Boras' rejection of Ramirez offer riles Dodgers  —  At 8:30 p.m. tonight, the Dodgers made the rather unusual move of issuing a statement that shows their exasperation with Manny Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras: … It's interesting to note that the Dodgers aim their venom at Boras, even though ostensibly Boras is working for Ramirez.

Yankees ban A-Rod's cousin from team facilities  —  TAMPA - Alex Rodriguez won't be getting any rides from Cousin Yuri anytime soon - at least not to the ballpark, anyway.  —  One day after A-Rod was chauffeured from Dunedin Stadium back to Tampa by his cousin Yuri Sucart …

“It Was Time To Cut That Cord”  —  Here's the story Barry and I double-teamed for Friday's fishwrap edition.  —  The Washington Nationals on Thursday abandoned the training facility they once boasted of here and officially fired José Rijo, the former face of their efforts in the Dominican Republic …

Hughes' spring debut pleases Yankees' Girardi  —  TAMPA, Fla. - Phil Hughes says things don't feel any different, but how can they not?  —  Last season at this time, Hughes was considered a big part of the Yankees' rotation.  But now, after the Yankees snagged the best pitchers …

The Incredible Shrinking Baseball Player  —  Baseball clubhouses seem to be getting bigger this spring, with more room to move around.  Or maybe the players are becoming smaller.  —  Out of the roughly 1,000 major leaguers in spring training camps, a couple of dozen appear …

Cards to add two pitchers to camp  —  Injuries prompt action; team toys with idea of borrowing arms  —  FORT LAUDERDALE — A couple of inconvenient injuries have left the Cardinals in a tight spot for the first week or two of Spring Training.  —  Manager Tony La Russa reiterated on Thursday …

Jon Lester changes up  —  Overhauls offspeed offerings  —  FORT MYERS - In the past, Jon Lester [stats] has experienced some forearm stiffness, linked to relying too much on his cut fastball.  Meanwhile, other left-handers - notably, the New York Yankees' Andy Pettitte …

Baldelli's energy crisis  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. - He's dressing in Manny's locker, he's got Nomar's number, and he's enshrined in the Rhode Island Italian-American Hall of Fame, right there alongside Ernie DeGregorio.  —  Oh, and his name is Rocco.  —  How can he be anything but a fan favorite at Fenway Park?

Yankees, Bank of America end sponsorship talks  —  NEW YORK — The New York Yankees and Bank of America ended months of negotiations on a long-term, high-profile sponsorship agreement, fallout from the financial industry's decision to accept aid from the federal government.

Believe It: A New Cap for Yankees  —  It's not every day that you see an e-mail message with the subject “New Yankees Cap.”  The navy blue cap with the white interlocking “NY” is a classic.  Why would it be changed?  —  Merchandising, of course.  The Yankees plan to wear a sleeve patch …

Haren, Davis focus on positives  —  Starters have different levels of success in Thursday outings  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Both Dan Haren and Doug Davis took some positives out of their outings against the Indians on Thursday.  —  Only one of them, however, escaped with good numbers.

Newsday to charge for website, online cable service  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cablevision Systems Corp plans to charge online readers of its Newsday newspaper, a move that would make it one of the first large U.S. papers to reverse a trend toward free Web readership.

Davey thinks USA can go all the way  —  Davey Johnson stopped short of crooning the lyrics to “Crazy for You,” but the Team USA skipper made it clear Thursday that he would've liked to have Alex Rodriguez on his team for the World Baseball Classic, if for only one reason.  —  “I'm Madonna's fan,” Johnson quipped.