In an Insider-only piece, ESPN's Keith Law broke down the market for corner infielders. He lists Kevin Youkilis as the best value buy and James Loney as the worst. Both players ended the season in the AL, and here are some more links from the so-called Junior Circuit…
- Cody Ross told WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he and the Red Sox never got close to a new deal during the exclusive negotiating period this week. "They had a ton of opportunities," said the outfielder. "We talked about this back in July and we couldn't work anything out up until the deadline. Now it only makes sense to listen to other teams."
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Angels have lost leverage against Zack Greinke following the trade of Ervin Santana and the declining of Dan Haren's option. GM Jerry Dipoto still has plenty of time and pitching options available to him at this point of the offseason, however.
- Rich Dubroff of CSN Baltimore.com listed the five worst contracts in Orioles history, led by the five-year, $65MM pact given to Albert Belle. He hit a superb .297/.400/.541 in the first year of the deal, but he slid to .281/.342/.474 in year two and didn't play at all in years three, four, and five.
