Soler waived as strange trip ends  —  VIERA, Fla. - Alay Soler's difficult journey to Flushing has reached a dead end.  —  The Mets released the Cuban defector last night, the Daily News has learned.  Soler, pitching in relief of Chan Ho Park yesterday, allowed two runs on three hits …

Colorado's faith leans to Iannetta  —  Nothing official at catching position after Lopez is cut  —  TUCSON - Rookie catcher Chris Iannetta received a strong endorsement from the Rockies on Monday.  —  The team released veteran catcher Javier Lopez, who conceded he had lost the No. 1 catching job.

Former Marlin Castillo may be on move again  —  FORT MYERS - The only thing that's changed is the uniform.  —  A season removed from the trade that sent Luis Castillo from the Marlins to the Minnesota Twins, the All-Star second baseman greeted his former teammates with a two-hit performance from the leadoff spot on Monday.

Spring hysterics: Sox, Yanks hit new heights in exhibition  —  FORT MYERS - Outside the ballpark, there was a PT Cruiser pulled over on the sidewalk.  Before long, there was a woman hanging outside the passenger-side window, screaming at a little guy covered in tattoos.  —  Red Sox forum:

Hustling Zambrano hits the ground running  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Carlos Zambrano has always had a flair for the dramatic, but his pileup coming out of Turn 2 at Scottsdale Stadium sent a scare through the Cubs on Monday.  —  The Cubs' Opening Day starter tattooed a first-inning pitch from San Francisco Giants veteran Matt Morris.

Needing One Starter, Mets Measure Park Against Prospect  —  Chan Ho Park thought he threw one bad pitch in Monday's game against the Washington Nationals.  So did his catcher, Paul Lo Duca.  The problem was, they were talking about different pitches, and that difference of opinion summed up Park's performance in the Mets' 9-6 loss.

Stats Geek: Pirates aren't a bad bet in weak division  —  By Brian O'Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  I wouldn't know a Bodog if one bit me in the wallet, but this online betting concern, bodog.com, puts the odds of the Pirates winning the World Series at 70 to 1.  —  That's relatively kind.

The Physics of Baseball: Newton's Laws Speak Out (a commentary)  —  We can take solace in the utter predictably of certain principles in the cache of physics: Newton's 2nd law, Fermat's Principle of Least Time, and the BEC-BCS Crossover (if you recognize the first two but thought the third …

Bonds Ponders 2008 and Possible Successor  —  Barry Bonds lost two fly balls in the sun in the first inning, an embarrassing development for any player at any time.  But Bonds made fun of himself by smiling and putting his glove over his eyes upon returning to the San Francisco Giants' dugout.

Five Questions: Seattle Mariners  —  When the guys here approached me to write another Five Questions piece previewing the 2007 Seattle Mariners, I started to wonder how I was going to select just a handful of key questions from a roster that apparently was built by throwing darts at a board.

Braves' Jones sprains left ankle  —  Chipper Jones, who missed 44 games with various injuries last season, gave the Atlanta Braves another scare Monday.  —  The veteran third baseman left a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals after spraining his left ankle attempting to run …

Mailbag: Why are Tigers being plunked?  —  Reporter Jason Beck answers Tigers fans' questions  —  What's with all the HBPs this spring for the Tigers?  I notice that each game they seem to have at least one player getting plunked.  Is this part of their new approach, because that'll get some runners on base this season?

Score one for graciousness  —  No evidence here of a bitter rivalry  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Nothing casual about the greeting exchanged last night between Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui and his Japanese countrymen on the Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima.