A-Rod needs to shut up and play  —  Two years ago, I concluded an article about Alex Rodriguez by quoting an American League general manager as saying, "He should let his game do the talking."  —  Truer words were never spoken.  —  Rodriguez is talking himself out of New York …

Trade may settle back of rotation  —  Tucson - Competition between pitchers Josh Fogg and Byung-Hyun Kim for the fifth spot in the Rockies' rotation could be settled by a trade.  —  The Rockies have made it known in recent conversations with teams that Kim is available.

Will maturity be lasting?  —  Milledge shows signs of growing, but roster spot is not guaranteed  —  WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Lastings Milledge means it when he says: "I think I'm at the end of developing as a prospect.  I'm done being a prospect.  I'm not a prospect anymore."  —  He doesn't mean to sound cocky.

Second plunking by Brocail irks Rockies  —  TUCSON, Ariz. - Tempers flared yesterday when Padres reliever Doug Brocail plunked a Rockies front-line player for the second time in four days.  —  Brocail, who nailed Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in the wrist Saturday …

B Game?  Q&A IV  —  After a long day of travel to Philly and back (flight left at 6:30am and we returned around 4PM) I felt good on the mound.  I'd like to extend a sincere thank you to Mr Henry who flew us up and back on his plane today, something he did not have to do but did anyway.

Nationals Stay the Course With Logan  —  Nook Logan can look in the mirror and wish the reflection he saw was the way his life actually is.  He yearns to live in Bizarro World, where there is an exact opposite of everything he knows, where left would be right and right would be left …

Zambrano takes pride in his battle scars  —  Carlos Zambrano lifted his T-shirt to reveal still-raw scrape marks down his left side, smaller wounds hugging his left love handle and a series of abrasions crowding for space on his left elbow.  —  This wasn't a medical exam.

Roberts, O's agree to two-year deal … JUPITER, FLA. // After about seven weeks of discussions, the Orioles have agreed in principle to a two-year contract extension with second baseman Brian Roberts that, barring a trade, will keep him in Baltimore through the 2009 season.

Competition for rotation spots heats up  —  At least 10 candidates remain to fill final four slots  —  VIERA, Fla. — The Nationals' starting pitching has been the main focus of Spring Training.  Right-hander John Patterson is the staff ace, but who follows him in the rotation is anybody's guess.

Schilling Shows He's Up To Speed  —  Hits 93 MPH To End Simulated Game  —  FORT MYERS, Fla — .  - Curt Schilling's Tuesday began at 6:30 a.m. It ended at 93 mph.  —  With Hamden's Jeff Natale in the batter's box in a near-empty City of Palms Park around 8:15 p.m., Schilling decided …

Managerial Aging Patterns  —  Very Brief Background  —  Last year I wrote some articles for Baseball Think Factory attempting to determine who were the best and worst managers of all time.  The articles piggybacked on a terrific database put together for a SABR presentation in Toronto by Phil Birnbaum.

Rodriguez leaves his mark as leadoff hitter  —  He could share duties  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tigers manager Jim Leyland has pledged that he will not discuss his batting order until the season begins.  Yet he makes an obvious statement about it each day, at the moment his pen graces the lineup card.