Schilling: I'll play in '08  —  Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said this morning on Boston sports radio station WEEI that he will not retire from baseball at the end of this season, as he previously had planned, and that he is in discussions with the Red Sox on a contract extension for 2008.

January 22-28  —  "Going into the season we didn't know how things would end up.  Obviously I was on the middle of the contract.  As the season went on, you have 3.5 million people coming out and they're talking a new ballpark, and SNY was doing well, you start thinking about sharing some of the wealth, of course."

The Curious Case of Captain Kirk  —  Last week, the Cincinnati Reds acquired Kirk Saarloos from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a Double-A relief prospect.  There's nothing all that interesting about the trade; the A's freed up some salary while easing the crunch in their bullpen …

Umpires finding their calling  —  Learning to be an umpire is a labor of love for hundreds of hopefuls each year.  `If you haven't actually stepped out there on the field, you really don't have an appreciation for what actually goes into it.'  —  kbaxter@MiamiHerald.com

A little less uncertainty for Nats' O'Connor  —  A little less uncertainty for Nats' O'Connor  —  Mike O'Connor hasn't picked up a baseball all winter, and thanks to elbow surgery in November, he won't be able to compete for a spot in the Washington Nationals' rotation this spring, but the left-hander can't complain too much.

Categorizing Minor League Pitchers: Part One - The Starters  —  Earlier this month, I published a two-part special designed to categorize major league starters and relievers by batted ball types and strikeout rates.  I am going to continue this project by analyzing minor league pitchers this week …

Cardinals GM was a man of contrasts, high ideals  —  Vaughn Pallmore "Bing'' Devine was absolute proof that nice guys do finish first.  —  The two-term Cardinals general manager died Saturday morning at age 90 after a long siege with various ailments.  —  Devine served as Cardinals GM from 1957 to 1964, and again from 1968-78.

Reggie, Hough feted at dinner  —  Baseball's past, spiced with Yankees flavoring, and its present, served with a heaping portion of Mets, was on the menu at last night's 84th New York Chapter Baseball Writers Association of American dinner at the New York Hilton.

Rockies, Sox talk Helton  —  The Colorado Rockies have expressed interest in dealing first baseman Todd Helton to the Red Sox, major league sources told the Globe's Nick Cafardo Saturday.  The teams spoke about a Manny Ramirez-for-Helton swap at the GM meetings in November …

3 Weeks to Pitchers and Molinas  —  The energetic, young children scampered along a bumpy dirt infield, chased baseballs around an outfield that was missing almost as much grass as it contained and sidestepped a leaning light tower that was a miniature Tower of Pisa.

Hot prospect at hot corner  —  Padres hope Kouzmanoff will be a hit right off the bat like he was for Indians  —  One pitch into his major league career, Kevin Kouzmanoff already had done as much as a man can possibly do with a swing of the bat.  One very dizzying, mind-numbing, discombobulating swing of the bat.