The Mariners have told third baseman Adrian Beltre that he cannot play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. The team doesn't believe that he has fully recovered from surgeries in September to repair a ligament in his left thumb and to remove bone spurs from his left, non-throwing shoulder. "Yes, we took the decision [away]," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "We need this player, and we need this player badly, to be competitive this year. "I feel bad about it. I know how badly he wanted to play. As I said all along, I would support him -- as long as he was healthy. ... If he's not right at 100 percent, then we as an organization couldn't afford to have a setback."

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is scheduled to meet with investigators for Major League Baseball on Sunday. The investigators want to find out more information from Rodriguez regarding how he obtained performance-enhancing drugs and whether or not his supplier had access to team clubhouses.

Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young is apparently a supporter of the struggling Detroit Lions. He was seen leaving the team's spring training stadium wearing a Lions T-shirt that said "0-16."

The Phillies have released pitcher Adam Eaton, who they owe $9 million in salary. Eaton was 4-8 with a 5.80 ERA and a .310 opponents' batting average in 21 appearances last season. "Based on where we are with our pitching staff and the fact that we feel comfortable with our depth, we wanted to give Adam every opportunity to pitch with another club, rather than wait until later in the spring when it gets more difficult," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro said.

Team USA manager Davey Johnson was hoping that Alex Rodriguez would opt to play for his team at next month's World Baseball Classic in hopes of meeting Madonna. "The only thing is I was upset about, Alex not, you know, being on my club," Johnson said Thursday, "I'm Madonna's fan. I was hoping she'd show up." Rodriguez played for Team USA three years ago, but opted to play for the Dominican Republic this time around. "I heard the reason he chose is his mother wanted him to play for the Dominican. So, I understood that," Johnson said. "I mean, it's not like, there's a huge drop-off. I mean, Chipper Jones and David Wright, those are great -- I mean, I'm tickled to death to have those guys. I think that's his preference and that was his choice, and I respect that. That's fine."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi was happy with the progress that pitcher Phil Hughes showed in his spring debut on Thursday. Hughes hit his first two batters, but threw 22 of 33 pitches for strikes. "Pretty good," Girardi said of the performance. "I know he nipped a couple of guys, but he threw strikes. He threw his curveballs for some strikes, mixed in his changeup. I thought he had good downhill plane on his fastball. For the first time out, I thought he did pretty well." Hughes threw two scoreless innings, striking out two batters. "I've always said this, that I put the most pressure on myself to do well over anyone," Hughes said. "So I'm always going to have those expectations. Whether other people have expectations or not, that has no bearing on what I do. I always have the bar set very high and I'm always trying to meet that."

Nationals general manager Jim Bowden's job is in jeopardy, according to both team and league sources. A portion of the team's ownership group is reportedly pushing for the team to fire Bowden because of a federal investigation of his dealings with prospects in the Dominican Republic. The club's recent struggles are also being considered.

Mets pitcher Johan Santana was scratched from his scheduled start Friday with left elbow stiffness, but he should be able to make an appearance on Tuesday. "It takes time to get loose and everything, but I mean, I don't think it's a big deal right now," Santana said Thursday. "It's just part of my routine that I always go through."

Bobby Evans, the Giants' vice president of baseball operations, has said all spring that a multi-year deal for Tim Lincecum could be explored later but was not a high priority this spring. Lincecum's agent, Rick Thurman, said that was fine and his client will make $650,000 in 2009. "If they come to us and talk about a multiyear deal, we'll certainly listen," Thurman said. "But it wasn't a big part of our conversation." "I think it's fair what I got," said Lincecum. "I'm not saying I got gypped at all. I'm happy with what I got. Now I've just to live up to that expectation. You see pay increases and you expect results. That's what happens from the fan standpoint. Now I've just got to push it, I guess."

Lou Piniella was adamant on Thursday that he didn't push Mark DeRosa out of Chicago. "I never had a problem," he said. "I liked the guy on the team. So did Jim (Hendry). So did everybody. Look, sometimes you have to do things you really don't want to do, but you do them." DeRosa replied "I don't know" when the question was posed to him by a Sun-Times columnist in an article that suggested the two never "hit it off." "How can they say that? That I didn't 'hit it off' with him?" Piniella asked. "Is that how he felt? I had nothing but respect for Mark. He played exceedingly well. I used him all over. I think he had his best season playing for me. "I don't call players after they're traded. I don't make a habit of that. I talk to them when I see them in spring and the following summer. When I leave, nobody calls and tells me that 'I feel bad that you're not managing the team,' or whatever. Look, this is a situation where the move had to be made. I saw it on the ticker tape in Colorado while I was skiiing. "There's so much payroll that you can have on a major league team. And the decision was made. They got three young pitchers for him. The thing about players, whether they're traded or whatever -- a manager is a manager. He manages what he has on the team. Sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to to do. But I never had any problems with him. I told their bullpen coach the other day to tell (Cleveland manager) Eric Wedge, 'No trips to Tucson for (DeRosa).'"