Prior to make a Minor League start  —  Decision made to regain confidence after meeting with Piniella  —  MESA, Ariz. — Cubs manager Lou Piniella met Sunday with Mark Prior to establish a game plan in hopes of getting the right-hander ready for the regular season, and which will include a start this week in the Minor League camp.

Dice-K allows two homers, struggles with control  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Welcome to the big leagues, Dice-K.  —  Boston's $103 million pitcher with the winning smile allowed homers to two non-roster players, struggled with his control and even threw away a potential double-play grounder against Baltimore on Sunday.

Burnitz retires at 37 with 315 career home runs … Jeromy Burnitz, who hit 315 home runs in a 14-year career with the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers and five other clubs, has decided to retire, his agent said.  —  Burnitz, 37, hit a disappointing .230 with 16 home runs in 313 at-bats for the Pittsburgh Pirates in his final season.

The Couch Slouch: Life's too short to desire more baseball on TV  —  Major League Baseball is in the process of shifting its Extra Innings package of games from a combination of satellite and cable carriers to DirecTV.  From the reaction of certain Extra Innings subscribers and the volume …

Rundown: Rockies on the mend  —  Catch the daily spring training roundup each afternoon from Rockies beat writers Troy E. Renck and Patrick Saunders in Tucson.  You'll find insider information on players and what the team is working on as they get ready for the 2007 season.

Sox' Hall plays it by the book  —  TUCSON, Ariz. — Toby Hall lives by the code.  And it's not just cheap talk from the White Sox' new backup catcher.  —  There are plenty in baseball who talk a good game, but when it comes time to carry out the codes that have been intact for decades, they freeze.

Gorzelanny has rough first inning in loss  —  Southpaw starter allows four runs in three innings  —  Reds 9, Pirates 8  —  Reds at the plate: Juan Castro's two-run home run to left field in the eighth inning tied the game at 8.  Norris Hopper's RBI single to right field scored Jerry Gil with the game-winner.

Reserve IF Jackson furious over release from Dodgers  —  VERO BEACH, Fla. — The Los Angeles Dodgers released reserve infielder Damian Jackson on Sunday.  —  Jackson signed as a free agent in December and was entering his 17th season in professional baseball — his 11th in the majors after spending time with eight teams.

Ellsbury a rare talent  —  In him, Sox Nation meets Navajo Nation  —  With speed among his many tools, the game of Jacoby Ellsbury (above) bears a striking resemblance to that of Johnny Damon.  (VICTOR BALDIZON/GETTY IMAGES)  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — When her son Jacoby calls home …

Indians' Lee out 4-6 weeks with abdominal injury  —  WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Cleveland Indians pitcher Cliff Lee will start the season on the disabled list because of an abdomen strain.  —  The lefty, who went 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA last season and is 46-24 since 2004, felt the strain …

Time for Mets to dump troubled reliever  —  PORT ST. LUCIE - Duaner Sanchez, the fat and tardy Mets reliever, arrived at camp at 6:45 a.m. yesterday, a full hour and 15 minutes before he was scheduled to sit down with Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya to explain why he has taken …

AMAZIN'S OFFERED JOSE TO TRIBE FOR ALOMAR  —  If you think the Roberto Alomar trade was a disaster for the Mets, you should know it could have been worse.  Far, far worse.  —  An official who was involved in the discussions that led to that Dec. 11, 2001 deal said that one of the players …