Eight more elect for free agency

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Lackey, Holliday, Bay highlight first day of free agent filings

Angels pitcher John Lackey, Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday and Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay were the highlights of the 79 players filing for free agency Thursday.

Lackey, Holliday and Bay are expected to be the three marquee free agents on the market this offseason. Lackey has spent his entire eight-year career with the Angels, while Holliday and Bay both experienced trades before each hit the market for the first time.

The 31-year-old Lackey has been in the spotlight since his rookie season in 2002, when he was the winner in Game 7 of the World Series against the Giants. Since then, he has won at least 10 games in every season, including a 19-9 mark in 2007 that saw him finish third in the AL Cy Young voting.

Shouse files for free agency

Reliever Brian Shouse was the lone player to file for free agency on Tuesday.

The 41-year-old lefty went 1-1 with a 4.50 earned run average in 45 appearances last season with Tampa Bay.

In 467 career games with Pittsburgh, Boston, Kansas City, Texas, Milwaukee and the Rays, Shouse has a 13-10 record with six saves and a 3.72 ERA.

Seven win museum's photography contest

The Orange County Historical Museum has announced the winners of its third annual photography contest. This year's theme was "Historic Orange County," and the museum received 46 entries from 25 local photographers.

Winners were:

* Indy Reid-Shaw, first place, juvenile division;

Manny exercises option, will remain in LA in 2010

Outfielder Manny Ramirez notified the Dodgers on Friday that he's exercising the $20 million option and will return to Los Angeles next season.

The 37-year-old slugger signed a one-year, $25 million deal with the club on March 4, 2009 with a player option for a second year at $20 million. He had until five days after the World Series ended or November 10, whichever came first, to inform the team if he planned to return or test free agency.

The pact, which carries a full no-trade clause, calls for the 12-time All-Star to donate $1 million to charity.

Filing electronically really the way to go

You know the saying that there's no free lunch? Well, the Internal Revenue Service is trying to prove you can get something free when filing your taxes.

This year, all taxpayers can file returns for free electronically without having to purchase tax software or go through a tax preparer.

Since 2003, people with low to moderate incomes could file their tax returns electronically at no charge by going through the federal agency's Free File program. The program is run through a partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of private-sector tax preparation companies.