go here  —  Michael Baron: How much did fan sentiment play into the decision to cut Castillo and/or Perez?  —  Short answer for Castillo: Yes, for Perez, probably not.  We brought both players back to see the players, get to know the players, and make a decision not jus ton history, but current events.

Minor League Transactions: March 16-22  —  For the complete record: The asterisks (*) here denote instances of 40-man roster players who have agreed to terms on the minor league portion of their split major league/minor league contracts.  These players will have their minimum salary dictated …

Buchholz has ‘work to do’ before season  —  Red Sox righty seeks to improve command in final spring start  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Building up to 82 pitches on Thursday was a plus for Clay Buchholz, but the Red Sox right-hander recognizes that he has to go back and polish up some things.

MUSIAL NO MAN OF HONOR, MR. PRESIDENT  —  With the economy and international turmoil, President Obama has enough headaches; he doesn't need any more.  But his staff has created one for him with its failure to investigate fully the career and life of Stan Musial before recommending …

2011 spring training: Texas Rangers set rotation, keep Neftali Feliz in bullpen  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. — After plenty of discussion and evaluation over the last six weeks, the Texas Rangers said Thursday that Neftali Feliz will remain the team's closer in 2011.

Wednesday notes: Hughes slides by with his cutter  —  Phil Hughes had seven strikeouts tonight, and the way he remembers it, all but one came on a modified version of his cutter.  Disappointed in the pitch this spring, Hughes tweaked his cutter grip and turned the pitch into more of a slider, something slightly slower and bigger.

Franklin Gutierrez isn't healthy yet … Franklin Gutierrez, the Gold Glove center fielder who's battled stomach ailments for more than a year, hasn't played in the Seattle Mariners last four games - isn't in the lineup today - and is undergoing more medical tests.

Avila ready for regular season to start  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — Alex Avila came to camp two weeks early to get to work with the Tigers' pitching staff.  Avila picked up his offseason workout program to put himself in the best shape he could over the long haul of the season.

Report: Buck Showalter rips Derek Jeter  —  Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't backing down from the American League East's big boys.  —  In fact, it seems as if Showalter is going out of his way to antagonize the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

Homer-happy Royals blast past Mariners 9-8  —  PEORIA, Ariz.—Melky Cabrera, Alex Gordon and Lance Zawadzki each hit two-run homers and the Kansas City Royals broke a four-game spring training losing streak with a 9-8 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.

Calf injury to shelve Ross for three weeks  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Giants right fielder Cody Ross said Thursday that he will be sidelined for an estimated three weeks by a strained right calf muscle.  —  Should Ross heal on schedule, he would miss about the first two weeks of the regular season.

Bartolo Colonoscopy  —  The Yankees' signing of Bartolo Colon to a minor-league deal in late January was greeted by a chorus of jeers that didn't begin to subside until his successful first outing of the exhibition season.  It wasn't that Colon didn't have a Yankee-caliber pedigree …