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 …

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.

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?

Silva, Washburn, Batista go 3-4-5 in Seattle rotation  —  It's official — Miguel Batista, the winningest pitcher in Seattle last season, will be the No. 5 starter for the Mariners in 2008.  —  Manager John McLaren, who'd earlier said he'd go with Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez in the first two spots …

EXTRA BASES  —  Camps have been open for nearly two weeks and righthander Kyle Lohse is still unsigned.  Lohse and agent Scott Boras had been looking for a deal in the neighborhood of five years and $55 million.  With no takers at that price, it appears they are waiting for a team to suffer …

Notes: Attanasio prepared to deal with young stars  —  Owner says he's willing to pay up  —  Phoenix - Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio met Saturday with general manager Doug Melvin to begin making plans for offering multi-year contracts to some of the team's talented young players.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Pirates' New Management Team Asks Fans to Hope Against Hope  —  BRADENTON, Fla. — Frank Coonelly, the new president of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was soaking up the sounds of bat cracking ball and ball popping leather on Thursday when a fan pierced the paradise.  —  “Hey, Frank!” the man yelped from behind a Pirates-gold chain guard.