And a Great Joy Visited the Team  —  Jupiter aligned with Mars here on Wednesday afternoon.  Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounded.  No more falsehoods or derisions.  Dude, it was weirder than an "Age of Aquarius" acid flashback.  Why, the park was so blissed out that Alfonso Soriano …

Heilman not really worried  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Aaron Heilman can't do much more to prove he deserves the fifth starter's job.  But that will be of little consolation if the Mets decide to bump him to the bullpen in favor of Brian Bannister, and that remains possible with only 11 days left before the season opener.

Thomas could see action Sunday  —  PHOENIX - Frank Thomas checked another yard-marker off his long rehabilitation process on Wednesday, a significant step in moving closer to playing in a Cactus League game.  —  That day could come as soon as Sunday.  Thomas will have to be cleared to play …

New faces at second base … PEORIA, Ariz. — Managers and front-office executives have chugged enough coffee, held enough meetings and watched enough games to have a good idea how camp position battles will play out this spring.  In some cases, the only remaining step is a formal declaration of the winners and losers.

Posada suffers broken nose  —  Veteran catcher will be released from hospital Thursday  —  • Watch regular-season games on MLB.TV  —  • Buy Yankees Spring Training tickets  —  • Garcia goes yard to lift Yankees  —  • Yankees notes: Uneventful reunion for Damon

Hating the Yankees can be good for business … Mike Moorby hates the Yankees.  And except for the fact that they haven't won the World Series for five straight seasons (Moorby loves that about them), the Yankees keep giving him reasons to hate them.  —  Now, they're messing with a little bit of his livelihood.

The Awful Truth  —  I didn't never EVER want to have to write this, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  — long unhappy sigh  —  Jeff Bagwell had to remove himself from the game because of pain in his shoulder.  Again.  I've watched him "throw" - and to be honest, I throw a LOT better than he does right now.

Experience gives Grissom edge on roster  —  PEORIA, Ariz.—Marquis Grissom's spring hasn't been strong enough for him to automatically gain a spot on the Opening Day roster, but his résumé is long enough for the Cubs to give him the benefit of the doubt.

M's Notes: After a day's rest, Ichiro plays today  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — A swarm of bees — the pest-control man who sprayed them said they were killer bees — showed up at Mariners camp yesterday.  —  But Ichiro did not.  Word was that he needed a day to regroup after helping Japan win the World Baseball Classic.

Ailing bullpen fuels trade talk  —  Thomson may be on block in exchange for relief help  —  Macay McBride and Blaine Boyer could join John Foster on the disabled list to start the season, adding more urgency to the Braves' efforts to trade for bullpen help before opening day.

Barry Bonds and Baseball's Steroids Scandal  —  In the spring of 2001, as Barry Bonds was blasting balls out of ballparks in his steamrolling drive to overtake Mark McGwire's home-run record, he was peppered with questions from the press about his newfound power.