Harper: Scouts down on Yanks' young arms  —  So the wheel officially begins to spin now on Brian Cashman's grand gamble to ride the Yankees' young pitching in 2008 and beyond.  And premature as it may be, there is no avoiding the question that will be asked countless times this season …

Marlins' $21 million payroll is insulting  —  Ah, Opening Day.  The crack of the bat.  The smack of the glove.  The Marlins fan looking over the new roster and asking, full of optimism, “Will any team be more profitable?”  —  Because let's not lie.  Let's not ignore the 800-pound gorilla …

Doing well with homer odyssey  —  LOS ANGELES - Yesterday was odyssey day No. 12, the final day in southern California.  Last night the Red Sox were scheduled to fly to San Francisco.  Their next opener is tomorrow night at Oakland.  Friday they open Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Mets are anxious to bury memories of fall  —  MIAMI - The wait for redemption has seemed like forever, perhaps the longest six months in the history of the franchise.  But the Mets, once burdened by the ignominious collapse of last September, will take the field today at Dolphin Stadium knowing that the nightmare is officially over.

Game 1: Blue Jays at Yankees  —  YANKEES  —  BLUE JAYS  —  Yankees vs. Halladay: Damon 22-67, Jeter 16-62, Abreu 2-12, A-Rod 13-47, Giambi 17-54, Cano 5-13, Posada 12-37, Matsui 7-34, Cabrera 4-15.  —  Jays vs. Wang: Eckstein 0-2, Stewart 1-6, Rios 3-15, Wells 6-16, Thomas 1-11, Overbay 4-8, Hill 9-14, Scutaro 1-4, Zaun 2-12.

Bondy: Fear is factor for Creatures of habit  —  So this is it, the beginning of the end below the Utz potato chip sign.  If there is such a thing as life after Section 39, then the Bleacher Creatures don't really want to know about it, not yet.  —  There are at least 81 games left in the old cathedral, Yankee Stadium.

Zim blast christens Nat Park  —  WASHINGTON - Ryan Zimmerman raised a fist when he rounded first, then tossed away his helmet as he approached the plate and the mass of teammates waiting to celebrate his game-ending homer.  —  The kid sure knows how to throw a housewarming party.

Games of the Day  —  The third and real opening day takes place today as twenty six teams play for the first time and fourteen ballparks see their first games of 2008.  I have the Mix Channel and the Strike Zone channel set up on DirecTV, and almost every Extra Innings channel has a corresponding HD option.

MLB power rankings  —  Spring training is over and now it's time to get down to business.  There are some particularly enticing series this week, with Brewers against the Cubs springing right to mind.  The NL Central figures to be a close contest and a series between the last year's …

Jack Cust eats fastballs for lunch  —  Getting a major league job  —  Early last year, the Oakland Athletics watched as nearly their entire contingent of major league outfielders went down with one injury after another.  —  The bad news started in spring training, as center fielder Mark Kotsay underwent back surgery on Mar. 8.

What are Managers Worth?  —  This was the question asked to me by Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal for a story he was doing on Joe Torre's $4.3 million per year contract.  It's a question that has interested me, and other economists, for some time.

GREEN … Baseball impends, and, with the flags aloft in the Bronx and, next week, at Shea, fans will grab at the chance to forget about the abysmal closing innings in these neighborhoods last fall.  The looming left-field presences of the new Yankee Stadium and the Mets' Citi Field …

Ethier wins left-field job  —  Pierre forced to bench after hitting just .169 this spring  —  LOS ANGELES — Andre Ethier won the Dodgers' starting left-field job from veteran Juan Pierre and will start Opening Day vs. the Giants on Monday, Los Angeles manager Joe Torre announced Sunday.