It's back! 'Duk's Dozen, a selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items, has returned in 2011 to start your baseball news day. Got links? Please send submissions here or via Twitter. 1. It's the new year and Adrian Beltre remains the top free agent on Jeff Passan's tracker without a home. But for how much longer? The Texas Rangers were said to be closing in on a deal on Sunday night, but nothing's official yet. [MLB Trade Rumors]
2. Meanwhile, Nolan Ryan is issuing statements of support for the man currently manning third base at the Ballpark. Franchise icon by the name of Michael Young. [RealGM]
3. SI's Jon Heyman is reporting that Zack Greinke turned down the opportunity for a big contract extension from the Washington Nationals and can you blame him? If he wanted to play out the string for a few more seasons before his team could even think about being in contention, he could have stayed in Kansas City. [The Nats Blog]
4. Today's big BLS head nod goes to Chicago White Sox reliever Matt Thornton, a strong-but-silent type who spoke up about Oney Guillen's ridiculous antics.
"It doesn't matter what's true and what's not true, I don't care about that. The fact that anything was said at all is ridiculous. It's definitely gotta be addressed and taken care of real quick around here." [South Side Sox]
5. What can the Baltimore Orioles expect from 35-year-old Derrek Lee in 2011? [FanGraphs]
6. Joe Mauer is entering his age 28 season and already has 1,011 career hits to his name. So surely it's not too early to start talking about his chances at reaching 3,000, right?
Ivan Rodriguez, the career leader in hits among catchers, is just 183 hits away from 3,000. That he had just 948 hits in his first seven seasons provides even more reason to be optimistic that Mauer will reach the 3,000 mark.
OK, so it's a bit silly to presuppose 2,000 hits. But it's also Jan. 3. Go with it. [Twinkie Talk]
7. Carl Crawford finally gets around to returning the favor, posting his own thank you note to Tampa Bay Rays fans in a local newspaper. [DRaysBay]
8. If you had a son on New Year's Day, here's some bad news: Only seven major leaguers have been born on a "natural triple" (1-11-11, 2-22-22, etc.) The good news, though, is that two of them were Hall of Famers — Waite Hoyt (Sept. 9, 1899) and Hank Greenberg (Jan. 1, 1911) [Batter's Box]
9. Edinson Volquez as a fantasy sleeper in 2011? Not buying it. Not with those walks. Not with that manager and that injury history. Not with last year's suspension for PEDs. [Razzball]
10. A Pittsburgh Pirates fan checks in with a detailed look at one of the small victories they have to live for these days: Why Andrew McCutchen (probably) won't be ruled a Super Two player. [Bucs Dugout]
11. I'm a sucker for year-end posts of any kind and will read any and all comers. Case in point: This rundown of the best Houston Astros posts of the year. [The Crawfish Boxes]
12. Watch out, Flip Flop Flyball ... Larry Granillo's getting into the art world with an illustrated look at today's stereotypical Hall of Fame voter. (He's pretty good, too.) [Wezen-Ball]
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