Reds to cut Stanton  —  Reds manager Dusty Baker said this morning that the team has told reliever Mike Stanton that they are going let him go.  —  The move means the Reds will eat $3 million of Stanton's contract this season, and $500,000 next season.  —  Last season Stanton was 1-3 with a 5.93 ERA.

Hal denies sale rumors  —  TAMPA - Despite rumors to the contrary, Hal Steinbrenner reiterated his stance that he and his brother, Hank, won't be looking to sell the Yankees any time soon.  —  “That's the plan,” Hal Steinbrenner said.  “There are no plans to sell, though I know there's been speculation.

ACE OF ACES  —  The Mets acquired Johan Santana in a six-player trade with the Twins on Feb. 2 and cemented the deal by signing him to a six-year, $137.5-million contract.  Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner at the age of 29, is considered the best pitcher on the planet.

TATIS HAS SHOT AT REDEMPTION  —  The Mets are one step closer to letting Fernando Tatis clear his name.  —  The veteran appears poised to grab one of the Mets' final roster spots after backup infielder Ruben Gotay was placed on waivers yesterday, and Tatis, at age 33, is hoping to use that chance to get his reputation back.

Blogging El Duque-Pelfrey  —  FORT LAUDERDALE — We're blogging today's split start between Orlando Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey here against the Orioles that is expected to decide the Mets' No. 5 starting job:  —  First inning  —  With the Mets up 1-0, El Duque worked a 1-2-3 inning with little problem.

Girardi excited about return to Miami  —  TAMPA - The last time Joe Girardi was at Dolphin Stadium for a game, he was managing the Marlins.  Despite the ugly fashion in which his tenure ended there, the Yankees' manager is looking forward to his two-day visit to his old ballpark.

Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney Are Optimistic  —  After thrilling us with their AL predictions yesterday, ESPN released their NL team capsules today.  They're all linked from the MLB Index (although the Rockies' link is broken; their preview is here).  I don't really care about the actual previews at all …

Rays wait to finalize final bullpen opening  —  WINTER HAVEN — RHP Grant Balfour had his first rough spring outing Thursday afternoon.  —  The hard-throwing Aussie just hopes it's not his final one as a Ray.  —  Executive vice president Andrew Friedman said that, in terms of the roster …

Sorry, BoSox, Yanks: Rays have better rotation  —  With the American League East pitching rotations coming into focus, the division looks to produce four competitive starting staffs.  The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays have a mix of outstanding veterans and talented young pitchers.

MLB puts suspensions of Gibbons, Guillen on hold  —  NEW YORK — Major League Baseball put the suspensions of Baltimore's Jay Gibbons and Kansas City's Jose Guillen on hold for 10 days, giving lawyers for players and owners more time to reach an agreement toughening their drug rules.

Prospectus Today  —  Spring Lessons  —  I've pounded home the point that you can't learn anything from spring training performances, because of the small samples, the variability of competition, and the fact that people aren't playing to win.  Outside of player performance, though …

Phillies Notebook: Rocky outing may have hurt Eaton's bid for No. 5 spot in Phillies rotation  —  LAKELAND, Fla. - Last Friday, Charlie Manuel sounded as if he'd already decided to go with Adam Eaton as his No. 5 starter after the righthander struck out four and allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings against the Twins.

Black sees much to like from spring  —  PEORIA, Ariz. - When Bud Black yesterday reviewed what the Padres accomplished in spring training, left fielder Chase Headley was the first person he mentioned.  —  “I like the way Chase Headley acclimated to the outfield and how he swung the bat,” …

Two on Two: 2008 NL East Preview  —  We have come down to the two final divisions in our preview series.  Today we turn to the NL East with repeat participants Chris Needham of the Washington Nationals blog, Capitol Punishment and Dave Studeman of The Hardball Times.  Previous division discussions can be found below.

2008 Draft Notebook, Part I  —  Every year's draft coverage begins the same way.  You start making the calls, and the nearly-universal reaction is, “Really, it's already time for this?”  The answer is yes, as while the major league season has only kind-of-sort-of begun and minor league Opening …