Red Sox invite Molina to spring camp

A source confirmed on Friday that the Red Sox have signed catcher Gustavo Molina to a Minor League deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Molina spent the entire 2009 season playing with the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, and he batted .209 with two homers and 24 RBIs in 72 games. The right-handed hitter saw action in 19 Major League games from 2007to 2008, batting .118 with the White Sox, Orioles and Mets.

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the White Sox in 2000, Molina is a career .235 hitter and .342 slugging percentage in the Minor Leagues. Molina also has experience at third and first base. Hope he can play well in the red sox jersey.

Doug Wilson will join in NHL Hour

San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson will be the guest on Thursday's edition of NHL Hour With Commissioner Gary Bettman on NHL.com. The show encourages fans to call in with questions for the Commissioner. NHL Hour with Commissioner Gary Bettman now broadcasts live on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on NHL Home Ice and NHL.com. The show will re-air on Sirius XM Radio, with shows available for download via podcast on NHL.com.

Wilson, who spent the first 14 seasons of his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks before finishing by playing two seasons with in the san jose sharks jersey, has built San Jose into an NHL powerhouse in his five-plus seasons as GM. San Jose has a high 78 points, two more than the Hawks.

Hughes is named Illinois Sportscaster of Year

Cubs radio play-by-play man Pat Hughes was named the 2009 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. This is Hughes' eighth Sportscaster of the Year honor and his fifth in Illinois. He was honored as Wisconsin's Sportscaster of the Year in 1990, 1991 and 1992. "I would like to thank the Cubs fans for being the greatest audience that a broadcaster could ever dream of," Hughes said. "I would also like to thank all of those who voted for me."

Hughes is entering his 15th season with the Cubs, teaming with Ron Santo on the Cubs Radio Network. The 2010 season will be Hughes' 28th of broadcasting Major League Baseball. Hughes also produces an audio series called "Baseball Voices," which focuses on the careers of some of the game's top announcers. Among the voices are Harry Caray, Red Barber, Jack Buck, Bob Uecker, Harry Kalas and Dave Niehaus.

Mariners and Nelson reach Minors deal

A potential first baseman and outfielder was added to the Mariners' Spring Training invitation list and Brad Nelson signed a Minor League contract. He spent most of last season with Triple-A Tacoma, where he batted .247 with nine doubles, 15 home runs and 45 RBIs in 78 games. Nelson started the 2009 season with the Brewers before being sent to the Minors. Nelson refused the assignment and signed with Seattle as a free agent in May.

He has batted .268 with 227 doubles, 116 home runs and 569 RBIs in 3,479 at-bats In the Minors. Nelson figures to compete with Mike Carp as a backup to Casey Kotchman at first base during Spring Training, which will begin on Feb. 18 at the Peoria Sports Complex. Hope he can play well in the mariners jersey.

Durbin and Phillies avoid arbitration

A source said that the Phillies successfully avoided salary arbitration with Chad Durbin on Monday, and they agreed to a one-year, $2.125 million contract. If the two sides had not agreed, they would have exchanged salary arbitration figures on Tuesday.

Durbin went 2-2 with a 4.39 ERA in 59 appearances last season. He went 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 71 appearances in 2008. The Phillies have three other players available for arbitration: center fielder Shane Victorino, right-hander Joe Blanton and catcher Carlos Ruiz.

Bonanno is named fantasy award finalist

It is reported that NHL.com's Rocky Bonanno has been named a finalist for the 2009 Fantasy Hockey Writer of the Year presented by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association. Also nominated are Sean Allen of ESPN and Scott Pianowski of Yahoo!
This year the not-for-profit organization collected close to 1,000 articles from more than 150 participating writers. The annual writing contest has grown in each of its six years.

"This contest demands hundreds of volunteer hours from our executive staff and judges," said Mike Beacom, FSWA president and chairman, "but the increased interest in the awards suggests all of that hard work is well worth it." The FSWA Executive Committee collects all of the entries and guides the two-step process, which includes a round of judging by the FSWA Board of Directors and then by an independent panel of journalism academics. Judging for this year's awards has now been completed and the winners will be announced at the Winter FSTA Business Conference and Research Symposium in Las Vegas on Jan. 26, 2010.

Andrei Kostitsyn may be out after knee surgery

The Canadiens said forward Andrei Kostitsyn will be out indefinitely after undergoing knee surgery on Friday in Montreal.
Being selected to play on Belarus' Olympic team, he suffered a knee injury at Florida on Dec. 31 and has missed the team’s last three games.

Kostitsyn has 25 points in 40 games with the Canadiens this season in his canadiens jersey. He missed three games from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 due to a foot injury. His brother Sergei hasn't played since Dec. 30 due to an ankle injury either.

Ted Lindsay appears on NHL Live! this Friday

Hockey Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay will be among the guests on Friday's edition of NHL Live! on NHL Network and NHL.com and broadcast on XM Radio. NHL Live! is broadcast from the NHL Store Powered By Reebok in Manhattan.

Also appear with hosts Rob Simpson and E.J. Hradek are Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan and hockey analyst Ed Olczyk, who will work for NBC's telecast of Sunday's game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. It's a role that Lindsay served when NBC broadcast NHL games in the 1970s.

Mike Milbury will appear on NHL Live!

It is reported that NBC commentator and NHL Radio Insider Mike Milbury will be among the guests on NHL Live! on Thursday, scheduled from noon-2 p.m. on NHL Network and NHL.com. NHL Live! is broadcast from the NHL Store Powered By Reebok in Manhattan.

Milbury was General Manager of the New York Islanders for more than a decade. Also slated to appear with hosts Deb Placey and E.J. Hradek are Scott Morrison of CBC, and Dean Brown, who is the play-by-play radio announcer for the Ottawa Senators.

Gonzalez signs with Japanese Yomiuri Giants

The Yomiuri Giants in Japan have signed second baseman Edgar Gonzalez, who has spent the past two seasons with the San Diego Padres. Gonzalez is the older brother of Padres star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. While the younger Gonzalez was the first player taken overall in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft by Florida, his older brother spent eight years in the Minors with several different organizations before making his big league debut with the Padres in 2008.

Gonzalez hit .216 in 82 games for San Diego in the padres jersey in 2009. According to an Associated Press report citing the team's Japanese Web site, Gonzalez said he was very excited to play for a team with such a rich tradition.

Negron will miss 50 games after positive substance test

The Commissioner's Office announced last weekend that Miguel Negron, a Minor League outfielder in the White Sox, was one of three players to receive 50-game suspensions after tested positive for substances in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Negron has been suspended for a second positive test for a drug of abuse. The left-handed hitter batted .279 with four home runs, 38 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 103 games for Triple-A Charlotte during the 2009 season. He played for Double-A Birmingham as part of the White Sox organization in white sox jersey in 2008.

Pitcher Rony Bautista of the New York Yankees organization was suspended after testing positive for a metabolite of Boldenone. Pitcher Roberto Toribio of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol.

Mejia has been named Venezuelan League MVP

It is reported that Mejia has been named Most Valuable Player as well as Rookie of the Year for his performance in the Venezuelan Winter League. He is the first player in the league's history to win both awards in the same season. Mejia batted .292 and led the league with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs in 57 games for Aguilas del Zulia. Being from Guanare in Venezuela, he was signed by the Royals on Dec. 11 as a Minor League free agent.

And Royals second baseman Alberto Callaspo, who was also playing for Zulia, batted .286 with one homer and 24 RBIs in 40 games in the royals jersey. Infielder Wilson Betemit is in the Dominican Winter League playoffs with Gigantes del Cibao. He batted .301 in 47 regular-season games with eight homers and 36 RBIs.

U.S. Olympian Brian Rafalski appears on NHL Live

It is said that Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski (in red wings jersey), who was named as a member of the United States team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver last week, will be among the guests on Wednesday's edition of NHL Live! on the NHL Network and NHL.com.

Also appearing with hosts Rob Simpson and Stan Fischler will be NHL Radio Insider Jay Feaster, TSN's Darren Dreger, and NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. He covered the World Junior Championships, including the United States' win over Team Canada in Tuesday's gold medal game.

Cardinals might be most logical fit for All-Star outfielder

According to ESPN.com's Buster Olney, agent Scott Boras has been doubling back to prospective buyers for Holliday, but it left fielder's most recent club, the Cardinals, remains the most logical fit. The Orioles surfaced recently as a possible destination for Holliday. Last Wednesday, multiple online reports indicated that the Cardinals made an offer to Holliday which was over $100 million and almost approached eight years and $140 million.

Holliday batted .353 with 13 home runs in the final 63 games of the 2009 regular season after being traded from the Athletics. His situation is almost the same as that of Mark Teixeira, when the first baseman was coming off a similar performance for the Angels. But the Yankees lands him for eight years and $180 million.

Brave could be D-backs' second baseman

It is reported that Johnson is a guy that the D-backs have discussed with the Braves since Josh Byrnes became GM in the fall of 2005. Johnson hit .224 with eight homers and 29 RBIs last season for Atlanta and was not offered arbitration earlier this month. Johnson has actually hit better against lefties than he has against righties in his career. Based on advanced metrics, it is believed that he is an excellent candidate for a rebound season after struggling last year.

If Johnson gets the starting at second, the D-backs could shift Tony Abreu into a utility infield role. The team learned during the Winter Meetings that there is interest in Ojeda, so moving him would probably not be a problem. The D-backs could also give Abreu more seasoning at the Triple-A level.

Senators' Alfredsson will be out for several weeks

Now the Ottawa Senators will march on without their captain Daniel Alfredsson, because he will be sidelined for 4 tio 6 weeks with a separated left shoulder. It means that Alfredsson will be lost to the Senators until the break for the 2010 Winter Olympics begins in February. The team is already without Jason Spezza after the Vancouver Games with a knee injury. And forward Nick Foligno is also on the shelf after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, but might resume skating this weekend.

"Very disappointing," Senators head coach Cory Clouston said in Buffalo, where his team will face against the Sabres. "It's compounded when you lose Foligno and Spezza as well, so it's not just one guy. We just need guys to step up, we need guys to pick up those minutes and play hard." Hope Alfredsson will come back to the ice in his senators jersey as soon as possible.