Prospectus Today  —  Reality Check  —  Four weeks into the season, we have to start making calls.  It's still a little early in most cases, but we have enough information to reach tentative conclusions about some players, teams, and issues.  For the next three days, that's what we'll do …

Game 27: Yankees at Indians  —  YANKEES  —  Notes: Cleveland will start LHP Aaron Laffey, who has never faced any of the Yankees. ...  The Yankees are ending a stretch of 18 road games in 21 days. ...  Jorge Posada is officially on the DL as of yesterday and Chris Stewart is here and wearing No. 38. ...

Rocket and the country star  —  Roger Clemens allegedly had a 10-year romance with ...  Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens …

Curtain call Q&A with Carlos Delgado  —  So here are THE NUTS and BOLTS questions and answers from Carlos Delgado's entertaining 20 minutes of give and take with reporters a little while ago about the most talked-about “curtain” since Jamie-Leigh Curtis' mom had hers shredded in the original …

Monday Ten Pack  —  Bastardo can be seen as one of those “is what he is” kind of players: a short lefty with average velocity.  However, beyond his left-handedness, he's also got fantastic command and a killer changeup.  That's enough to make him some kind of prospect …

Pirates top Phillies, 5-1  —  Myers at a loss to explain anemic fastball  —  Poof.  —  The fastball that made Brett Myers a first-round draft pick in 1999 is nowhere to be found.  The pitch that hit 95 m.p.h. suddenly cannot break 88 m.p.h.  That is a concern for Myers and the Phillies …

Texas Rangers going back to basics  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  ARLINGTON - With his team leading the majors in errors, Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington is considering a remedial course for his fielders.  —  Washington said Sunday the Rangers may start taking organized infield practice …

Beckett is fuming about 20 straight … ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — So much for not making any excuses.  —  It is certainly true that the Red Sox have had a tough schedule to start the season.  Boston had a shortened spring training due to its opening series in Japan.

Will any GM join Krivsky on unemployment line? … This isn't like the old days, when some baseball teams were run by the lazy, the unqualified or the truly incompetent.  Today there's only one team like that, two tops.  —  Almost every baseball owner now understands the importance …

Life After Barry Is a Strikeout At the Ballpark  —  Without Famed Slugger, Rubber-Chicken Sales And Kayak Rentals Fall  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants this year got off to one of their worst starts since moving here from New York in 1958, losing 11 of their first 17 games.

Lieberthal to retire as a Phillie  —  Mike Lieberthal, who spent 13 of his 14 major league seasons as a catcher with the Phillies, will retire as a member of the organization on June 1, the Phillies announced today.  —  The last player to retire as a Phillie in this manner was outfielder Doug Glanville in 2005.

Mailbag: Is Lannan the real deal?  —  Beat reporter Bill Ladson answers Nationals fans' questions  —  Is John Lannan the real deal?  —  There is no question that Lannan is the real deal.  He is, by far, the best pitcher on the team and should have been on the Opening Day roster.

The Windup … Hey Johan, bring back that Cy Young Award, would you?  Seems like we might have been a little quick handing out the hardware.  —  Sunday's scintillating showdown between two starting studs — Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks and Jake Peavy of the Padres …

Smoltz complains of sore shoulder after shaky outing  —  New York — If 20 strikeouts in his previous two starts seduced some into thinking John Smoltz might go on like this forever, Sunday served as a reminder that it can't.  —  Even the bearded Braves icon can't ignore pain and keep mowing down hitters in perpetuity.

Alou's future uncertain with new setback  —  Oft-injured veteran outfielder to have tests on swollen left ankle  —  NEW YORK — A CT scan of the left ankle of Moises Alou administered on Friday provided inconclusive results, and now the immediate future of the oft-injured player …