MLB announces pace of game initiatives, replay modifications  —  Richard Justice joins Fran Charles on MLB Tonight to discuss how baseball is incorporating new pace of play rules  —  Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark …

Villanueva had to wear ‘many hats’ for one he wanted  —  JUPITER, Fla.  • When pitcher Carlos Villanueva hit the open market this past offseason he suggested to his agent that he had seen enough of the National League Central and was ready to take his talents to other locales.

Angels' Josh Hamilton could be out a month longer than expected  —  There is no locker for Angels left fielder Josh Hamilton in the team's Tempe Diablo Stadium clubhouse this spring, and there is a good chance one won't be needed.  —  General Manager Jerry Dipoto acknowledged on Friday that Hamilton …

Top 100 Prospects: Start Of A Ranking Revolution  —  Your browser does not support iframes.  —  It was 25 years ago that Baseball America unveiled its first Top 100 Prospects list.  —  Braves wunderkind lefty Steve Avery was the original No. 1 prospect, a few months before his 20th birthday.

Sources: MLB, union to announce pace-of-play rules changes Friday  —  FOX Sports  —  Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are set to announce rule changes Friday aimed at quickening the pace of play, sources tell FOX Sports.  —  FOX Sports has been able to confirm the following modifications:

Defending CWS champ Vanderbilt to play TCU in opener  —  LOS ANGELES - The two most recent College World Series champions will be on display in the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic Sunday, March 8, when 2013 titlist UCLA meets USC and defending champion Vanderbilt faces TCU, the Dodgers announced.

Colorado Rockies and ROOT SPORTS Announce 2015 Telecast Schedule  —  The Colorado Rockies and ROOT SPORTS™ announced today the network's 2015 Colorado Rockies telecast schedule.  The network will air 150 Rockies regular season games and six Spring Training games.

Shields rebuffed bigger Giants offer weeks before landing in San Diego  —  While there's still no evidence James Shields received or rebuffed a rumored $110-million, five-year offer this winter, Shields did turn down an $80-million, four-year proposal from the Giants a few weeks before signing …

Blue Jays 1st rounder Pentecost undergoes surgery  —  Max Pentecost recently underwent shoulder surgery in an operation that will delay the 2015 debut of the Toronto Blue Jays' 2014 first rounder, sources told Sportsnet.  —  Dr. James Andrews performed the operation, a scope intended to clean …

Texas Rangers' Jurickson Profar to have shoulder surgery Monday  —  Texas Rangers second baseman Jurickson Profar (13) rounds the bases after hitting a walk off home run the ninth inning of play at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Thursday, September 26, 2013.

Alex Rodriguez ‘impossible to dislike’ says Yankees radio broadcaster Suzyn Waldman  —  There was a time, between his Tampa tent revival and Biogenesis, when Yankees voices were not drilling down into Alex Rodriguez's performance enhanced past.  When it came to pinstriped cheaters …

After injury last year, starter expected to follow regular program through Spring Training  —  Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka threw a short bullpen session at the team's Minor League complex during Spring Training  —  TAMPA, Fla. — A crowd of about a dozen coaches and other observers clustered behind …