NY Mets close deal to sell 12 minority shares of team, have repaid $25M loan to MLB  —  Have also paid off a $40M loan from Bank of America  —  Saul Katz (l.) and Fred Wilpon reach a $162M settlement with the Bernard Madoff trustee.  —  The owners of the Mets have closed deals to sell 12 shares …

Royals' Soria diagnosed with ligament damage in elbow  —  SURPRISE, ARIZ. — The news on Royals closer Joakim Soria couldn't be much worse.  An examination Monday revealed “definite damage” in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and seems likely to require surgery.

Kershaw Works Into 6th Inning on 24th Birthday  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Clayton Kershaw pitched into the sixth inning on his 24th birthday for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 4-3 loss Monday to the Cleveland Indians.  —  The NL Cy Young Award winner allowed one run — his first this spring — and three singles over 5 1-3 innings.

Sources: Rangers on verge of signing LHP Derek Holland to extension  —  EVAN GRANT  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — When the Rangers went the winter without being able to get one of their core players to give up even a year of free agency in long-term contract talks, the club's chief negotiators pointed …

Ichiro, Montero, Seager go deep in slugfest  —  Vargas allows seven runs in just two-thirds of an inning  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — The Cubs jumped on Mariners starter Jason Vargas for seven runs in the top of the first inning Monday, then pulled out a 12-7 victory in a Cactus League shootout in Peoria Stadium.

The BP First Take  —  Have you already penciled the Phillies in atop your projected NL East standings?  Well, you might want to find an eraser.  —  Ryan Howard is going to miss the first two months of the season while recovering from the Achilles injury he suffered last October …

The Glove That Would Change the Game  —  TRADITION OR NOT, all sports will evolve," the science-fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke predicted: even “the grand old game” of Ruth and Mays would be transformed by bionic-armed pitchers wielding lightweight, non-leather gloves.

Rangers Prefer To Keep Their Pitching Depth  —  The Rangers “might prefer” to keep some of the extra arms on their pitching staff rather than make a trade, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Scott Feldman, Koji Uehara and Mark Lowe are cited as Rosenthal as the expendable members …

Yu throws eventful four innings in third start  —  Rangers righty fans four, walks three, allows one hit on 70 pitches  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — Yu Darvish had stretches in which he showed pinpoint command and the baffling arsenal of pitches that have made him a Japanese legend at the age of 25.

Tigers' Cabrera hit in face by bad-hop grounder  —  CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Miguel Cabrera left Monday's game with a bloody face after a hard grounder from Philadelphia's Hunter Pence hit him near the right eye.  —  Cabrera was wearing sunglasses and it's uncertain whether the wicked one-hopper hit the right lens or just under it.

Rangers Mike Napoli on C.J. Wilson's tweet: “It's not a prank”  —  Mike Napoli doesn't know what prompted former Texas Rangers left-hander C.J. Wilson to tweet out Napoli's cell phone number.  —  Wilson, who has more than 116,000 followers, tweeted Napoli's cell out on Saturday.