Luis Castillo was the Mets' best option at second base  —  The decision to release Luis Castillo on Friday was the most difficult one of Sandy Alderson's budding regime - where sabermetrics proved to be no match for the army of haters who demanded Castillo's demise.

Nationals still weighing leadoff options  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — With Rick Ankiel the frontrunner to be the Opening Day center fielder, the Nationals need to figure out who will be their leadoff hitter to start the regular season.  They could go in any number of directions.

My Mother's Basement  —  “It won't be long before we get the first wave of nonsense from stat-crazed dunces claiming there's nothing to be learned from a batting average, won-loss record or RBI total.  Listen, just go back to bed, OK?  Strip down to those fourth-day undies, head downstairs …

Cardinals release two minor-league pitchers  —  JUPITER, Fla. — The St. Louis Cardinals released two righthanded pitchers from their minor-league camp this morning.  —  Houston Summers and Mark Diapoules were cut from their affiliates and are now free to sign with other teams, if pursued.

A-Rod extends RBI streak to six games  —  TAMPA, Fla.—Alex Rodriguez drove in a run for the sixth consecutive game, rotation candidate Freddy Garcia gave up five runs and five hits over six innings and the New York Yankees tied the Toronto Blue Jays 5-5 in 10 innings Saturday.

Lee Finally Makes Debut, Phillies Beat Orioles 7-5  —  SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles didn't waste any time putting first baseman Derrek Lee in an RBI situation.  —  Lee made his Orioles debut in Saturday's 7-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, batting third and going for 1 …

Closer Wilson mildly strains left oblique  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Right-hander Brian Wilson encountered his second nagging ailment of Spring Training as the Giants announced Saturday that their closer had strained his left oblique.  —  Giants manager Bruce Bochy called the injury “mild,” …

Anthopoulos handshake may have sunk Jays' waiver claim  —  Apparently John Farrell's contract as manager of the Jays came complete with a “non-compete” handshake agreement with Boston's general manager Theo Epstein regarding not touching Sox players in the annual Rule 5 draft.

Bonds Goes on Trial Monday for 2003 Testimony  —  When Barry Bonds walked into the federal courthouse in San Francisco on Dec. 4, 2003, his career total stood at 658 home runs, baseball had yet to institute drug testing with penalties and the Giants were nearly a half-century removed from their last World Series title.