For the first time since having surgery on his right shoulder last season, Diamondbacks right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb was able to throw some pitches off a mound Monday. Manager A.J. Hinch was pleased that Webb was able to move into the next phase of his shoulder rehab.

"This is a positive sign as we're getting close to spring training," he said. "I thought he looked good."

After finishing in the top two of NL Cy Young voting for three consecutive seasons -- including winning the award in 2006 -- Webb was only able to make one start a year ago. After the one disastrous outing, when he clearly wasn't healthy, Webb missed the rest of the season with the shoulder malady.

Webb, 30, is clearly one of the best pitchers in baseball when healthy. From 2006-08, he went 56-25 with a 3.13 ERA. He made the All-Star team all three seasons and he also rolled up 12 complete games and seven shutouts during that time. Furthermore, Webb takes pressure off the bullpen by racking up the innings, as he averaged 232 innings of work per season from 2005-08.

Whether or not he'll be healthy enough to do so in 2010 will be a big part of deciding how well they fare in the NL West. Webb himself seemed to be pleased with the progress he felt Tuesday.

"I felt good this morning, he said. "I'm right where I expected to be. Having not been on the mound in a year, I am pleased with how I felt."

Eric Byrnes' first two years in Arizona were productive enough to earn himself a three-year, $30 million contract extension from the Diamondbacks. Which was then immediately followed by two seasons of Byrnes spending the majority of his time on the disabled list, and only managing a .218 batting average in the 136 games he did play.

So after the Diamondbacks signed Adam LaRoche last week, it didn't come as much of a surprise when Arizona designated Byrnes for assignment, even if it meant having to eat the $11 million left on his contract. Now that Byrnes is a free agent he's taking a look around to see where he might find some work, and if it was up to him, San Francisco would be a wonderful place to play.

Power hitting first baseman Adam LaRoche has inked a one-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Monetary details of the deal are not yet known.

LaRoche would provide the Diamondbacks with some middle-of-the-order power and could serve as a buffer for rising stars Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds. The D'backs don't necessarily have a hole at first base, but it's unclear how much they can count on Conor Jackson -- who missed all but 30 games last season with a serious illness.

Now that Randy Johnson has retired -- half-jokingly saying he will finally be able to try "parachuting, ziplining and swimming with Great Whites in Australia" -- we can go over what he became known for over a remarkable 22-year pitching career.

His 6-foot-10 frame.

A surly disposition.

Long hair.

And strikeouts. Lots and lots of strikeouts.

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Randy Johnson announced his retirement from baseball after 22 seasons in the major leagues Tuesday evening.

The towering, fearsome left-hander won five Cy Young Awards, including four straight from 1999-2002, and will finish his career with 303 wins. He is second on the all-time strikeout list with 4,875 and his strikeouts per nine innings pitched rate of 10.6 is the best ever.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Picking a winner among the NL West teams is easy, since only one of them -- the Diamondbacks -- did anything of consequence this week. The rest of the teams sat quietly and left Indianapolis without much change to their rosters. Although the Giants, Rockies and Padres may simply have plans for later in the winter, it has become clear to baseball people that the Dodgers are hamstrung financially because of the looming divorce between owners Frank and Jamie McCourt.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Though Yankees general manager Brian Cashman wouldn't rule out bringing back either Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui, he did mention that the acquisition of Curtis Granderson via trade gives the Bronx Bombers a level of comfort while they discuss possibly bringing back Damon and/or Matsui.

During a press conference in which the three general managers -- Dave Dombrowski of the Tigers, Josh Byrnes of the Diamondbacks and Cashman -- involved in the biggest offseason move thus far fielded questions from the media, Cashman also went out of his way to mention the versatility the Yankees now have in the outfield.

"With Curtis, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher -- any one of those guys can play all three outfield positions," Cashman said.

Obviously, no answers in the presser strayed from close-to-the-vest, but this could be a sign the Yankees grew tired of being handcuffed by the defensive liabilities presented by Damon and Matsui.

INDIANAPOLIS - Tuesday at baseball's annual Winter Meetings, a blockbuster trade went down, two free agent signings were announced as officially complete and nine managers addressed a media throng. Here are some notes from the day.

• There's a report that the White Sox have joined the Angels in heavy pursuit of Hideki Matsui. Earlier today I warned against reports stating managers are "interested" in Matsui due to the fact that some international media are asking every single manager if they like Matsui and would like to manage him. This report, however, is unconnected and could be legitimate.

I do question what the White Sox would want with Matsui, because Ozzie Guillen specifically said he'd want someone to be able to play the outfield consistently and is really excited about being able to use multiple players in the designated hitter slot. He discussed how having an everyday DH handcuffs him in keeping his bench fresh. Then again, he also stressed Kenny Williams makes all personnel decisions. Stay tuned.

The first big shot has been fired in this Hot Stove season. With Curtis Granderson expected to be on his way to the Yankees, Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy headed to Arizona, and an impressive haul of young talent headed to the Detroit Tigers, everyone wants to know how well each team did.

The Yankees got their man and filled the center field position, a spot in which they've been searching for a long-term solution since the end of the Bernie Williams era, but they are not the only ones getting what they need in this blockbuster. Both the Tigers and Diamondbacks also got players of whom they can be proud.

What exactly did they get and how might each player impact their future?

INDIANAPOLIS -- A three-way deal that would send center fielder Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and right-hander Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks has been finalized pending examination of medical records, a source told FanHouse.

Detroit would get right-hander Max Scherzer (described by one scout as having No. 2 starter potential if he can throw strikes) from Arizona and center-field prospect Austin Jackson from New York.

Other pieces in the deal are right-handed pitcher Ian Kennedy (Yankees to D-Backs), left-handed pitcher Daniel Schlereth (D-Backs to Tigers) and left-handed pitcher Phil Coke (Yankees to Tigers).

An executive from a fourth team called it a "nice haul for Detroit." All four acquisitions could conceivably made the Tigers' Opening-Day roster.

Granderson, who turns 29 in March, has three years and $25.75 million left on his contract, with a team option for 2013. He hit .249 with a .780 OPS in 2009, but in 2007 had a .913 OPS. He's had a lot of trouble hitting left-handed pitching, though, as he had a .484 OPS against lefties in 2009.