Yanks add catcher Stewart, option Cervelli  —  The Yankees completed a trade on Wednesday that held ramifications for their Opening Day roster, sending right-hander George Kontos to the Giants for veteran catcher Chris Stewart.  New York also optioned catcher Francisco Cervelli …

Lohse, Cardinals spoil Marlins' debut in new ballpark  —  The sellout crowd in the Miami Marlins' new ballpark cheered the introduction of their starters, who were accompanied by women dressed as Latin showgirls.  There was another roar for Muhammad Ali, who delivered the first pitch.

Sources: Jon Niese, Mets reach deal  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — New York Mets left-hander Jon Niese has agreed to a five-year, $25 million deal with two team options that can raise the value to $52 million, according to two sources.  —  The completion of the contract is pending a physical.

Valentine names Aceves the closer  —  DETROIT — A few bits of news from Bobby Valentine's press conference just now:  —  • Alfredo Aceves is the closer.  —  “On the days when Alfredo's not available, if Mark Melancon is available, he'll be doing it.  I think the guys leading up to that will be very credible,” Valentine said.

Donaldson's 2 HRs Power A's Past Giants 8-1  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Josh Donaldson started to show signs in the final exhibition that he might be a reliable replacement to Scott Sizemore, after all.  —  Donaldson hit two homers and drove in five runs off Yusmeiro Petit …

Yankees Sign Ramon Ortiz  —  The Yankees signed right-hander Ramon Ortiz, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.  It's a minor league deal, Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger tweets.  The Giants recently released the 39-year-old Praver/Shapiro client.  —  Ortiz appeared in 22 games for the Cubs last year …

Police pull their guns on Torii Hunter ... while he's in his own home  —  Torii Hunter's Twitter feed got interesting in the past hour: … It was reported here.  I assume if Hunter was less than accurate in his tweets, there would be something contradicting it in the story.

2012 Organizational Rankings: #9 - Toronto  —  Read the methodology behind the ratings here.  Remember that the grading scale is 20-80, with 50 representing league average.  —  #20 - New York Mets  —  #19 - Los Angeles Dodgers  —  #18 - Colorado  —  #17 — Miami  —  #16 — Diamondbacks

Mariners option Furbush, Peguero to set roster  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Left-handed reliever Charlie Furbush and outfielder Carlos Peguero were optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday, as the Mariners set their final 25-man roster.  —  Furbush's departure leaves Rule 5 Draft pick Lucas Luetge …

SPORTS BASEBALL  —  Joel Carreno will replace Brett Cecil in the Jays' starting rotation to start the season.  (GETTY IMAGES)  —  OK, raise your right arm if you had Joel Carreno as third man out of the chute in the Blue Jays starting rotation to open the 2012 season?

Brian Matusz Chosen as Orioles' 4th Starter  —  NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Brian Matusz pitched his way into Baltimore's rotation this spring and made his final pitch with a strong outing in an exhibition against the Orioles' top farm team in Norfolk on Wednesday afternoon.

Cain sharp in last exhibition start  —  OAKLAND — The Giants sealed an exhibition series victory over the cross-Bay rival A's on Tuesday with their second straight win against the green and gold, a 3-2 decision at the Oakland Coliseum.  —  Baseball's richest right-hander, Matt Cain …