FIFTH AVENUE  —  VARGAS COULD FILL OUT ROTATION  —  Claudio Vargas could be a candidate for the Mets' No. 5 starter vacancy.  —  The 29-year-old right hander was released yesterday by the Brewers in a salary dump, and Mets GM Omar Minaya said his club will have a strong interest now that Vargas reportedly has cleared waivers.

Benson staying a Phillie  —  CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Phillies did not add pitcher Kris Benson to their 40-man roster yesterday, but the righthander will remain with the team, as his 24-hour window to opt out of his contract has passed.  —  “I'm feeling good with the clubhouse and the pitching coach and the manager,” Benson said.

The Excerpts From “Vindicated” About Alex Rodriguez  —  Ever since Joe Lavin announced he'd bought a copy of Jose Canseco's Vindicated earlier today, people — OK, some people — have been curious what EXACTLY Canseco said.  After the jump, the selections from Vindicated concerning Alex Rodriguez.

Sox sent packing by Harden, A's … TOKYO - Finally, the Red Sox [team stats] put Japan in their rear-view mirror last night.  —  If they cared to look back, the last sight would not be pretty at all.  —  The Red Sox wound up splitting this historic case of jet-lagged games against the A's with a lackluster 5-1 loss.

Brewers release Vargas  —  Phoenix - In a somewhat surprising move and a definite commitment toward youth, the Brewers just released veteran right-hander Claudio Vargas.  —  The move paves the way for two young pitchers, Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva, to make the starting rotation, along with Ben Sheets, Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush.

Gibby's 1.12 ERA: 40 years later  —  JUPITER, Fla. — On his way to changing baseball history, Bob Gibson was willing to break baseball tradition.  —  During one particularly low-scoring game in 1968, the Cardinals' opponent had runners on first and third bases with no outs.

Three for the money  —  Mike Mussina has found the fountain of youth, and it resides in the picturesque lake that can be seen on the wall next to his locker.  —  “Lake Mussina,” as it has come to be known, is the centerpiece of a corner of the Yankees' home clubhouse at Legends Field.

Reyes is likely to go to Memphis  —  JUPITER, FLA. — If it was an audition for another club, Anthony Reyes' outing Tuesday against the Washington Nationals ranked as a success.  —  If it was a last pitch for the Cardinals' season-opening rotation, better luck next time.

MLB Transactions  —  View by team:  —  TEAM  —  Agreed to terms with outfielder Reed Johnson, who had been with the Toronto Blue Jays, on a one-year contract; optioned outfielders Sam Fuld and Eric Patterson to Iowa of the Pacific Coast League (AAA); assigned pitcher Les Walrond …

Pirates Acquire Tyler Yates From Braves  —  Dave O'Brien was right - the Braves chose Tyler Yates as the out of options reliever to deal.  They sent him to the Pirates today for a minor league hurler named Todd Redmond.  On Monday, O'Brien said he expected the Braves to trade one of Scott Thorman or Brayan Pena as well.

Congress questions whether Clemens lied  —  Roger Clemens got some new Republican support in his dispute with Brian McNamee.  —  Reprising the partisan nature of last month's congressional hearing that examined whether the seven-time Cy Young Award winner took performance-enhancing drugs …

Do players turn “clutch” when chasing a personal goal?  —  The better a level of performance, the harder it is to achieve it.  There should be more .270 hitters than .275 hitters, more .275 hitters than .285 hitters, and so on.  —  But, surprisingly, there's an exception …

Sayonara, baseball tradition  —  Baseball used to be a game played with nine men to a side, two managers, four umpires, and the major-league season always opened in Cincinnati.  Come to think of it now, that would be sort of like “Gone With the Wind” opening in Valdosta.  But Cincinnati had a deal, see.