Martinez rehabs with controversial fitness guru … SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Pedro Martinez continues to stand by controversial fitness guru and massage therapist Angel "Nao" Presinal.  And Presinal, in turn, promises to deliver something sure to brighten the New York Mets' pennant …

Team Prevails Over Patterson in Arbitration Ruling  —  The Washington Nationals prevailed Tuesday in an arbitration case over their presumptive ace, right-hander John Patterson.  —  A three-member panel in Phoenix ruled that Patterson — who went 1-2 with a 4.43 ERA last season …

Catching a lot of attention  —  Matsuzaka's tosses become media event  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Accidental fame doesn't give you much of a heads-up.  —  You can be minding your own business one minute, sweating up a storm while doing your job.  The next minute, your face …

Rangers' Gagne happy with early work  —  Ranger feels 'great' about first mound session since surgery  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  New closer Eric Gagne called his first trip to the top of a pitcher's mound since surgery last July "great."  —  Gagne threw off a mound at his Scottsdale, Ariz., home Tuesday and had no issues.

Photos: Spring Training Set To Launch  —  Pitchers and catchers don't officially report until tomorrow, but there was plenty of action at the Port St. Lucie complex this morning.  —  Philip Humber and Jason Vargas tossed bullpen sessions as Al Jackson looked on.  —  David Wright took grounders at third base from Edgar Alfonzo.

Return a minor relief for Villone  —  TAMPA - After failing to land a two-year deal elsewhere, Ron Villone returned to the Yankees yesterday on a minor-league contract, getting a non-roster invitation to spring training.  He reported to Legends Field yesterday, where he will compete for a spot in the bullpen.

All Zumaya Linking  —  You've probably all heard that Joel Zumaya just won't give up Guitar Hero.If you want my feelings on this, Roar of the Tigers has summed them up perfectly. … I'm not even that bothered that he missed the A's series last year.  I can understand a situation …

The deal with Gibby  —  Lame-duck manager underpaid  —  Vernon Wells received a contract extension.  —  General manager J.P. Ricciardi has had his deal extended twice.  —  Then there is manager John Gibbons, who has only 162 games remaining on his contract with the Blue Jays.

Cubs' bottom line is up  —  After spending millions, Hendry's next order of business is taking care of arbitration-eligible Zambrano  —  For all those hundreds of millions they've already spent on changes since last season, the biggest order of business for the Cubs this winter might …

Save Rivera for later: Yanks  —  No deal till after season  —  TAMPA - Brian Cashman has nothing but respect for Mariano Rivera, but that doesn't mean he's planning to give the future Hall of Famer a contract extension before the end of the season.  —  Cashman said yesterday that he preferred …

Future Shock  —  Organizational Rankings  —  It's generally accepted that the legendary Branch Rickey devised the universally used 20-80 scouting scale.  The actual origin of the scale is a bit of a mystery, but some believe it's based on a scientific scale used in some fields that revolves around a median …

Gaslamp Ball Interview with Paul DePodesta Part I  —  Update [2007-2-14 11:43:15 by Dex]: How could I forget?  It's officially been two years since jbox and I started this blogging thing.  It's been a great time, and we never would have thought that these first few posts would eventually lead to this... Thanks all!

Players to watch  —  These are likeliest breakout success stories in the NL  —  Justin Verlander went to Tigers spring training last season with two games of major-league experience.  Scott Proctor had been rather useless over two seasons with the Yankees thanks to his ERAs of 5.40 and 6.04.

Risk vs. Uncertainty  —  When we try to predict the outcome of a baseball season, whether as fans or pretend-general managers, there's a whole lot of stuff we just don't know.  In fact, if you want certainty, we don't know anything: any player in major league baseball could blow out his arm …

Why we love baseball  —  Players, management and fans chime in on Valentine's Day  —  A record 76 million fans attended Major League Baseball games in 2006, and all signs point toward yet another single-season mark in 2007.  On this Valentine's Day, MLB.com decided to investigate …