A-ROD TROUBLES ARE OPEN BOOK  —  WON'T SAY IF HE'LL OPT OUT OF DEAL  —  What A-Mess.  Call it Alex in Blunderland.  —  Alex Rodriguez's appearance at a signing for his children's book was mishandled by his publicist and bookstore staff members, turning the ballyhooed event into a media circus …

Source: A's agree to 1-year deal with Stewart  —  The Oakland Athletics have reached an agreement with free agent outfielder Shannon Stewart for a one-year deal that could be worth as much as $2.5 million with incentives, pending a physical, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney has learned.

A Spring-Training Invitation Remains Unanswered  —  The next road trip on Bernie Williams's schedule is not to Tampa, Fla., for Yankees spring training.  He will not be packing bats and gloves.  Instead, he will bring his guitar to a church in New Milford, Conn., tomorrow, for a benefit concert with Chynna Phillips.

Pirates, Castillo avoid arbitration  —  Opening-day payroll projects to $43 million  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  The Pirates avoided any arbitration hearings this offseason by agreeing last night to a one-year contract with second baseman Jose Castillo.

Reynolds's Pact Is Included in Amended ESPN Suit  —  Harold Reynolds, a baseball analyst who was accused of sexual harassment and fired by ESPN last year, was scheduled to earn at least $4.875 million in a six-year contract that went into effect last March.  —  Reynolds's contract is part …

Alou could make Mets' lineup even more formidable  —  The Mets haven't exactly loaded up on starting pitchers this offseason.  They struck out on Barry Zito and got outbid for the right to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Their biggest signing of a starting pitcher was the re-signing of 40-year-old Tom Glavine.

Player Profile  —  Adam Dunn  —  Former Baseball Prospectus cover boy Adam Dunn has long been known for his incredible combination of power and patience at the plate, but none of that seemed to matter much in the second half of 2006 when Dunn's performance at the plate helped the Reds miss out on an easily attainable playoff spot.

100 Names You Need to Know  —  Here's the 11th annual list of Sports Weekly's 100 Names You Need to Know.  These are the next wave of players coming into the majors who, in our view, could make the biggest impact during the 2007 season.  —  These aren't necessarily baseball's 100 best prospects.

Owning up to a problem  —  Sixty years after integration, baseball still has few black managers  —  DALLAS — Here we are in the second week of Black History Month, less than a week removed from the first Super Bowl in which both head coaches were African-Americans, and it would seem …

Raines Is the Next Great Player To Be Shut Out of the Hall  —  It's early yet — we have another year before the results of the 2007 Hall of Fame voting are announced — but it's time to start banging the drum for a player who will be up for election for the first time this year …

Will Red Sox get bang for their bucks?  —  The Boston Red Sox delight in branding themselves as a hardscrabble, salt-of-the-earth alternative to that behemoth in the Bronx.  —  Well, they're full of it.  —  Sure, the Sox don't spend as much as the Yankees, but 28 other teams in baseball see them as being cut from a similar cloth.

School that Pedro built  —  The San Miguel school is a testament to Pedro Martinez's loyalty to the town in which he grew up.  —  Children in Martinez's hometown have plenty of room to live and learn thanks to pitcher's generosity.  —  MANOGUAYABO, Dominican Republic …

Feller was 'Rapid' to serve his country  —  If you check out the stats from Bob Feller's baseball career, you can't help but notice the gap.  —  Feller broke into the major leagues in 1936 and retired in 1956.  In 18 seasons, all with the Cleveland Indians, the hard-throwing righthander won 266 games …

What a relief: Guillen likes Sox' new pen  —  It was a bold statement made by Ozzie Guillen.  —  Not that the White Sox manager ever falls short in that department.  —  But in talking two weeks ago about the 2007 version of the Sox, Guillen made an assessment that was completely heartfelt