Ortiz goes to bat for Barry  —  TORONTO - Barry Bonds is coming to Fenway Park [map] in a little more than a month, and already, David Ortiz [stats] can tell that his reception is going to be ugly.  —  Red Sox 2007 Roster  —  Take an interactive look at the 2007 Red Sox roster.  —  » Click here

Pathetic in pinstripes: NY needy, Roger greedy  —  It is sad, really.  Even during their current seven-year championship drought, even while they were losing four straight to the Red Sox [team stats] in 2004 or flopping in the first round of the playoffs to the Tigers last year, the Yankees at least were interesting.

Disappointing night for Perez in opener  —  Left-hander solid until allowing eight — two earned — in fifth  —  SAN FRANCISCO — What Barry Bonds did was of no consequence, and, in relative terms, what Barry Zito did hardly mattered.  The latest installment of Mets 2007 had little …

Tom Verducci: Top 10 players under the age of 25  —  Does it occur to you, too, that baseball has an '80s fixation?  That the coverage of the sport seems skewed toward guys who were playing when cool guys wore Members Only jackets and grooved to A Flock of Seagulls on their Walkman?

Baseball's Top 50 MVPs  —  Ranking the hottest properties in the game today  —  Baseball ratings are up by more than 20 percent this season, and I think I know the reason why.  Rarely has there been so much star talent accumulated on the diamond at any one time.

No Ordinary Joe Smith  —  Every time I look at a New York Mets' box score, rookie reliever Joe Smith's name seems to be present.  The 2006 third round draft pick - and 94th overall - out of Wright State appeared in 17 games during the Mets' first 29 games of the 2007 season.

Dodgers desperately need big bopper  —  The Dodgers' Class AAA affiliate is so loaded, one scout says, "It's a joke, how many players they have."  —  Too many players, yet not enough.  —  At the major-league level, the Dodgers' offensive pieces don't quite fit; the Nationals are the only team with fewer homers.

Notes: Glavine holds esteem for Bonds  —  Mets southpaw views slugger as 'greatest player of our era'  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Tom Glavine, the Mets' starting pitcher Tuesday night against the Giants — and Barry Bonds — answered some questions about Bonds on Monday:

Prospect Hot Sheet  —  No doubt the highlight of the last week was Devil Rays righthander Wade Davis' no-hitter against Palm Beach.  —  Davis threw 84 pitches in the seven-inning win, his second no-hitter in the last nine months.  But for as hot as Davis has been—he's allowed just one run …

Baseball Ignores a Problem More Deadly Than Steroids  —  Alcohol last week killed one more major league baseball player than steroids ever have.  —  I repeat: Alcohol last week killed one more baseball player than steroids ever have.  —  Yet Major League Baseball and George J. Mitchell …

Bombers need Rocket in relief  —  Here's a question that Yankee fans may need to ponder, like it or not: What if the turn of events in last night's ninth inning turns out to be more significant than the theater the Yankees gave us in Sunday's seventh inning?

Notes: Cordero admits to distraction  —  Closer trying to stay focused with grandmother in poor health  —  MILWAUKEE — A day after giving up the game-tying run in the ninth inning against the Cubs, Nationals closer Chad Cordero acknowledged that his grandmother's illness weighed heavily on his mind while he was on the mound.

Boohoo: Alou looks back with sigh  —  In his return to AT&T Park, Mets' Moises reflects on Giant disappointment  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Back at AT&T Park for the first time as a member of the New York Mets, Moises Alou revealed Monday that he looks back with regret on his two seasons with the Giants.