Notes: Rockies put faith in Iannetta  —  Lopez's release shows club ready to bank on rookie  —  TUCSON, Ariz. — It's cool for a young player to realize that players he grew up watching are as nice as they are good.  Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta is an even bigger fan of Javy Lopez.

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 …

New Nats stadium on schedule for 2008 opener  —  WASHINGTON — Come April 2008, Ryan Zimmerman might become the first player in major league history to hit a home run into a cherry tree.  —  A grove of cherry blossoms behind the left field bleachers is one of the latest additions to the plans of the Washington Nationals stadium.

Flexible Soriano gives Cubs, Piniella options  —  MESA, Ariz. - It's all but official: Alfonso Soriano will be the Cubs' center fielder.  —  FOX Bite  —  Videos  —  FOX Spotlight: Piniella, Pt. 1  —  Lou Piniella traded in his FOX broadcasting job and returned to the diamond with Chicago.

A Tale of Two Closers  —  It's my mom's birthday today, one of those special "zero" ones.  She doesn't read my column, probably never has, and actually doesn't like baseball, so I won't spend too much time saying things she won't read.  I will thank all of you, people who don't know her and for the most part …

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.

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.

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.

Mariners demote Parque after rough spring  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Pitcher Jim Parque was reassigned to the minor leagues by the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday after allowing nine earned runs in his last two spring training outings.  —  Parque is trying to make it back to the majors …

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 …

Zito hints Met pitch off target  —  VIERA, Fla. - Barry Zito intimated in the April issue of Esquire that he was turned off by the Mets' recruitment effort of him.  —  Author Chris Jones portrayed Zito as coming away from a Dec. 19 dinner at a Beverly Hills hotel thinking …

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.

Izzy convinces Cards he's ready for debut  —  JUPITER, FLA. — Jason Isringhausen gave another indication Monday that this is a different kind of spring training.  For the first time that he could remember, Isringhausen laughed on a pitching mound.  —  The Cardinals' closer threw 28 persuasive pitches …

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.