Reliever Peter Moylan poised to fill the final opening in the Royals' bullpen  —  SURPRISE, ARIZ.  —  Reliever Peter Moylan is positioned to take the final unoccupied spot in the Royals' bullpen.  —  The club announced Monday that left-hander Scott Alexander was optioned to Class AAA Omaha …

Andrew Knapp gets nod over veteran catchers for Phillies … CLEARWATER, Fla. - Andrew Knapp knows the numbers are now in his favor.  —  The Phillies released veterans catchers Ryan Hanigan and Bryan Holaday on Monday, making Knapp one of only two catchers remaining in big-league camp, alongside starter Cameron Rupp.

It's looking like the Yankees and Red Sox will dominate the AL East again soon  —  A rival executive makes an interesting point: By 2019, the AL East could be back to what it was for much of the 2000s — the Yankees, Red Sox and everyone else.  —  Predicting the future is always dangerous …

Aaron Judge vs. Aaron Hicks: Yanks' RF job still pick-'em … TAMPA, Fla. — In the battle for the Yankees' rightfield job, Aaron Judge started spring training with the backing of Hal Steinbrenner, who talked up the huge slugger during the offseason.  —  Steinbrenner was on hand on Sunday …

Optimistic Braves believe rebuilding is finally behind them  —  ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves hardly sound like a team coming off a last-place finish.  —  These guys are talking playoffs.  —  “We've said it the last couple of years.  We mean it this year,” slugging first baseman Freddie Freeman …

2017 Power Rankings: Best and worst case for every team  —  When 2016 ended, the Chicago Cubs were on top of the baseball world as World Series champions for the first time since 1908.  With the bulk of their team returning, the Cubs unsurprisingly open 2017 in the same place in our rankings.

Diamondbacks Release Gregor Blanco  —  9:29pm: Arizona would like to re-sign Blanco, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter links).  With an oblique injury slowing Blanco, the club wasn't “comfortable making the call on him for the Opening Day roster tomorrow” (the Article XX(B) deadline), thus leading to tonight's move.

Blue Jays Tell Mat Latos He Won't Make Team  —  Blue Jays righty Mat Latos has been told he won't make the team, and Latos must now decide whether to accept a Triple-A assignment from the club or become a free agent, according to Jays radio broadcaster Mike Wilner (Twitter links).

Los Angeles Dodgers 2017 preview  —  This is the latest of our 2017 team previews.  Each week during spring training, we'll preview a division with a team each day (Monday-Friday).  This week: The NL West, beginning with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Up next: San Francisco Giants  —  LAST SEASON

Barry Bonds, Pac-Man and the greatest baseball fun fact of all time  —  Baseball's greatest fun fact was born in three stages: on the last day of the first half of the 2004 season, on the last day of the 2004 season and, many years later, when a young man was kicking stones along the river bank …

Updated: Wong clarifies comments on potential platoon at second base  —  UPDATE: Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong asked the Post-Dispatch to clarify comments he made earlier Sunday about the team considering a platoon approach to second base to start the season.  His words, in full, appear below: