [READ]

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the chances of Matt Holliday re-signing with the Cardinals may be decreasing.

"Holliday has yet to file for free agency and pessimism grows surrounding his return to St. Louis," Strauss wrote.

"Chairman Bill DeWitt recently denied that the club has made Holliday an offer; however, there are suggestions that the Cardinals discussed a 6-year, $96 million framework with Holliday's agent, Scott Boras. That, obviously, is nowhere near the "Teixeira money" (8 years, $180 million) that Boras was talking about during the NLCS." [READ]

The White Sox have re-signed Mark Kotsay to a one-year deal.

The contract is worth $1.5 million, according to ESPN.

He was traded from Boston to Chicago on July 28 for outfielder Brian Anderson. [READ]

The wife of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has lost her bid to be reinstated as the team's chief executive.

Jamie McCourt was fired last month by her husband, who claims she was having an affair. She was reportedly having an affair with a team employee.

The McCourts are in the midst of a divorce. [READ]

The Mets have told reliever J.J. Putz that they probably will decline his $8.6 million option for 2010 and buy him out for $1 million instead.

The club cited health concerns in making the long-expected move, pointing to elbow surgery and forearm problems.

Putz's agent, Craig Landis, said Putz understood the likely decision and hasn't ruled out returning to the Mets once free agency begins Nov. 20.

"That wouldn't be impossible," Landis said. "We'll listen to who calls [in free agency], including the Mets." [READ]

Each round of the 2009 MLB Postseason generated double-digit percentage year-to-year increases in average viewership as compared to 2008, capped by the 2009 World Series averaging 19.4 million viewers, a +42% increase over last year and the largest-ever year-to-year gain in viewership (previous high was 36% from 2000-2001).

Complete 2009 MLB Postseason coverage on FOX and TBS averaged 9.0 million viewers, up +30% over last year and the most-watched since 2005. In addition to the +42% viewership gain for the World Series on FOX, viewership for the Division Series on TBS was up +11% over last year and viewership for the League Championship Series on FOX and TBS increased +14% over 2008. [READ]

Nomar Garciaparra will become a free agent and he isn't expected to re-sign with the A's.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Garciaparra told MLB.com when asked if he was again considering calling it a career. "I still love the game and feel like I could help someone, but obviously I'm not an everyday player anymore, so who knows if someone's going to even want me." [READ]

A report on Thursday claimed the Royals had agreed to send outfielder Mark Teahen to the Chicago White Sox for second baseman Chris Getz and third baseman/outfielder Josh Fields.

The report first appeared in the New York Daily News and gained steam when the Chicago Sun-Times cited confirmation from the White Sox. It now appears those reports are premature.

“We’re in discussions with a lot of clubs about a lot of things,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “There is nothing to announce yet, and we won’t comment (about trade rumors) until there is something to announce.” [READ]

Jim Pohlad, owner of the Twins, said there's nothing new on contract extension talks for Joe Mauer, who can become a free agent after next season.

Pohlad said the Twins intend to sign Mauer.

"But it takes two" to agree, he cautioned. "There's nothing going on now." [READ]

Tim Lincecum faces misdemeanor marijuana possession charges after Washington State police found a small amount of the drug during a traffic stop on Oct. 30.

Lincecum was stopped just outside Vancouver, Wash, which is just across the Columbia River from the Oregon border.

Lincecum produced a pipe from his dashboard console and 3.3 grams of material. [READ]

The Red Sox have acquired 25-year-old OF Jeremy Hermida from the Marlins for LHPs Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.

Hermida had a .259/.348/.392 season for the Marlins.

“This was not a blockbuster," said Jeremy Hermida. "This was a value trade, a chance to get a guy with unfulfilled potential at a reasonable cost.

"The last two years, there were high expectations that didn’t come together for him. His performance certainly hasn’t been as good the last two years as it was in 2007. I can tell you that’s the reason we were able to acquire him today. Had he maintained that performance or had linear progression from 2007 to today, there’s no way we would have been trading for him, let alone in this kind of a deal.

"Hermida is a player who hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet. We acquired him today for a reasonable cost to see if he might be able to fulfill that potential with us. He’s somebody who has positive indicators that future performance might be better than his past performance. His minor-league track record, his age, his draft pedigree, our scouting reports over the year indicate there’s a chance that he can turn into the player he was once thought to be.

"Certainly this is a good time to acquire him when his value is a little bit low and to see if with a change of scenery he will be able to fulfill his potential.

"He is somebody who had and we feel may still have considerable promise. This is a player who was highly sought after as an amateur. We liked him in the draft.

"He’s about to move into his prime years. Sometimes talented young players who struggle at the big-league level put it all together and sometimes they don’t. We had a chance to acquire one for what we deemed to be a very reasonable cost." [READ]

The Yankees bucked the trend of recent history by successfully using a three-man rotation.

Since 1999, starting pitchers on short rest were 9-28 in the postseason against pitchers with normal four days' rest.

Also, the last team to win a World Series of more than four games using just three starting pitchers was the Minnesota Twins in 1991 with Jack Morris, Kevin Tapani and Scott Erickson. [READ]

LeBron James sent a text message to former teammate Larry Hughes following the Yankees win in Game 6 of the World Series.

“The Yankees are back on top where they belong,” read a text message James sent to Knicks guard Larry Hughes. [READ]