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Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports The Miami Marlins insist it's getting better. The Houston Astros think they actually have tangible evidence of improvement -- sometimes. They're still the [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports The clock is ticking more loudly for some of the top prospects in baseball -- the game allegedly played without a clock. Spring [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Back before interleague play was an everyday occurrence, this was the week baseball focused on something that no longer is a novelty. What [...]

Byline: Paul White; Mike Garafolo Alex Rodriguez doesn't know when he'll be ready to play baseball again. He's not talking about his role in baseball's investigation into the Biogenesis clinic. [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Major League Baseball has made professional sports' strongest statement yet in the battle to detect human growth hormone, but it's a new approach [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports San Diego Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner probably will miss the start of next season after cutting a tendon in the thumb of his [...]

Byline: Bob Nightengale and Paul White Baseball's winter meetings commence today in Nashville, a three-day blitz of smoke, mirrors and actual business. USA TODAY Sports' Bob Nightengale and Paul White [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Skip the debate about whether the better team or the hotter team has the advantage going into the World Series -- the San [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Memo to the San Francisco Giants: Justin Verlander will pitch Game 5 of the World Series. You were in Cincinnati finishing off the [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Teams seldom get this far into October without contributions from players who weren't part of the plan when the season began. And the [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Matt Cain pitched better than Kyle Lohse. Cain also helped give San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy many pitching possibilities going forward in [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports The St. Louis Cardinals are turning brinksmanship into an art form for a second consecutive October. And they're doing it against greater odds. [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Stephen Strasburg was one of the first players out of the Washington Nationals clubhouse Wednesday, just as the news media were pouring in [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Bryce Harper is the most conspicuous of the Washington Nationals' struggling hitters -- 1-for-15 in his first three postseason games, worse than the [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports We'll undoubtedly be reminded today that the Washington Nationals are playing the franchise's first home playoff game since 1981. But a small group [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Jim Johnson dreaded showing up for work Monday and facing his fellow Baltimore Orioles relievers. But it had nothing to do with his [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Manny Machado is a huge career step ahead of his idol -- and that star's idol before him. The rookie has played in [...]

Byline: Paul White, @PBJWhite, USA TODAY Sports Baseball's playoff field is set. So what do we know now that we didn't a few days ago? Here are five things, to [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY It might be a classic case of 'he said, he said,' but there's little doubt Boston Red Sox players have had plenty to say about [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY The Baltimore Orioles have one-upped the Los Angeles Angels in the American League wild-card race. Now if they can be so fortunate with 20-year-old phenoms. [...]

Byline: Paul White General managers, especially those dealing stars Tuesday, will be busy reminding us that trades can't be evaluated for several years, that the progress of the prospects dealt [...]

Byline: Paul White The end of the Philadelphia Phillies as we know them really came Oct. 7, not Tuesday. In retrospect, the shock of the 1-0 Game 5 loss to [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY Josh Beckett cannot be traded without his consent. But increasing buzz about the Boston Red Sox possibly trading the pitcher is another piece of one [...]

USA TODAY Sports' Paul White breaks down two significant weekend trades: The deal: The Minnesota Twins trade left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox for shortstop Eduardo Escobar [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY Matt Wieters says, 'I've never been in that scoreboard-looking-at position.' That's OK. This weekend, those who have the hang of it -- and even are [...]

Byline: Paul White Brian Cashman says the New York Yankees don't need to go looking for a replacement for Alex Rodriguez. Of course, that's what a general manager needs to [...]

Byline: Bob Nightengale, By Jorge L. Ortiz, By Paul White A broken bone, a contract extension and a trade significantly altered baseball's landscape a week before the non-waiver trade deadline. [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY Nick Castellanos is making a good case for playing exclusively in major league ballparks, but a leap all the way to the Hall of Fame [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY It's been a bad week for pitchers' elbows and shoulders and obliques. Several contenders were stricken by pitching injuries, including the Toronto Blue Jays, who [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY It's hard to miss Mike Trout and Bryce Harper these days. If it's not a big hit, it's a throw; if it's not a sprint [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY The Los Angeles Dodgers have been so good this season, Magic has come to mean more than a new, invigorating ownership. That New York team [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY Brett Lawrie received a four-game suspension and undisclosed fine from Major League Baseball on Wednesday, official punishment after he spiked a batting helmet that struck [...]

Byline: Seth Livingstone; Steve Gardner; Paul White In order of predicted finish. Scouts' takes compiled by USA TODAY Sports' Paul White, based on scouts who have watched the teams and [...]

Byline: Paul White SURPRISE, Ariz. ù Yu Darvish showed more flashes of what the Texas Rangers hope to see this season but also reminded everyone Monday that it's still spring [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY The wild card in this offseason's free agent pitching market is Japanese star Yu Darvish, who hasn't yet been made available to major league teams. [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY The Detroit Tigers are better than that. The numbing manner in which they were dispatched from the postseason Saturday was the only regret expressed in [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY They are baseball's longest-running current general manager-manager tandem. They have won one World Series championship together and have an eye on another. One runs the [...]

Byline: Paul White Last year, antlers caught the fancy of Texas Rangers fans. This year, it's a mustache. At least that's what Rangers pitcher Derek Holland calls what might be [...]

Byline: Paul White Their best asset: Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are the only National League teammates both over .950 in OPS. Braun, a right-handed hitter, bats third. Fielder, a [...]

Byline: Paul White Their best asset: Suddenly, the American League has a playoff team that could go head-to-head with the Philadelphia Phillies rotation. This year's Rays rotation has allowed fewer [...]

Byline: Paul White Their best asset: The offense is relentless. The only sub-.260 hitter among regulars is second baseman Ian Kinsler, and he hit 32 homers. The Rangers are the [...]

Byline: Paul White Their best asset: Pitching, pitching and more pitching -- that's exactly what it feels like to opponents. The stacked rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY The Detroit Tigers are working on eliminating American League Central contenders one at a time, while the Arizona Diamondbacks are quickly running out of opposition [...]

Byline: Paul White, USA TODAY David Ortiz is at the center of attention again, and everyone is noticing -- from the Boston Red Sox to the Minnesota Twins (his latest [...]

Byline: Paul White The real question in the AL Central when the Cleveland Indians started 20-8 was not if they could continue winning 71% of their games -- of course [...]

Byline: Paul White Top Royals prospects at a glance (excluding players who are in the majors): *OF Lorenzo Cain, 25: Could have been the Royals center fielder if not for [...]

Byline: Paul White That Joakim Soria has lost his closer's job with the Kansas City Royals hardly is a shock, considering his most recent blown save Monday was his fifth [...]

Byline: Paul White TORONTO -- As Jose Bautista hits line drive after line drive, enough of them clearing fences to put the reigning major league home run champion on top [...]

Byline: Paul White Barely a month into the season, 70 rookie pitchers have appeared in major league games. Some of the best: *Brandon Beachy, Atlanta Braves: He won a spirited [...]

Byline: Paul White TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Los Angeles Angels have heard the criticism they didn't upgrade their offense with a major free agent signing. But the solution could be [...]