Lobsterman From Nicaragua Could Join Red Sox Cast  —  Devern Hansack.  Remember the name.  Remember it because it is the name of a pitcher who pitched a no-hitter that most everyone probably doesn't know about.  —  A long rain delay preceded the game Hansack pitched on the last day of last season, and rain shortened it.

Jays no longer playing second fiddle to Yanks, Sox  —  For the last five seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays have been fighting what sometimes feels like a losing battle.  —  Locked into a division with baseball's two biggest super powers, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays have felt overwhelmed and undermanned.

Hot Stove: How much can key hitters really improve?  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  There emanates, all through the Pirates' organization, a belief that the young core of the team is bound to improve in 2007.  —  "We're going to get better," general manager Dave Littlefield said.

Writers Scrutinize Big Mac and Themselves  —  In an article that ran Wednesday — the day after he and his fellow baseball writers emphatically rejected Mark McGwire's candidacy for the Hall of Fame — the Toronto Globe and Mail columnist Stephen Brunt recalled a news conference …

Nationals sign pitching prospects  —  They're young, eager, and like most of the candidates to make the Washington Nationals' wide-open starting rotation, intent on proving they can pitch in the big leagues again.  —  For the two newest Nationals, that's what team officials are hoping happens.