David Ortiz smiles when he thinks of Dustin Pedroia. This isn’t an unusual reaction. Pedroia’s teammates marvel at his energy and respect his work ethic. They appreciate his professionalism and how he’s one of those players who treats every game like it might be his last.

Mike Trout said he’s not bothered by receiving just a $20,000 raise after his Rookie of the Year season, but the question is whether this will hurt the Angels’ chances of signing him to a long-term extension.

For Todd Helton, this Spring Training is already special. Just how special it is could be dictated by how the season goes, and by what comes after as the Rockies veteran’s career draws to a close.

A year ago, Javy Guerra came to Spring Training as the Dodgers’ closer. This spring, he’s fighting to stay in the Major Leagues. That’s what can happen when you get hit in the face with a line drive, have knee surgery, strain an oblique muscle and have shoulder surgery, all while your father is undergoing and recovering from emergency heart surgery.

If Major League Baseball wants to continue to stiffen its policy on drug testing, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia will fully endorse it.

Looking for a way to stun the baseball world and beat Cuba should seem like a monumental task for China manager John McLaren and his team. But compared to their true ambition, Monday’s game is just the first step to something far more substantial.

Cubs pitcher Matt Garza experienced some lingering mild tightness in his strained left lat and has been shut down for one week, and he will most likely miss the first month of the regular season.

It is never an enjoyable task to dig into a batter’s box on a 45-degree morning. Having to take those swings against Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera makes it even more of a chore.

An inflamed right elbow ligament has forced Rafael Furcal to cease all baseball activity indefinitely and leaves the Cardinals with growing uncertainty about their shortstop situation just four weeks before Opening Day.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum named right-hander Jeff Samardzija as his pick to begin the season April 1 against the Pirates.

Yankees outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was uninjured when his car collided with another vehicle on Saturday evening, according to the New York Post.

Six shutout innings from Chien-Ming Wang and timely hits from sluggers Cheng-Min Peng and Chih-Sheng Lin helped Chinese Taipei to a comfortable 4-1 win against Australia in the 2013 World Baseball on Saturday.

The Houston Cougars almost gave this one away. After a Cougars fielding error loaded the bases for Texas A&M in the bottom of the ninth with two outs in a one-run game, Chase Wellbrock struck out Troy Stein swinging to end the game. The preserved a 7-6 Houston victory in the third and final game on Friday, the first of three days of the Astros Foundation College Classic.

It is only two Grapefruit League starts, but Red Sox manager John Farrell already sees signs that ace Jon Lester is positioning himself for a bounce-back season.

The way Mike Napoli’s Grapefruit League season started on Friday night was almost comical. For all the attention paid to Napoli’s move to first base, not to mention his hip condition, it was only fitting that the very first pitch of the game presented him with a test.

Ford “Moon” Mullen, who became the oldest living Phillie when pitcher Freddy Schmidt died last fall, passed away on Thursday night. The resident of Stanwood, Wash., celebrated his 96th birthday with family and friends on Feb. 9.

Davey Johnson was asked, half-jokingly, if infielder Anthony Rendon had a chance to make the Nationals’ roster out of Spring Training.