Rocco Baldelli returns to Tampa Bay Rays as a special assistant  —  PORT CHARLOTTE - Former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli will rejoin the Rays as a special assistant, working with young players, executive vice president Andrew Friedman announced Tuesday.

Games.  Lots of games.  —  The Yankees will leave at 10:30 for an arcade game tournament.  —  They will play skee ball, a pop-a-shot basketball game and a racing video game.  The pressure is clearly in Andrew Brackman in the basketball event.  —  Joba Chamberlain is out with flu-like symptoms.

Alex Rodriguez's steroid stain will last forever  —  Yankees Alex Rodriguez stands behind the batting cage while waiting his turn to take batting practice at Steinbrenner Field on Monday.  —  “This is about someone else,” A-Rod kept saying.  —  Yes and no. Federal agents are indeed investigating …

Matthews: I'm natural choice for Mets leadoff spot  —  PORT ST. LUCIE — Gary Matthews Jr. felt right at home in the leadoff spot yesterday.  —  If Jerry Manuel's plan of batting Jose Reyes third in the lineup is to succeed, the Mets manager will need either Matthews or Angel Pagan to emerge as a reliable leadoff hitter.

Get used to it: Gonzalez is a wanted man  —  Jake Peavy is planning a prison break.  —  He wants to spring Adrian Gonzalez from the Gaslamp Gulag known as Petco Park.  He wants to free the oppressed slugger from the cruel, unusual and harshly low-profile punishment of playing for the Padres.

Sources: Upton, D-Backs close to multi-year deal  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  —  The Diamondbacks are close on a new contract for right fielder Justin Upton, according to major league sources.

Yankees Have To Return Approximately $10,000 Each From World Series Share  —  Winning was sweet for the New York Yankees, who won their 27th championship last fall.  But it's not worth as much as it was back then.  —  Sources told CNBC that Yankees players recently received a letter …

Podsednik to add charge to KC lineup  —  Even at 34, left fielder should offer plenty of speed  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — There's no doubt about Scott Podsednik's biggest baseball moment.  On Oct. 23, 2005, he did something only 13 other players had ever done: End a World Series game with a home run.

Mariners' Woodward picked family over playoffs  —  With a sick child and a newborn son, infielder had to tell Red Sox he couldn't make it to the postseason last year  —  PEORIA, Ariz. - The way the timing went - a new baby, the chance to return to the playoffs - Chris Woodward had 24 hours of the best news a man could have.

What Puts Fans In the Seats?  —  One of the important questions to team management is how to put fans in the stands.  Obviously winning ballgames helps, but the question is how much and in what way?  Using data going back to 1950, I set out to create a model to help answer this question.

Call it a family affair in San Diego  —  Scott and Jerry Hairston are the latest set of brothers to unite in a Padres uniform  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Millions of brothers have grown up pitching to each other in the backyard with the shared goal of playing in the big leagues.

NY Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez moves ahead of the curve … TAMPA, Fla. — It's not unusual for Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez to talk baseball with his father.  However, it is unusual for those conversations to drift toward the subject of pitching.  And it is even more unusual for Vazquez's father to offer advice.

Yanks' Mo still matters  —  Mariano Rivera throwing a bullpen session Monday, his first time on a mound since the World Series.  —  “He's the guy that is as important,” Teixeira said, “or the most important piece to our championship.”  —  On Monday morning, 116 days since throwing …