In historically bad taste here  —  Great player.  —  Total fraud.  —  Welcome home, Nomie.  —  I hate to be the fly in the punch bowl here, but yesterday's lovefest involving Nomar Garciaparra and the Red Sox was truly nauseating.  If Nomar had been hooked up to a polygraph, the machine would have exploded.

Jerry Manuel determined to use Jenrry Mejia in short and frequent relief spurts for New York Mets  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - If Jenrry Mejia is assigned to the Mets' Double-A team, he's not going to be stretched out enough to immediately contribute in the Binghamton rotation.

Here's why you don't get caught up in stats  —  Joe Girardi has been saying all spring that he's not going to focus on statistics when it comes time to decide on the fifth starter.  There are other things at work, Girardi says, and not all of them are obvious to the average fan.  Here's an example:

Selig and Co. should have their heads realigned  —  Major League Baseball, according to a Tom Verducci column at SI.com, seems to be considering a move that would allow the Blue Jays to escape the unbelievably tough AL East.  It sounds good, but thankfully is a long way from reality.

Mets, Reyes agree condition not serious  —  Agent clears up confusion about shortstop's thyroid  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — After another Mets medical scenario had taken an odd twist, a morning conversation among the Mets' hierarchy, the club's primary physician and an agent representing Jose Reyes put …

Curtis Granderson wows Yankees, former Tigers teammates with spectacular catch  —  LAKELAND, Fla. - Former Tiger Curtis Granderson had two hits, made a great catch and received a warm ovation from Tigers fans during the Yanks' 9-8 exhibition victory over Detroit Wednesday.

Is it time for Twins to ponder the unthinkable?  —  If negotiations on a new deal continue to lag, the Twins might be forced to consider trading the hometown hero rather than risk losing him as a free agent.  —  FORT MYERS, FLA. - It's mid-March and the race of the reluctant Minnesota stars is on:

‘Not long for the minors’: Could Stephen Strasburg be on the fast track?  —  VIERA, FLA. From the box seats at Space Coast Stadium, you could see a huge piece of the Washington Nationals' future Tuesday.  It is 6 feet 4, weighs 220 pounds, and it's coming at you fast.  No, even faster than that.

Escobar Is Ready to Return, or Retire if He's Still Injured  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The injured Mets reliever Kelvim Escobar said he was very confident he can come back from shoulder soreness to play this season, and hopefully very soon.  But in the event he cannot, Escobar can live with it.

Nationals Release Shawn Estes, Eddie Guardado  —  The Nationals released pitcher Shawn Estes, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson.  CBS Sports' Danny Knobler added via Twitter that they also released reliever Eddie Guardado.  —  The Nats had signed Estes, 37, to a $600K minor league deal on February 6th.

Spring training: Vazquez thinks he's out  —  Infielder told his job in jeopardy, even though Pirates owe $2 million  —  BRADENTON, Fla. — Is Ramon Vazquez history with the Pirates?  —  He certainly seems to think so, even though his $2 million salary for 2010 is guaranteed and the team would have to pay all of it if he is released.

Sandy Alderson to Review Baseball's Troubled Dominican Pipeline  —  Over the past two decades, the Dominican Republic has become the richest exporter of talent to Major League Baseball, providing some of the biggest names in the game.  The influx of Dominican players has also caused baseball major headaches …

Ex-Cardinal Duncan gets fresh start with Washington  —  JUPITER, Fla. — While several members of the Cardinals' were irked, even angered, by the turbulent end last season to Chris Duncan's time with the club, the outfielder's view was more pragmatic, even understanding.