Yankees slugger Aaron Judge batting leadoff Friday vs. Red Sox  —  TAMPA, Fla. — For at least one day, the New York Yankees have a new leadoff hitter: Aaron Judge.  —  The right fielder will bat first on Friday against the Boston Red Sox in a batting position that's normally occupied …

Mets season predictions: Strong season for pitchers, new homes for some position players  —  Coming off a disappointing 70-92 season, the Mets are hoping they will rebound in 2018 and make the playoffs for the third time in four years.  —  A new manager is in place in Mickey Callaway …

SEE IT: Umpire ejects three players, manager and bench coach in Tigers-Phillies spring training game  —  Somebody forgot to tell this umpire it's still spring training.  —  Umpire Tom Hallion had a field day with ejections Thursday afternoon, throwing five people out of a spring training game between the Tigers-Phillies.

Newest Cardinals are rounding into top form  —  JUPITER, Fla.  • When newly acquired Cardinals cleanup man Marcell Ozuna had started off four for 28 with 13 strikeouts this spring, manager Mike Matheny had surmised that Ozuna had been trying to hit the ball over the administration building …

Former MLB star Jack Clark files for bankruptcy protection  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jack Clark, who hit 340 home runs over an 18-year major league career, has filed for bankruptcy protection.  —  Clark's attorney, Al Watkins, said Friday that Clark and his wife, Angie, claimed in a federal court filing …

Baseball players in minors expected to lose minimum wage protection  —  Minor league baseball players who make as little as $5,500 a season would be stripped of the protection of federal minimum wage laws under a provision in government spending legislation expected to be approved by Congress this week.

Column: Sit back, relax and watch 'em grow: White Sox's rebuild ahead of schedule  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Every rebuild has its honeymoon period, and the White Sox currently are in the midst of theirs.  —  For the time being, few fans venturing out to Sox Park are going to complain …

Giants starter Jeff Samardzija has shoulder pain, getting MRI  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On the eve of breaking camp and going north, the Giants are dealing with a potentially serious setback in the one unit of the team that has the least experienced depth.  —  Starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija …

The rookie and the veteran: Can opposite ends of the MLB manager spectrum both succeed?  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — A leadership experiment of sorts is playing out in Florida, where two baseball managers separated by 15 years and 2,107 big league games are setting their rosters and lining up their pitching rotations in advance of Opening Day.

Arizona Diamondbacks spring training - 2018 … Diamondbacks right fielder Steven Souza Jr. has a strained right pec muscle, manager Torey Lovullo said, an injury that will keep him out of the lineup for “a couple of weeks, at least.”  —  Souza is expected to open the season on the disabled list, Lovullo said.

AL West preview: Shohei Ohtani and the Angels are looking to dethrone the Astros  —  Editor's note: From now until opening day, the Yahoo Sports MLB crew is previewing the season ahead.  Today, we continue our division-by-division previews with a look at the AL West.  —  Dynasties are awesome.

Pedro Strop feels ‘great’ after first spring outing but waiting for Cubs' seal of approval  —  Chicago Tribune  —  It turns out manager Joe Maddon's knee — not Pedro Strop's calf — received more medical attention Thursday night.  —  Maddon was in obvious discomfort and had to leave …

The Rangers offseason starting pitching acquisitions have given up 18 runs in the last three days  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. - With Mike Minor's outing Thursday, the Rangers' trio of offseason rotation acquisitions completed their final Arizona assignments.  —  Here is how that went …

Don Mattingly is keeping up morale amid bleak situation with Marlins  —  JUPITER, Fla. — “I never went into a ballgame thinking I was gonna lose.”  —  This was Don Mattingly the other day at Roger Dean Stadium as he observed his stripped-down Miami Marlins — who are in fact going to lose …