Wintry weather delays Sox-Royals  —  Snow, high winds force season opener to Tuesday  —  CHICAGO — Since the 2009 season has yet to officially get under way for the White Sox, Sunday night's postponement of Monday afternoon's Opening Day contest against the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field …

This year, there's no doubting the Rays  —  BOSTON — The Tampa Bay Rays played their first 10 openers with low expectations, and for good reason: They lost early and often in their first decade in the majors, never finishing better than next-to-last or even approaching a winning record.

Report: Alex Rodriguez could be back with New York Yankees before April's out  —  Alex Rodriguez's progress in rehab after hip surgery is going so well that he could rejoin the New York Yankees by the end of April.  —  Rodriguez  —  When Rodriguez underwent hip surgery on March 9 …

Pena edges Berroa for 25th roster spot  —  Yanks infielder's impressive spring earns him utility job  —  NEW YORK — The Yankees finalized their Opening Day roster on Saturday, selecting infielder Ramiro Pena as the club's 25th man over former American League Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa.

Tampa Bay Rays' Hammel traded to Rockies; Niemann fifth starter  —  After the long wait, RHPs Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann finally have closure.  —  Hammel said he has been traded to the Rockies and Niemann was told he'll be the Rays fifth starter.  —  Hammel, 26, said he received word of the trade from the Rays Sunday afternoon.

Evans sent to Buffalo  —  As expected, the Mets sent prospect Nick Evans to Triple-A Buffalo this afternoon to make room for Gary Sheffield on the Opening Day roster.  The Mets will have to make another roster move by Saturday, April 11, to create a spot for fifth starter Livan Hernandez.

Aumont to bullpen role  —  This has nothing to do with the major league team right now.  But it could have plenty of impact on the team in the not-so-distant future.  The Mariners have abandonned, for now, any plans to have former No. 1 draft pick Phillippe Aumont continue in a starting role.

The Top Ten  —  Here is the first installment (#30-21), and here is the second (#21-11).  —  Teams are ranked by record, primarily a function of runs scored and runs allowed, which are what I spent the last week calculating.  I've made an occasional manual change to account for particularly strong …

Leaps for three prospects  —  Catcher Wilin Rosario and center fielder Charlie Blackmon at high Class A Modesto and third baseman Darin Holcomb at Double-A Tulsa will jump at least one level to begin the season.  —  Rosario, 20, spent the past two years at Rookie Casper where last season …

Cubs release Chad Gaudin  —  To make their Opening Day 25-man roster, the Cubs released veteran reliever Chad Gaudin and optioned Jeff Samardzija to Triple A Iowa, which clears spots for Angel Guzman and David Patton in the bullpen.  —  The release of Gaudin will cost the Cubs about $1.6 million once he is picked up by another team.

McDonald named Dodgers' fifth starter  —  Weaver among six players assigned to Triple-A Albuquerque  —  LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers trimmed their roster from 36 to 30 on Saturday night and manager Joe Torre named James McDonald the team's fifth starter.  —  The Dodgers sent shortstop Chin-lung Hu …