Scott Miller

Seven seasons and a couple of positions into his major-league career, Rick Ankiel, the former pitcher turned outfielder, has crossed Missouri and will play for Kansas City in 2010, CBSSports.com has learned.

Ankiel and the Royals have agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $3.25 million, according to sources, with a mutual option for 2011 worth $6 million.

Ankiel batted just .231 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs in 122 games with St. Louis last season. He started his career in St. Louis as a pitcher in 1999 before inexplicably losing his control and converting into an outfielder. He debuted as an outfielder in the majors in 2007.

The Athletics will acquire third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and a minor-league prospect from San Diego for outfielders Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham, CBSSports.com has confirmed.

The deal, in place, is pending physical examinations and likely will not be formalized until early next week.

The Padres have been shopping Kouzmanoff for the better part of a year because he's eligible for salary arbitration and they need to clear third base for Chase Headley, who played left field last year but is better suited for third base.

The deal comes after Kouzmanoff set a National League record for third basemen in 2009 with a .990 fielding percentage.

Oakland acquires not only a solid glove man -- Kouzmanoff finished second to Washington's Ryan Zimmerman in Gold Glove voting -- but a third baseman who can put the ball out of the park. Kouzmanoff last year hit 18 homers and collected 88 RBI while hitting .255 with a .302 on-base percentage. He's hit 41 home runs over the past two seasons.

While looking to make room for Headley and clear Kouzmanoff's salary, the Padres had been looking for a right-handed hitter who can split time in center field with Tony Gwynn Jr.

In re-acquiring Hairston, who played in San Diego from 2007-2009 until former general manager Kevin Towers traded him to the Athletics last summer, the Padres obtained exactly what they were looking for.

Dennis Gilbert, man of many hats, was on the move again one morning earlier this week even if the route wasn't taking him exactly where he hoped to go.

A licensed magician, nevertheless, he still couldn't pull owning the Texas Rangers out of one of those hats.

Gilbert -- special advisor to White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, life insurance guru, philanthropist, former agent, former professional ballplayer and part-time Houdini -- was zipping through Los Angeles en route to an early morning meeting. Then he was set to spend the afternoon in another meeting planning Saturday's Seventh Annual Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation awards dinner and charity auction.

The dinner has become a must-stop on baseball's off-season circuit, a great cause that raises money for old scouts who are down on their luck, a huge event that last year attracted more than 1,000 people.

Among those scheduled to attend Saturday's In the Spirit of the Game at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles are Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, Bob Feller and Robin Roberts, manager Tony LaRussa, the Manny Mota family and Commissioner Bud Selig.

This is Gilbert's baby, and he throws himself into it with the gusto of a vintage Feller fastball.

It's just that, well ... by the time they open the auction of sports and entertainment memorabilia (a few years ago, one of Marilyn Monroe's dresses was up, by the way), Gilbert had also hoped to be standing in the on-deck circle for ownership of the Rangers.

But alas, while his group made the cut down to the final two, it was the other group -- led by Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg -- that was granted an exclusive window to negotiate with Rangers owner Tom Hicks. That window expires Thursday, incidentally.

So for Gilbert, a process that started last March is close to ending in utter disappointment and exhaustion. He likens it to a guy in high school whose girlfriend cuts bait.

"The hardest part was that it started out with 11 groups and we got down to the final two," Gilbert says. "But I don't regret a second of it."

From that perspective, though, it's been a difficult year. The whisper campaign against him turned ugly -- that he would fire Texas legend and Rangers president Nolan Ryan (not true), among other things -- and while Gilbert refuses to delve into it, it's clear he was hurt.

Once Ryan aligned himself with Greenberg's group, essentially it was game over.

"I even got a letter from the mayor of Fort Worth telling me how important Nolan Ryan is to Texas baseball and to the community," says Gilbert, who, after a lifetime in the game as a player, agent and front-office man and who once represented such luminaries as Hall of Famer George Brett, Barry Bonds, Bret Saberhagen and Danny Tartabull, maybe had a pretty good idea of that already. "I'd describe that letter as over the top.

"I've been in baseball since the '60s. I certainly know Nolan Ryan and what he means. But, whatever."

Gilbert is passionate, clearly loves the game and could be great fun as an owner. It's telling how he's successfully transitioned from a flamboyant agent into an executive who is widely respected in the industry.

"I must have had a couple hundred e-mails from scouts and baseball executives wishing me well," he says of his quest to purchase the Rangers. "The journey really opened my eyes.

"It's interesting how the baseball community seemed to give me an awful lot of support."

A former Red Sox and Mets farmhand -- he earned his nickname "Go Go" because of his hustle on the diamond -- Gilbert went on to build a highly successful life insurance business. From there, he developed into a superagent in a business he started with the late Tony Conigliaro.

He retired from that gig in '99 and joined the White Sox as special advisor to Reinsdorf the following year. The two men are very close, and Reinsdorf was especially helpful during Gilbert's run at the Rangers.

"He was outstanding," Gilbert says. "I'm supposed to be his advisor, and he was mine."

Most likely, that won't be the last of Reinsdorf's advising. Though Gilbert is licking his wounds now after coming so close to the Rangers, he isn't discounting another run at owning a ballclub.

"I guess it's like going to the Super Bowl and losing maybe by a touchdown, or you miss a field goal with a few seconds to go in the game," Gilbert says. "So, sure, I feel like I'll regroup and take a look at what's out there."

For now, this minute, what's out there is a gala of a fundraiser that combines the best parts of Gilbert: Fun, passion, showmanship and, most importantly, a reverence for the game and, especially, for the people who help make it what it is.

"There have been quite a few people who have come up to me at the event saying things like, 'Thank you, you saved our house,'" Gilbert says. "Keeping people's health insurance has been very important.

"One fellow had been in hospice for four or five months, and when he passed away we took care of the expenses and gave the rest of the money to his widow to give her a new start."

CNN's Larry King is a co-host of the event and comedian Joe Piscopo will be the master of ceremonies. For tickets, call 310-996-1188.

The most human, powerful and, yes, tragic part of Mark McGwire's eight-paragraph confession Monday was in this single sentence: "Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."

We're lucky or unlucky by birth, some circumstances being laid out for us that either help us along the way or present obstacles for us to overcome. We can't choose our era any more than we can choose our skin color.

We can -- and must -- however, make smart and correct choices within whatever circumstances we're dealt.

In baseball's corner of the world, in this time and place, the temptation was too much for both McGwire and for hundreds of others. The 1998 season was a sham, an entire era was built on lies. The record book is warped, legends from the past have had their numbers diminished as a result and we're going to be hearing confessions like the one McGwire delivered Monday for years. The stain is permanent, no matter how many apologies -- timely or belated -- are delivered.

Five years ago in front of Congress, it wasn't time for McGwire to discuss the past.

Now, on the eve of McGwire accepting one of Tony La Russa's persistent invitations to become the Cardinals' hitting coach, times have changed.

We never knew for certain whether this day would come for McGwire, though we pretty much knew everything he copped to -- steroid use on and off for more than a decade, including during the '98 season.

The most telling thing of all was in how carefully orchestrated this entire chain of events was on Monday. McGwire doing a phone interview with the Associated Press, the Cardinals issuing his statement, the careful revelation that McGwire phoned Commissioner Bud Selig and La Russa on Monday, another St. Louis-issued statement with pre-fabricated quotes from Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., general manager John Mozeliak and La Russa, an early evening sit-down interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on the MLB Network.

Then there was La Russa telling ESPN's Baseball Tonight that he's "really encouraged that [McGwire] would step forward. As we go along his explanations will be well received."

That, I believe is wildly optimistic. Maybe, in time, they will be. I'm glad McGwire came clean, I think it's good for both him and the game.

But he became so small during his Congressional testimony, it's going to take a lot more Monday's developments to grow back his reputation.

A few final random thoughts on Wednesday's Hall of Fame election results:

-- Though falling five votes short of election surely is agonizing, Wednesday also should be heartening for Bert Blyleven. At 74.2 percent of the vote and with two more years of eligibility, Blyleven -- who looked like a longshot a few years ago -- almost certainly is a lock.

And incidentally, you should have heard what Hall of Famer Hank Aaron said of Blyleven on Sirius/XM radio's MLB Home Plate channel Wednesday morning during an interview with hosts Seth Everett and Jim Duquette:

"I hit against him and if there was a finer pitcher than he was then, I don't know who it was," Aaron said. "I only went to bat maybe 10 or 15 times [against Blyleven]. I don't think I ever got a hit off of him. But he was quite a pitcher.

"I know that he didn't win 20 games, but sometimes you don't need to win 20. I think it's just a matter of how you carried yourself and what you did for your other teammates. Just to have him in that rotation for that many years with Minnesota, [he] was somebody that you didn't look forward to hitting against."

Aaron wasn't too far off in his memory. Lifetime, he was 0 for 7 against Blyleven with one strikeout.

-- I didn't expect former Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin to make it, though I do think he's deserving and I did vote for him. Within that, I thought his vote total would have been higher than 51.6 percent (he finished fifth).

-- In what essentially was the first true test of a designated hitter's place in the Hall, former Seattle DH Edgar Martinez notched only 36.2 percent of the vote, which placed him seventh overall.

A day earlier, during his retirement announcement, this is what Randy Johnson had to say about his former Seattle teammate's Hall of Fame chances: "I'm hoping he gets a lot of consideration. I know it's been debated whether a DH is worthy. During my time, I've never seen a better pure hitter than him.

"That's no disrespect to any teammates I've had or played against. I think anybody would agree who watched Edgar during that era how good he was. I'll be pulling for him because of what he meant while I was on the mound."

-- Tim Raines's 30.4 percent of the vote is ludicrously low. The guy reached base more times and scored more runs than Tony Gwynn. He wasn't anywhere near the hitter that Gwynn was, but Raines, together with Rickey Henderson, changed the way the leadoff slot in the lineup was viewed.

-- Glad to see Jack Morris' vote total increase to 52.3 percent (from 44 percent last year), but he's still way too far off for my liking. People need to get over his 3.90 ERA and look at the rest of his game. Nobody was more dominant than Morris throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

-- The near-misses this year -- Blyleven and Alomar -- also will have their chances increase dramatically in the near future because the next two Hall of Fame classes just aren't very good.

Next year, among the names that come onto the ballot for the first time are Jeff Bagwell, John Franco, Kevin Brown, Rafael Palmeiro, Larry Walker and Juan Gonzalez.

In 2012, it's even worse: Bernie Williams, Ruben Sierra and Tim Salmon are the biggest names who come eligible.

Likes: Andre Dawson is a class act and a deserving Hall of Famer. ... Matt Holliday back in St. Louis. ... The film Precious. ... The DVD Revolutionary Road. ... Wilco (The Album). ... Lyle Lovett's Natural Forces. ... The shift in focus to college basketball in January. ... My wife's homemade pizza, on deck this Thursday night while the college football national title game between Alabama and Texas is played. ... Former Los Angeles Times rock critic Robert Hilburn's memoir Cornflakes with John Lennon. Some great stories and behind the scenes stuff. ... John Meacham's American Lion: Andrew Jackson and the White House, an excellent biography. ... Alicia Keys doing a version of Empire State of Mind on Stephen Colbert's show last month with Colbert rapping about the suburbs. Very amusing.

Dislikes: Christmas vacation is finished already?

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"Come on children, you're acting like children
"Every generation thinks it's the end of the world
"All you fat followers get fit fast
"Every generation thinks it's the last
"Thinks it's the end of the world"

-- Wilco, You Never Know

Absolutely stunning.

That's all I can say about Roberto Alomar falling short in the Hall of Fame voting, which was announced Wednesday afternoon. Andre Dawson was the only player elected by the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America, and for me, there's no question he's a Hall of Famer. Dawson was a five-tool player, he could beat you with his bat, his arm, his legs (before they went bad) and his glove.

But no Alomar, who was every bit the wizard at second base that Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith was during his years at shortstop?

During several radio interviews this week talking about the Hall election, my prediction was that Alomar definitely would get in, there was a pretty good chance of Alomar and Dawson being elected and a very, very outside chance that Alomar, Dawson and Bert Blyleven would get in.

I never imagined a scenario in which Alomar, the best second baseman I've ever seen, would fall short.

He'll eventually get in, and probably next year. He checked in with 73.7 percent of the vote this year, just short of the required 75 percent.

Probably, a year from now, we'll be talking about Alomar's election.

For now, this year, we're talking Dawson.

It's as surprising a Hall of Fame election as I can recall.

Did St. Louis vastly overpay slugger Matt Holliday in his spiffy new seven-year, $120 million deal?

Are the Cardinals headed for serious turbulence given their colossal Holliday commitment when The Franchise, Albert Pujols, is hurtling toward free agency himself (his contract is up after 2010, the Cards hold a 2011 option on him)?

Is there impending doom just around the corner?

Legitimate questions, all.

But, man, are the 2010 Cardinals going to have some fun.

With a middle-of-the-order containing Holliday and Pujols, Lethal Weapons I and II, and with a top-of-the-rotation featuring Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, Tony La Russa again will be managing a Disneyland of a club.

The Cardinals just became heavy NL Central favorites. Yeah, yeah, the Cubs will be leaner and meaner having purged themselves of Mr. Oversized Baggage, Milton Bradley. Milwaukee still can score. Cincinnati? Pittsburgh? Houston? Please.

La Russa and general manager John Mozeliak are playing for keeps, and though this isn't a perfect team -- the Cards remain light at shortstop (Brendan Ryan) and rookie David Freese currently is the Lone Ranger on the depth chart at third base -- there is too much else to like. Besides, even with Mark De Rosa off the board (signed with San Francisco), the Cards will scoop up someone. Otherwise ... Ryan Ludwick, Colby Rasmus (who now comes with a year of seasoning), Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker ... and did I mention the Holliday-Pujols tandem?

Yes, the richest contract awarded this winter seems somewhat excessive, given the fact that the Cardinals' chief competition in negotiations for Holliday at this point seemed to be the Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars. Once the Mets signed Jason Bay, there essentially was just one chair left for Holliday, and it was in Pujols' clubhouse.

That said, for Holliday to earn an average annual value of $17 million, exceeding Bay's $16 million a year, is just one more feather in the already overstuffed and plumed cap of superagent Scott Boras. How does he keep doing this?

Mozeliak fretted some at the GM meetings in Chicago two months ago at the prospect of attempting to squeeze both Holliday and Pujols into one payroll. In the end, clearly, he decided the alternative -- losing Holliday -- was worse.

There will be lots of tightrope walking ahead, especially when negotiations open for an extension for Pujols. But you know what? That's another problem for another day, and there is every chance that Mozeliak and Co. will work around that and figure it out.

To all those who already are worrying that the Cardinals won't be able to afford Pujols down the line, I ask you this:

If the Cardinals don't make moves like they did Tuesday to retain Holliday and the team gets worse, do you think Pujols will want to stay in St. Louis then?

Play it too conservatively, don't field a World Series contender, and there's no guarantee Pujols stays.

Play it too aggressively, commit a ton of dough to Holliday ... and there's no guarantee Pujols stays.

Which way would you rather go?

The answer is obvious: Try to win while you figure out a way to keep Pujols.

Sure, eventually, the Cardinals may live to regret it. They now become one of only three big league clubs to employ at least two players making $100 million each -- the others, of course, are the Yankees (CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter) and the Mets (Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran). Sometime in the future, maybe they may find themselves looking to trade Holliday in order to keep Pujols. Maybe in the interim, they win a World Series, too.

At the risk of sounding overly naïve, the future will take care of itself ... and if need be, Mozeliak will massage and adapt and figure it out.

As for the present, the Cardinals made the right move.

The Atlanta Braves made another move toward attempting to beef up their offense Tuesday when they agreed to terms on a one-year deal with veteran infielder Eric Hinske, CBSSports.com has learned.

The contract is pending a physical examination, according to a source with knowledge of the talks. Financial terms were unknown.

Hinske gives the Braves an experienced, left-handed bat off the bench, and he gives them insurance at first base in case Troy Glaus doesn't stay healthy.

Hinske, 32, will also can play third base and the corner outfield spots. He's also something of a good-luck charm: He's played in each of the past three World Series, with the Yankees last fall, Tampa Bay in 2008 and Boston in 2007.

In 93 games with Pittsburgh and the Yankees in 2009, he hit .242 with eight homers and 25 RBI.

Mark it down: Randy Johnson's retirement, January 5th, 2010.

There goes the last of the 300-win pitchers?

With closers and specialists and hyperactive managers and increasingly fragile starting pitchers who too often don't even stick around long enough to earn decisions, pundits have been predicting for years that pitchers who win 300 games soon will become as extinct as dinosaurs.

So is Johnson the last Tyrannosaurus Rex to stalk the earth?

With his retirement Wednesday (and assuming that Tom Glavine, at 305 wins, is finished), the list of the game's winningest active pitchers now reads like this:

1. Jamie Moyer, Phillies, 258.

2. Andy Pettitte, Yankees, 229.

3. Pedro Martinez, free agent, 219.

4. John Smoltz, free agent, 213.

5. Tim Wakefield, Red Sox, 189.

At 37, Pettitte and Pedro are the youngest pitchers of the lot. Of the 30-to-35 set, Philadelphia's Roy Halladay (32) probably has the best odds to reach 300, and he's at 148. Which means, if he averages 18 wins a season, for the next eight-plus summers, he'd be in position to win 300 when he turns 40.

Of course, now that Halladay is in the NL, he easily could average 30 wins a season and win his 300th six seasons from now (attention, that was a joke).

While it's surely going to be several years before we see another 300-game winner, I find it hard to believe that we'll never see one again. Two younger pitchers who are well-positioned to make a run: The Yanks' CC Sabathia is just 28 and has 136 wins, and the White Sox's Mark Buehrle is just 30 and is at 135.

While reporting a long feature on the Big Unit early last season during his quest for 300, I talked to one coach and one young pitcher who had completely different views on the subject:

"That's something that's never going to be done again," Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa told me. "Now you've got your set-up men, your closers, starting pitchers are out of the game after 110 pitches even if they have their good stuff.

"I think if a starting pitcher wins 200 games, that will be the next milestone."

Mets left-hander Johan Santana, with 122 victories at the age of 30, isn't so sure.

"I guarantee you that if you go back and ask Randy when he had [116] wins if he thought he'd get to 300, he'd say, 'No, no way,'" Santana told me. "You don't know what your future is. There's a lot involved in winning a game. There's a lot involved that has to go right. You have to pitch well, the team has to score runs, the bullpen has to do its job. Now, imagine that 300 times."

When Johnson was Santana's age -- 30 -- he had only 78 wins.

So if you're going to insist that we'll never again see another 300-game winner, proceed with caution.

St. Louis and slugger Matt Holliday have agreed to terms on a seven-year, $120 million deal that allows the Cardinals to cross a major item off of their winter to-do list, CBSSports.com has confirmed.

The deal, a major score for Holliday in that the Cardinals really didn't seem to have much competition left for his services at this point in the winter, also includes a full no-trade clause. It also should re-establish St. Louis as NL Central favorites, given the powerful one-two punch of Holliday and Albert Pujols in the middle of the lineup and co-aces Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright atop the rotation.

A return to St. Louis also will give Holliday the chance to re-write what would have been a highly unsatisfying ending to his stay with the Redbirds following his crucial error in left field during Game 2 in Los Angeles last October in the playoffs. The botched play helped position the Dodgers to sweep in three games and largely contributed to a stunningly premature end to the season for a team that had serious World Series hopes.

The Cardinals, of course, probably wouldn't have been in that position in the first place without Holliday, whose bat sent them on a torrid second half run after they acquired him from Oakland in late July. In 63 games with the Cardinals, Holliday batted .353 with 13 homers and 55 RBI.

Randy Johnson has scheduled a conference call for later today, at which time the five-time Cy Young award winner is expected to announce his retirement.

The call comes on the eve of Wednesday's Hall of Fame voting results, a fitting time being that five years from now, it will be Johnson who almost certainly will be inducted into Cooperstown.

Johnson, 46, won his 300th game last summer pitching for the San Francisco Giants, becoming just the 24th pitcher in history to reach that level. That, though, turned into the highlight of his season. Not long after, he suffered a tear in his rotator cuff, missed the next several weeks and finished 8-6 with a 4.88 ERA for the Giants.

Only Roger Clemens (six) won more Cy Young awards than Johnson, who helped pitch the Arizona Diamondbacks to the 2001 World Series title in a memorable triumph over the Yankees. Johnson and Curt Schilling were co-MVPs during that series, during which one of the most memorable moments came when Johnson entered Game 7 in relief in the eighth inning and earned the win after being the winning pitcher in Game 6 the night before.

Over 22 seasons with Montreal, Seattle, Houston, Arizona, the Yankees and the Giants, Johnson went 303-166. His 4,875 strikeouts rank second all-time to Nolan Ryan (5,714). He also pitched 37 shutouts.

Looking to add a veteran starting pitcher to their youthful rotation, the Twins have made an offer to left-hander Jarrod Washburn and are awaiting a response this week, according to CBSSports.com sources.

The size of the Twins' offer is not clear, though Minnesota's intent is. The Twins, in need of both pitching and a third baseman, are hopeful of adding a pitcher first. They were in touch on another Scott Boras client, third baseman Adrian Beltre, but deemed him too expensive and shifted their sights away from him earlier this winter.

As for Washburn, 35, the Twins view him as a perfect fit in that he is left-handed, he's got a reputation as being a good guy in the clubhouse, he's pitched enough that he can help anchor a young staff and he's an Upper Midwest native (he was born in Wisconsin and still lives in there in the off-season, in Webster).

Given all that, the Twins view Washburn as an ideal arm to help them open their long-awaited outdoor ballpark, Target Field, in 2010. Aiming for a big splash there, the Twins are projecting a payroll close to $90 million this season, which easily would be a club record.

Washburn was in the midst of a renaissance season in Seattle in 2009 when he was traded to Detroit for the stretch run. But a knee injury sabotaged him and cut his season short. After going 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA over 20 starts in Seattle, Washburn was only 1-3 with a 7.33 ERA in eight starts for the Tigers before being shut down.

The Twins earlier this winter re-signed right-hander Carl Pavano, and they also return youngsters Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey (returning from a wrist injury), Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins from a team that overtook Detroit for the AL Central title in '09.

Signing Washburn also would give the Twins the ability to trade an arm such as Perkins in their quest for a third baseman. Among others, they have discussed Kevin Kouzmanoff with San Diego.

The Red Sox are on the verge of adding a new third baseman, agreeing to the framework of a one-year deal with Adrian Beltre for roughly $9 million, CBSSports.com has confirmed.

The deal, contingent on Beltre passing a physical examination and with a vesting option for a second year that is believed to be worth $5 million, is another move toward general manager Theo Epstein's goal of improving Boston's defense without taking away from run production. Beltre is a two-time Gold Glove winner who batted .265 with eight homers and 44 RBI last season in Seattle.

Boston clearly was headed in a different direction at third base for 2010, and the failed Mike Lowell trade to Texas didn't deter the Sox.

At 30, Beltre is five years younger than Lowell. And though Beltre long since has lost his 48-homer power (his career-high came in 2004, his last season with the Dodgers), the thinking is his offensive numbers should improve in Fenway Park as opposed to Seattle's pitcher-friendly Safeco Field. Until he was slowed by a groin injury that limited him to 111 games last summer, Beltre had hit 25, 26 and 25 home runs over the previous three seasons.

Spring training in Fort Myers could be awkward if the Red Sox are unable to trade Lowell before he theoretically proves this spring that his surgically repaired thumb is healthy. The trade with Texas -- which still could be renewed -- was nixed by the Rangers when physicians determined that Lowell was in need of surgery.

Lowell underwent thumb surgery last week, and recovery time is expected to be six-to-eight weeks. It is still expected that the Red Sox will trade him, it's just a question of whether it happens before or during spring training.

Whether he wants to or not, slugging outfielder Jason Bay is on the verge of becoming a New York Met. Bay and the club have agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth $66 million, CBSSports.com has confirmed, with a fifth-year option that could boost the package into the $80 million neighborhood.

The deal is pending Bay passing a physical examination and, as such, the Mets are not confirming that an agreement is in place.

Barring any surprises with Bay's physical, the move will accomplishes one of the Mets' chief offseason goals, which was adding a slugger who will man left field and make manger Jerry Manuel's lineup more dangerous. It also should silence critics who were chattering that the Mets' dalliance with Bay was "just for show", a transparent attempt to placate their fans while making an offer they knew Bay would not accept.

In the end, they got it done.

Now, regarding the "wants to" part: The Mets made their initial offer to Bay coming out of the winter meetings in Indianapolis some three weeks ago and have been waiting for an answer ever since. Speculation, of course, has been strong in some quarters that Bay must not have wanted to become a Met very badly because, if he did, talks between him and the club wouldn't have dragged along for so long.

But in a chilly winter on the free agent market in which Boston cut bait with Bay and signed outfielder Mike Cameron, and Seattle, San Francisco and the Yankees -- all clubs looking for a big, middle-of-the-order bat -- Bay's options pretty much dwindled to just one. And that one was located with a Queens ZIP code.

However Bay was delivered -- and there's a lot of dollars here to sooth any disappointment the Canada native might have felt when Seattle didn't step up, or when Boston pulled its offer -- there is no doubt that it's a victory for the Mets.

It's not a guaranteed victory, because we've been through this before with them: They traded for Johan Santana two winters ago and signed free agent closers Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz last winter and failed to make the playoffs both years. Much to their fans chagrin, the Mets have proven in recent years that they're a different breed and often add up to less than the sum of their parts would appear.

But they have needs to fill as the time since their last playoff appearance (2006) lengthens and the back-to-back NL champion -- and Mets' NL East rival -- Philadelphia Phillies (who already have traded for Roy Halladay and signed Placido Polanco this winter) continue to swing for the fences.

Though he's now 31, considered a mediocre outfielder and batted just .267 for the Red Sox last summer, he also walloped 36 home runs and finished with 119 RBI.

With a healthy Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran (it's never too late to start knocking on wood in advance of opening day with them) and with slugging third baseman David Wright, Bay will give the Mets another presence that should make life difficult for opposing pitchers.

But their job is not finished. They still need a catcher -- free agent Bengie Molina remains the most logical bet -- and pitching (bullpen help, especially).

With the Mets, the job is never finished. But with Bay poised to change his workplace address to Citi Field, ever so cautiously, there again is hope.

One of the more intriguing trade agreements from the winter meetings earlier this month in Indianapolis fell apart Saturday when the Rangers nixed the proposed Mike Lowell deal because of the third baseman's thumb injury, CBSSports.com has confirmed.

An examination of Lowell by specialists revealed that the injury, suffered late in the season, remains a problem: Lowell, according to sources, was found to have a torn radial collateral ligament in his right thumb, an injury that will require surgery following the holidays. Expected recovery time is six to eight weeks, which would mean that Lowell should be ready for spring training but might have to start slowly.

As part of the extensive physical examination the Rangers conducted, Lowell saw a hand specialist in Arizona on Friday and then met with other physicians in Arlington, Tex., on Saturday. The Rangers learned enough to scotch a deal that would have sent minor league catcher Max Ramirez and $3 million in cash to Boston with the Red Sox covering $9 million of Lowell's $12 million 2010 salary.

The Rangers have been looking for a middle-of-the-lineup bat and were hoping to use Lowell, who will be 36 on opening day, as a part-time designated hitter, first baseman and even spot him in at third base to give Michael Young the occasional day off.

Lowell, however, has an extensive injury history, most recently the thumb and a troublesome right hip. He underwent surgery on that, for a torn labrum, following the 2008 season. It was because of these two injuries in particular that the Rangers moved along at such a deliberate pace. While the framework of this deal was set in Indianapolis, officials from both clubs cautioned that several things needed to happen before it would be done.

Saturday's news is highly inconvenient for the Red Sox, who were hoping to move Lowell, clearing room for them to do two things: Add a middle-of-the-order bat who also upgrades the club defensively. Among other options, Boston has been courting free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre and keeping in touch with the Padres regarding a possible Adrian Gonzalez deal.

In the latter, which sources say remains an point of intrigue for Boston but is not close to happening, Gonzalez could play first base and Kevin Youkilis would slide over to third.

But the development with Lowell's thumb now will make it impossible for the Red Sox to deal him before spring training. Clubs with any interest will want to see him play first and make sure he's healthy. Lowell batted .290 with 17 homers and 75 RBIs for the Sox in '09 but hurt his thumb taking batting practice during the season's final week.

The news also isn't good for the Rangers, who are trying to add a strong right-handed bat but don't have much money. The club is up for sale amid owner Tom Hicks' serious financial problems. With Boston paying much of the freight for Lowell, the Rangers had found a fairly creative way to improve inexpensively.

Now, without Lowell, the Rangers will look elsewhere -- possibly to designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero, whose run with the Angels has all but come to an official end with Hideki Matsui joining them last week. Texas also is interested in free agent outfielder Jermaine Dye, but unless his demand decrease, the Rangers probably won't be able to be a player there.