O's dealt another dose of guilt by association  —  It is Groundhog Day all over again in Baltimore.  —  This time, cute little Jerry Hairston Jr. has poked his head out of the steroid suspicion hole, guaranteeing at least six more weeks of baseball's seemly endless performance enhancement scandal.

Lawyer: Matthews Jr. broke no laws, set to cooperate  —  LOS ANGELES — Gary Matthews Jr.'s lawyer is convinced the Angels' outfielder hasn't violated any laws or major league rules even though his name surfaced in a widespread steroids investigation that has resulted in nine arrests.

Best General Managers In Sports  —  The general manager is the most influential and scrutinized position in sports because he decides how the owner's money is spent on players.  —  Forbes.com's first-ever proprietary look at GMs in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB grades each GM on two yardsticks.

Systems Retrospective, American League  —  Next week, I'll begin the State Of The Systems series that served as my debut at Baseball Prospectus.  Before that begins, however, let's look back at last year's columns.  How did I do?  For each team I selected one player I liked better than most …

Dunn understands basis of 'mediocre' comment … SARASOTA, Fla. — It took a few days.  But word finally reached big Reds bopper Adam Dunn on Saturday that Mike Schmidt can't understand why he strikes out so much.  —  Dunn's bemused response: "I can't either."

Zambrano springs eternal  —  After sharp debut, emotional optimist thinks World Series  —  MESA, Ariz. — Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano dominated for two innings in his spring debut Friday, then declared he will win the Cy Young Award he just missed winning last year.

Pitcher Tracey wants to find dream team  —  Feels he won't reach big leagues with Sox  —  TUCSON, Ariz. — Pitcher Sean Tracey welcomes the chance for White Sox general manager Ken Williams to discuss a future that could involve a change of scenery.  —  "If that's the case, that's good," Tracey said Friday.

How the Blue Jays saved more than $90 million … DUNEDIN, Fla. — Here's a little factoid we guarantee will inspire you to teach your kids to throw a gyroball:  —  Know what the price of starting pitching was this winter?  —  How 'bout 628.925 million bucks.

It didn't take long to get in a zone  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Larry Bird's first game in a Celtics uniform was against the Philadelphia 76ers in a preseason doubleheader at Madison Square Garden, the most famous indoor arena in the world.  —  Larry's first game in green certainly wasn't as big as Dice-K Friday at City of Palms Park.

Guillen's 'feuds' are more like cheap shots  —  Tribune baseball reporter Phil Rogers gives his take on the latest Ozzie Guillen outburst.  —  Here we go again.  —  Ozzie Guillen's swipes at Brandon McCarthy on Mike North's morning radio show Friday set the stage for a carbon copy of the Guillen-Magglio Ordonez "feud" of 2005.

DirecTV Promises to Improve Baseball Package, but Others Wonder How  —  The head of DirecTV yesterday defended the satellite programmer's seven-year, $700-million deal with Major League Baseball for exclusive control of the Extra Innings package of out-of-market games.

Rockies' Matsui comfortable at long last  —  "I wasn't Kaz Matsui in New York.  I'm not sure why, but I wasn't the player I really am," the Japanese-born Matsui said through his interpreter, Yoshi Ono.  —  The 31-year-old second baseman never lived up to the hype after signing a US$20.1 million …

Rangers officially take on Young look  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — Just before noon Friday, Michael Young officially became the face of the Rangers.  —  If everything goes according to plan, this era won't end until Young hangs up his spikes sometime in the next decade.

Burning questions: NL West  —  Today, we wrap up Top 10 Burning Questions for each of MLB's six divisions.  Last but least only to those with an East Coast bias, is the NL West.  —  Let's light this candle ...  1. Will Barry Bonds catch Hank Aaron?  —  This one should be close.