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John Lackey is off to a nice start with the Red Sox. The right-hander threw three shutout innings in Boston’s 8-2 victory over Jason Bay and the New York Mets on Thursday. Lackey allowed three hits and has yet to allow a run in five innings over two outings this spring. The former Angels star joined the Red Sox in December when he finalized an $82.5 million, five-year contract.

As the wind whipped around TigerTown and the Detroit Tigers continued to pile up runs for the second straight game, Justin Verlander had only one request. “Please save some of these for the season,” he said after the Tigers routed the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5, on Saturday. The Tigers have scored 26 runs in their past two games and Verlander was concerned that his arm would tighten before…

Manny Ramirez is on the Dodgers’ final roster for an upcoming three-game exhibition series in Taiwan, not that it guarantees the veteran will make the trip. The Dodgers are traveling to Asia for the second time in three years after also playing a series in China before the 2008 season. They will play three games against Taiwan all-star teams March 12-14.

A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press
that the Atlanta Braves have made an offer to free agent outfielder
Johnny Damon.

Jacque Jones has returned to the Minnesota Twins, agreeing to a minor league contract. Jones began his major league career with Minnesota in 1999 before joining the Chicago Cubs in 2006. The outfielder's best season came in 2002, when he hit .300 with 27 homers and 85 RBIs while the Twins advanced to the AL championship series.

In an unexpected twist, Bengie Molina is coming back to the San Francisco Giants after all. The free-agent catcher reached a preliminary agreement with the Giants on a one-year contract, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical and had not been completed.

Closer Heath Bell and the San Diego Padres agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract to avoid salary arbitration. Bell led the NL with 42 saves last year, when he took over as closer after Trevor Hoffman signed a free-agent deal with Milwaukee. Bell said Friday that the talks went smoothly. "Both sides are pretty happy," he said.

A person familiar with Josh Johnson's contract negotiations says the Florida Marlins ace has agreed to a $39 million, four-year deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Marlins hadn't announced an agreement. The deal was reached Thursday, only two days after the perennially frugal franchise announced an agreement with the players' union to…

Several members of the Florida Marlins are set to visit U.S. military troops in Iraq and Kuwait from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1. The team said Wednesday the trip is the first of its kind for a major league club since the war in Iraq began. NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan, catcher John Baker, manager Fredi Gonzalez and president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest are among those scheduled to represent…

Phillies acquire RHP Baez.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to terms with second baseman
Kelly Johnson on a one-year contract.

After missing out on top arms this offseason, the New York Mets are
ready to try a questionable one.

Alex Avila set off one of the most enthusiastic celebrations in the Detroit Tigers’ front office box since Magglio Ordonez’s homer lifted them into the 2006 World Series. The son of Detroit’s assistant general manager hit a two-out RBI double in the third inning of his major league debut to help the Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3 on Thursday.

New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman were among the dozens of seemingly sophisticated investors who placed money on what could prove to be history’s largest financial scam, amounting to tens of billions of dollars in losses, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The winter meetings didn’t resolve everything, like where Jake Peavy will play next year. Dayn Perry discusses the open issues.

Visit ESPN.com for the complete story.

By shedding salaries like Carl Pavano’s $11 million, the Yankees can add players and still cut costs. Ken Rosenthal explains.

The recession has rocked the sports world. It’s left Vegas a ghost town. So Mark Kriegel asks: How do the Yankees keep spending?

A record crowd of more than 5,000 fans were in attendance Saturday for the the fourth annual Phillies Holiday Sale & Tree Lighting Ceremony.

The Colorado Rockies and reliever Alan Embree agreed to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2010.

Embree went 2-5 with a 4.96 ERA in 70 games for the Oakland Athletics last season. Oakland had declined its $3 million option on him.

The 38-year-old played on nine major league teams including Oakland. He pitched in two World Series, with Cleveland in 1995 and Boston in 2004.