Wood's sidelined again with strained muscle  —  MESA, Ariz. — It hardly qualifies as surprising news anymore, but Kerry Wood will miss "the next couple of days" with another arm problem.  —  The good news—or what appears to be good news—is that his latest setback seems to be "only" …

Was Pedro worth it?  You better believe it  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — It was worth it.  —  Even if Pedro Martinez never pitches another inning for the Mets, it was worth signing him.  For that matter, the deal that took the pitcher out of Boston and landed him in New York …

Diamondbacks reliever might cost too much  —  KISSIMMEE - The Marlins are looking into Diamondbacks reliever Jorge Julio, but adding the hard-throwing right-hander would require a significant payroll hike by their standards.  —  Julio is available, but according to one baseball man monitoring …

Baseball's Deepest Starting Rotations  —  As I wrote several months ago, the average team gets about 124 starts from the five guys slated as their rotation at the beginning of the season.  That means that nearly one quarter of their games are started by a mid-season replacement …

M's Notebook |  Putz's arm 'tightens' after bullpen session  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — The much-anticipated bullpen session for Mariners closer J.J. Putz had gone well.  —  Putz had thrown 25 pitches, mostly fastballs.  All of them off a mound for the first time in 10 days.

Carp lookin' sharp at Met camp  —  PORT ST. LUCIE - Mike Carp introduced himself to Damion Easley during an informal workout even before Mets position players reported, eager to share the news that they both attended Lakewood High School in Southern California.  —  "He was saying how he had a couple of records," Carp recalled.

Buehrle fends off hungry hitters  —  TUCSON, Ariz. — Left-hander Mark Buehrle resembled a hockey goalie Thursday as he survived two shots in a minor-league game.  —  Buehrle took a line drive from Chris Getz off his chest in the third inning.  One inning later, Jason Bourgeois hit a liner …

Not letting it slide  —  Olsen: Experts err in tracking his pitches  —  KISSIMMEE - Scott Olsen is fooling everyone.  —  Hitters weren't sure what he was throwing last season and neither were the statisticians.  Much of the time their best guesses were off.

Hope and Faith  —  How the Detroit Tigers Can Win the World Series … The Tigers are the paramount example of just why we're running this series.  Out of all of the major sports, baseball provides perhaps the best balance between luck and skill.  The idea of the Cincinnati Reds …

Tejada ranges far to keep job … FORT MYERS, FLA. // The criticism started at this time last year with each grounder that got past the outstretched glove of Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada .  It got louder as the 2006 season progressed to the point where several scouts wondered whether Tejada …

Items from around Florida and Arizona ...  Around the horn at spring training:  — The Cardinals' starting pitching has been a pleasant surprise; right-handers Kip Wells, Braden Looper and Adam Wainwright have combined to allow three runs in 352/3 innings.

Relievers in short supply around baseball  —  TICK, TICK, TICK.  The Phillies have 2 weeks left in Florida.  Their bullpen remains unsettled.  —  The Phillies are on the clock.  —  And while it's probably no consolation, they're not the only team looking for relief help.