Crasnick: Baldelli aiding Tampa Bay draft effort  —  Former 2000 first-round draft pick now scouting amateur players for Rays  —  Rocco Baldelli's new career as a troubleshooting scout for the Tampa Bay Rays got off to a shaky start this spring when he suffered a case of food poisoning that necessitated a trip to the emergency room.

Nix sits on Thursday in favor of Ankiel, Bernadina  —  PHOENIX — Although he has been the Nationals' most consistent hitter this season, outfielder Laynce Nix found himself on the bench against D-backs left-hander Zach Duke on Thursday.  —  Instead manager Jim Riggleman decided to play Rick Ankiel …

SF Giants' Brian Sabean blasts Cousins  —  Giants general manager Brian Sabean on Thursday tore into Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins for his devastating hit on Buster Posey, saying the Giants will have a “long memory” of play and everyone in the organization will be happy if Cousins is through as a major-league player.

Medical updates on Hill, Matsuzaka  —  Lefthanded reliever Rich Hill, who left yesterday's game clutching his arm, has a serious injury according to a major league source and is likely to require season-ending surgery.  —  Hill and the Red Sox will seek a second opinion …

MLB resolves Yuri Sucart issue  —  The matter regarding Alex Rodriguez's cousin being at the New York Yankees' team hotel has been resolved, Major League Baseball said Thursday.  —  “Our position is, we told the Yankees, they agreed, that [Yuri Sucart] should not be allowed in any non-public areas …

Nine of 30 teams reportedly in violation of MLB debt service rules  —  Dodgers' and Mets' issues are well-known but others are said to carry debt 10 times more than annual earnings.  McCourts' personal use of redirected funds makes situation different, consultant says.

Pujols, Crawford among big names on All-Disappointment team … At this point, with a third of the season in the books, it's fair to start taking performances seriously.  The stat-head warning — “small sample size” — is a bit less ominous as we get through 200 plate appearances for hitters …

Hiroki Kuroda was anything but a big man on campus in high school  —  The Dodgers right-hander spent most of his time at a Japanese high school on the bench.  But he stayed persistent, made it in college and after 11 pro seasons in Japan, is in his fourth season in L.A.'s rotation.

Twins lose Thome, Kubel to 15-day DL  —  The Twins placed outfielder Jason Kubel and designated hitter Jim Thome on the 15-day disabled list, the club announced Thursday afternoon.  —  Kubel, who leads the Twins in RBIs (30) and batting average (.310) among position players this season …

Mets sell $200M minority stake  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since August 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  Follow him on Twitter.  — RADIO - SHOP - TICKETS - ODDS  — NFL  — MLB  — NASCAR  — NBA  — NHL  — NCAA FB

Yankees' Phil Hughes takes the next step in his return  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Phil Hughes prepared as if he were pitching in an actual game.  He went through his typical pregame routine, rested for a few minutes as he would before a real start, then took the pitcher's mound.

Padres plan to take advantage of extra picks  —  With five of the first 58 selections, Draft a big day for franchise  —  SAN DIEGO — It's one thing to have the benefit of additional Draft picks to use in the First-Year Player Draft, but it's something else to have the luxury of extra picks in what is considered a very deep Draft.