Right-hander Tim Lincecum has reached a verbal agreement with the Giants on a two-year, $40.5 million contract, avoiding salary arbitration.

In the end, after all the speculation and conjecture, Prince Fielder signed with a team in the right league for a price that was fair-market value.

The Yankees avoided arbitration with Russell Martin, agreeing to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the catcher on Tuesday.

When Kyle Williams walked out of the locker room Sunday night following the football Giants' overtime victory over his 49ers, his father, Ken Williams, was the first one to greet him.

Chalk it up to baseball's bizarre sense of symmetry that, when faced with his first free-agent decision in seven years this offseason, Carlos Beltran's most comfortable fit came with the Cardinals.

Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that La Russa will manage the National League squad in the 2012 All-Star Game, receiving the traditional spoils for the skipper of a pennant-winning team. The game will take place in Kansas City, not far down I-70 from St. Louis, where La Russa managed the past 16 years.

Prince Fielder has agreed to a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Tigers, joining Miguel Cabrera to give Detroit an explosive one-two punch in the middle of its lineup.

The Blue Jays continued to revamp their bullpen
on Tuesday afternoon by agreeing to terms with free-agent reliever Francisco Cordero.

Carlos Pena, one of the most popular players in Rays history, is returning to the club after spending last season with the Cubs.

In many ways, baseball teams are families. So it is plain to see the sadness that has crept over a wide swath of the baseball community this week, since news broke of Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter's worsening condition.

The last time a catcher on a Yankees World Series-winning team retired, it took about a year before he found himself stirring, needing to get back to the ballpark in some capacity.

It's not just that the Tigers added Prince Fielder's 38 home runs and 120 RBIs. It's not just that they're adding his raging competitive fires. Fans will discover that he's better than they probably think.

Not all teams can definitively announce their Opening Day starter more than three weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training, but in CC Sabathia's case, the Yankees see no reason to wait.

Word of Jorge Posada's decision to retire had already leaked by the time the Yankees shipped designated hitter Jesus Montero to the Mariners in a four-player trade, but Posada said he never — not even for a second — reconsidered.

It's been obvious for months, but on Tuesday it became reality. Prince Fielder, drafted by the Brewers nine years ago and developed into one of baseball's most feared sluggers, is moving on.

Cuban outfield prospect Yoenis Cespedes has established his residency in the Dominican Republic and is now waiting for approval from Major League Baseball to be declared a free agent, his representative Edgar Mercedes said.

So it turns out the Tigers were the "mystery team" in the Prince Fielder sweepstakes. And it's no mystery why they went all-in on Cecil's son. As replacements for an injured Victor Martinez go, this one's tough to top.