Congratulations Rosie!

The readers have spoken. Rosie and her pork-chop-on-a-stick was your favorite Ballpark Photo!

She will receive a $100 gift card to MLB.com while our other three finalists will get sexy BLB t-shirts. Thanks for playing everyone!

If you'd like to see all of our contestants, check out our Facebook album.

MLB 2K11 Perfect Game Montage

We are so damn ready for baseball.

[MLB 2K11] | [Perfect Game Challenge]

Ballpark Photo Contest: Time to Vote

As promised, here are the four finalists for the Ballpark Photo Contest.

Please vote for your favorite, who will win a $100 gift card to MLB.com later this week. The other lucky contestants will receive a sexy Babes Love Baseball t-shirt and a virtual high five! Feel free to click on the pics to enlarge them. Voting ends at 11:59pm ET Friday and the winner will be announced this weekend.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

We Miss Randy Johnson

The Attempted Revival of Andruw Jones' Career

Andruw Jones and the New York Yankees agreed to a $2 million, one-year contract on Thursday, according to an anonymous leaker familiar with team negotiations. The deal, which includes the opportunity to earn an additional $1.2 million in performance bonuses, is pending a physical.

Jones is expected to make some sort of impact as a right-handed slugger behind Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher... although I don't predict much slugging happening for him at all.

The Oakland Atheltics Bullpen is Pretty Good

The Oakland Athletics have added another awesome arm to their bullpen, finalizing a two-year, $10.5 million deal -- including a $6.5 million club option for 2013 -- with Brian Fuentes Wednesday.

The 35-year-old righty went 4-1 with 24 saves and a 2.81 ERA in 48 innings between the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins last season. Though he won't be closing for the Athletics, he'll be holding down the important position of set up man for 2009 Rookie of the Year Andrew Bailey.

In addition to Fuentes, the A's also finalized an $8.1 million, two-year deal with right-handed reliever Grant Balfour a day earlier. Last Saturday, the team agreed to terms with submariner Brad Ziegler as well, on a $1.25 million, one-year contract which avoided arbitration.

General Manager Dave Frost had this to say about his relief corps:

We’re excited about the depth and versatility of the bullpen. Not only do we have more options than we've ever had, we have multiple guys who can pitch late in games.

[Sportsrageous]

Pavano's Mustache Will Keep Him Warm in Minnesota

It's official. Carl Pavano has decided to stay with the Minnesota Twins.

The two sides agreed to terms Wednesday on a two-year contract worth $16.5 million. Until today, the 35-year-old mustachioed righty was one of only a handful of decent starters remaining on the free agent market.

Gil Meche Doesn't Need Your $12 Million Salary

Gil Meche officially announced his retirement Tuesday at the tender age of 32. Generally, this would not surprise me, especially when considering the season he had in 2010, where he went 0-5 with a 5.69 ERA. No, I wouldn't be shocked if not for one small detail: he walked away from a $12.4 million salary.

If the right-hander would have chosen to stick around with the Kansas City Royals for the remainder of his contract -- through 2011 -- he would have had to undergo shoulder surgery, which ultimately would have kept him on the bench the entire year anyway. Back to my point... he walked away from twelve million dollars.

Surprise! Milton Bradley Arrested in California

I would hope by now that most of you are well aware of the fact that Milton Bradley is a bit of a loose cannon. In fact, he's what many would consider a total nut job. He's like five beers short of a six pack. One stamp short of postal. About four cents short of a nickel. You get the idea.

In case you would like some back story, here is a neat little timeline of all the crazy crap he's done. We had quite a bit of fun putting that together last Spring. Actually, it took forever.

B.J. Upton Avoids Arbitration, Gets a Raise

The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to give B.J. Upton a $4.825 million contract, avoiding arbitration and keeping the center fielder around for one more season.

Losing his arbitration hearing in 2009, the tall and slender 26-year-old was awarded $3 million rather than his request for $3.3 million so the Rays wouldn't break the bank.

He and Carl Crawford then became the first teammates in big league history to surpass 60 extra-base hits and 40 steals in the same season. Upton is also the only player in baseball with at least 100 doubles and 100 steals since 2008.

Don't let those numbers fool you, though. Upton hit 18 homers and drove in only 62 runs over 154 games last year, striking out 164 times while batting just .234... which allotted him a $1.8 million raise. However, he did nail 38 doubles and steal 42 bases in 51 attempts for the American League East champions.

Either way, he'll have the glory all to himself now, as Crawford hit the road last month for greener pastures: a $142 million, seven-year contract with the Boston Red Sox.

[Tampa Tribune on Twitter]

Cincinnati Reds Make Joey Votto a Rich Man

Let us begin by expressing how sexy we think Joey Votto is.

Moving on. The Cincinnati Reds have agreed to give the reigning National League MVP a three-year contract worth $38 million, buying out his final arbitration years.

This is pretty great news for Joey, considering the first baseman made just $525,000 last season.

Votto made his very first All-Star team by way of fan vote last season, and finished second in the NL with a .324 batting average and third in home runs and RBI with 37 and 113, respectively. Leading the league with a ridiculous .600 slugging percentage, he was best-in-baseball with a .424 on-base percentage as well. In short, he had a damn good year.

Congratulations buddy, you've earned it!

Albert Pujols to Cardinals: Show Me the Money

Albert Pujols has said time and again that he wants to retire as a St. Louis Cardinal. However, both sides have been mum in providing an update on negotiations for any new long-term deal. Bill DeWitt Jr., the team's CEO, has hinted that talks are "not that far along," which is not that good of news.

In an attempt to move things along, the All-Star first baseman's agent, Don Lozano, has set a quickly-approaching deadline for the team, demanding they have a contract extension in place by the beginning of Spring Training. Pujols believes any negotiation beyond that date and especially into the season would only be a distraction.

Seriously, that's just around the corner. Pujols and the rest of the Cardinals position players are supposed to report to camp in Jupiter, Florida by February 18, while Spring Training games are like 10 weeks away. That's enough time to figure out how much to pay him and for how long, right?

The San Francisco Giants Are Going Hollywood

The Chicago White Sox had a reality show this season, so why not give the World Series-winning San Francisco Giants a shot at on-screen stardom?

Showtime is about to do just that, collaborating with Major League Baseball Productions to follow the world champs around during the 2011 season.

The series is being shot over 10 months and is expected to chronicle the lives of Giants players and coaches, not only during the games, but at spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona and during the offseason as well.

We might even get to see Tim Lincecum's bong collection.

It's set to debut with a sneak preview around the season opener before the other nine episodes air during the second half of the year. In all honesty, I think this show is gonna be a lot of fun. Possibly even more fun than a getting a big fat sportsbook bonus... okay not quite that fun.

The series doesn't have a title yet, so obviously we have to name it. With a team full of "misfits" such as the Giants, shenanigans will no doubt endue. What would you call it? More importantly, do you plan on watching it?

[Yahoo! Sports]

Thome Is Still Minnesota's Homey

Hopefully the Minnesota Twins purchase a little extra flagpole insurance for the 2011 season. Jim Thome, one of BLB's favorite tater-mashing veterans, has signed a one year, $3 million (plus incentives) deal with the Twins. That sound you just heard? A collective sigh of relief by Twins fans everywhere.

The Texas Rangers also had hopes of signing the veteran slugger, who is a measly eleven homeruns away from 600. Thome opted to stay in Minnesota, however, and had this to say about his decision go sign with the Twins rather than the Rangers:

Rafael Soriano Gets Ridiculous Contract from Yankees

Whoa everybody, don't look now but the New York Yankees are throwing their money around like a bunch of crazy people. No offense to Rafael Soriano, but he is not worth roughly $12 million a year.

But apparently the Yankees believe he is. The two sides have come to terms on a three-year contract reportedly worth $35 million dollars. Upon agreeing to the deal, Soriano promptly passed out.

Kyle Farnsworth Ready to Tackle Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays and Kyle Farnsworth are nearing an agreement on a one-year contract, according to an anonymous source close to negotiations.

The free agent reliever split up his time last season between the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves, going 3-2 with a 3.34 ERA in 60 games. Farnsworth, now 34 years old with all kinds of fun baseball action nearly behind him, has pitched for five teams during a 12-year career for a 34-55 record and 4.39 ERA.

Ah, Farny has given us some wonderful memories, hasn't he?

Happy Trails, Trevor Hoffman

After 18 seasons in the big leagues, Trevor Hoffman has finally decided to hang up his cleats.

Baseball's all-time saves leader, who many consider to be the National League's all-time greatest closer, is trading Hells Bells for a cushy desk job with the San Diego Padres front office. He had this to say during his retirement announcement at the podium atop Petco Park's home plate Wednesday:

Get Well Soon Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton, American League MVP and hero of the ALCS, is in the hospital suffering from pneumonia.

He was diagnosed on Monday, but according to the Texas Rangers, he should be able to resume baseball-related activities in a few days. What a stud. If I had pneumonia, I'd be in bed for a month.

Matt Garza to Save the Chicago Cubs

Matt Garza helped the Tampa Bay Rays go from worst to first, why wouldn't he be able to bring the Chicago Cubs their first World Championship since 1908? Clearly, it's a matter of science.

The 27-year-old right-hander was traded to the Cubs this weekend in an eight-player deal that brings outfielder Fernando Perez and lefty Zachary Rosscup along with him. Meanwhile, the Rays get promising righty Chris Archer, shortstop Hak-Ju Lee, catcher Robinson Chirinos, as well as outfielders Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer.

Adam LaRoche Gets Two-Year Deal from Nationals

Adam LaRoche and the Washington Nationals have finalized a contract worth roughly $16 million over two years.

After losing hard-hitting first baseman Adam Dunn to the Chicago White Sox via free agency, the Nationals attempted to fill that void by grabbing LaRoche off the free agent market.

LaRoche, 31, batted just .261 with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, but nailed 25 home runs with a career-high 100 RBI.

Enter Our Ballpark Photo Contest!

Would you like to win a gift card to MLB.com? Of course you would.

We've run this contest before, and it was such a success and so damn much fun, we're doing it again. All you have to do to become eligible is send us a picture of yourself at the ballpark.

The rules are pretty simple: send one picture of you at a ballpark. You can be alone, with your buddies, your mama, or however you roll at the game. Please include your name and where the photo was taken. For the record, don't pull a Grady Sizemore on us. Unless you're hot. Actually no. Either way, you must be at a baseball stadium.

Anyway, Marea and I will then choose a few of our favorite photos before submitting them in poll-form to our wonderful readers, who will vote for their favorite.

The lucky winner gets the gift card worth $100 and the three runners up will receive a sexy and official BLB t-shirt, like this one modeled by the studly Mike. Thanks buddy!

Send your submissions to BLB by Friday, January 21 at 11:59pm ET. We will work tirelessly that entire weekend (when we're not bombed and watching football) to have a poll ready for you by the beginning of the week.

The winner will be announced after the polls close on Friday, January 28.

We can't wait! Ready...go.


*Obviously, by sending us a picture of yourself, you agree to have said photo displayed on the internet for all to see. We'll also be adding each one we receive to an album on our Facebook page. It'll be like scrap-booking, except awesome.

Dan Uggla Gets Five-Year Deal from Braves

We're not sure, maybe you can help us. Is it possible for Dan Uggla's neck to get any more ridiculously ginormous? Was his head photoshopped onto that picture?

The Atlanta Braves have signed Uggla to a five-year contract extension worth $62 million, keeping him up the middle until 2015 to avoid arbitration.

Derrek Lee Has a Home for Another Year

Derrek Lee, who agreed to terms with the Baltimore Orioles last week, finalized the one-year deal Thursday for $7.25 million.

Lee, who will have the opportunity to earn an additional $2.75 million in performance bonuses, hit 19 home runs with 80 RBI last season between the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves.

The Votes Are In!

After a 14 year wait, Bert Blyleven is can finally add "Hall of Famer" to his resume. Bert joins Roberto Alomar as the two 2011 Hall of Fame inductees announced earlier today. Alomar made it on his second year on the ballot with a whopping 90% of the vote, up from a frustrating 73.7% last year.

During Blyleven's 22 season career, he amassed an amazing 3,701 strikeouts, 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, 2 All-star teams, 2 World Series rings, and a no-hitter. Despite being 13 wins shy of 300, he pitched an additional 79 quality starts in which he earned no decision. He also pitched an astounding 242 complete games. Aside from all of the numbers and stats, he may be even more well known and beloved by many for his colorful personality on and off the field, and for his post-baseball career.

Adrian Beltre Gets Big Money from Rangers

Rumor has it, the Texas Rangers have reached a preliminary agreement with Adrian Beltre on a contract worth $96 million over six years $80 million over five years.

The American League champions have the ability to void the final season of the deal "under certain conditions" like if Beltre is injured or starts to suck. Besides, six years is a pretty big commitment for a guy who will turn 32 this April.

The free agent third baseman turned down his $10 million player option to stick with the Boston Red Sox this offseason. Beltre, who batted .321 with 28 homers, 49 doubles, and 102 RBI made the All-Star team for the first time in his 13-year career last season, oddly enough.

Mets Offer Capuano, Buchholz One-Year Deals

The New York Mets have desperately added two has-been pitchers to their staff in Chris Capuano and Taylor Buchholz.

Each of them agreed to one-year-contracts this week with Capuano getting $1.5 million and Buchholz receiving a $600,000 non-guaranteed agreement. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Carlos Gonzalez Gets Well-Deserved Extension

The Colorado Rockies have agreed to give Carlos Gonzalez an $80 million, seven-year contract, as long as he passes his physical, which he totally will. The guy is awesome.

Since the deal hasn't been finalized and was leaked anonymously, all Gonzalez had to say was this:

Everything is practically concluded. All that’s left are the physical evaluations. It’s a blessing for me to have this contract at such a young age.

The 25-year-old outfielder had a breakout season in 2010. Not only did he receive a Silver Slugger award for his outstanding hitting, but also a Gold Glove for flashing the leather wherever he was in the outfield.

Alfredo Simon Surrenders to Dominican Police

It's all fun and games until someone is charged with manslaughter.

Baltimore Orioles reliever Alfredo Simon surrendered to police Monday, facing an involuntary manslaughter charge in a fatal New Year’s Eve shooting in the Dominican Republic.

Free agent second baseman Julio Lugo was hanging out with Simon, and eventually convinced him to turn himself in after fleeing the scene.

According to his lawyer, Carlos Olivares, Simon was merely firing off celebratory shots into the air, which ended up killing his 25-year-old cousin, Michel Castillo Almonte, and wounding his other cousin, a 17-year-old boy.

However, Public Prosecutor Victor Mueses has a different story: