Rijo Takes Leave Of Absence  —  Jose Rijo, the Washington Nationals front office member linked most closely to the fraudulent signing of a Dominican prospect, has taken a leave of absence from the team.  —  Rijo, who has worked for the team since 2005 as a special assistant to the general manager …

JASON JOHNSON DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER OF THE RETINA  —  TAMPA - Pitcher Jason Johnson has been limited to indoor work due to being diagnosed with cancer of the retina in the right eye shortly before reporting to camp with the Yankees.  —  “I went to the eye doctor to get a new pair of contacts …

Tampa Bay Rays go high-tech with advance scouting  —  PORT CHARLOTTE — The Rays learned a lot during their first trip through the postseason.  —  And among the ideas is to switch from having a traditional advance scout on the road watching their next opponent in person, as most teams still do …

Dellucci's ‘alligator’, Guillen's nail kick off weird spring injuries  —  Spring training is only a week old, but we already have strong two entries for baseball's weirdest injury of the year.  —  Well, kind of.  —  Cleveland outfielder David Dellucci, our first contestant …

Securities case reaches O's prospects  —  Wieters, Arrieta assured their investments safe in scandal  —  peter.schmuck@baltsun.com and jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The massive securities scandal involving the Stanford Financial Group has left New York Yankees veterans Johnny Damon …

Rangers sign RHP Kris Benson to Minor League contract  —  Veteran has received non-roster invitation to Major League spring training  —  Surprise, Ariz. - The Texas Rangers announced today that the club has signed right-handed pitcher Kris Benson to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

Redding suffers early setback  —  Mets righty rushes throwing program, hurts pitching shoulder  —  PORT ST LUCIE, Fla. — Tim Redding and his wife spent last Thanksgiving alone in a Baltimore hotel room, waiting for the holiday to pass.  There was little time for celebration …

DH duty is Seattle's lure to Griffey  —  If Ken Griffey Jr. had played the outfield better while with the White Sox, his decision to sign in Seattle, not Atlanta, would have been a real puzzler.  The chance to serve as a designated hitter, if necessary, made the Mariners a better option …

D-backs work on avoiding strikeouts  —  Extra time devoted to two-strike approach after record 2008  —  TUCSON — Too often, the '08 D-backs had the bats taken out of their hands at the most critical times.  —  Their 1,287 strikeouts set a club record, and reducing that number …

Harper: Pettitte has motivation to pitch for himself  —  TAMPA - When all the haggling was finally done this winter, Andy Pettitte turned down $10 million and wound up signing for $5.5 million with incentives, which is the kind of deal you think would get an agent fired in most cases.

Dodgers sights and sounds  — Juan Pierre appeared to be the last player off the field at about 2 p.m., as he was still working one-on-one with Maury Wills in the new Maury's Pit, which doesn't have signage yet.  —  “I'll have to take the old one I stole in Dodgertown and put it up,” …

Indians sign 16-year-old catcher from Czech Republic  —  CBSSports.com wire reports  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Scouring the globe for talented baseball players, the Cleveland Indians plucked one from Eastern Europe.  —  The club signed 16-year-old catcher Martin Cervenka of the Czech Republic …

Day 8: John Russell extended, Andy LaRoche returns, and more  —  BRADENTON, Fla. — Maybe it was the way the players were stretching today, but Pirates management — with President Frank Coonelly back in Pittsburgh — at 10:25 this morning announced they had decided to exercise the option …

Dodgers' Wolf Accepts His Economic Downtown  —  GLENDALE, Ariz. — Often in sports, extravagant contracts meet extravagant egos, and attitudes contrast sharply with the rest of society's.  In a penny-pinching economy, sports often holds the dollars.  This off-season, the Yankees committed more than $400 million to three free agents.