Free agent P Jason Johnson signs a one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians. Johnson, who went 8-13 with a 4.55 ERA and a career-high 210 innings for the Detroit Tigers last season, joins C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Jake Westbrook in one of the American League’s deepest rotations.

2005 – Veteran reliever Mike Stanton returns to the Washington Nationals, agreeing to a $1 million, one-year contract.

2005 – Several free agents agree to contracts terms: OF Johnny Damon with the New York Yankees (four-year); OF Juan Encarnación (three-year) and 2B Junior Spivey (one-year) with the St. Louis Cardinals; OF Reggie Sanders (two-years) and P Joe Mays (one-year) with the Kansas City Royals; C John Flaherty with the Boston Red Sox (one-year); OF Endy Chavez with the New York Mets (one-year), and IF Jose Vizcaino with the San Francisco Giants (one-year).

The Houston Astros agree to terms with pitchers Dave Borkowski and Steve Sparks and the Los Angeles Dodgers agree to terms with pitcher Brett Tomko on a two-year contract.

After the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control denies the request to allow Cuba to participate in the World Baseball Classic due to the possibility of financial gain by the island country, MLB reapplies after Fidel Castro says his country will donate any money earned from its participation to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The San Diego Padres sign 2B Mark Bellhorn for one year while the Seattle Mariners agree to terms with OF Matt Lawton on a one-year contract.

The Minnesota Twins agree to terms with OF/DH Rondell White on a one-year contract, while the New York Yankees re-sign OF Bernie Williams to a one-year contract.

2005 – The Tampa Bay Devil Rays agree to terms with C Toby Hall and P Lance Carter on one-year contracts and the St. Louis Cardinals sign P Sidney Ponson to a one-year contract.

With the announcement Oakland will no longer sell tickets for the third deck of McAfee Coliseum, the A’s home becomes the smallest park in the major leagues. The seating capacity, reduced from 44,073 to 34,179, is less than Fenway Park, which has been recently increased to accommodate 38,805 denizens of Red Sox Nation.

2005 – The World Champion White Sox finalize the trade with the Diamondbacks which brings starter Javier Vazquez and $4 million dollars to the Windy City. Veteran right-hander Orlando Hernandez, reliever Luis Vizcaino and minor league outfield prospect Chris Young go to Arizona to complete the deal.