Red Sox Name Travis Shaw As Starting Third Baseman, Pablo Sandoval To Bench  —  Red Sox manager John Farrell informed media members today that Travis Shaw has won the starting third base job.  The move relegates Pablo Sandoval, still owed $75MM on his contract through the 2019 season, to a bench role.

Sources: Rangers still working on adding pitcher; Texas talking with Cleveland  —  Though there is nobody on the roster standing in his way, A.J. Griffin has not yet been officially named the Rangers' fifth starter.  —  With good reason: The club is still working to add more pitching depth.

LeMahieu committed to helping team despite seeing fewear at-bats  —  The Denver Post  —  Second baseman DJ LeMahieu, trying to complete a double play against the Athletics in a Cactus League game at spring training, was an all-star last year and led the Rockies in hitting with a .301 batting average.

Time is ripe for MLB to make decisions about return to Montreal  —  Whether MLB returns is approaching a critical time.  —  Vincent Ethier  —  More than 100,000 fans are expected at Montreal's Olympic Stadium this weekend to witness a pair of exhibition games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.

A Baseball Mystery: The Home Run Is Back, And No One Knows Why  —  On his first day in office, in January 2015, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced his interest in “inject[ing] additional offense into the game.”  Over the previous several seasons, scoring in baseball …

Cave waived, but Reds' roster still in flux  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. — As the Reds readied for their charter flight back from Arizona to Cincinnati following Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Indians, manager Bryan Price said the team's roster was still in flux.  —  Price said not all of the team's decisions …

Are Rays sacrificing defense for offense?  —  PORT CHARLOTTE — In bringing in and keeping Hank Conger, Corey Dickerson, Brad Miller, Logan Morrison and Steve Pearce, the Rays made a concerted effort to improve their offense.  —  2 Months Ago 3 Weeks Ago  —  1 Month Ago

No. 27: Milwaukee Brewers  —  Projected record: 72-90 (fourth in NL Central)  —  The Brewers are ranked so low because that's precisely where they want, and even need, to be.  Some call it tanking, but more accurately, it's an inspired rebuild.  Beginning even before Doug Melvin turned …

Angry Matt Harvey won't talk to press after spring outing, Mets manager says ace's health scare no laughing matter  —  PORT ST. LUCIE — Apparently annoyed that his health scare was mocked and turned into bathroom humor on the back pages and in the headlines back in New York …

Is S.A. moving up to Triple-A?  —  Representatives from the Elmore Sports Group, which owns the San Antonio Missions baseball club, are expected to announce at a City Council meeting next week that they are working to bring a Triple-A baseball franchise to downtown.

Carlos Torres Opts Out Of Braves Contract  —  Right-hander Carlos Torres has opted out of his minor league deal with the Braves and is now a free agent, MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports.  Earlier today, MLBTR's Zach Links reported (Twitter links) that Torres' representatives were already talking …

Every Share Can Raise $37  —  THE STORY  —  Daisy Lynn Torres went in this morning for a routine cavity filling and under the advice of the dentist was put under anesthesia, when the unthinkable happened.  Daisy quit breathing and was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital where despite efforts …