Yankees' two losses to Mets would not have gone over well with George Steinbrenner  —  TAMPA — It is an accepted premise — except, of course, when it came to George Steinbrenner — that spring training games are mostly meaningless and that none of the players' performances, good or bad, are anything worth getting all worked up about.

MLB INVESTIGATING CLAIMS TYING MARLINS PITCHER JARRED COSART TO GAMBLING  —  UPDATE: Cosart has apparently now responded to the claims; an account claiming to be his new official Twitter says his original account was hacked and DMs were sent to incriminate him in a gambling conspiracy.

MLB Worth $36 Billion As Team Values Hit Record $1.2 Billion Average  —  If Major League Baseball traded on a stock exchange it would be worth $36 billion.  The average baseball team is now worth $1.2 billion, 48% more than a year ago, the biggest year-over-year increase since we began tracking team values in 1998.

Jeter's replacement already earning eye-popping praise from Yankee vets  —  FOX Sports  —  Look familiar?  Actually, Didi Gregorius' defense is already earning praise Derek Jeter's never received.  —  I walked into the Yankees' spring complex with no preconceived notions about what I wanted to write.

Norris Strong for Blue Jays in 5-2 Win Over Orioles  —  SARASOTA, Fla. — Looking to cement a spot in the Toronto rotation, Daniel Norris allowed one run in six impressive innings as the Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 on Wednesday.  —  Norris gave up three hits and struck out seven without walking a batter.

Tulowitzki Homers, Butler Strong in Rockies' Win Over Giants  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Troy Tulowitzki hit his third home run of the spring, Eddie Butler threw five effective innings in an audition for a rotation spot, and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Wednesday.

Gomez Uses Offense and Defense, Leads Brewers  —  PHOENIX — Carlos Gomez led off the game with a home run, had three RBIs and made a sparkling catch in center field for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 9-9 tie with the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.  —  Ryan Braun had three hits including an RBI double …

White Sox' Carlos Rodon strikes out nine Royals in four innings  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. - Carlos Rodon was dominant in his fourth Cactus League start Wednesday night, striking out nine Kansas City Royals in four innings without allowing a walk.  The No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft …

Unsafe at home: MLB's Venezuelan stars fleeing country  —  Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Montero, who has made his home in the Phoenix area since 2007, returned this past offseason to Venezuela, where most of his relatives still live.  —  He lasted there five days.

Rays face tough roster decisions with season approaching  —  FORT MYERS — With the season starting in just 11 days, the Rays are talking about a lot of things they wouldn't have expected to be.  —  Such as how Nathan Karns is one of their top three starters, Logan Forsythe is the primary second baseman …