Deal struck to sell Stadium memorabilia  —  Demolition of old Yankees ballpark reportedly to begin in April  —  Seats, foul poles, dugouts, urinals and numerous other items from the old Yankee Stadium will be sold to fans as part of a $10 million deal between the Yankees and New York City, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Jose Tabata's wife suspect in baby kidnap  —  PLANT CITY, Fla. — A 2-month-old is back in the arms of her parents and the wife of a top Pittsburgh Pirates minor league prospect is suspected of taking the infant from a health clinic outside Tampa, authorities said Tuesday.

Kottaras's effort is eye-catching  —  He's nearly flawless in Wakefield's start  —  Against the Yankees' prospective Opening Day lineup, Tim Wakefield had his best spring outing: 5 2/3 innings, 4 hits, 1 run.  (kathy willens/Associated Press)  —  TAMPA - Tim Wakefield kept Yankees off …

Willis in control, throws strikes  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — As he went to the mound at 10 o'clock Tuesday morning, Tigers left-hander Dontrelle Willis did so bolstered by encouragement from a distinguished neighbor.  —  The Tigers' spring base isn't far from the Atlanta Braves' camp …

Rockies shopping Torrealba, Baker  —  MESA, Ariz. — At this point, spring training is less about evaluation and more about shopping.  Teams generally know what their team will look like on opening day, but they are still seeking to accessorize, swapping a belt for shoes, if you will.

Strasburg is on the all-time fastest track  —  Buzz up!  —  SAN DIEGO - The radar gun blinks wildly.  It's not used to this.  No one makes it strain to read out a third digit.  It looks like binary code, not the speed of a pitch from a 20-year-old kid: 101.

Whatever you do, don't hit a grand slam  —  Jesus Montero belted a grand slam against the Pirates on March 14 and was reassigned to the minor-league camp the next day.  —  Austin Jackson belted a grand slam today and guess what happened?  He was reassigned to the minor-league camp as well.

Terrible news  —  I want to let all of THT's readers know that one of our most prolific writers and favorite people, John Brattain, just passed away.  —  Many of us got to know John through the Baseball Think Factory, where his good humor was always on display.

Dodgers' Manny Ramirez prefers running to trotting  —  Ramirez hits his first home run of the spring, but he's more encouraged about being able to run the bases full speed on a fly out.  His hamstring feels fine, he says.  —  Reporting from Phoenix — Manny Ramirez belted his first home run …

Cardinals will start season without naming closer  —  The Cardinals have not yet designated a closer, but Jason Motte leads all contenders.  He has earned a save in four of his past five appearances this spring.  (Chris Lee/P-D)  —  ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

2009 Prospect Mine: New York Yankees  —  There is not a ton of depth in the upper levels of the system, but there are some impressive bats on the way - with one that could develop into a superstar.  The Yankees organization, though, always seems to be able to squeeze every ounce of potential …

Mike Piazza: The Back Acne Was The Least Of It  —  This is a new weekly column from Leitch.  It has words, and pictures.  It's called Ten Humans Of The Week.  It might or might not work.  But here it is.  —  There has been a lot of talk this week about Mike Piazza, from Murray …

Freddy Garcia assigned to minor-league camp  —  Mets assistant GM John Ricco just informed us that Freddy Garcia, who was fighting a losing battle with Livan Hernandez in the competition for the No. 5 starter role, has accepted an assignment to minor-league camp.

Schilling in total control until the end  —  CLEARWATER, Fla. - Gene Michael is an adviser to Yankees miniboss Hank Steinbrenner these days.  When Curt Schilling was emerging as one of the great control freaks - on and off the mound - “Stick” was the Yankees' general manager.