SABATHIA ITCHING FOR SEASON TO BEGIN  —  TAMPA CC Sabathia already is envisioning Opening Day for the Yankees and getting excited.  —  It all seems tangible now.  Two weeks from today, the Yankees face the Orioles at Camden Yards, and Sabathia likely will be the one throwing his team's first pitch of the 2009 season.

Sunday Notebook: Jones Willing To Be A Part-Time Player; Rangers Remain Committed To Chris Davis And More  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. - Andruw Jones passed perhaps his most significant test of the spring Sunday morning: It was the test of enthusiasm.  —  He assured the Rangers of his desire to play for the club …

Mets 12, Braves 1: Johan rolls  —  Johan Santana tossed five solid innings, limiting the Braves to a solo homer by Matt Diaz in his final frame and one other hit, as the Mets won, 12-1, Sunday.  Dillon Gee, Mike Antonini, Pedro Feliciano and Sean Green combined for four scoreless relief innings.

Madam Kristin Davis dated Alex Rodriguez and provided him hookers, sources claim  —  A former Manhattan madam who supplied Eliot Spitzer with hookers also counted Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez as a customer - and found him so charming she dated him herself for free, former employees of the call-girl agency tell the Daily News.

Sox lock up Floyd; trade Stewart  —  PHOENIX _ And the trade is...catcher Chris Stewart to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later.  —  How is that for a blockbuster?  —  There was a major announcement though _ the White Sox and starting pitcher Gavin Floyd agreed to a four-year, $15.5 million contract extension.

Padres' offense could surprise  —  Club posting impressive numbers, despite naysayers  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — If San Diego's offense were a restaurant, it would be getting one-star reviews from some observers.  —  Scouts have generally been remarkably unimpressed by the Padres' lineup.

Replacing Mauer  —  After meeting with various doctors about his back injury, Joe Mauer admitted Friday that he's unlikely to be ready for Opening Day and general manager Bill Smith explained that “there's not a timetable right now to say when he is going to be on the field.”

Dave Roberts not ready to announce his retirement, but he's leaning that way  —  I just got off the phone with Dave Roberts.  He isn't ready to announce his retirement just yet, but he is leaning that way.  Roberts has told his agent, John Boggs, to be selective.  He won't play just anywhere in a bid to extend his career.

Randy Wolf does it all in Dodgers win  —  He pitches six scoreless innings and has a two-run double in the second inning of an 11-4 victory over the Texas Rangers.  —  Reporting from Phoenix — Randy Wolf pitched longer than any Dodger pitcher has pitched this spring, tossing six scoreless innings Sunday …

Taschner thinks trade is possible  —  Giants left-hander feels good physically, but results haven't come  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — This time, Jack Taschner believes the trade rumors involving him.  —  Taschner said Sunday that he doubted speculation that arose before the Trade Deadline last July 31.

Mutual respect between US and Japan  —  Semifinal matchup features two nations with storied baseball history  —  When the U.S. meets Japan on Sunday night, a bow of mutual respect is in order before the hardball starts flying and the bats start swinging.  —  With the two powerful baseball …

Bard, McAnulty sent down  —  Daniel Bard and Paul McAnulty were reassigned to the Red Sox minor league camp after today's 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.  Bard struck out 11 in 9 1/3 scoreless innings this camp, but he might have made his biggest impression when he fired a 100-m.p.h. fastball.