Rays Sign Hideki Matsui  —  The Rays announced that they signed Hideki Matsui to a minor league contract.  Matsui, who turns 38 in June, will report to extended Spring Training on Wednesday.  —  “Over the past two decades, Hideki has been one of the most consistently productive hitters in the world …

Sources: MLB eyeing end to annual rival series  —  HOUSTON — Major League Baseball is working on a scheduling reconfiguration for the 2013 season and beyond that likely will eliminate the Mets and Yankees as well as other “natural rivals” playing home-and-home, six-game series annually, baseball sources told ESPNNewYork.com.

APPRECIATING THE UNIQUENESS OF DAVID ORTIZ  —  CHICAGO — It was going to be fascinating.  The Red Sox decision-makers admitted it.  The agents for David Ortiz did the same.  —  The arbitration hearing for the Red Sox' designated hitter, scheduled to take place in February on the bottom floor …

Billy Hamilton is Very Fast  —  Since I watched Peter Bourjos hit a triple about a year ago, watching extremely fast baseball players run extremely fast has been my favorite part of baseball.  Then this morning I read Kevin Goldstein's Ten Pack, which included this about Billy Hamilton:

MLB to suspend Tigers' Young for anti-Semitic incident  —  Delmon Young during a court appearance on Friday night.  —  Yer out!  —  Major League Baseball has decided to suspend Detroit Tigers slugger Delmon Young because of his drunken anti-Semitic rant and arrest, two sources have told The Post.

Manager On Matt Barnes: “He'll Be At Fenway In A Year Or Two”  —  UConn Product Impresses At Class A Greenville  — Kyrell Hudson swung wildly and missed a shoulder-high fastball, and as he walked back to the dugout he kept staring back at Matt Barnes.  —  Not much to say.  There was no trickery involved.

How to Give the Game Back to Its Fans  —  In 1957, Cleveland Press sportswriter Franklin Lewis was disillusioned with how the game of baseball was changing.  It was getting too modern, too far from its roots, too corporate.  Major League Baseball was losing its fans.  Night games?  Television?

Source: Brandon Inge to sign with A's  —  Third baseman Brandon Inge has agreed to sign with the Oakland Athletics, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Sunday.  —  Inge gives Oakland experience at a position that has been mix-and-match so far — and some versatility considering he can also play several other spots.

Pujols not showing signs of panic  —  CLEVELAND  —  April ends Monday.  Nearly one full month of baseball has gone by.  Albert Pujols is still looking for his first home run.  —  “I don't try to hit home runs,” he told me in a Saturday morning conversation at Progressive Field.

OK for O's fans to think postseason?  —  My phone blew up seconds after Wilson Betemit hit his three-run walk-off homer Sunday, lifting the Orioles to a 5-2 victory over the Athletics.  —  It was my brother-in-law, Brian, doing what he does every season when the Orioles get off to their usual hot start.

Corbin debuts vs. veteran Buehrle in Miami finale  —  For Patrick Corbin, Monday's finale of the D-backs' four-game series with the Marlins is one of the biggest events in his 22-year-old life — his debut as a Major League player.  —  For Mark Buehrle, a 33-year-old veteran who has pretty …

Juan Pierre: The new face of the Phillies?  —  One day during spring training, Juan Pierre was waiting around the cage, where Charlie Manuel makes a habit of lingering while watching batting practice, when he heard the manager grumble to a player.  “Drive the ball.”

Davis' RBI single gets Mets past Rockies 6-5 in 11  —  DENVER—Ike Davis singled in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning and the New York Mets overcame two tying homers allowed by their bullpen to beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 Sunday.  —  David Wright started the 11th with a single off Matt Belisle …

Bumgarner, Sandoval Lead Giants Past Padres 4-1  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pablo Sandoval homered to back Madison Bumgarner's fourth straight victory, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Padres 4-1 on Sunday to deny San Diego its first series win of the season.