Richard Durrett has a couple of DMN blog entries, one on the question of whether the Rangers can afford both Zito and Mulder, and another on the young players who attended the Newberg event.
Kat O'Brien talks about the status of the Rangers offseason, including apparently the most comprehensive organizational meetings in several years.
T.R. Sullivan discusses Gagne, Mulder and Zito and echoes the feeling that the Mets, Giants and Rangers are still primary candidates for Zito.
Here are some details on the Matsuzaka contract. Apparently the escalators in the deal have to do with awards such as his placement in MVP and Cy Young voting, rather than starts or innings pitched. And there are the same sorts of perks for which Alex Rodriguez was villanized: private flights, massages, etc.
Transaction Oracle chimes in on the Matsuzaka deal.
J.J. Cooper and Chris Kline talk about a bill, expected to become law this month, which will greatly ease the limitations on baseball organizations' quantity of visas. This should be good for the Rangers, who have dedicated serious money and resources to their Latin American efforts, particularly because the Rangers have taken an approach of signing lots of players, rather than a few very high dollar guys. I can't tell that this helps Omar Beltre or Alexi Ogando get into the country, however.
A piece in NY Daily News says that David Wright wants to try to woo Zito on New York.