Eddie Butler hurt, LaTroy Hawkins rocked as Athletics beat Rockies  —  TOPICS  —  MESA, Ariz. — Monday was a Murphy's Law kind of day for the Rockies.  —  What went wrong at Hohokam Stadium as the Rockies got pounded 11-2 by the Oakland Athletics?  — Starter Eddie Butler …

Mets Acquire Lefty Relievers, Torres and Blevins  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The New York have made two trades to bolster a bullpen lacking in left-handers, acquiring Alex Torres from the San Diego Padres and Jerry Blevins from the Washington Nationals.  —  The Mets sent minor league right …

Kris Bryant To Begin Season In Minors  —  The Cubs announced today that wunderkind Kris Bryant has been assigned to Minor League camp, indicating that he will not make the team's Opening Day roster out of Spring Training.  Second baseman Javier Baez was also optioned to Triple-A today.

Latest Tampa Bay Rays stadium search proposal appears dead  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Tampa Bay's five-year stalemate over a new baseball stadium continues — with no obvious end in sight.  —  St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman decided Monday he doesn't have enough City Council votes to forge …

Pirates trying again to lock up Polanco; third star in OF of future  —  The Pirates and top young outfielder Gregory Polanco have rekindled contract talks, according to people familiar with the discussions.  —  Chances for a deal before Opening Day remain unknown.

Quick Pitch Leads Benches to Clear; Pirates Rout Phils 18-4  —  BRADENTON, Fla. — A quick pitch by Kevin Slowey sparked benches to empty in a rare testy spring training game.  —  Both teams rushed onto the field before the bottom of the fifth inning of the Pittsburgh's 18-4 rout of Philadelphia …

Simon Allows 1 Run in 6 Innings as Tigers Lose to Braves 4-2  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — Alfredo Simon allowed one run over six innings for his best start of spring training in the Detroit Tigers' 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.  —  Acquired from Cincinnati after going 15-10 last season …

Mets still open to trading Dillon Gee  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Despite losing Zack Wheeler to a ligament tear that required Tommy John surgery, the New York Mets still may trade right-hander Dillon Gee within the month, an organization source told ESPNNewYork.com.

Verlander misses start, hopes to pitch April 8  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — Justin Verlander will miss his scheduled spring training start Thursday but hopes to take his first scheduled regular-season turn for the Detroit Tigers on April 8 against the Minnesota Twins.

Padres Hit 3 Homers Off DeSclafani, Beat Reds 6-3  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Matt Kemp hit the first of San Diego's three homers off Anthony DeSclafani — a new addition to Cincinnati's rotation — and the Padres pulled away to a 6-3 victory over the Reds on Monday.

The business of baseball  —  Forbes released their most recent estimates of the values of baseball franchises.  What can this data tell us about the economic state of the game?  —  Forbes released their annual baseball franchise valuations last week, a tradition since 1998.

Dodgers To Sign Freddy Garcia  —  The Dodgers have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran righty Freddy Garcia, MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports on Twitter.  Garcia, 38, agreed to sign with Taiwan's EDA Rhinos last year.  —  While details of Garcia's stint in Taiwan are hard to dig up …