It's a command performance  —  Piniella encouraged by Prior's 59-pitch effort against Padres  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Go figure.  Just when it looked about time for the Cubs to write off Mark Prior, the confounding former ace pitched just well enough for four innings on Thursday to suggest …

Danks' outing strikes chord with Guillen  —  TUCSON, Ariz. — If manager Ozzie Guillen has his way, left-hander John Danks will be on the White Sox's 25-man roster as their fifth starter or a reliever.  —  "Right now, I'm voting for him to be there, but that decision is a group decision," …

Mariners Notebook: Angels bring out devil in Guillen  —  Animosity remains for Mariners right fielder  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Two teams and more than two years removed from his ugly departure from the Los Angeles Angels, you'd think Jose Guillen would be over it.  —  You'd be wrong.

Orioles claim Tracey off waivers  —  Righty added to 40-man roster; Benson shifted to 60-day DL  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Orioles claimed pitcher Sean Tracey off waivers Friday and made room for him on the 40-man roster by shifting Kris Benson to the 60-day disabled list.

Wang injures right hamstring  —  Right-hander's discomfort may be just a leg cramp  —  TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees' rotation endured another scare on Friday, as right-hander Chien-Ming Wang experienced discomfort in his right hamstring during conditioning drills at Legends Field.

Figgins expected to be out at least 5 weeks  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Los Angeles Angels third baseman Chone Figgins is expected to be sidelined five to six weeks with two broken fingers on his throwing hand.  —  X-rays taken Friday by hand specialist Dr. Steve Shin at the Kerlan-Jobe …

Zambrano expresses Met regret  —  Read beat writer Adam Rubin's Surfing the Mets Blog  —  DUNEDIN, Fla. - Victor Zambrano isn't upset at the Mets for not bringing him back this season.  He just wishes he could have lived up to the expectations of a pitcher acquired for Scott Kazmir …

Braves trade Pena Jr. to Royals  —  CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — The Atlanta Braves had no room for Tony Pena Jr. on their opening-day roster, and the Kansas City Royals were willing to give the young shortstop a shot at making their starting lineup.  —  The Braves traded Pena to the Royals for minor league pitcher Erik Cordier on Friday.

All-Unlucky Team looking to rebound  —  Members could benefit from reversal of fortune in '07  —  Over the past five years, PROTRADE has mapped out every inch of the baseball diamond, charting the location of every batted ball and calculating the probability that — given their distance …

Cedeno's blast backs Zambrano  —  Cubs ace fans five in six innings; Wood has scoreless frame  —  CUBS 6, GIANTS 2  —  Giants at the plate: Kevin Frandsen tripled and scored on a wild pitch by Carlos Zambrano in the second.  Bengie Molina hit an RBI double with two outs in the eighth off Bob Howry.

Five Questions: Arizona Diamondbacks  —  The Diamondbacks will have the best record in the National League this year.  And it's not me who thinks that—this is according to the Hardball Times division projections, which put Arizona at 86 wins.  —  Actually, I agree with the figure …

SWEET DEAL FOR DARLING  —  RON IS SET TO RE-UP AT SNY  —  Ron Darling is close to a three-year contract extension with SportsNet New York, NYP TV Sports has learned.  —  The deal would keep Darling as a game analyst on Mets telecasts through the 2010 baseball season, sources said.

Marlins infield guru Hill retires  —  First-base coach had been bothered by fluid in his knee  —  JUPITER, Fla. — With a little more than a week until Opening Day, the Marlins are searching for a first-base/infield coach.  —  In a surprise move, widely respected Perry Hill has decided to retire.

Left-over bits and pieces  —  So I would post the lineups for the game against the Astros, but that would be ... well, about 14 hours too late.  Quite a display by the boys last night in a 16-2 win.  Yes, everybody could get caught up in Jesus Flores hitting .500 on the spring and Ryan Church taking …