Braves claim infielder Ruben Gotay off waivers  —  First baseman Scott Thorman outrighted to Richmond  —  ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves claimed switch-hitting infielder Ruben Gotay off waivers from the New York Mets today.  He will be on the team's Opening Day 25-man roster.

Breaking news: Roster is set  —  The Yankees just reassigned or optioned these players:  —  INF Nick Green  —  RHP Scott Patterson  —  RHP Darrell Rasner  —  LHP Kei Igawa  —  RHP Edwar Ramirez  —  RHP Jose Veras  —  LHP Andy Pettitte was retroactively placed on the 15-day DL.

White House: no input on first pitch  —  WASHINGTON (AP)—The White House said Friday it had no input on the decision to have Nationals manager Manny Acta catch the ceremonial first pitch from President Bush on Sunday night.  Acta was picked instead of starting catcher Paul Lo Duca …

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.

Joe Girardi, Jedi Master  —  I never thought of Joe Girardi as Yoda.  For one thing, he's not 900 years old.  He's not green.  And while Girardi may carry a baseball bat at times, I've never seen him with a cane.  —  But I couldn't help but think of the Jedi Master from Star Wars on Friday …

Rangers swing a trade  —  The Rangers have made a trade tonight, acquiring Arizona right-hander Dustin Nippert from Arizona for minor league right-hander Jose Marte.  —  We'll try to find out the Rangers' plans for Nippert here in a minute.  —  Nippert, who towers in at 6-7 …

A-Rod finally plays in Miami  —  MIAMI (AP) — Alex Rodriguez grew up in Miami, still makes his offseason home in South Florida, even is a member of the University of Miami's board of trustees.  —  He is a beloved native son.  —  And Friday night, for the first time since he was a senior …

Gameday returns bigger, better  —  Popular application updated with previews, highlights  —  Just think how many Major League Baseball fans have grown accustomed to using MLB.com Gameday.  Gameday is the omnipresent software app that is so often on your computer screen or even mobile phone during a season …

Major League Baseball salaries  —  The average player's salary on the New York Yankees rose 17 percent over the past four years, while the salaries for the New York Mets jumped by 24 percent between 2004 and 2007.  Overall, the average player's salary rose 22 percent in Major League Baseball in the past four years.

Things I learned from Joe about an hour ago  —  Stopped by the Ravine to get the early word on, well, anything that might be going on as we approach Opening Day, and did get a few nuggets of info from Joe Torre.  Quotes/audio or something similar hopefully to follow, but in the meantime, here's what we know: