Canseco Is Said to Have Sought Favor to Omit Name  —  José Canseco, the former major league slugger and admitted steroid user who exposed other players in his 2005 best-selling book “Juiced,” offered to keep a Detroit Tigers outfielder “clear” in his next book if the player invested money …

Wright treks to dedicate Mets room  —  Discusses team's chances during charity stop in Long Island  —  NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. — The Mets have added some players, subtracted some others, and now stand awfully close to where they were when this offseason began.

Feds unable to locate, serve Knoblauch subpoena  —  WASHINGTON — Former major leaguer Chuck Knoblauch had not been tracked down as of early Wednesday evening by federal marshals trying to serve him a subpoena from a House panel investigating steroids in baseball, a committee staffer told The Associated Press.

Wright, Bucs agree to Minor League deal  —  PITTSBURGH — Oft-injured pitcher Jaret Wright and the Pirates agreed on a Minor League contract Wednesday with an invitation to Spring Training.  —  Wright, a 15-game winner for Atlanta in 2004, had a 6.97 ERA while losing all three games he started for Baltimore last season.

Yankees again set payroll record: $218.3 million  —  NEW YORK — The Yankees did finish first in something last year — spending.  —  While their streak of AL East titles ended at nine, the Yankees wound up with a record payroll of $218.3 million.  —  The World Series champion Boston Red Sox …

Santana's Hometown Awaits His Next Move  —  TOVAR, Venezuela — “Welcome to the territory of Johan Santana,” reads a sign on the wall of the local baseball field in this Andean town more than 6,400 feet above sea level in southwestern Venezuela.  —  Santana, the Minnesota Twins' ace and perhaps …

New faces aplenty in NL Central  —  The NL Central underwent a major off-season makeover.  There are new GMs in St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Houston.  There are new managers in Houston, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.  There are new players on all six rosters.  —  It's not like any of the six division members were tampering with success.

Auto dealer Braman files legal challenge to Marlins stadium plan  —  Luxury auto dealer Norman Braman filed a legal challenge Wednesday to a plan to fund $3 billion worth of projects in the city of Miami, including a Marlins ballpark at the site of the Orange Bowl.

MacPhail checks swing in first offseason  —  With spring training looming, O's president takes a lot of pitches for Bedard, Roberts  —  Three weeks from today, pitchers and catchers will take the field at Fort Lauderdale Stadium for the Orioles' first workout of the spring.

Meet the Mets  —  Former darkhorse takes the lead in Santana derby  —  Once written off as an extreme long shot in the long-running Johan Santana drama, the Mets may actually be the favorite now.  At the very least, there are indications now that they are engaging in more regular dialogue …

Chat Answers....  Thanks to everyone for submitting so many great questions.  Wish I could get to all of em.  —  zellyanks91 asked: Phil...What goes on in the Yankees clubhouse before and after games..of course the media is there asking questions..but what do you guys do?  —  It's pretty laid back for the most part.