Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News has an update on the Yankees' odds of re-signing Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui:

Multiple sources have indicated that the Yankees would like to bring Johnny Damon back on a two-year deal, but Hideki Matsui's time in pinstripes is likely over as they would prefer to keep the DH slot open for Damon, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.

Should Damon bolt for a new team, however, Matsui could be brought back on a short-term deal to remain the Bombers' DH, since Cashman has made it clear he no longer considers the World Series MVP to be an outfielder, even on a part-time basis.

Last week Scott Boras suggested that Damon is looking for a four-year deal, but like many things said by the hyperbole-fueled agent that has zero chance of happening. Damon hasn't lost anything offensively and has played at least 140 games in 14 straight seasons, but he turned 36 years old earlier this month and has seen his range in the outfield diminish significantly to go along with his always horrendous throwing arm.

With that said, Feinsand speculates that the Yankees are unlikely to jump heavily into the mix for Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, and Damon is one of the best options among the second-tier outfielders in a weak crop of free agents. If not him and not Matsui, then the Yankees would be left to choose from other aging veterans like Vladimir Guerrero and Jermaine Dye. A two-year deal seems like a worthwhile fit for both sides.

Television website THR.com has the details on Curtis Granderson's attempts to branch out:

MLB All-Star Curtis Granderson is shopping a reality series with production company Authentic Entertainment (Food Network's "Ace of Cakes," Bravo's "Flipping Out").

The Detroit Tigers player has agreed to host a TV and online series titled "Stadium Secrets" where he takes sports fans on an exploration of stadiums. The concept is similar to Authentic's "Cities of the Underworld" on History channel.

In addition to being one of the best all-around outfielders in baseball Granderson is a really smart, interesting guy who has done all sorts of things to interact with fans, so this seems like a natural fit.

Interestingly, there have been rumors of the Tigers possibly shopping him this offseason because of payroll constraints and the Angels are seemingly the team most mentioned in possible trade scenarios. I'm sure that Granderson likes Detroit, but with his new projects perhaps he wouldn't mind a move to California.

Since a big portion of the Baseball Writers Association of America seems to be beyond their past over-reliance on win-loss records to evaluate starting pitchers, can we have a good old-fashioned mulligan on the AL Cy Young vote from 2005?

Bartolo Colon, who won the award that year, had a 3.48 ERA, 157/43 K/BB ratio, and .244 opponents' batting average in 223 innings.

Johan Santana, who did not win the award that year, had a 2.87 ERA, 238/45 K/BB ratio, and .210 opponents' batting average in 232 innings.

Santana was clearly superior in just about every possible way, throwing more innings than Colon with an ERA that was 20 percent lower, racking up 50 percent more strikeouts with the same number of walks, and being 15 percent harder to hit. So how did Colon not only win the award, but win the award with 15 more first-place votes than Santana in a pool of 28 voters?

Colon was 21-8.
Santana was 16-7.

They may not care so much about that now, but the BBWAA were sure obsessed with win-loss records four years ago. The voters saw those 21 wins and ignored everything else, including the fact that Colon pitched for a 95-win team that provided him with 5.6 runs of support per nine innings. Santana pitched for an 83-win team that gave him 4.4 runs of support per nine innings. Colon received 30 percent more run support than Santana overall, including an amazing 10 or more runs eight times in 33 starts.

So yes, the BBWAA deserves credit for recently changing their stance and correctly rewarding the best pitcher in each league with the Cy Young award that's supposed to go to the best pitcher in each league even when they didn't have the best win-loss record. With that said, Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum are lucky that they weren't trying to win the award in 2005 and it remains to be seen if the voters would have been willing to look beyond an otherwise inferior 20-game winner like Colon had there been one this year.

Various rumors have been swirling around today about a potential three-team trade that would supposedly send Kevin Millwood to the Mets, Luis Castillo to the Cubs, and Milton Bradley to the Rangers.

Even at first glance that seems like a "which one of these things doesn't belong" test question, because while the Mets and Cubs would like nothing more than to dump Castillo and Bradley the Rangers have a whole lot less incentive to give up Millwood.

He'll make $12 million in 2010, which is certainly pricey, but that's the same amount the Mets still owe Castillo and Bradley is due $21 million over the next two years.

Millwood is likely to regress in 2010 because his secondary numbers weren't nearly as good as his 3.67 ERA, but the notion of paying a decent mid-rotation starter $12 million for one year is downright appealing compared to Bradley or Castillo for two years.

Not surprisingly, when MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan actually asked a high-ranking Rangers official about the rumored swap, the response was simple: "Not happening."

It's possible that Texas may be open to reuniting with Bradley, who had the best season of his career with the Rangers in 2008, but there's no reason for them to give up anything of value to make that happen and the idea that the Mets could deal a completely unwanted player in Castillo for a decent starting pitcher is awfully wishful thinking.

Omar Vizquel must not have drawn any interest for a possible full- or even part-time job, because FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that he's close to signing a one-year deal with the White Sox.

Chicago has Alexei Ramirez entrenched at shortstop and plans to make Gordon Beckham an everyday second baseman after playing him at third base as a rookie, so barring injuries Vizquel would be slated for a strict backup job.

He filled that role nicely this season in Texas, serving as a mentor for 20-year-old standout rookie Elvis Andrus while accumulating fewer than 200 plate appearances for the first time in his 21-year career.

Vizquel has never been much of a hitter, but came close to matching his .273/.338/.355 career line by batting .266/.316/.345 in limited action this season and is one of the few shortstops in baseball history to remain an asset defensively in his 40s. Now that he's willing to accept a bench role, he's an ideal backup for a team with young starters up the middle.

For now at least the Rockies have held off on releasing Garrett Atkins, but the veteran third baseman admitted yesterday that he sees zero chance of remaining in Colorado: "I know that I'll be on another team next year and I'm just getting ready to have a good season."

Atkins' performance has declined significantly in each of the past three seasons, leading to a career-worst .226/.308/.342 line in 399 plate appearances while losing his starting job this year.

He earned $7 million for that awful production and would be in line for a similar salary in 2010 via arbitration, so expect the Rockies to non-tender him next month. In the meantime they'll keep him on the 40-man roster in the hopes of finding a taker via trade, but presumably there are no teams dumb enough to actually give up something of value in trade for the right to massively overpay Atkins.

Beyond his awful performance this season, Atkins is a career .252/.324/.411 away from Coors Field, turns 30 years old in a few weeks, and has always graded out poorly on defense at third base. And if for some crazy reason there's still a team out there willing to pay a premium for that, they surely realize that the Rockies have no intention of actually keeping Atkins around long enough to go to arbitration.

Unless some team makes the mistake of trading for him before then, Atkins will be a free agent by December 12.

MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports that free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd is unlikely to re-sign with the Rangers after the two sides recently had unproductive talks.

"We've had a decent amount of conversation," general manager Jon Daniels said. "I expect them to test the market. Based on what they're looking for ... we're not in a position to do that right now. We expect them to talk to other clubs and see what's out there. We're going to be looking at alternatives."

Byrd was the Rangers' primary center fielder and also saw extended action in left field, hitting .283/.329/.479 with 20 homers and 43 doubles in 599 plate appearances. After a slow start to his career the former top prospect has batted .295/.352/.468 in three seasons with the Rangers, and even adjusting for Texas' hitter-friendly ballpark that would make him solidly above average offensively among center fielders.

However, his defense in center field graded out poorly this season according to Ultimate Zone Rating, he's always carried more weight than most center fielders, and he's 32 years old, so many teams will likely view Byrd as a corner outfielder who can handle center field if needed rather than a full-time center fielder. Texas seems committed to Julio Borbon in center field after he impressed offensively in 46 games as a rookie, leaving Josh Hamilton to man right field.

Showing more than ever before that they're smartly willing to look beyond win-loss records to determine the league's best pitcher, the Baseball Writers Association of America followed up their selection of 16-game winner Zack Greinke as AL Cy Young by giving 15-game winner Tim Lincecum the NL award.

Lincecum received just 11 of 32 first-place votes, which is actually one fewer than Adam Wainwright, but was second on 12 ballots and third on nine ballots to narrowly defeat runner-up Chris Carpenter. Wainwright finished third, because while a dozen voters were still swayed by his league-leading win total 15 of 32 ballots placed him third.

Javier Jazquez and Dan Haren were the only other pitchers to receive votes on the three-line ballots, both at the expense of Carpenter being absent. Vazquez received a second-place vote and Haren got a third-place nod. Cardinals fans will no doubt be upset about the NL balloting, but Lincecum and Greinke are the rightful choices as the best pitchers in each league and the fact that the BBWAA awarded two guys who combined for just 31 wins is a big step in the right direction.

Lincecum joins Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Denny McLain, and Jim Palmer as back-to-back Cy Young winners, which is pretty amazing company for the 25-year-old Giants ace. Perhaps just as amazing is the BBWAA producing the exact same order, one through five, as my ballot. Actually, so far three of the four major awards have matched my picks, and I'm hopeful that the BBWAA can continue their logical voting next week with Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols as the MVPs.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today posted a bunch of interesting notes via Twitter today, including:

* Tampa Bay has become "the clear-cut favorite" to acquire Milton Bradley from the Cubs.

Last offseason the Rays pursued Bradley as a free agent before he signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Cubs and now they can get him for pennies on the dollar. There have been rumors of a Bradley-for-Pat Burrell swap, as Burrell was a huge disappointing in his first season with the Rays and is owed $9 million in 2010.

* Nick Swisher is "ever so quietly" being shopped by the Yankees.

Swisher was credited with helping to energize the Yankees' clubhouse and more importantly he made a big on-field impact by hitting .249/.371/.498 with 29 homers and 35 doubles, but going 6-for-47 (.128) in the playoffs overshadowed his strong regular season. Could he be an option for the Cardinals if Matt Holliday signs elsewhere?

* Los Angeles is "focusing on" Roy Halladay because the Dodgers "badly need an ace," but would have to give up Chad Billingsley "and others" to get a deal done.

Billingsley is 24 years old with a 47-30 record and 3.55 ERA in 634 career innings, so dealing him straight-up for one season of Halladay sounds iffy to me. Dealing him "and others" would likely be a mistake given that Halladay can become a free agent next offseason while Billingsley is under team control through 2012.

* Detroit, Seattle, and a "mystery team" have talked about a deal involving Edwin Jackson and Brandon Morrow.

Various rumors last week had the Tigers shopping Jackson because of payroll constraints and the Mariners have soured on Morrow, but obviously this is tough to weigh in on too much without knowing the third party.

John Grabow has decided to pass on free agency and remain with the Cubs, signing a two-year deal worth a reported $7.5 million.

Acquired from the Pirates at midseason, Grabow had a 3.24 ERA in 25 innings out of the Cubs' bullpen and has a nice-looking 3.09 ERA in 148 innings overall during the past two years.

However, with a 119/77 K/BB ratio and 14 homers allowed during that time his secondary numbers suggest that Grabow has been quite fortunate to post those marks.

His batting average on balls in play and the rate at which he strands runners on base were both unsustainably strong and figure to be worse going forward, making it likely that he'll be a decent left-handed setup man rather than a lights-out option in the late innings.

Chicago certainly has enough payroll space that dropping $3.75 million per season on a non-elite reliever isn't a big issue either way, but I'd bet against Grabow being worth $7.5 million over the next two years.