SnakeBytes: Diamond-Black Friday edition

Diamondbacks news

• [dbacks.com] D-backs, right-hander Daniel Hudson discuss contract - Right-handed pitcher Daniel Hudson and the D-backs have begun dialogue on a contract that would avoid salary arbitration. "Hopefully we'll get something done in the next few days or over the weekend," Hudson said. "Obviously my wife and I have our roots set down here. We'd like to be here for the long run, and I'd like to have a long career with the Diamondbacks."
• [GammonsDaily.com] Cubs to let market play out on Samardzija - Might be a while, Cubs are apparently happy to wait for the available pitchers to decrease in number before trading him. "Towers has repeatedly made it clear that he will not trade prized righthanded pitcher Archie Bradley, not in a deal for Price, not in a deal for Samardzija. They will deal lefthander Tyler Skaggs, but if shortstop Didi Gregorius were included in a Samardzija trade, it would likely be a three-way, as the Cubs are convinced that Javier Baez is going to remain at shortstop."
• [ArizonaSport] D-backs Hot Stove show returns to Arizona Sports 620 - Suffering D-backs withdrawal? "D-backs Hot Stove" is back on the airwaves of Arizona Sports 620 starting this Monday, running through March 10. The show will be hosted by Diamondbacks broadcasters Greg Schulte, Jeff Munn and Steve Berthiaume, and airs Monday nights at 6:00 p.m.

MLB News [somewhat D-backs related]

• [mlb.com] Veteran left-hander Ted Lilly confirms retirement - Pitcher Ted Lilly confirmed earlier reports that he has retired as a player because of chronic neck pain. "I am retiring," Lilly wrote. "I don't want to, but I think it is the realistic decision." We at the SnakePit are very sorry to hear this, if only because it means we will have to retire this:
  
• [AP] Chicago Cubs' new spring training stadium has name - "Cubs Park." Well, that's imaginative. But I guess it is shorter than the longer, but more accurate "We threw a hissy fit and made empty threats about moving to Florida until Mesa caved and ponied up the cash for this Park".
• [New York Post] Pay-TV providers playing hardball on TWC sports channel - "For the Dodgers channel, Time Warner Cable is expected to ask for $5 a month per subscriber, a fee that would escalate to $8 over five years. That would be a record for a regional sports network. In New York, MSG, which carries the Knicks and Rangers, charges roughly $5 for its two channels. YES, home to the Yankees and the Nets, charges around $3 a subscriber, while Mets channel SNY charges a bit less."
• [HardballTalk] Major League Baseball releases its annual drug test report - "The most interesting thing here, to me anyway, continues to be the number of Adderall-users in baseball. It’s estimated that 4.7% of the adult population has ADD. 119 of roughly 1,200 major leaguers on 40-man rosters puts the ADD rate at nearly 10%.".

Baseball News (not very D-backs related)

• [Deadspin] Deadspin Buys Hall Of Fame Vote, Will Turn It Over To Deadspin Readers - Deadspin found a BBWAA voter prepared to sell them their ballot this year. To discover such corruption in their midst is just devastating, since it's the ambition of everyone who writes about baseball to get into the BBW.... Sorry. Couldn't keep a straight face there any longer.
• [NPR] After 50 Years, Cuba Says Its Baseball Players Can Go Abroad - "After spending decades trying to block them from leaving, Cuba is betting its biggest stars will return home if allowed to spend part of the year earning real money in places like Mexico or Japan." Still not directly in the US, but the gangsters who helped Yasiel Puig get here* might find business a little thinner.
• [CBSSports.com] Just because: Thanksgiving and the birth of indoor baseball - It didn't start with the Astrodome. Try almost a century earlier...
• [Beyond the Box Score] Holiday shopping: Baseball books - Heading out to shop on Black Friday? BtBS has a list of the best baseball books, if you're looking to buy one for the fan in your life. No, the other fan.... :)
• [Express Tribune] Baseball West Asia Cup kicks off today - Pakist­an face Afghan­istan in opener of four-nation event. Also taking part are Sri Lanka and Nepal, in a qualifier for the Asian Cup next year.Yes, Afghanistan. The pic above is from 2002, and shows the first Afghan Little League Baseball Teams, the Eagles ("Sahein" in Arabic) and the Afghan Club. The Afghan Baseball Federation also has a Facebook page, though it hasn't been updated this year.
  

* - allegedly