Red Sox extend Francona's contract  —  Manager stays put with one year remaining on original deal  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — The optimism that Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein recently expressed in regard to signing manager Terry Francona to a contract extension was validated on Sunday …

GEEKS GOT IT RIGHT  —  JETER'S FIELDING WOES NO MYTH, BUT HE MAY HAVE ANSWER  —  IT IS so easy to turn this into geeks vs. the prom king, University of Penn statistic professors vs. Derek Jeter.  Who do you think is going to win that one in the court of public opinion?

Blue Jays sign Stewart to minor-league deal  —  DUNEDIN, FLA. — Shannon Stewart is back where his career began - with the Toronto Blue Jays.  —  Stewart agreed on Saturday afternoon to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training and is expected to join the Blue Jays in a matter of days.

Toronto Blue Jays could compete in AL East  —  J.P. Ricciardi described his outlook as “guarded optimism,” which is about as good as it should get when you're trying to leap over the Yankees, Red Sox or both.  —  But with the Yankees — trying to develop their young pitching and compete at the same time …

Lupica: Hank just like his father  —  We already know that Hank Steinbrenner has inherited the spending gene from his father.  He has also inherited the back-page gene, though even the old man in his prime didn't take his own temperature for the media as often as Hank has since becoming the out-front …

SPRING TRAINING A'S TRYING ON NEW WHITE SOX  —  Beane, Chicago GM Williams seem to have a habit of swapping players  —  (02-24) 04:00 PST Phoenix — Welcome to White Sox West.  —  That's how many of the A's must feel this spring because the clubhouse at the team's Papago Park complex is teeming with former Chicago prospects.

Morris thinks he can fit in with Pirates  —  BRADENTON, Fla. (AP)—Matt Morris is, in many ways, exactly the type of pitcher the Pittsburgh Pirates need.  He's a dependable starter with a quality pedigree who welcomes the opportunity to mentor a young staff.

Giles has old-time spring in his step  —  Outfielder feeling fine following knee surgery  —  PEORIA, Ariz - Brian Giles launched line drives deep into the outfield, some of them over the outfield fence, dropped his bat and sprinted down the basepath.  —  At no point did the Padres right fielder …

Raissman: Al gives Rocket a pass  —  Al Leiter didn't reserve a pedestal for Roger Clemens.  He put him on the mountaintop.  —  This goes back to 2004 when Leiter, yakking for Fox, was working with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.  The crew was in Fenway Park, calling Yankees-Red Sox ALCS action …

New pitch man  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - He started at one of the far corners of the Orioles' spring training complex.  His hands behind his back and clutching a blue binder that detailed the day's itinerary, Rick Kranitz observed four of his new students throwing side by side, balls popping into catchers' mitts in unison.

Royals pitching advisor Fischer shares wisdom of 60 years in baseball  —  Absolute No 1: Don't bang your heel.  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. |  They call Bill Fischer “Walking Wisdom” around here, which makes the guy laugh.  Walking Wisdom, eh?  Yeah, they should have been there that day in '63 …

The Score: This Joe much like last Joe  —  When Joe Girardi was hired as the Yankees' manager last October, people assumed he would try to put his stamp on the team from the first day of spring training.  —  The first step was the institution of a host of new regulations …