Earlier today the Red Sox finalized the Joel Hanrahan trade and Stephen Drew signing, but assistant GM Brian O'Halloran told reporters (including Tim Britton of The Providence Journal) there is no update on the Mike Napoli situation (Twitter link). Here's the latest from baseball's two East divisions….
- The Phillies are in an odd place in baseball's landscape writes ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider req'd). GM Ruben Amaro Jr. really couldn't add big money free agents this winter, but his team is too good to rebuild completely. Olney wonders if they should have dumped Cliff Lee (and his salary) on the Dodgers when Los Angeles claimed the southpaw on waivers this summer.
- The Orioles still have to sort out their bench, but the team has plenty of candidates to choose from as Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com explains. Alexi Casilla, Nolan Reimold, Wilson Betemit, Danny Valencia, Trayvon Robinson, Ryan Flaherty, Yamaico Navarro, Steve Pearce, Conor Jackson, and Travis Ishikawa are all in the bench mix.
- Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider compared Adam LaRoche to Mike Morse. The Nationals are trying to re-sign the former, though the latter could step right in at first base if no deal is reached.
- Ryan Lawrence of The Philadelphia Daily News broke down the Phillies offseason, both the moves and non-moves.
