Shortstop Hanley Ramirez believes in the direction of the Marlins even though the team parted ways with a number of key players this offseason. "They know what they're doing," Ramirez told LasMayores.com, MLB.com's Spanish Web site. "It's a franchise that has won two World Series. It's a good front office, and the team they've built will be strong."

Lisa Guerrero of the Los Angeles Times spoke with an unnamed player that agreed with Joe Torre's accusations in "The Yankee Years" that Alex Rodriguez "is a jerk." "Look, Alex is a jerk. Torre's insights are probably 100% accurate about how his teammates feel about him, but there's no reason to air that dirty laundry in a book," the player told Guerrero.

More nuggets are beginning to reveal themselves from Joe Torre's upcoming book, "The Yankee Years." The former manager believes that Mariano Rivera is to blame for the team's collapse against the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS. Torre, and co-author Tom Verducci, suggest it all turned on Rivera's misguided attempts to pick pinch-runner Dave Roberts off first near the end of Game 4 in Boston. Roberts, who came in to pinch run, was thought to be stiff and chill. But after Rivera repeatedly threw over to first base, "something unintended and important had happened ... Roberts' was now warm and his legs were loose. Rivera had done him a favor." Roberts would score the winning run and help Boston force a Game 5 in a series that the Red Sox would win with four straight victories.

About 40 people participated in a rally outside the Mets television studios in Manhattan on Thursday night in an effort to persuade the team to sign Manny Ramirez. "He's got the skill set we need, and the attitude and swagger to play in New York," said Justin Killian, a 36-year-old lawyer who helped organize the rally. "He'll be like the rain man, just go up and hit."

The Worcester Tornadoes offered Manny Ramirez a two-year, $24,000 contract this week. The deal would pay Ramirez $3,000 per month during the season; he earned $110,000 a day last season.

David Wells doesn't pull any punches, and has blasted former Yankee manager Joe Torre in the aftermath of his soon-to-be released book. Wells was asked by Michael Kay on 1050 ESPN Radio on Thursday afternoon what he'd say to Torre about the book. "I'd probably just knock him out," Wells laughed. "I probably wouldn't say anything. I'd probably laugh at him. It's easy to say things when you leave."

Veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay has played for five teams in his 11-year career and didn't find the free agency process to be pleasurable this winter. "I've never left a team on my own," Kotsay told MLB.com. Kotsay has been traded four times, but he was eligible for free agency for the first time this offseason. He re-signed with the Red Sox for $1.5 million even though he's not guaranteed a job. "There were never any [other offers] made. Not legitimate offers, anyway," Kotsay said. "From the standpoint of being a free agent the first time, it was not a pleasurable experience by any means."

Mike Mussina doesn't believe that the drama surrounding Joe Torre's upcoming book The Yankee Years will hurt the team this season. Torre criticized Alex Rodriguez in the book. "He's the best player that I've had a chance to play with," Mussina said of Rodriguez. "And he works hard at it, and if he sat around and worried about everything that happened, he wouldn't be able to be the player that he is. "I was in that clubhouse for eight years. I've seen a lot of stuff go on. A lot of stories go out. I've seen Alex deal with a lot of things, this past year and in other years. I don't foresee this as being a major issue." Mussina also said that any negative references or names for A-Rod were probably all in fun. "What goes on in the clubhouse and teammates razzing or giving each other a hard time doesn't necessarily mean we're cutting into people," Mussina said. "Did I ever hear anybody call him that? It's possible. But that doesn't mean it's meant in a harsh way. We're stuck together for six months, and we're trying to have fun with each other and get people motivated. I don't look at that as something that's nasty. Yeah, maybe it was wrong, but it's what guys do."

The New York Times Co. is still employing Goldman Sachs to help explore a sale of its stake in the company that owns the Red Sox. The company holds a 17.8 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures, which owns Red Sox as well as Fenway Park, a portion of a cable sports network, and other properties.

Joe Torre made his first public comments about the firestorm that his pending book his created on Tuesday afternoon. "I'm comfortable with what I contributed to the book even though I'm probably going to get more credit or more blame than I deserve, whichever way you want to look at it," Torre told the New York Times. In the book, co-authored by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, Torre claims that teammates called Alex Rodriguez 'A-Fraud' and that the third baseman was a huge prima donna. "I don't think I said anything about A-Rod that I didn't say already," Torre added on Tuesday.