Let us take you out to the ballparks  —  Tours of Yankee Stadium and Citi Field a la videos and photo galleries  —  Both New York baseball teams are opening new ballparks this season.  Take video tours of the new fields hosted by Sam Borden and view photo galleries to get a sneak peak before taking your seat.

Sheffield Update  —  Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters yesterday that three teams have expressed interest in Gary Sheffield.  —  We know the Phillies are one of them, and the fact Ruben Amaro Jr. has acknowledged that interest publicly tells me the Phillies very much want to sign him once he clears waivers at 1 p.m. today.

Minnesota Twins place Scott Baker, Joe Mauer on DL; Francisco Liriano to start Opening Night  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Scott Baker's Opening Night assignment has been called off.  And so has the Philip Humber-R.A. Dickey roster competition.  —  The right-hander was placed on the disabled list today …

Hal admits some Yankees tix may be overpriced … NEW YORK (AP) — Sitting in new Yankee Stadium on the first day fans came to the $1.5 billion ballpark, general partner Hal Steinbrenner admits some tickets might be overpriced given the recession.  —  The Yankees set prices …

Bill James talks O's, HOF and more ...  It's easy to call Bill James something cute like the “Sultan of Stats” and leave it at that.  But such a moniker undersells James' role in changing the way we've looked at baseball over the past 30 years.  Starting with his annual Abstracts in the late 1970s …

Citi Field Food Preview: A Culinary Revolution  —  The Mets first official game at their new ballpark, Citi Field, is just two weeks away and what better way to heighten the excitement than with a preview of the unprecedented culinary revolution taking place in Flushing?

Rockies cooling in pursuit of Cubs' Gaudin, still like Hammel  —  The final piece of the puzzle remains a reliever.  More than ever, it's unlikely to be the Cubs' Chad Guadin.  The Rockies have liked him in the past, but according to a team source, their pursuit has cooled based …

Lineup, final edition  —  The Red Sox wrap up their Grapefruit League schedule today at Hammond Stadium against the Twins.  They're working out right now at City of Palms Park, everything in the clubhouse packed away in bags and cardboard boxes.  The Sox will head straight from Hammond to Southwest Florida International Airport.

Sanchez named fourth starter  —  Anibal Sanchez will be the fourth starter.  —  Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez put to rest speculation over who the fourth and fifth starters will be.  Sanchez gets the nod to pitch on April 10 against the Mets, Florida's fourth game.

A New Pitch  —  Rangers emphasize long tossing, live BP for pitchers  —  The message came in loud and clear at an offseason conditioning camp set aside for pitchers: The old ways of doing business would no longer cut it.  —  It figured to make a dent, too.  The president of the Rangers himself dropped by to say so.

DETROIT TIGERS BASEBALL  —  Jeff Larish gets Tigers' final roster spot  —  LAKELAND — Players and staff were walking over to first baseman-third baseman Jeff Larish to congratulate him on making the team with the 25th and final roster spot.  —  A team source confirmed today that Larish …

Prospectus Hit and Run  —  NL Projected Standings  —  One real pleasure that we get in working with the PECOTA projection system comes when we move beyond the individual player forecasts to the team level.  Every year, once we release the first batch of projections, our staff compiles depth charts …

Download THT  —  Things keep changing here at the Hardball Times.  Tragically, we lost our good friend John Brattain last week, and, more positively, Josh Kalk moved on to work for the Tampa Bay Rays.  John and Josh were both excellent writers, and we'll miss them both.

Street named closer  —  TUCSON — Huston Street's strong closing argument landed him the Rockies' closer's role today.  —  “It's good news,” Street said this morning.  “It's what I came to camp to accomplish.”  —  Street said he believes the competition made him sharper for the upcoming season.

Some Perspective on Pitch Counts  —  Late last summer, your 3-Dot proprietor composed a two-part series on pitch counts for the Sporting Green.  It was a plea for teams to use common sense and visual observations, not strictly a set of numbers, to get their pitchers to work longer into games …

Papelbon perfecting delivery  —  Red Sox's closer refining mechanics to find 2007 form  —  BRADENTON, Fla. — As overpowering as his stuff can be, as glittering as his numbers have been for the past three years, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon knows that the second he stops making adjustments …