A-Rod admits, regrets use of PEDs  —  His voice shaking at times, Alex Rodriguez met head-on allegations that he tested positive for steroids six years ago, telling ESPN on Monday that he did take performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001.

St. Louis Cardinals release Adam Kennedy  —  JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals have abruptly reversed course, releasing second baseman Adam Kennedy and declaring an open competition for the position, the Post-Dispatch has learned.  —  The move, apparently made at the strong urging of manager Tony La Russa …

Stuff on Looper  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  For those not acquainted with Braden Looper, he was a closer with Florida and the New York Mets before going to St. Louis and being converted to a starting pitcher the past two seasons.  —  Over that span, Looper went 24-26 with a 4.52 ERA in 63 starts.

Yomiuri Giants ink former MLB infielder Alfonzo  —  MIYAZAKI, Japan — The Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League have signed former major league infielder Edgardo Alfonzo to a one-year contract worth $380,000.  —  The Giants signed the 35-year-old Venezuelan after giving him a tryout at their spring training camp.

Rangers Have Crowded Outfield  —  By Tim Dierkes [February 9 at 9:53am CST]  —  Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes that the Rangers have six candidates for the outfield: Josh Hamilton, Andruw Jones, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy, Frank Catalanotto, and Marlon Byrd.  Is a trade in order?

Ensberg has shot to make Rays roster  —  Former All-Star third baseman Morgan Ensberg has reached agreement on a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.  —  Ensberg will earn a base salary of $650,000 if he makes the major league club out of spring training.

Neyer upsets Phillips in first semifinal … This isn't a fair fight.  Steve Phillips, a former general manager of the New York Mets, a guy who built a real major league team for seven years, against Rob Neyer, a baseball writer, a stat guy.  —  Baseball writers don't know anything about baseball; neither do stat guys.

Astros deny report of interest in signing Dunn  —  Adam Dunn's quest to find a home in 2009 apparently will not be taking him back to his native Houston.  —  Astros general manager Ed Wade denied a Chicago Tribune report that the club might be planning to offer Dunn a contract before the start of spring training.

Ichiro Working Out as a Pitcher  —  You might remember a post I did last year that had a link to Ichiro pitching in the 1996 NPB All-Star Game.  Ichiro came out and immediately hit 90 on the TV gun on his first warm-up pitch, and then induced a soft grounder from pinch-hitter Shingo Takatsu.

Meanwhile, back on the diamond  —  Hey, actual baseball news!  —  Back when I wanted to write a spring training preview story, I talked to Brian Cashman.  He revealed a few things that are at least somewhat interesting.  —  · The Yankees will use Joba Chamberlain as their No. 5 starter from the start of the season.

First Basemen “Scoops” - The Value of Handling Errant Throws at First Base  —  Most of you are familiar with Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), a metric for evaluating fielding using detailed play-by-play data.  For first basemen, like all other fielders, it measures the number of ground balls …