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.

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 …

Koufax Visits and Pedro Talks  —  It isn't every day - or ever, really - that Sandy Koufax decides to speak with reporters.  Koufax, a childhood friend of Fred Wilpon, usually drops by spring training to speak with a left-hander - Tom Glavine or Al Leiter, in the past …

A new Bruney?  It could be  —  Few would have been surprised had the Yankees non-tendered Brian Bruney in December.  —  Opponents were .271/.378/.508 against Bruney in the second half of last season, leading to an ERA of 9.60.  He was demoted to Triple-A, came back, then was left off the playoff roster.

Kendall hitting ninth?  Possibly...  Manager Ned Yost has said for a week that he has a brain-full of ideas when it comes to his batting order, but it is way too early to commit to any one of them.  —  But one of the most interesting of possible orders would have Ryan Braun batting second …

On the Mets' Bench, More Bats Than Seats  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — After missing the 2003 season recovering from Achilles' tendon surgery, Olmedo Sáenz chose to resume his career with the Dodgers for one simple reason.  —  “They needed a right-handed hitter off the bench,” Sáenz said.

Phils' Lidge limps off mound after hurting knee  —  CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - Phillies closer Brad Lidge caught a spike in the mound on his first pitch of batting practice Saturday and hurt the same knee he had surgery on in October.  —  Lidge, the Phillies' biggest offseason acquisition …

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 …

Manny makes his move  —  Picks Boras as agent … FORT MYERS - Manny being Manny is on the verge of getting a whole lot more interesting.  —  Red Sox [team stats] general manager Theo Epstein confirmed yesterday that Manny Ramirez [stats] informed the team on Thursday that he has switched agents …

Jeter: I'll play short for as long as I can  —  TAMPA - The day will come when Derek Jeter is no longer playing shortstop for the Yankees.  Just don't expect that day to be here anytime soon.  —  For years, stat heads have said that Jeter is a below-average fielder, yet managers and coaches voted …

Wang lined up for Opening Day start  —  Joe Girardi gave us a little news today.  He set his rotation for the next few days.  —  Intrasquad game on Wednesday: Mike Mussina vs. Jeff Karstens.  —  Yankees vs. South Florida on Friday: Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain  —  Yankees at Phillies on Saturday: Chien-Ming Wang