Jeff Francoeur

Royals Hot Stove report

On the Royals' wish list are an outfielder with a productive bat and a middle infielder to go with rookie flash Mike Aviles. With that in mind, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star passed on some speculation from the general...

Braves not shopping Francoeur

There might have been some lobby talk about Jeff Francoeur during this week's GM meetings. But according to one Braves official, there have been no recent discussions about trading Francoeur, who is confident he'll rebound from...

American stars anticipating Classic

Team USA looking to improve on 2006 showing Catcher Jason Varitek has expressed a desire to return to Team USA in 2009. That said, Bob Watson, the general manager for USA Baseball, could have a less complicated time assembling...

Royals want outfielder, middle infielder

On the Royals' wish list are an outfielder with a productive bat and a middle infielder to go with rookie flash Mike Aviles. With that in mind, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star passed on some speculation from the general...

Jones pitches in with charity auction

Former reliever raising funds for youth sports programs Todd Jones notched 319 saves in 16 career big league seasons with the eight teams. (Paul Sancya/AP) During a 16-year career spent with eight organizations -- Houston,...

Change of scenery would do these ballplayers good

By NICK CAFARDO THE BOSTON GLOBE I NEVER REALLY understood why there aren't more "swap meet" type deals in baseball. Anyway, may I suggest we set up a few tables for a swap meet at this week's GM meetings in Dana Point, Calif.,...

Five major things to watch for as baseball marches into the off-season.

"There are a lot of people in our sport who have their heads buried in the sand," said one major league GM the week the Dow plummeted more than 1,000 points. Superstar free agents like CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Manny...