Report: Ortiz not sure if he took steroids  —  BOSTON (TICKER) — It appears Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is not sure if he has taken steroids.  —  Ortiz told the Boston Herald that he could not say definitively if he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs in the past.

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?

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 …

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.

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.

Nationals select contracts of Simontacchi and Batista, place Wagner on 15-day DL, designate Wilson  —  The Washington Nationals today selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher Jason Simontacchi and infielder Tony Batista from Columbus of the Triple-A International League.

Marlins hitters on record strikeout pace  —  MIAMI (AP) — Miguel Cabrera backs away from the plate, rubs his knee, arches his back, stretches his arms, spits, taps each shoe with his bat, steps back into the box, adjusts his helmet, scuffs the dirt, crouches and gives the bat a menacing waggle.

Magic Tickets: The NL East for April '07  —  With the first full month of the 2007 season in the books, it's not too early to look at how clubs are doing in terms of ticket sales.  By taking a look at April's sales, we can get an idea of how last season's wins and losses might impact off-season sales …

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.

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?

Young leads D-Backs past Phils  —  May. 8, 2007 12:00 AM When Josh Byrnes pulled the trigger on a trade with the Chicago White Sox two off-seasons ago, games like this were what he envisioned for Chris Young.  —  Roaming the spacious Chase Field outfield, Young made tough catches look easy …

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 …

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: