Some news tidbits that aren't arbitration-related on this busy day in the majors…
- Rays general manager and executive VP Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that the team has no plans to deal Carl Crawford, and said that the "mutual goal" of both Crawford and the Rays was to work out a long-term contract.
- From Topkin's same post, he notes that Tampa Bay won't go after an established free agent closer this winter but relief pitching is still the club's top need.
- Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi use the Marlins' negotiations with Josh Johnson as a springboard to speculate about how much it would cost Seattle to sign Felix Hernandez to an extension.
- CBS Sports' Danny Knobler discusses how the Tigers aren't acting very desperate for a team that's allegedly having a fire sale.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson says that Ron Villone might be the only Nationals free agent who the team would want back in 2010.
- Marc Carig of the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that if any free agents are curious about playing for the Yankees, Derek Jeter says they're welcome to call and ask him any questions they might have. Jeter could save himself some time by simply mailing every prospective free agent a picture of his hand wearing five World Series rings.
