Left-hander Tim Byrdak, whose 2012 season was curtailed by shoulder surgery, was re-signed to a Minor League contract on Monday by the Mets, who concurrently invited him to Spring Training.

The Rays didn’t have to extend Evan Longoria’s deal. Not yet, anyway. But in doing so, they did right by a player who has provided so much to them at such great value, and they did right by their community.

Dale Sveum and Rob Deer, teammates on the Brewers from 1986-90, are together again. The Cubs have hired Deer as an assistant hitting coach, and he’ll join Sveum’s coaching staff, working with hitting coach James Rowson.

The Yankees have agreed to terms with catcher Eli Whiteside on a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration, the club announced on Monday.

New Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is almost done putting the finishing touches on his coaching staff for the upcoming season.

The needs are clear as Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington gets ready for the Winter Meetings, which open next Monday in Nashville. “Outfield, first base and rotation,” Cherington said recently. “I don’t know that I can put them in order, we just want to improve those areas.”

With the Ervin Sanchez-Jeremy Guthrie package already under the tree, will the Royals leave next week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., with no new gifts for their fans?

The World Series champion Giants will receive a full postseason share amounting to $377,002.64, eclipsing the previous high set by the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals. The Tigers, who won the American League, received $284,274.50 per player. Both figures are higher than last year’s totals awarded to the Cardinals and Rangers.

The annual St. Louis Baseball Writers’ Dinner, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on Jan. 20 at the downtown Millennium Hotel, will honor several members of the 2012 Cardinals that advanced to the National League Championship Series for a second straight season.

Until they reach resolutions with David Wright and R.A. Dickey, uncertainty will hover over all of those decisions. No two players were more important to the Mets on the field last season, and no two players have demanded more attention over the first eight weeks of the offseason.

There’s much to like about St. Louis Cardinals second-base prospect Kolten Wong. Having the ability to consistently put the bat on the ball as well as being able to accept walks help profile Wong as a top of the batting order hitter. He should be able to get on base and score runs.

Here’s the thing that makes the pursuit of Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton even more interesting. While both are in the primes of their careers — Greinke is 29, Hamilton 31 — neither comes without a question mark.

It’s a safe bet that not too much about the Astros’ 2013 season will resemble the 2012 edition.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Evan Longoria agreed Monday on a contract extension that could keep the All-Star third baseman in a Rays uniform through the 2023 season.

Bryce Harper put together one of the most impressive resumes ever offered by a player who concluded a season before turning 20 years old during his 2012 campaign, which won him the National League Rookie if the Year Award.

When the Yankees re-signed Hiroki Kuroda the new deal was good for the Yankees, good for Kuroda, and probably good for every starting pitcher of any worth in the current free-agent market.

The Dodgers signed three more Minor League free agents, bringing the total number of non-roster players invited to Major League Spring Training to 11.