BABY BOSS BASHES BUMBLING BOMBERS  —  HANK TO YANKS: IT'S TIME TO EARN YOUR MONEY  —  HANK Steinbrenner had a mes sage yesterday for his Yankees: Gentlemen, it's time to get your act together.  —  “We've got to forget about all the injuries and start playing our butts off,” Steinbrenner told The Post.

A few things....  BALTIMORE - According to acting manager Brad Mills, Clay Buchhholz' stint on the DL is due to a concern that 1) Buchholz' tender middle finger as a result of a torn fingernail, needs to heal; and 2) the possibility he could alter his delivery and injure a shoulder or an elbow if he pitched with it.

Rays sign Kazmir to 3-year, $28.5M deal  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Tampa Bay left-hander Scott Kazmir agreed Wednesday to a $28.5 million, three-year extension through 2011, a deal with a club option that could raise the contract's value to $39.5 million over four seasons.

ON DECK: NATIONALS AT METS  —  It may be a downgrade for Claudio Vargas to go from pitching against Triple-A competition to “softball girls,” but he will deal with it.  Vargas makes his Mets' debut tonight against the Nationals (7:10, SNY, WFAN) two days after Nelson Figueroa's struggles …

Lo Duca calls WFAN  —  Brian Schneider is no Paul Lo Duca on his weekly spots on WFAN - not that the newest Mets catcher wants to match Lo Duca's penchant for being a lightning rod.  —  We were reminded of how things used to be when Lo Duca, on the DL with the Nationals with a broken hand …

Hollywood Edmonds en route to Chicago  —  Jim Edmonds is expected to be in a Cubs uniform Thursday afternoon, playing centerfield and batting ninth in the lineup.  —  Ninth?  —  “He's going to hit ninth,” manager Lou Piniella said.  “I'm going to move the pitcher to eighth, and hit him ninth.”

Crystal ball: Projecting the first 10 picks  —  Top of draft difficult to put together with no clear-cut No. 1  —  The conversation usually goes something like this:  —  Me: I'm working on my first projection of the first 10 picks.  —  Scout X: (Laughter).  Good luck with that.

Some stats still anomalies one-quarter into season  —  By Ron Shandler, Special for USA TODAY  —  Another week gone and Chipper Jones is still batting around .400.  Cliff Lee's ERA is still less than 1.00.  Ryan Howard and Robinson Cano are still batting less than .200

Shea Apple may move over to Citi Field  —  If home run icon is transferred, it'll be placed left of center  —  NEW YORK — Citi Field may have a something-less-than-new component.  —  The Mets' new home next season may have a piece of their current home — the Apple.

Report: Magowan to Step Down from Giants Friday  —  The San Francisco Giants will be holding a special ownership meeting on Friday, at which time, managing partner Peter Magowan will reportedly step down from the leading position within the organization.  —  As reported yesterday …

Simmons: “Certain Promises Were Not Kept”  —  We're not the only ones who noticed that Bill Simmons hasn't written a column in two weeks — until today, anyway — and hasn't been featured much on the home page of ESPN.com.  We figured it was nothing; the man has taken extended breaks before.

Ah, Manny, Manny, Manny  —  From today's Orioles-Red Sox game: If there has ever been a more definitive Manny Ramirez moment in his career, we can't think of one.

Baker drives in two runs in rare start at first base  —  Jeff Baker, the forgotten man with Omar Quintanilla and Jonathan Herrera playing well at second base, took advantage of a rare start at first.  He knocked in two runs in his first two at-bats with a sacrifice fly and an infield single.