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At this time of year the non-Pirate baseball news can really start flying, and between going to class and writing lab reports, I've found myself behind yet again. Time to catch up.

Ryan Vogelsong is a Hanshin Tiger. Go to Charlie's blog, look at the picture, and keep in mind that White Flag is 6'3, not 6'11. Everyone here knows that for some irrational reason, I like Vogelsong. Accordingly, I'm very happy to see him pitch somewhere else so I don't have to hate him anymore. Good luck, Ryan.

Brandon Webb is your 2006 NL Cy Young winner. Trevor Hoffman finished a close second. I would be bitching if Hoffman won, but he didn't. I'm happy the voters overlooked Webb's win total and gave it to the guy that deserved the award.

Jim Leyland and Joe Girardi are Managers of the Year. Again, no surprises or complaints here here. These guys deserve the award.

Frank Thomas is close to signing with the Blue Jays. No numbers have been released yet, but you can bet the number will be huuuge. This will make Dan Johnson much harder to pry from the A's, should DL be so inclined to try.

Via Marc in the comments, the D-Rays have obtained the negotiation rights to Akinori Iwamura for a measly $4.5 million. Iwamura is a left-handed power hitting corner infielder and a star in Japan. You guys know a team that could use a guy like that? We didn't even place a bid (via Bucs Dugout). If that pisses you off (and I don't see why it shouldn't), think how insane it is that the Red Sox bid 10 times as much for a guy that will play 1/5th as often and think about how happy you'll be when they get eliminated from the playoffs next year.

Barry Bonds might not be a Giant next year. If the market falls for him enough (I think it might, even in this crazy off-season Bonds has to terrify most teams), look for him to DH cheaply and powerfully in Oakland next year.

Since it's easy to fall behind on news at this time of year, let's go presumptuous. Johan Santana will win the AL Cy Young tomorrow. That, or we never talk about MLB awards on this blog ever again.