Specialist gives Pedroia a wake-up call  —  Injured Red Sox second baseman scales back expectations  —  ANAHEIM — Dustin Pedroia's Tuesday visit to the office of renowned orthopedist Lewis Yocum was a bit sobering.  Any designs that Pedroia had of rushing himself back to the active roster …

Miss Iowa USA would like to see Washington's Miguel Batista try walking the runway in a swimsuit … Miss Iowa USA has a word for Washington Nationals pitcher Miguel Batista.  —  Actually, she has several.  —  “I know I can throw a pitch or two!”  Katherine Connors, the 20-year-old Bettendorf native said in a statement today.

Phillies could get Oswalt, keep Werth  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  Follow him on Twitter.  —  The Phillies are positioned to get Roy Oswalt — if they want him.

Derrek Lee to remain a Cub  —  CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee has told the organization he prefers to remain a Cub rather than accept a trade, general manager Jim Hendry told ESPNChicago.com on Wednesday.  —  The Los Angeles Angels proposed a trade to the Cubs over the past 10 days …

A very important article on fielding  —  Baseball Prospectus has published an article by Colin Wyers today that may be one of the most important pieces written about fielding measurement in the last decade.  The full piece is available only to BP subscribers, but let me briefly recap some of the topics Colin covers.

Mauer playing through all kinds of pain  —  is hurt.  He smiles through the pain because the unwritten part of a $184 million contract calls for grinning and bearing.  He refuses to talk about his injuries because to do so would be to admit they exist, and to do that would seem like an excuse …

Tigers Acquire Jhonny Peralta  —  The Tigers acquired Jhonny Peralta and cash from the Indians for minor league pitcher Giovanni Soto, according to the team.  MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports on Twitter that the Tigers are getting cash, and ESPN.com's Buster Olney says the Tribe will pay most of Peralta's salary (Twitter link).

Why do Yankees lose to debutantes?  —  From Virginia, Chris writes: “After [Josh] Tomlin kept the Yankees in check, it reminded me of a question I've had for a while.  The Yankees seem to lose much more often when they face a rookie for the first time or a guy making his major-league debut.

Jeff Blair  —  Hitting .290 and going to the All-Star Game or hiccupping his way through a year-long slump, Aaron Hill is a team player.  —  So it is no surprise that Hill said Tuesday he is open to a shift to third base in 2011 if general manager Alex Anthopoulos decides trading …

Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett says Coghlan's freak accident won't deter him from throwing pies  —  CLEVELAND - Celebrating has become dangerous in baseball, but don't expect A.J. Burnett to curb his pie throwing.  —  Florida's Chris Coghlan tore the meniscus in his left knee on Sunday …

Daily Rumble: Three who will get traded  —  As the chances of a Roy Oswalt deal by Saturday fade to black, we're going to do something revolutionary:  —  We're going to look at three players who, unless something changes, actually will get traded this week.  —  OK, so he isn't the most magical name on the Trade Deadline Marquee.

MLB Opening Day 2011 to fall on Friday, April 1; season to end on a Wednesday  —  Major League Baseball, trying to avoid having long underwear as part of its players' postseason apparel, is planning to start the 2011 season in earnest on Friday, April 1 - three days earlier than the traditional Monday opener.

Hall of Fame Comps  —  Omar Vizquel has been a superb defender but that, and the fact that fellow defensive whiz Ozzie Smith is already enshrined in Cooperstown, does not make him a Hall of Famer.  (Chuck Solomon/SI)  —  One fairly useless (but enjoyable) thing to play is the …

Mets must show they've learned from past mistakes  —  Mets on Twitter  —  We have seen this movie.  The Mets had a manager and GM holding on for their jobs.  They had played surprisingly well for about half the schedule, but as the trade deadline neared they began trending the wrong way.