Dylan Carlson Looks To Make A Splash

Dylan Carlson was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2016, so it’s easy to look at his numbers and say he’s been disappointing. After getting his feet wet with a .717 OPS in his draft year, he slashed a ho-hum .240/.342/.347 in his first full season. There have been flashes of power, yet the switch-hitting outfielder has gone deep just 10 times in 652 professional plate appearances.

Fangraphs

Kevin Youkilis, Nick Punto In The Beer Business

The Greek God of Walks is now the Greek God of Hops.

SF Chronicle

Giancarlo Stanton Named 2017 NL Hank Aaron Award Winner

Jose Altuve of the Astros and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins were presented on Wednesday with the coveted Hank Aaron Award as the most outstanding offensive performers in their respective league, based on a combination of voting by fans at MLB.com and a special panel of Hall of Famers led by the award's legendary namesake.

Miami Official Site

Kevin Youkilis Joins Cubs As Special Assistant

Mark Gonzales Twitter

Meet New Red Sox Rick Procello & Justin Masterson

The Red Sox began rebuilding their pitching staff on Thursday with the acquisition of pitchers Rick Porcello and Justin Masterson, who was with the team from 2006 to 2009. A deal is in place to also add pitcher Wade Miley, but it is not finalized.

Boston Globe

Yankees Cooling On Chase Headley

December is the month of giving and receiving, and over the past five Decembers, the Yankees have done plenty of both.

ESPN

Kevin Youkilis Retires

Pro Star Management Twitter

Free Agent Profile: Colby Rasmus

Colby Rasmus entered the year as one of the more intriguing pending free agents. Coming off of a big 2013 campaign, he rated eighth among all expected free agents in MLBTR’s first Free Agent Power Rankings installment back in March.

MLB Trade Rumors

Jorge Sosa Removed From Active Roster With Tightness In Left Leg

The Bay Stars were going to let Jorge Sosa travel with the team until he showed up at the airport on Monday with a slight limp (tightness in his left thigh/leg). Sosa was taken off the active roster and sent down to Ni-gun.

Yakyubaka

Former Cardinals In Spring Training NPB Action 3-4-14: Brian Falkenborg Likely Locked In For Roster Spot; Chad Huffman Singles; Jorge Sosa Strikes Out Two Over One Scoreless Inning

Andruw Jones, Kevin Youkilis, and Brian Falkenborg will likely take three of the four foreign player slots on the active roster. Travis Blackley and Loek Van Mil could end up competing for the fourth and final spot.

Yakyubaka


Chad Huffman (former Memphis-Chiba Lotte) entered as a pinch hitter and took over at first base, batting seventh.  1-for-1 at the plate.

Rakuten beat Chiba Lotte 2-1


Jorge Sosa (former St. Louis-Yokohama) entered in the eighth and pitched one inning.  He allowed no hits or runs, and struck two out.

Yokohama beat Orix 5-3

Rakuten Holds Press Conference To Announce Signing Of Brian Falkenborg

The Eagles held a press conference for Travis Blackley and Brian Falkenborg at Kobo Stadium in Sendai on Thursday.

Yakyubaka

Yankees Could Look To Placido Polanco To Fill Void At Third base

The market isn’t inspiring — even at its best, Juan Uribe was perhaps the winter’s best available third baseman — but the Yankees could sort through free agents such as Mark Reynolds, Placido Polanco or Michael Young. Any of them could be experienced, if limited, platoon partners with some possibility of playing a more permanent role.

Lo Hud

C.J. Nitkowski Q&A

Lefty pitcher C.J. Nitkowski's fascinating career began when the Reds drafted him in the first round in 1994. From there, he pitched in the Tigers, Astros, Mets, Cardinals, Rangers, Yankees, Braves, Pirates and Nationals organizations, also pitching in a number of Triple-A towns along the way, before playing in Japan and then Korea. With big-leaguers like Kevin Youkilis, Luis Mendoza, Chris Volstad and Luke Scott now heading overseas, and Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka in the process of signing with a North American team, Nitkowski's unique perspective seems more timely than ever. Nitkowski's career ended in 2012, and he currently works as an analyst for MLB.com, CBS Sports and MLB Network Radio. He can also be found on Twitter. This interview has been edited for length.

MLB Trade Rumors

Brett Tomko Working Out For Interested Teams In California

Brett Tomko, who impressed with his pitching in a recent stint in the Dominican Republic, is working out in California and plans to audition for clubs in late January, a source tells MLBTR's Zach Links. The veteran is healthy and hitting 90-92 mph on the gun with his fastball to go along with a solid changeup and cutter. Tomko is seeking a minor-league deal with an invite to big-league spring training. If he doesn't make the 25-man roster out of the gate, he's willing to go to Triple-A as an insurance policy to either start or pitch out of the bullpen. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.

MLB Trade Rumors

Rakuten To Sign Kevin Youkilis

Patrick Newman Twitter

Rays Express Interest In Kevin Youkilis

Marc Topkin Twitter

Kevin Youkilis Wants To Play On West Coast

Jack Curry Twitter

Kevin Youkilis Beginning To Draw Interest

Nick Cafardo Twitter

Kevin Youkilis Would Like To Continue Playing In 2014

Buster Olney Twitter

Browsing For Help At 2B

Cards GM John Mozeliak has said he'd like to add a righthanded-hitting infielder before the Cardinals close the door on offseason business.

Bird Bytes