AGENT: METS LIKE LORETTA  —  Mark Loretta may be one of the Mets' top choices to play second base.  They have shown more interest in him than any other club so far, Loretta's agent told The Post last night.  —  Bob Garber, Loretta's agent, said "there's been about three phone calls" so far from the Mets.

Sources: Rangers pick Washington as manager  —  The Rangers will step outside the organization for the "fresh perspective" general manager Jon Daniels said he wants to bring to the clubhouse.  —  Two baseball sources said Sunday night that the club had hired Oakland third base coach Ron Washington.

Cards, Tigers blazed trail, but O's still in wilderness  —  Let's see, the St. Louis Cardinals won just 83 regular-season games before storming through the playoffs and capturing the World Series, and the Orioles managed 70 wins while finishing fourth in the American League East.

Pitching very much on Myers' mind  —  TOKYO — As a middle reliever, Mike Myers can enjoy a life of relative anonymity in the United States, even on the Yankees.  But as the world's most famous franchise's lone representative in the Japan All-Star Series, as soon as he slips on the pinstripes …

Paterno Breaks Bone, Called 'Old Fart'  —  JoePa had a rough day on Saturday.  His team stinks and got beat up on by Wisconsin 13-3.  He gets tackled and breaks a bone on the sideline.  Then he gets called an "old fart" by an ESPN analyst.  It was more stupid than anything.

From Fox into the Lyons den: 'Psycho' sought for Sox gig  —  This is supposed to be on the DL, but we hear that Entercom is making a pitch for deposed Fox Sportscaster Steve "Psycho" Lyons to join the Red Sox radio broadcast next season.  —  "They want to make him the RemDawg of radio," said Someone Who Knows.

Hot Stove: Slammin' Sammy's return?  —  Slugger contemplating return to Majors after year off  —  The free-agent market is 163 players deep so far this offseason.  —  Actually, you might want to add one more name to the list.  —  Sammy Sosa, the only player in Major League history to hit …

2007 Florida Marlins  —  Any Marlins fans out there?  Let's take a look at the team's setup for 2007.  —  Larry Beinfest's contract obligations:  —  C - Miguel Olivo - $0.7MM  —  C - Matt Treanor - $0.38MM  —  1B - Mike Jacobs - $0.38MM  —  2B - Dan Uggla - $0.38MM  —  SS - Hanley Ramirez - $0.38MM

As usual, Harrison was a handy accessory  —  FOXBOROUGH — It was, for the second time in the game, an unlikely unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from a most unusual source.  After his twisting, falling, one-handed, two-feet-in-while-falling-out-of- bounds touchdown grab in the face of Ellis Hobbs …

TRICKS OF THE TRADE  —  WITH GMS' SLEIGHT OF HAND, THESE BIG NAMES MIGHT MOVE  —  There is a general feeling about this free-agent market: It is underwhelming and overpriced.  You may like elements such as Barry Zito or Alfonso Soriano, but basic supply-and-demand says they are going to run …

Hall, Rays move even further apart  —  Despite being traded from the Devil Rays to the Dodgers in June, Toby Hall still proudly considers himself part of the Tampa Bay community, and on Monday night he is hosting his second annual Spikes and Strikes charity bowling event at Splitsville in Tampa.