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 …

NO SYMPATHY FOR LO DUCA  —  WRIGHT WARY OF PAL'S STERIOD RAP  —  Close friends or not, David Wright has no sympathy for Paul Lo Duca if what the Mitchell Report says is true.  —  Speaking at a charity event in New Hyde Park, Wright yesterday said his ex-Mets teammate deserves “a harsh penalty” …

Sox' Henry delivers hard sell … Fenway Park isn't getting any younger and that will not help the Red Sox [team stats] compete on the revenue front with the Yankees and Mets in the years to come, team owner John Henry pointed out yesterday.  —  The final payroll information regarding …

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 …

D-Backs set to make Foulke offer  —  Representatives from more than 20 teams watched former major league reliever Keith Foulke throw off a mound last week in Tempe.  The Diamondbacks were among them, and they seem to have been adequately impressed to pursue the former All-Star closer.

Gammons and Cyberspace  —  A nice column yesterday by Peter Gammons on the impact of the Internet on the sports as well as the political culture (similar to another column he wrote back in 2006).  Two quotes in the column in particular caught my eye (other than the mention of this blog …

A Long Struggle To Get Back Up And Running  —  16 Months After Breaking Leg, Nats' Johnson Is Ready to Battle for the Job at First Base  —  SACRAMENTO — It is 8:40 a.m., and the sun is just beginning to bake through the windows of a gym that sits anonymously in a business park on the edge of California's capital city.

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.