More items from a busy opening day of baseball's hot stove season…
- Consider it a formality, but John Lackey, Matt Holliday, and Jason Bay were among the 79 players filing for free agency today according to MLB.com's Tom Singer.
- Free agent Bobby Crosby told MLB.com's Mychael Urban that he doesn't expect to be back in Oakland next season.
- Alex Gonzalez has yet to hear from the Red Sox in regards to whether or not they will exercise his $6MM option for next season, says The Boston Herald's Michael Silverman.
- Jim Street of MLB.com breaks down Seattle's free agents, noting that Russell Branyan and Ken Griffey Jr. "are the most likely to return," and that if Griffey comes back, it would likely mean that the Mariners wouldn't re-sign veteran Mike Sweeney. Street also reported that right-hander Miguel Batista feels he won't be back in Seattle next season, with Batista going so far as to say there is a "99.9 percent chance" he will be in another team's uniform in 2010.
- Texas introduced former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle as their new hitting coach on Thursday.
- John Harper of the New York Daily News feels that Hideki Matsui's World Series MVP award made the Yankees' decision whether or not to re-sign the free agent slugger much more difficult. Even before Matsui's huge Game Six performance, MLBTR's Luke Adams outlined the factors behind any decision to put Matsui back in pinstripes in 2010.
- Randy St. Claire has been hired as the Marlins' new pitching coach, reports Barry Jackson and Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
