Mets Have a Backup Plan for the Backup Plan  —  At least as much as the next man, I've taken it as a given that the Mets, having not signed or traded for the sort of durable starter they needed over the winter, will enter spring training facing a mounting catastrophe.

Benson out for season with rotator cuff tear  —  In a sharp blow to the Orioles' 2007 hopes, right-hander Kris Benson will miss the entire season due to a partially torn rotator cuff, FOXSports.com has learned.  —  Benson, 32, will require surgery to repair his injury …

It's Truck Day  —  Today marks the unofficial start of spring training for the Red Sox: It's Truck Day at Fenway Park!  The Sox equipment truck left from Fenway Park in Boston today, bound for the team's spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. Here, Michael Patti struggles to put the spring training banner on the van.

Mauer Through 2010  —  We're sadly still destined for two straight years of hearing and reading about how Johan Santana may leave Minnesota at some point, but for a while at least we've been spared from similarly premature talk about Joe Mauer's possible departure.

Marlins upset Cabrera skipped caravan stops  —  MIAMI GARDENS — Less than a week before they take him to arbitration, the Marlins delivered an early salvo at their most productive player, All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera.  —  In front of hundreds of fans and season-ticket holders during the weekend …

Joe, without a net  —  Faces what looms as last licks  —  When Joe Torre shows up in Tampa this week, he officially begins the last year of what could be his last contract managing the Yankees.  Here is what Brian Cashman, Torre's immediate boss even if he is still an underboss to George Steinbrenner, says about that:

MIT Sloan Sports Business Conference Recap  —  This weekend I attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Sports Business Conference in Cambridge, Mass. This year's conference focused on the role of analytics in sports management, although, like many business school events …

Jim Tracy  —  I wanted to do a post about Tracy, but I don't really feel like it fits the same mold as the rest of the season preview stuff, so I'm just going to put it out there.  —  It's been over a year since Tracy's hire and I still don't know what I think about him, which has to be a bad sign.

Historical Park Factors  —  I have just posted a new spreadsheet with park factors for all teams, 1901-2004, as a Google Spreadsheet.  These are five-year park factors, calculated in the same manner I describe on this page.  —  The guiding philosophy was to try to include as much data as possible.

Positional Health Reports  —  Introduction  —  For the past four seasons, I have written team health reports in the preseason, giving fans and fantasy players an advance look at the risks their teams face from injury.  Those reports have been among the most accurate available and …

Rotation  —  Optimists point to the Brewers' starting rotation and note that Ben Sheets has the stuff to become one of the game's elite, Chris Capuano is an All-Star-caliber lefty, Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas each won 12 games last year, and Jeff Suppan was the MVP of the NLCS.

Your Guide To Being a Really Obnoxious Trash-Talking 2007 Mariners Fan  —  A few things to make fun of for every team in the league, should a nasty situation arise with a fan of somebody else and you don't want to think for yourself.  Because sometimes being a total dick is the only satisfaction a fan of a crappy team gets to have.