Tigers land outfielder Josh Anderson from Braves  —  VIERA, Fla. — The Tigers filled the outfield vacancy on their bench today by acquiring Josh Anderson from the Atlanta Braves in return for minor league pitcher Rudy Darrow.  —  As explained by general manager Dave Dombrowski …

Gardner wins Yanks' center-field job  —  Speedster beats out Cabrera in Spring Training competition  —  TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees have officially announced that Brett Gardner has won a starting job to open the 2009 season, likely making him the first player to patrol center field at the new Yankee Stadium.

Lasorda defends former Dodgers catcher Piazza on steroid allegations in new book  —  It's going to take more than accusations from former players to make Tommy Lasorda doubt Mike Piazza.  —  Piazza, a former Dodgers catcher, was one of a handful of players singled out as a steroid user …

McGowan Rehab Takes a Hit  —  KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The optimistic view late last July when Dustin McGowan underwent surgery to repair the frayed labrum in his pitching shoulder was that he would be ready to rejoin the 2009 Blue Jay rotation out of training camp.

Newhan released by Astros  —  Veteran irked by exclusion from backup-infielder competition  —  KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Astros trimmed two players from their roster Sunday morning when they released infielder David Newhan and reassigned Chad Paronto to Minor League camp.

Commissioner appoints committee to study Oakland situation  —  After meeting with ownership and management of the Oakland Athletics in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, Commissioner Allan H.  (Bud) Selig announced today that he has appointed a committee to thoroughly analyze all of the ballpark proposals …

FINAL: Braves 4, Red Sox 3  —  FINAL: BRAVES 4, SOX 3  —  Having blown the win in the ninth, Fernando Cabrera just took the loss in the 10th, allowing an RBI, ground-rule double on the final pitch.  More from the clubhouse a little later.  —  HEADED TO OT (3:49 p.m., END 9, SOX 3, BRAVES 3)

Identity of Mets fifth starter and second hitter revealed  —  Your fifth starter is officially Livan Hernandez.  —  He is the half brother of Orlando, making them the third brother duo to play for the Mets.  The first person to name the other two brother duos that preceded the Hernandez brothers wins …

Settling for Sub-Replacement  —  It was about a year ago that the Giants, down one Omar Vizquel after the veteran shortstop suffered a knee injury in spring training, opened the season with Brian Bocock in his stead.  He was coming off of a .243/.312/.344 season in 2007, which would be problematic enough …

First Look: Citi Field  —  (Let's try an experiment — follow along with this travelogue at this album on Facebook.  If it doesn't work, holler in the comments and I'll put it on Flickr or something.)  —  The first thing that I saw at Citi Field and the first thing that happened …

Projected No. 1 pick Strasburg's $50 million figure and much more … That $50 million figure that's being attached to ballyhooed college pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg is no joke.  Baseball people who have spoken to Strasburg's adviser Scott Boras say they believe that's the figure Boras …

Q.& A.: Yankee Bloggers Tackle the 2009 Season  —  As opening day draws near, The Times will be previewing the Yankees' and Mets' coming seasons from all angles, with analysis from Tyler Kepner, Ben Shpigel, Jack Curry and many others.  But with so much happening this off-season there are a lot of opinions to go around.

Bases Loaded, 2 Outs, Full Count, What Should the Pitcher Do?  (Exploring Baseball and Game Theory)  —  There's going to be a decent helping of math later in this article.  You've been forewarned.  —  Edit: MattS with an excellent comment on why most of what I did was wrong.

Philadelphia Phillies officially rule out Cole Hamels for opener  —  Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said Monday afternoon that Cole Hamels was officially out of the running for an opening-night start this Sunday against the Braves.  Instead, he'll pitch in an exhibition game Saturday against Tampa Bay in Philadelphia.

Fielding Bible: Jeter's defense revisited  —  A few weeks ago the folks at ACTA Sports were kind enough to send along a copy of The Fielding Bible Volume II, John Dewan's study on defensive metrics.  Instead of reviewing the entire 400-page tome in one shot, I thought I'd address a number of issues throughout the week.

Arroyo limited by carpal tunnel flare-up  —  SARASOTA, Fla. — No guitar strumming for Bronson Arroyo these days.  No autograph signing, either.  Pitching?  He's still doing that, but the results weren't good the last couple times out.  —  His right hand has become a worry.

O's announcers up and leave  —  FORT LAUDERDALE — This is a bit off topic, but too funny nonetheless:  —  The Orioles' flagship radio team of Joe Angel and Fred Manfra quietly left the stadium here today during a 90-minute rain delay and didn't come back for the final eight innings …