Injured Boston 1B Casey to sit in Japan  —  TOKYO (AP)—The 18-hour plane flight that brought the Boston Red Sox to Tokyo claimed one victim when Sean Casey developed a stiff neck that is expected to keep him out of the first two games of the season against the Oakland Athletics.

Braves trades are brewing  —  Winter Haven, Fla. _ I've always told myself that one of these years I'd stop by Webb's Goat's Milk Fudge in Haines City on my drive over to a spring training game in Winter Haven.  —  I was wrong.  —  Unless it's open when I drive past it tonight on the way back …

A look at who's vying for spots in Yankees' pen  —  Lefthanded reliever Billy Traber probably has the inside track at a spot in the Yankees' bullpen after a solid spring in which he's allowed only two unearned runs in 6 2/3 innings.  (Newsday / Audrey C. Tiernan)

Iconic ace Darvish pushes Japan's boundaries  —  SAPPORO, Japan - Following a victory last season, Yu Darvish, the winning pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, stood in front of a microphone inside a packed stadium, thanked his teammates and fans for their support …

Gomez wins center field job; Tolbert makes roster [UPDATED WITH LINEUPS]  —  The Twins optioned four players to Class AAA Rochester this morning - Philip Humber, Denard Span, Brian Buscher and Jason Pridie.  —  Righthander Casey Daigle was reassigned to the minor league camp.

MLB: Jays' Rolen fractures finger in infield drill  —  A ground ball struck the right middle finger of Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen on Sunday, ripping off the fingernail and causing a non-displaced fracture of the bone in his finger tip.  —  The mishap occurred during routine infield drills in the morning.

Indians eat Fultz's option  —  Left-hander's poor spring causes team to make change  —  WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Aaron Fultz has pitched himself off the Indians' roster.  —  The Indians informed Fultz on Monday morning that he will not be a member of their club this year …

Underwater program helps Marlins' Cantu  —  Jorge Cantu, who entered Sunday hitting .431 this spring, has credited an offseason underwater strength program for his turnaround.  —  AIM  —  mphillips@MiamiHerald.com  —  JUPITER — What happened to Marlins third baseman Jorge Cantu?

THE SCIENCE OF BASEBALL STATS  —  Was there ever a team sport better-suited for statistical modeling than baseball?  The heart of the game involves one pitcher vs. one batter at a time, allowing for a dizzying array of individual statistics.  The regular season, as well as the typical player's career …

Eyre's elbow creates opening in bullpen  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — The Cubs settled one bullpen issue Sunday, with Kerry Wood locking down the closer job, but will use the final week of the spring to settle the opening created over the weekend by left-hander Scott Eyre's sore elbow.

Rockies polishing look of roster  —  Morales, Redman fill out rotation; Nix to play second  —  With the season-opening game in St. Louis one week from today, the Rockies' season-opening roster is starting to fall into place.  —  With a series of roster moves Sunday, the Rockies set the stage …

Venues set for World Baseball Classic  —  Japan, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico to host first round in '09  —  The first-round venues are set for the second running of the World Baseball Classic, which will begin on March 5, 2009, in Japan.  —  As in 2006, Tokyo Dome and Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan …

Register might be next in line  —  If Duaner Sanchez isn't ready to break camp with the Mets, and it's certainly possible, it would seem that the next reliever in line would be Rule 5 pick Steven Register from the Rockies.  —  Basically, the Mets paid $50,000 to the Rockies to draft Register (pictured) during the winter meetings.

Twins Extend Nathan Through 2011 [updated at 1:40 p.m.]  —  The Twins and Joe Nathan have agreed to a contract extension through 2011 that includes an option for 2012.  —  The deal was finalized today after Nathan's agent, Dave Pepe, cleared up some remaining details.

Trade review: Bobby Abreu  —  You folks seemed to enjoy my trade analysis of Edgar Renteria and Andy Marte a month or so back.  Unsurprisingly I got a ton of e-mails asking me to look back at some other recent trades.  Today I look back at the Bobby Abreu trade that moved him to the Yankees from Philadelphia in July 2006.

Indians pick lefty Lee to round out starting rotation  —  WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Cliff Lee has his first win of 2008.  —  The Indians' left-hander was named the club's No. 5 starter on Monday, beating out lefties Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers for the final spot in Cleveland's rotation.