Marlins' Ramirez strains left shoulder  —  NL Rookie of the Year should be ready for Spring Training  —  MIAMI — National League Rookie of the Year Hanley Ramirez experienced a shoulder injury while playing Winter League ball in the Dominican Republic.  —  After being examined on Friday …

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Dice-K is already pitching for Sox — in Japanese ads  —  Team hopes to exploit star's power to gain marketing clout over there  —  Newly minted Red Sox hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka donned a Red Sox uniform to make his latest pitch in Japan.  —  The Japanese baseball star, also known as …

Suppan finalizes deal with Brewers  —  Veteran right-hander signs largest deal in club history  —  MILWAUKEE — Jeff Suppan passed a physical Friday morning, formally clearing his path into the Brewers' starting rotation.  —  Suppan and the team came to terms Christmas Eve on a free agent contract …

Big wish: Yankees, D'backs near Johnson trade  —  Randy Johnson's brief stay in New York could end as soon as today.  —  A baseball official who spoke with one of the teams involved yesterday said a trade that would send Johnson from the Yankees back to the Arizona Diamondbacks was nearing its completion.

Assessing baseball's offseason  —  Well, I hope that was fun for everybody.  —  Free agency isn't really over until the last owner overextends himself, and so the San Francisco Giants ponied up for Barry Zito, and for almost twice what it cost to build the Golden Gate Bridge.

Tribe among Mulder's three suitors  —  Agent Gregg Clifton said Thursday that the Indians, Texas and St. Louis are the three finalists in the bidding for injured left-hander Mark Mulder.  —  Mulder wants a two-year deal to keep his options open as he recovers from rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder.

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Mets miss out on Zito  —  After hearing the numbers, the Mets were never in the game for Barry Zito.  —  The biggest fish in the free- agent pond agreed to terms on a seven-year, $126 million contract with the San Francisco Giants pending a physical yesterday.

Candidates using new means to gain votes … Tom Petty made his mark toting a Rickenbacker electric guitar rather than a Louisville Slugger, and he's immortalized in a Hall of Fame in downtown Cleveland, not upstate New York.  But he might as well have been speaking for Cooperstown aspirants everywhere …

A 'no' for Big Mac  —  Tainted McGwire fails to make my Hall of Fame ballot  —  Also in this column:  —  Upon seeing my filled-out Hall of Fame ballot, some will call me lenient, say I'm a soft touch or maybe even claim I'm a little too giddy with spiked eggnog this Holiday season.

1. Boston Red Sox: Wally the Green Monster  —  If you're a self-proclaimed Red Sox die-hard, then you hate Wally.  But everyone else seems to like him.  According to the Red Sox, Wally lived in the left field wall (aka the Green Monster) and didn't decide to show his face until 1997, the 50th anniversary of the wall.

Updating David Newhan  —  If David Newhan had to nail down two teams that were his likely employer for 2007, it would be the Cubs and Mets.  —  Not a bad pair to choose from.  —  "I'd say those two are the best bets," he told me earlier today in a phone conversation.

Barry Zito and "Smart" versus "Dumb" Projections  —  We probably don't need to tell you that the Giants overpaid for Barry Zito.  But understanding just how and why Zito was overpaid is revealing.  —  My first reaction upon learning about the signing was to plug Zito's contract …

Giants now have shot at NL West crown  —  It's a Happy New Year for Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants.  —  The classy left-hander surprised a lot of people when he decided to remain in the Bay Area and inked a seven-year, $126 million pact with the Giants, the largest contract ever given …