It would take a lot for Chad Green not to fill same relief role with Yankees this season  —  TAMPA — Chad Green is being stretched out as a starter for spring training.  —  But it seems like it would take a lot for the Yankees to remove him from his dominant middle relief role.

Day 2 sends Wainwright, most of rotation to the mounds  —  JUPITER, Fla.  • From the moment the schedule was pinned to the corkboard in the Cardinals' clubhouse, there was something different about it from previous years.  As detailed in Thursday's Post-Dispatch, there is a heavy Mike Maddux influence …

Cincinnati Reds notes: Catcher Devin Mesoraco is a realist  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Every time Devin Mesoraco got hurt, there always was next year.  —  He had the security of the four-year, $28 million deal he signed with the Reds before the 2015 season.  Injuries claimed each of his first three seasons …

Column: Joe Maddon is Chicago's most colorful and confident manager  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Baseball history always will laud manager Joe Maddon for changing the culture with the Cubs.  —  Now Maddon supplies it.  —  Creating a bizarre backdrop for the start of spring training in Mesa …

Salvador Perez, baseball's most durable catcher, has a goal: Better health  —  SURPRISE, ARIZ.  —  In the last five seasons, no catcher in Major League Baseball has started more games than the Royals' Salvador Perez.  No one has logged more innings or had more plate appearances or pulled on a catcher's mask more times.

Matt den Dekker returns to Mets with minor-league deal  —  Matt den Dekker is back.  The Mets signed their former outfield prospect to a minor-league deal on Thursday morning with an invite to major-league spring training.  —  Den Dekker, 30, played in 80 games with the Mets from 2013-2014.

Mets pitching coach Dave Eiland will attempt to fix Matt Harvey  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Of all the members of the Mets' rotation, there are the most questions about Matt Harvey.  Once an ace, Harvey is now an unknown after back-to-back disappointing seasons and a string of surgeries and injuries.

Ryon Healy has surgery on hand, out 4-6 weeks  —  Seattle Mariners first baseman Ryon Healy is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur in his right hand.  —  The Mariners made the announcement Thursday.  Healy had the surgery in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Ohtani draws attention as Angels begin workouts  —  Shohei Ohtani emerged from the clubhouse and tipped his cap to the swarm of Japanese countrymen capturing his every move, cameras clicking a mile a minute.  —  He offered that signature smile, something Angels manager Mike Scioscia noticed right away …

Facing a brimming free agent pool at spring training's start, MLBPA boss decries owners' ‘excuses’  —  The Washington Post  —  Tony Clark never envisioned his annual tour of spring training camps beginning where it did this week: Inside the gates of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, at a camp without a name.

Stoneman Douglas assistant football coach Aaron Feis killed responding to shooting: ‘That is not firecrackers’  —  Sun Sentinel  —  Aaron Feis, an assistant football coach and security guard at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, was among the 17 people shot and killed Wednesday at the Parkland high school.

Mookie Betts: “No hard feelings” over arbitration hearing  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — If Mookie Betts doesn't eventually sign a long-term contract extension with the Boston Red Sox, he insists it won't be because of anything that was said about him during an arbitration hearing last month.

Kirk Gibson to throw out first pitch for Dodgers on opening day  —  The Dodgers were one victory last fall from preempting the following sentence: It has been 30 years since the Dodgers last won the World Series.  —  But a championship always is worth celebrating, and so the Dodgers announced Thursday …

Cubs' bullpen dancing among new Chicago-related features in ‘MLB The Show 18’  —  Chicago Tribune  —  If your digital Cubs bullpen can't do the Running Man, what's the point of even playing the video game?  —  Sony's team thought as much, and added the bullpen pitchers' signature dance moves …

Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman looking to rebound from disappointing 2017 season  —  TAMPA — Aroldis Chapman is looking to rebound from last season, when he didn't come close to living up to his $86 million deal.  —  Chapman, who signed his five-year contract last offseason …

Rangers' Matt Bush: ‘There is no doubt in my mind’ that I'm a starting pitcher  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — The biggest question about the Rangers' planned six-man rotation is whether Matt Bush can transition to the role.  —  Bush, who has already thrown as many as 55 pitches in a bullpen session this winter, said he is certain he can.