A-Rod And Joe: West Friends?  —  NEW YORK - Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez have exchanged phone messages recently, and it doesn't take much to determine the main topic of conversation.  —  "There are only going to be a handful of teams in the sweepstakes," said Torre, the new manager of the Dodgers.

Craig Wilson would welcome return to Pirates  —  PITTSBURGH (AP) — Craig Wilson would welcome a return to the Pittsburgh Pirates.  —  Wilson, the power-hitting first baseman-outfielder who hit 29 homers for the Pirates in 2004, is seeking a bench job in the majors and would like to play again for Pittsburgh.

Gotta hand it to him  —  Pedroia played through broken bone in playoffs … In 2004, it was Curt Schilling [stats]'s surgically repaired ankle.  Three years later, Dustin Pedroia [stats]'s broken hand offered perhaps the most remarkable tale of the Red Sox [team stats]' run to a World Series championship.

If defense helps, Tulowitzki wins  —  Rookie Braun's offense hard to ignore  —  In a game where numbers resonate, fielding statistics are barely audible.  If putouts and assists, total chances and a player's error total don't spark lively conversation, mention of zone ratings and range factor might end it altogether.

Seven first-timers win Silver Sluggers  —  New class of talented players joins baseball's hitting elite  —  If you got the feeling while watching baseball this year that a new class of exciting hitters was emerging, well, you were right.  And confirmation came once again on Friday …

Goin' to Arizona to see some fall ball  —  Looking forward to getting on a plane bound for Phoenix tomorrow morning, and not simply because it'll be 90 degrees when I get there (but that sure sounds nice about now, doesn't it?).  No, I'm eager to see The Kid play a little fall ball …

Rays planning waterfront ballpark  —  ST. PETERSBURG - The Tampa Bay Rays are planning a $450-million stadium on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront site of Al Lang Field.  —  The stadium, with about 35,000 seats, would be paid for primarily by the team, which would contribute about $150-million …

Giants keep SS Vizquel for 1 year, $5.3M  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Omar Vizquel got his wish to return to the San Francisco Giants.  —  The 11-time Gold Glove shortstop agreed Friday to a $5.3 million, one-year contract, a deal that includes a club option that could make it worth $10.2 million over two seasons.

Towers hopes to lock up Greene with multiyear deal  —  The Padres plan to find out if they can cut a multiyear contract with shortstop Khalil Greene.  —  "He's one of our better players, and we'd like him to be here for some time," General Manager Kevin Towers said yesterday.

Rockies not interested in A-Rod this time around  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — Agent Scott Boras doesn't even call the Rockies in his efforts to market free agent Alex Rodriguez.  —  He knows better.  —  The Rockies have been there.  Done that.  And aren't going there anymore.

A-Rod or not, Mets will try to bolster starting rotation  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Scott Boras' late-night presentation to Omar Minaya regarding Alex Rodriguez may have dominated the headlines, but before Mets brass departed the GM meetings yesterday afternoon, it had laid groundwork for more practical …