Royals ink Ponson to Minors deal  —  Righty starred for Netherlands in Cinderella Classic bid  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — Sidney Ponson, who pitched for the amazing Netherlands team in the World Baseball Classic, was signed Tuesday by the Royals to a Minor League contract.

‘WORLD’ OF WORRY SURROUNDS METS  —  PORT ST. LUCIE - The World Baseball Classic is starting to test the Mets' patience, and it's easy to see why.  —  No club has been more publicly supportive of the WBC than the Mets, who allowed a whopping 16 players - the most in baseball - to participate in the tournament.

Littleton in; Morlan out  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  The bid of Rule 5 draft pick Eduardo Morlan to make the Brewers' bullpen has failed, so they're going to give someone else a shot.  —  The Brewers have claimed right-hander Wes Littleton on waivers from Boston …

Lugo has surgery, Pedroia's status . . .  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Julio Lugo underwent a successful right knee arthroscopy this morning in Boston.  Doctors repaired a torn meniscus, which is what they expected to find.  Lugo will miss 3-4 weeks, almost certainly sidelining him for Opening Day April 6, which is 20 days away.

I'M SUCH A PRETTY BOY!  —  A-ROD MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIS MIRROR  —  Nothing gets between A-Rod and his mirror!  —  Troubled slugger Alex Rodriguez gets up close and personal - with himself - in a one-man love affair photographed and published in the upcoming Details magazine.

Perez making most of stars' absence  —  Veteran outfielder raps four hits in victory over Cardinals  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — Timo Perez is not a complicated player.  He's a left-handed line-drive hitter who will step to the plate swinging.  He won't strike out a lot, but he won't draw an abundance of walks, either.

Prospect Interview Series: Spring Training Edition  —  I recently returned from a week out in Surprise and was fortunate enough to speak with several of the prospects participating in major league camp.  All of the interviews are brief and most of them consist of similar questions.

Astros to hold news conference  —  McLane en route to Kissimmee for Wednesday meeting  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — Club owner Drayton McLane is on his way to Kissimmee, Fla., where the Astros will hold “an important press conference,” according to a press release, on Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. ET at Osceola County Stadium.

Hanley scratched against Nats  —  All-Star shortstop takes breather to rest sore right shoulder  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez was nursing a sore right shoulder, and right fielder Cody Ross was suffering tightness in his left calf on Monday.  Both were scratched from the lineup against the Nationals.

Organizational Rankings, Part 1  —  Last Year's Ranking: 22  —  Why They Might Be Better Than This: We haven't seen what Eric Hosmer is capable of in a full season; Kila Ka'aihue's tremendous 2008 campaign was for real; young arms like those of Tim Melville, Daniel Gutierrez, and Mike Montgomery provide plenty of cause for optimism.

Marlins release reliever Garcia  —  JUPITER, Fla. — The Marlins released right-handed reliever Harvey Garcia on Monday, bringing their roster down to 52 players.  —  Garcia missed all of 2008 after having rotator cuff surgery on his throwing arm.  He appeared in eight games for Florida in 2007 …

Top 200 Prospect List  —  Check out the evolution of our prospect thinking.  Revisit our 2008 Top 150 and 2007 Top 100.

Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies ‘long shot’ for opener? … Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels spent part of Tuesday hearing some good news: An examination revealed his pitching elbow had no structural damage, only inflammation.  —  Now, the not-so-good news: Philadelphia pitching …

Optimizing Your Lineup By The Book  —  As teams begin to pare down their rosters towards the magical 25 number, spring training conversation will shift to debating each team's ideal batting order.  Because we care, BtB would like to remind everyone that lineups are pretty overrated.

YANKS CAN'T AFFORD HAVING MATSUI AS DESIGNATED SITTER  —  TAMPA - Hideki Matsui is still no sure thing to be ready for Opening Day, yet he is the Yankees' projected cleanup hitter.  He is trying to get his knees in shape while probably on his last legs as a Yankee.

Offseason In Review: Cincinnati Reds  —  By Tim Dierkes [March 17 at 11:21am CST]  —  Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Reds.  Here's what we wrote about them on September 26th.  Changes for 2009:  —  Additions: Ramon Hernandez, Willy Taveras, Arthur Rhodes, Jonny Gomes …

Chipper positive he will heal under Braves' care  —  Slugger receives treatment for oblique strain; says WBC format needs improvement  —  Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Chipper Jones said his strained oblique muscle will be fine, but the World Baseball Classic needs changes.

Spring Game 21: Pirates at Yankees  —  Pitching today: CC O'Sabathia, Mariano O'Rivera, Alfredo O'Aceves, Edwar O'Ramirez.  —  PIRATES  —  O'Morgan LF  —  O'Wilson SS  —  McLouth CF  —  O'Jones 1B  —  O'Tabata RF  —  O'Pearce DH  —  O'Walker 3B  —  O'Jaramillo C  —  O'Cruz 2B

A's make their choice on backup catcher  —  The A's released catcher Rob Bowen on Tuesday, clearing the way for Landon Powell to be the No. 2 catcher behind workhorse Kurt Suzuki.  —  Bowen, 28, was on the A's roster for the entire 2008 season but played in just 37 games and hit .176 with one homer and nine RBIs.

Roger Clemens' lawyers ask judge to reconsider decision to miss most of defamation lawsuit  —  HOUSTON — Lawyers for Roger Clemens asked a federal judge to reconsider his decision dismissing most of a defamation suit the pitcher filed against his former personal trainer over allegations of performance-enhancing drug use.