Late Bloomer or Dirty Cheater?  —  What does Roger Clemens's on-field performance have to say in the case of McNamee v. the Rocket?  —  What does Roger Clemens's on-field performance have to say in the case of McNamee v. the Rocket?  The trainer alleges he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in 1998, 2000, 2001.

Mariners inch closer to Bedard deal  —  Jones trade appears close to completion  —  The Mariners appear to be getting their man, if a tad late.  —  Mariners outfielder Adam Jones traveled to Baltimore on Sunday, a source said, presumably to undergo a physical examination that originally was scheduled for Jan. 29.

Yes, you can have too much pitching  —  Many contenders for few vacancies on Cubs, Brewers staffs  —  Pitching depth is unlikely to decide a race between the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers.  Both of the NL Central front-runners will head to spring training with more arms than they will need.

Marlins caravan arrives tuesday  —  The Marlins' promotional pre-season caravan will make two stops in Palm Beach County on Tuesday.  —  At 4 p.m., players and staff will sign autographs at JJ Muggs Stadium Grille, across the street from Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

Minors: New Baseball America's Top 10  —  In a chat at Baseball America, Jim Callis re-ranked the Mets Top 10 Prospects List to look as follows: (1) OF Fernando Martinez, (2) RHP Eddie Kunz, (3) RHP Brant Rustich, (4) LHP Jon Neise, (5) LHP Nathan Vineyard, (6) RHP Robert Parnell, (7) …

MLB INSIDER: Free-falling times for free-agent list  —  An attorney actually concerned about conflict of interest!  —  Mets threat  —  With Johan Santana aboard, are the Mets the National League's best team?  Perhaps.  But you could make a strong case for Arizona.

Padres get Greene for two years, offered longer  —  The Padres will never have to sit across an arbitration table from Khalil Greene.  —  The shortstop gave up the rights to two possible years of arbitration yesterday by agreeing to a two-year, $11 million guaranteed contract with the Padres.

MLB whispers: Around the league  —  Roger Clemens is doing the right things these days in his defense from the steroid charges contained in the Mitchell report.  His presence at a pitching mini-camp for Houston prospects last week was a class act.  That Feb. 13 congressional hearing in Washington is headed toward carnival proportions.

Hot Stove: Free-agent misses illustrate rigid approach to valuation  —  The Pirates' new management is setting a price and sticking to it.  —  Team president Frank Coonelly, the man overseeing baseball operations, and general manager Neal Huntington, the man conducting them …

Licey Remains Undefeated  —  SANTIAGO, D.R.-It took 11 innings, but Licey finally eked out a 2-1 win against Mexico to remain undefeated in the Caribbean Series and set up an even more meaningful matchup when they square off against Aguilas Monday night.  —  After lefthander Adrian Ramirez …

These Aren't My Father's White Sox  —  The Chicago Tribune has a story about the White Sox new third base coach, former A's “slugger” Jeff Cox.  The White Sox want to “get back to” doing what they supposedly were doing in 2005.  I find it interesting that a team that finished dead …

Bringing hope to the hopeless  —  Dayn Perry is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com and author of the new book, “Winners: How Good Baseball Teams Become Great Ones” (Available now at Amazon.com).  —  Mostly, each baseball season is about the contenders.