Sox still plan to make a pitch for Rocket  —  The Red Sox [team stats] arguably will have the strongest starting rotation in the American League heading into spring training, but that will not preclude them from pursuing Roger Clemens one more time.  —  Owner John W. Henry confirmed …

Marlins make moves, plan others  —  Checking out what's percolating in center field, the bullpen and elsewhere with Marlins spring training five weeks away:  —  • General manager Larry Beinfest believes free agent pickup Alex Sanchez has a realistic chance to win the starting spot in center field …

Nuttings' stake grew bid by bid  —  Gradual buyout of partners led to control of Pirates  —  Pirates CEO Kevin McClatchy and chairman of the board Bob Nutting discuss the "change of control" within the Pirates.  —  The Pirates' ownership is not the most open of operations.

Padres give two Greenes some green  —  The Padres' future got Greener yesterday.  —  Not only did the club avoid arbitration by reaching a one-season contract agreement with shortstop Khalil Greene, the Padres signed catcher Todd Greene to a minor league contract.

Jays reward Overbay with four-year, $24M extension  —  TORONTO — First baseman Lyle Overbay and the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a $24 million, four-year contract, a team official said Sunday.  —  Overbay hit .312 with 22 home runs, a team-high 46 doubles and 92 RBIs with Toronto last season …

New-look Cubs ready to make rounds  —  Fans to get an earful about all the changes  —  The Cubs come out of hibernation this week for the annual off-season spinfest known as the Cubs Convention, hoping to assure a shell-shocked fan base that last year's 96-loss disaster won't be repeated.

Notes: Encarnacion discusses injury  —  Outfielder to start rehab on surgically repaired wrist next week  —  ST. LOUIS — Juan Encarnacion cleared up a couple of mysteries on Sunday afternoon.  Encarnacion, chatting with reporters at the annual Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up …

Mets nearing $1.25M deal with free-agent pitcher Sosa  —  NEW YORK — The New York Mets and pitcher Jorge Sosa were close to agreement Saturday on a one-year contract worth about $1.25 million.  —  Sosa, a 29-year-old right-hander, was a combined 3-11 with a 5.42 ERA last season for Atlanta and St. Louis, making $2.2 million.

A Giant mess gets messier  —  Latest Bonds twist won't help his cause  —  Holliston's Mark Sweeney long has been considered a great teammate, one of those guys who's effective on the field and contributes many intangibles off it.  —  So what a kick in the teeth it must have been for Sweeney …

Graphing the Umpires  —  I've touched on this topic before, but I think I have something new to bring to the table now.  In the past, I've attempted to evaluate umpires based on the statistics that the pitchers on the mound are putting up.  I made some tables, saw a few trends, and that was that.