On-Base Perception

Even Godzilla has to say goodbye.

Hideki Matsui, the hard-working Japanese slugger who made a nearly seamless transition to the Major Leagues, retired on Thursday after a decade in MLB.

Matsui, 38, hit .282 with a .360 on-base percentage and 175 home runs while playing for the Yankees, Angels, Athletics and Rays. He spent the first seven seasons of his career in New York before signing...

When Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs during Game 1 of the 2012 World Series, joining an exclusive club of sluggers, the baseball audience at home looked at their TVs in awe. The crowd at AT&T Park roared. And yet one of the guys with the best vantage point in the house appeared unmoved.

But appearances can be deceiving.

“Even as an umpire who's kind of lost that fan look at the...

Raul Ibanez is set to return to the team that drafted him in 1992.

According to the Associated Press, Ibanez has come to terms on a one-year deal worth $2.75 million with the Seattle Mariners.

The 40-year-old outfielder hit .240 with 19 home runs and 62 RBIs in 130 games with the Yankees last season. Ibanez’s biggest moment in pinstripes came in the postseason when he hit a pinch-hit...

Free-agent catcher A.J. Pierzynski has agreed to a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers, pending a physical, according to reports. CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reported that the deal is worth $7.5 million.

Last season the 35-year-old showed no signs of aging, as he reached career highs in home runs (27) and RBIs (77), picking up his first-ever Silver Slugger Award in 15 seasons in the majors.

Pierzynski...

The Yankees have officially announced that they have re-signed outfielder Ichiro Suzuki to a two-year deal, which according to CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman is worth $13 million.

The Yankees acquired Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners in July. In his short time in New York he hit .322, a drastic improvement from his .261 in 95 games in Seattle. In 12 seasons in the majors, Suzuki is a .322 hitter.

"The...

The Blue Jays reportedly needed two days to accomplish what the Mets couldn't in two months, agreeing to a contract extension with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the final major development needed to complete a sprawling seven-player deal that has been in the works all weekend.

According to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopolous is a good enough closer...

Before the Knicks electrified the Lakers in a 116-107 win at Madison Square Garden, Yankees legend and guitarist Bernie Williams brought some electricity of his own.

Williams rocked out "The Star-Spangled Banner" on his electric guitar in front of a crowd of 19,033.

Watch Bernie wail away:

...

The Mets have a new home on the radio. ESPN Deportes Nueva York 1050 AM announced today that it will broadcast Mets games in Spanish next season. The station will broadcast 150 of the Mets' 162 regular season games as well as select spring training games.

ESPN Deportes took over the 1050 AM station after ESPN New York made its switch to FM on 98.7....

Josh Hamilton has agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, according to Texas General Manager Jon Daniels. Hamilton, who played with the Rangers the past five seasons, will make $125 million during the life of his new five-year contract, according to Jon Heyman.

Daniels confirmed the Hamilton news at a Rangers luncheon, saying of the report "that's accurate." He was...

R.A. Dickey’s contract demands — which according to a person familiar with the talks is for a two-year extension worth $26 million — seem reasonable when compared with what other pitchers who didn’t win the Cy Young Award in 2012 are receiving this offseason. Recent contract agreements for free-agent pitchers (Dickey, 38, will not be a free agent until after the 2013 season):

  Pitcher,...