Nationals hire Rick Ankiel as “life skills coordinator”  —  Rick Ankiel's weird career has taken another interesting turn, as the retired pitcher-turned-outfielder has been hired by the Nationals as a “life skills coordinator” as part of their minor-league coaching staff.

Could Hamels, Price or Scherzer be answer to Cards' rotation needs?  —  FOX Sports  —  The St. Louis Cardinals say they like their starting rotation.  But that is not preventing them from pursuing a major upgrade.  —  The team is exploring trades for left-handers Cole Hamels and David Price …

Cubs selling spring training naming rights to Sloan Valve  —  The Cubs announced a partnership with the Sloan Valve Company Thursday which includes naming rights to their spring training ballpark in Mesa, Ariz.  —  Sloan Park will be the new name of what had been known as Cubs Park since the facility opened in 2014.

HOW ZOBRIST FITS WITH THE NATIONALS  —  One rival executive calls Ben Zobrist “the Andrew Miller of position players,” explaining that the Rays' super-utility man makes sense for all 29 other clubs.  —  The fit for the Nationals, in particular, is almost perfect - and the team's need …

Veteran catcher signs one-year deal to back up talented prospect Bethancourt  —  A.J. Pierzynski tells a story about his cousin not studying for his finals until the Braves won a game back in a tough stretch for Atlanta  —  ATLANTA — Throughout his long Major League career …

JOEY GALLO, CHI CHI RODRIGUEZ, HANSER ALBERTO, AND PHIL KLEIN WIN RANGERS 2014 MINOR LEAGUE AWARDS  —  Aaron Levin and Roger Coryell to also be honored at 2015 Dr Pepper Awards Dinner on Friday, January 23  —  Arlington, Texas-The Texas Rangers today announced the winners of the team's 2014 Minor League Awards:

Angels, Braves Swap Minor Leaguers  —  5:57pm: The Braves announced that they have traded Kubitza and right-hander Nate Hyatt to the Angels in exchange for left-hander Ricardo Sanchez.  —  4:49pm: The Angels are close to acquiring third base prospect Kyle Kubitza from the Braves, reports MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (Twitter links).

Pedro Martinez implies that Jorge Posada ignited infamous 2003 Red Sox - Yankees brawl by insulting his mother  —  ‘He let it go a little bit too far with the (Don) Zimmer incident,’ Martinez said of Posada on Daily News Live.  'Between Latinos you don't mention anybody's mother.'

Yankees prospect Ty Hensley hospitalized in alleged ‘brutal attack’  —  Hensley's attorney, Rob Martin of ICON Sports, issued a statement Thursday.  —  Yankees' pitching prospect Ty Hensley was seriously injured in an alleged “brutal attack” recently, according to his attorney, Rob Martin of ICON Sports.

Royals exec Taylor winding down impactful career  —  Dean Taylor has served the Royals as VP of baseball operations and assistant GM since 2006.  —  Dean Taylor's been just about everywhere on the hardball map.  —  There was New Westminster of the Northwest League in 1974, Boise in 1975 …

Rehabbing from second Tommy John surgery, righty agrees to one-year, $1 million contract  —  3/18/14: Josh Johnson makes a heads-up play on Mike Zunino's line-drive to the mound for the final out of the second inning  —  SAN DIEGO — The Padres are taking another chance on right-handed pitcher Josh Johnson.

Buckel, Deglan enjoying all Australian Baseball League has to offer while honing craft  —  Cody Buckel (left) and Kellin Deglan have been sharpening their skills with the Melbourne Aces.  —  ARLINGTON — The temperature was 97 degrees at noon on Wednesday in Melbourne, Australia.

Curt Schilling to D&C on Hall of Fame balloting: 'I can't spend my time being concerned about people's opinions of me that I'll never meet'  —  Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling checked in with Dennis & Callahan on Wednesday, after falling short of election to the Baseball Hall of Fame …