YANKS' BIG-MONEY MEN MAKE POOR IMPRESSIONS  —  BALTIMORE — It was a full count and maybe with a pitch here CC Sabathia could still salvage a debut, still make Opening Day as a Yankee more than a humiliating entrance.  —  He had zoomed ahead of Luke Scott, a lefty hitter, 0-2.  The bases were loaded.

Baseball Writers Brace for the End  —  As Newspapers Cut Back, Press Boxes Grow Lonelier; How a Venerable Institution Lost Its Way  —  Baseball's independent press corps, once the most powerful in American sports, is fading.  As newspapers cut budgets and payrolls, the press boxes …

John Lackey extends deadline on contract talks  —  Pitcher's wish to have an extension in place by opening day appears to be fluid now that he's on the disabled list.  —  John Lackey's self-imposed deadline of opening day for a contract extension appears to be fluid, now that an elbow injury …

Answering Baseball's What-Ifs  —  You can learn a lot during a major league baseball game.  Like Ukrainian, if it is a particularly slow nine innings.  —  As for the science of baseball strategy, one game teaches precious little.  A well-timed sacrifice bunt can backfire and lose the game; a foolish steal can appear brilliant.

Josh Beckett waits another day  —  Rain no sweat for ace  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  The barometric pressure over New England fell yesterday as rain moved in and washed away Opening Day.  —  As long as the human barometer for the Red Sox [team stats] …

A-Rod tells Girardi he's right on track  —  Slugger contacts skipper before Monday's opener  —  BALTIMORE — Alex Rodriguez has swapped text messages with Yankees manager Joe Girardi and reports that his rehab is right on schedule.  —  Girardi said on Monday that he and Rodriguez exchanged messages within the past 24 hours.

Video: Santana's Pre-Game Handshake Parade  —  Prior to yesterday's game, SNY captured video of Johan Santana, before his Opening Day start, walking up and down the dugout greeting his teammates, each of whom he had a unique, personalized handshake for. … To watch Santana's 90-second Handshake Parade, click play below:

Webb not worried by shoulder stiffness  —  D-backs ace lasts only four innings on Opening Day  —  PHOENIX — Diamondbacks starter Brandon Webb said after his club prevailed, 9-8, on Opening Day against the Rockies on Monday at Chase Field that he experienced some stiffness in his right shoulder during …

Francoeur puts tough '08 behind him  —  With new approach, Braves slugger homers in first at-bat  —  PHILADELPHIA — As he sat in the visitors' dugout at Citizens Bank Park on Sept. 24, Jeff Francoeur said, “Nobody is looking more forward to getting this season over than me.”

The Grandstand: Make no mistake, we're expecting big things  —  Note: We're proud to announce that Curtis Granderson will be blogging for Yahoo! Sports on Big League Stew throughout the MLB season.  This is his first post.  —  Spring training is finally over.

There's no need to worry about Doc  —  It was funny to hear the first two callers on JaysTalk last night complaining and worrying about the team's fortunes after they'd just finished cleaning the turf with the Tigers in a 12-5 win.  As Wilner quite rightly pointed out, people should probably tone …

Lincecum talks will carry into the season  —  Tim Lincecum is ready to put on a show when the Giants open the season Tuesday.  But are the Giants ready to show him the money?  —  Giants president Larry Baer said the club would remain open to negotiating a multiyear extension with Lincecum during the season.

Nice Start for the Fish  —  Over dinner in Fort Myers back in early March, a number of us were kicking around who the surprise teams were.  Minnesota was mine; I liked their 1-through-5 starting pitching depth and thought that any offense anchored by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau would be good enough.

Yankees Have Official Paint, Mets Have Pudding Sponsor  —  While many have called attention to the fact that the economy has seriously hurt sports marketing in recent months, anyone looking at the signage at the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field certainly wouldn't know that.

Inside Gameday 2009  —  During the 2006 playoffs, Major League Baseball Advanced Media enhanced its Gameday application with PITCHf/x tracking in real time.  By leaving the data freely available to anyone who wanted it, MLBAM launched a wave of analysis, and analysts, that is still rippling through the game.