2nd BASE IS ALL SET NOW

** The Yankees have signed former Oriole Brian Roberts to a one year deal. He's been an excellent player in the past, but he's been plagued by injuries the last four years. He's had injuries to his neck, back, knee, abdomen, hip, and hamstring, not to mention his bouts with concussions. The only thing he hasn't suffered from is hangnails. He has a career on-base percentage of .349, so he'd make a good 2nd spot hitter, if he can stay healthy.

** MLB and Japanese baseball has agreed on a new posting agreement and the league's star pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka, is ready to sign with a Major League team, except...  His current team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles may refuse to post him. Why? The new posting rules say the maximum bid is now $20 million, as to opposed an unlimited amount, which is what it used to be. Considering that Major League teams had paid up to $50 million plus for the rights to negotiate with a Japanese player, this is a significant loss to the Golden Eagles. Other than holding him back, they really have no recourse but to post him. If they don't, in two years he will be a free agent and they'll get nothing. If they hold him back one year, there is always the chance of injury. It appears they have to let him go.

** The Yanks have signed left-hander Matt Thornton to a two year deal as a situational lefty out of the bull pen. I don't know how good he'll do, but it's another that was a Red Sox player last year.

** Okay, I wasn't a math major in college, so someone had to explain this to me. The Yankees have to pay a $28 million luxury tax for 2013, with a final payroll of $237 million. The Dodgers final payroll was $236.9 million. Their luxury tax is only $11.4 million. Where's my calculator?

***THEY SAID IT***
"Dez Bryant said the reason he left the field early in the Cowboys’ loss to the Packers is that he didn’t want to be seen crying on the sideline. And Dallas fans are thinking “How do you think WE felt?”  -- Janice Hough
"The arena crew at a Florida Panthers game replaced the glass behind the net but didn’t take the backing off, blocking the view from the stands. "Good idea," said Sabres fans."  -- RJ Currie
"There were two pieces of bad news for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Dez Bryant left the field early and Tony Romo didn't."  -- Brad Dickson
"Dennis Rodman is expected to help train the North Korean basketball team. A little different: Anyone who misses a layup is sentenced to 20 years in a labor camp."  -- Brad Dickson

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