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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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:

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.

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 …

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.

Murphy puts big hurt on Reds  —  CINCINNATI - The Mets already expected big things from Daniel Murphy.  That's why they abandoned the idea of a platoon with Fernando Tatis in leftfield and installed Murphy as the No. 2 hitter for Opening Day.  —  But linking Murphy to the Big Hurt?

Mets pen a happy opening script for Johan  —  CINCINNATI - Johan Santana pitched like an ace.  And this time he didn't have to worry when Jerry Manuel snatched the ball from his glove.  —  Amid a steady drizzle and temperatures hovering in the 30s, Omar Minaya's bullpen blueprint worked as scripted …

Bondy: K-Rod and friends make it look as easy as 1-2-3  —  CINCINNATI - The last pitch to Ramon Hernandez was a changeup, with a nasty little dip at the end.  The Reds' catcher struck out swinging, and then Francisco Rodriguez performed the same victory celebration he has carried out since anyone can remember.