METS' OFFSEASON FOUNDERING AS THE BRAVES SWIPE VETERAN  —  The Mets aimed Lowe, bid low and missed, leaving them little choice but to scroll lower on the free-agent depth chart.  —  One step forward for GM Omar Minaya with Francisco Rodriguez's addition to the bullpen last month …

Cora close to deal with Mets  —  Former Red Sox infielder Alex Cora is close to finalizing a one-year, $2 million deal with the New York Mets.  The 33-year-old Cora played with Boston from July 7, 2005 — when he was traded from Cleveland for infielder Ramon Vazquez — through last season.

On the Beat  —  Ruminations and Meditations  —  Rickey Henderson holds two of the greatest records in baseball history, and on Monday he became a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  Henderson and Jim Rice were elected by the 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, and they'll be inducted on July 26 in Cooperstown.

Former Padres manager Gomez dies  —  Preston Gomez, the original manager of the major league Padres in 1969, died Tuesday morning in Fullerton.  He was 85.  —  Gomez never fully recovered from head injuries suffered in March when he was hit by a pickup truck while crossing a service station driveway in Blythe.

Yankees Try New Strategy to Market Premium Seats  —  The Yankees have hired a division of a prominent Manhattan residential real estate brokerage, Prudential Douglas Elliman, to help sell some of their prime real estate: unsold premium seats and luxury boxes at the new Yankee Stadium.

Scully pulls up his own chair  —  Dodgers announcer watches a replay of his broadcast of Larsen's World Series perfect game and offers a review.  —  Vin Scully recently watched the MLB Network replay of the perfect game pitched by Don Larsen for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.

At what point is rotation depth a concern?  —  At the moment, here are the starting pitchers with more than a game or two of major-league experience the Yankees have available to them:  —  CC Sabathia, A.J.Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Alfredo Aceves, Jason Johnson, Dan Giese, Kei Igawa.

Orioles to introduce Uehara today  —  Pickup of Japanese import creates swell of media interest  —  The Orioles will unveil their first Japanese import, right-handed pitcher Koji Uehara, at a news conference today at Camden Yards that is expected to be one of the most well attended in team history.

What's right move on Giants lefties?  —  Lowry, not Sanchez, could be moved in deal if arm holds up  —  SAN FRANCISCO — It has been widely assumed that Jonathan Sanchez will be the pitcher the Giants trade in their quest for a proven hitter if they can't sign a free agent.

Grand jury may target Miguel Tejada  —  Roger Clemens is not the only All-Star who should be nervous about admitted steroid supplier Kirk Radomski's appearance before a federal grand jury Wednesday.  —  When Radomski appears before the grand jury examining evidence that Clemens used steroids …

Tigers ink sidearmer Ni to Minors deal  —  Taiwanese reliever to pitch in World Baseball Classic, big league camp  —  For the second straight year, the Tigers have plucked a prospect out of Taiwan.  —  The Tigers announced Tuesday that they have signed left-handed reliever Fu-Te Ni …

Indians executives delivering optimistic pitch to season-ticket holders in meetings  —  CLEVELAND — From 1995 to 2001, the Indians rode a snappy new ballpark, a power lineup and unprecedented success through 455 straight sellouts.  —  Since then, inconsistent play, talent lost to free agency …

O's: Getting to first base and more  —  Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec was nice enough to spoon-feed me a couple of things today, so I'll pass them along to you.  The Orioles remain interested in Ty Wigginton (right) as a possible option at first base, but he apparently is holding …

Michael Young's likely move is to third base, not a new team … Longtime Rangers star Michael Young doesn't want to move to third base.  But at this point that seems to be a more likely option for him than moving to another team.  With five years and $62 million remaining on his contract …