Mlb

Twenty-five major-league players soon may realize baseball's claim of financial distress is more than bargaining rhetoric. According to a highly placed Major League Baseball source, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are one of two teams experiencing severe cash-flow problems. But it is the other team, which the source did not identify, that is trying to solve an imminent crisis. That team could bounce paychecks to players on Monday, according to the source. Commissioner Bud Selig declined to discuss the finances of individual teams but confirmed MLB is discussing contingency plans in the event teams become financially insolvent during midseason.

The World Baseball Classic has been the talk of the early days of spring training, partly because it's the reason for the elongated training schedule this year and partly because of the mixed feelings that a lot of teams have about it. It's supposed to be the World Cup of baseball - the answer to the decision by the IOC to remove baseball from the Olympics because Major League Baseball refused to interrupt its regular season once every four years...

Who would have thought that one of the highlights of the first weekend of interleague play would be - the Orioles and the Nationals? But that's the case. This year's beltway series will feature two teams that are among the best teams in baseball. The Orioles (25-14) will head to Nationals Park this weekend just a half-game behind the Dodgers for the best record in baseball.  And the Nationals (23-15) have been regularly atop the competitive NL East. They're a half-game behind the Braves.

The Orioles' signing of a South Korean teenage pitching prospect has prompted Korean baseball officials to consider imposing stricter rules on major league clubs looking to sign the nation's top young talent. Last month, the Orioles signed 17-year-old Kim Seong-min, regarded as South Korea's top left-handed high school pitching prospect, to an international free-agent deal. The move has since drawn outrage from the South Korean baseball community, which claims the Orioles didn't follow the proper measures when signing Kim to a reported $550,000 deal.

On Roger Clemens I'm so sick of this guy and how MLB caters to him. You would think there would be some kind of MLB rule that would stop this. I don't know why this attention hound hasn't done a reality show. He should at least be required to be on someone's 40-man roster at the beginning of the season.

Franchise.. .. .. .. .. .. Total.. ..Operating.. ..Franchise(Amounts in millions).. ..Income.. ..Inc.(Loss)*.. .. .ValueNew York Yankees (MLB).. ..$98.0.. .. ..$24.5.. .. .. $225.0Miami Dolphins (NFL).. .. ..62.4.. .. .. 12.5.. .. .. .205.0Baltimore Orioles (MLB).. ..47.9.. .. .. .9.6.. .. .. .200.0Green Bay Packers (NFL).. ..42.2.. .. .. .5.5.. .. .. .200.0L.A. Dodgers (MLB).. .. .. .64.4.. .. .. .7.6.. .. .. .200.0Los Angeles Lakers (NBA).. .62.2.. .. .. 30.2.. .. .. .200.0New York Mets (MLB)

Major League Baseball is playing hardball on MLB.com - a premier example of the Internet's move from free to fee-based content. If you like your Web free, that's bad news. But if you're a hardcore fan with a streak of geek in you, you might be impressed by how one of sports' bastions of tradition has leveraged the unique capabilities of the Internet this year. Like last year, webcasts of radio play-by-play will cost you - $14.95 this season, up from the $9.95 that baseball charged in its inaugural year in 2001.

Baseball MLB -- Suspended Yankees P Kyle Farnsworth for three games and fined him for throwing a fastball behind the neck of Boston OF Manny Ramirez on Thursday. CUBS -- Recalled OF Matt Murton from Triple-A Iowa. Optioned IF Eric Patterson to Iowa. GIANTS -- Placed P Erick Threets on 15-day DL. Recalled P Keiichi Yabu from Triple-A Fresno.

SUNDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS NASCAR Sprint Cup Goody's Fast Relief 500 45, 5 12:30 IndyCar Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama NBCSP 2 MLB pre. Tampa Bay@Orioles MASN 1 Yankees@Miami MLB 1 White Sox@Cincinnati MLB 4 Tampa Bay@Orioles (T) MASN 5:30 C. base. Army@Navy CBSSN Noon W. bask. NCAA semi.: UConn vs. Notre Dame ESPN 6:30 NCAA semi.: Baylor vs. Stanford ESPN 9 NBA Chicago@Oklahoma City 2, 7 1 Miami@Boston 2, 7 3:30 Washington@Toronto CSN 6 Denver@Orlando NBA 6 Minnesota@Portland NBA 9 PGA Shell Houston Open: final rd. GOLF 1 Shell Houston Open: final rd. 11, 4 3 LPGA Kraft Nabisco Champ.: final rd. GOLF 4:30 NHL Philadelphia@Pittsburgh 11, 4 12:30 Boston@Rangers NBCSP 7 M. lax. Big City: Duke vs. Syracuse ESPNU 4 Big City: Johns Hopkins vs. N. Carolina ESPNU 6:30 W. soccer Japan vs. United States ESPN2 6:25 a.m. M. soccer Serie A: Inter Milan vs. Genoa FSC 9 a.m. Premier: Tottenham vs. Swansea City FSC 11 a.m. ATP Sony Ericsson Open: final ...

Relocation timeline Key events in the quest to return Major League Baseball to Washington: Sept. 30, 1971: The Senators play their last game in Washington before the team moves to Texas to become the Rangers. December 1973: Giant Food president Joseph Danzanksy announces a deal to buy the San Diego Padres and move them to Washington for the 1974 season. The deal falls through when McDonald's founder Ray Kroc outbids Danzansky and keeps the team in San Diego. July 1991: Baseball expands, but passes over D.C. in favor of Miami and Denver.