Cubs eyeing Crisp; Sox don't want Marquis  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. - While major league sources indicate the Chicago Cubs have Coco Crisp on their wish list, the Red Sox have no interest in expendable starting pitcher Jason Marquis or Arizona League MVP outfielder Sam Fuld.

Backing out of Japan trip?  —  Beckett injury cause for concern  —  The Red Sox are slated to leave Florida for Japan a week from Wednesday and there's a distinct possibility ace righthander Josh Beckett won't be accompanying the team to pitch the opener.  —  Beckett suffered back spasms …

Dodgers seeking assistance for Nomar, Kent  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on the FSN Baseball Report and MLB on FOX.  —  add this  —  Emptying the spring-training notebook:  — Instead of pursuing …

Rays surprised Yanks' Girardi miffed at hard play  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Don Zimmer likes Joe Girardi and even goes as far as to say the New York Yankees' manager is like a son to him.  —  But when it comes to the home-plate collision in which Tampa Bay's Elliot Johnson ran over Francisco Cervelli …

VET PRANKSTERS HIT ROOKIE HARD  —  The clubhouse pranks for the Yankees have picked up this spring, and last year's No. 1 pick Andrew Brackman, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, has been hit hard.  He walked to his locker yesterday morning to find that all of his sliders, his baseball underwear, had been slit down the middle.

Baker judges by his senses  —  Knowing what makes his players tick more important than their stats  —  digg us!  del.icio.us!  —  The best baseball managing is done by the seat of your pants, using good, old-fashioned, pre-sabermetric logic.  That's another reason to like Dusty Baker.

2B Richar out with balky back  —  PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Chicago White Sox second baseman Danny Richar missed his fifth consecutive game Sunday because of back problems that have prevented him from performing simple baseball activities.  —  Richar said the back pain was particularly intense Saturday.

Matsui returns with three at-bats  —  Yankees slugger serves as DH while rehabilitating right knee  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Making his way back from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee performed in November, Hideki Matsui made his first appearance in Grapefruit League action on Sunday.

Statheads and True Wins  —  I'm all over the map on this one ... maybe this is from the excitement of THE SOUL OF BASEBALL paperback coming on on Tuesday.  It's also available now as an Amazon Kindle Book, whatever that is.  I guess at some point I should write about this whole wireless book thing — is this going to take off?

CONFIDENCE MAN  —  MAINE HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO BE METS' NO. 2  —  Rick Peterson sensed John Maine was fighting his confidence, yet again, and so he sat Maine down in the Budweiser Hot Seat.  No, really, this is what he did, or at least the Mets' version of the ESPN gimmick.

Angels' Hatcher believes in law of averages  —  Batting coach doesn't view team's low number of walks as a negative, saying the lineup thrives on contact, with four hitters who could contend for batting title.  —  TEMPE, Ariz. — The Angels have four potential batting champions in their lineup …

Kershaw promoted to big league camp  —  Young phenom may have shot a winning fifth-starter job  —  VERO BEACH, Fla. — Dodgers manager Joe Torre caught himself in mid-sentence, realizing that comparing Clayton Kershaw to Sandy Koufax is exactly what he didn't want to do.  —  But Torre couldn't help himself.

Notes: Nolasco strengthening arm  —  Marlins starter tires in fourth inning after three stellar frames  —  JUPITER, Fla. — For the first three innings Sunday against the Orioles, Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco continued to dominate opposing hitters.

Sox may have (computer) chip on their shoulder  —  If computers ran the world, Steven Seagal probably would have won a few Oscars by now, assuming they judged him on the $2 billion his movies have earned.  If computers had a way of measuring acting ability, he'd be running a martial-arts school in a strip mall.

Quiroz favorite to land backup catcher spot  —  O's show interest in Houston infielder Loretta  —  JUPITER, Fla. - In the race for the Orioles' backup catcher job, Guillermo Quiroz has separated himself from the pack.  And while the finish line is a few miles down the road, he's expected to cross it first.

Stadium game likely for Bronx Blueshirts  —  The House that Ruth Built is on track to be the house the Rangers bring down.  —  As the current Rangers continue to drive down the stretch of this season, what is shaping up as a historic 2008-09 schedule now is expected to include a game at Yankee Stadium.