When Dodgers pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training on Saturday, manager Don Mattingly had some discouraging news about outfielder Matt Kemp

Carl Pavano learned baseball’s fundamentals from guys like Curt Schilling until it finally paid off. Sixteen years later after his MLB debut, Pavano was instructing kids ages 6-16 at the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) Legends for Youth baseball clinic series Saturday morning at Marlins Park.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley’s reconstructed right elbow is feeling so good just nine months after Tommy John surgery that he must caution against pushing the rehabilitation process too quickly.

The Indians and reliever Vinnie Pestano each presented their case before an arbitration panel on Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla., in an effort to determine the pitcher’s salary for the 2014 season. Pestano lost, meaning the right-hander will earn $975,000 this year.

National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, the presumed Opening Day starter for the Dodgers, said he’s already started researching the challenges of the 14-hour trans-Pacific flight for that Australian series against the D-backs.

The biggest position-player battle for the D-backs this spring is at shortstop, with Didi Gregorius, Chris Owings and Cliff Pennington vying for playing time.

The D-backs did not officially announce the signing of free agent Bronson Arroyo on Saturday because the right-hander still must undergo a physical exam, but his new teammates expressed their approval of the move.

Mets starter Matt Harvey, who underwent Tommy John surgery in October, hopes to begin throwing a baseball again before the end of February, though it remains unlikely he’ll be able to pitch in the big leagues this season.

The Perth Heat defeated the Canberra Cavalry, 2-1, on Saturday to secure the 2013/2014 Australian Baseball League championship, Perth’s third in the last four seasons.

The Cuban team was the first team eliminated from the Caribbean Series this week, managing to win only one of its four first-round games. Cuba had won seven Caribbean titles from 1949-60 before Fidel Castro issued a ban against participating in the tournament. That ban was finally lifted this year. Cuban officials believe they are victims of the defection of so many players who aspire for a chance to play in the big leagues.

Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka has obtained a work visa and will meet the media at a Yankee Stadium news conference Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET.

When Yoenis Cespedes speaks of his future, he sometimes mentions his desire to explore free agency when his contract expires after the 2015 season. So it was something of a surprise when he made it known on Friday that he’s interested in adding a couple of years to his current contract, just hours after teammate Coco Crisp’s two-year extension with a vesting option for 2017 was announced.

And then there were three. With free-agent right-hander Bronson Arroyo agreeing Friday to a two-year deal with the D-backs that includes a club option, the remaining big-name starters on the market are A.J. Burnett, Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez.

Always boasting solid pitching, the Padres should be complemented by a stronger offense in 2014.

The A’s have signed outfielder Coco Crisp to a two-year deal that extends through the 2016 season with a vesting option for 2017. The 34-year-old leadoff man will be entering his 13th Major League season this spring.

After dialing down his motion and emotion on the mound last year, right-hander Tyler Chatwood has the Rockies a little more excited about their rotation going into 2014.

Friday was Josh Collmenter’s 28th birthday and the D-backs right-hander was exactly where he wanted to be as Arizona’s pitchers and catchers went through their first workout of the spring.