Red Sox, Rockies discussing Helton trade  —  The Red Sox are in serious discussions with the Rockies about acquiring first baseman Todd Helton, but a trade hinges on how much of Helton's contract the Rockies would be willing to assume, FOXSports.com has learned.

Buehrle knows this is it  —  Sox left-hander, GM Williams agree he's gone after '07  —  White Sox general manager Ken Williams and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle seemed to agree on at least one thing Friday night: After the 2007 season, the left-hander is gone.

Rangers' Otsuka is OK with old role  —  Rangers' former closer willingly returns to pitch in eighth inning  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  For a few minutes Friday evening, Akinori Otsuka awkwardly searched for words to describe his new role as the Rangers set-up man to Eric Gagne.

Middle Relievers Are Moving Front and Center  —  In an effort to raise the performance standards of their bullpens, teams have raised the standard of living for the pitchers who populate those bullpens.  The more important they are perceived to be, the more money middle relievers are earning.

Players delve into lineup debate, too  —  Focal point is Tracy's decision to bat Wilson second  —  Cherly Karashin of Carnegie gets an autograph yesterday from Freddy Sanchez at the 2007 PirateFest.  —  For all the staged games available at PirateFest, which opened last night …

Former Cardinals GM Bing Devine dies at age 90  —  Bing Devine, the St. Louis Cardinals general manager who helped build teams that won three NL pennants and two World Series in the 1960s, died Saturday.  He was 90.  —  Devine, who had been ill since Christmas, died at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, said his widow, Mary Devine.

A Riddle Wrapped Up in a PECOTA  —  I recently made a trade in a Scoresheet Baseball league, which was motivated in part to clear room for Dioner Navarro on my protection list (the primary motivation was to grossly overpay for Chris Carpenter).  —  Navarro has perhaps the single …

Taking Another Global Step, Minaya Leads Group to Ghana  —  On a continent teeming with untapped potential, on a sandy field that doubles as a soccer pitch, a cadre of baseball officials and former players hope to discover the next breeding ground for major league talent.

Weakest links  —  The Cubs spent somewhere around $300 million in the past few months to overhaul the disaster of '06, and they're still wondering about that big expanse of grass in center field.  The Giants, if you count that $16 million earmarked for Barry Bonds, have forked over better …

Fingers dealing with tax woes  —  He hires attorney in dispute with state  —  dwalker@journalsentinel.com  —  Baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers knows what people are saying and writing about his tax troubles.  —  "I'm not a tax dodger," Fingers said Friday in a telephone interview from his Las Vegas home.