Lupica: Jeter's agent baffled by Yanks' tact  —  Casey Close is Derek Jeter's agent and he has never said very much, and maybe it is one of the reasons why he and Jeter have been together a long time.  Close has said very little about his client's negotiation with the Yankees so far and thought the Yankees would do the same.

Popper: Wally Backman would get Mets to play hard  —  The decision likely has already been made in the mind of Sandy Alderson, the Mets' general manager weighing all sorts of qualifications and parameters and picking a manager to lead the Mets forward.  —  He conducted his final round …

Many ways to play it on Upton and Gonzalez  —  A National League scout was asked a simple question: If you had only so many trade chips to use in the pursuit of a hitter, would you use them for Justin Upton or Adrian Gonzalez?  —  Without hesitation, the scout said, “Gonzo.  He's a much better hitter.”

Nats prospects key Scorpions' title run  —  Harper, Lombardozzi plate key runs while Solis earns victory  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — They came to Scottsdale Stadium, they watched on TV or followed it online, largely because of Nationals phenom Bryce Harper.  And while the No. 1 overall pick …

Rivera's pact shouldn't take backseat to Jeter's  —  Tweet  —  The legendary Yankee needs to be paid.  —  The team would not have won championships without him.  The team does not build into a global empire without him.  The team is diminished if he is not part of the roster moving forward.

10 greatest living baseball players  —  There are five dozen living Hall of Famers, a handful of recently retired players like Randy Johnson awaiting enshrinement, and one Hit King marooned outside.  From that group of baseball greats, all titans of their industry, culling a top 10 …

Nats could make offer soon to righty Vazquez  —  WASHINGTON — The Nationals have expressed interest in free-agent right-hander Javier Vazquez, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.  The club could make an offer to Vazquez as early as next week.

Monfort: Rockies looking for keys  —  Post-collapse, some players need to step it up  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — As difficult as reaching perennial contender status may have been, meeting the accompanying expectations has proven a far more daunting challenge.  —  The Rockies proved they can play …

90 things to love about Stan Musial  —  On the grand occasion of Stan Musial's 90th birthday Sunday, we offer our own special gift: a literary cake, topped with 90 reasons why we love The Man, or one for each year:  —  1  • Musial is the nicest person we've known.

Pair of Japanese hurlers sign with Dodgers  —  Los Angeles inks Nishijima, Takano to Minor League contracts  —  The Dodgers have gone to the Far East to add to their pitching stockpile.  —  Los Angeles announced Saturday that it has signed two Japanese amateurs — college arm Kazuki Nishijima …

Theo Epstein may be single-minded  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  We're about to find out exactly how strong Theo Epstein's stomach is.  —  The Red Sox [team stats] general manager with a vision for the future is being tested by the immediate present.

How an Old Writer Learned a New Trick About Stats  —  With everyone from schoolchildren to retirees, laymen to scholars, seemingly doing a blog, it was a few months ago that my son and I thought we could provide interesting baseball perspectives writing from the same site …