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2B – Daily News – Wednesday, March 31, 2010 American League West Preview Capsules AL Los Angeles Oakland Angels 2009: 97-65, first place. Manager: Mike Scioscia He’s Here: DH Hideki Matsui, RH Joel Pineiro, RH Fernando Rod- ney. He’s Outta Here: RH John Lackey, INF Chone Figgins, OF Vladimir Guerrero, OF Gary Matthews Jr. Projected Lineup: SS Erick Aybar, RF Bobby Abreu, 1B Kendry Morales, CF Torii Hunter, DH Hideki Matsui, LF Juan Rivera, 2B Howie Kendrick, 3B Brandon Wood, C Mike Napoli. Rotation: RH Jered Weaver, LH Joe Saunders, RH Joel Pineiro, LH Scott Kazmir, RH Ervin San- tana. Key Relievers: LH Brian Fuentes, RH Scot Shields, RH Fer- nando Rodney, RH Jason Bulger, RH Kevin Jepsen. Bottom Line: The Angels are hoping Wood reaches his consid- erable potential and fills the vacancy left by Chone Figgins, who went to Seattle for a lucra- tive free-agent contract. Wood’s minor league prowess hasn’t translated to the majors. Maicer Izturis could take over if Wood or Kendrick struggles early. Los Angeles’ rotation is largely set, and the bullpen should get a boost from Rodney, the former Detroit closer. He should push Fuentes, the prolific closer who occasionally struggled down the stretch. Stat Sheet: The Angels lost ace John Lackey to a big- money deal in Boston, but he made just 51 starts over the past two seasons due to injuries. After a handful of major changes, the Angels will pursue their sixth AL West title in seven seasons with a nucleus that’s mostly the same as last season’s steady, offensively spectacular club. World Series MVP Matsui appears to be an excellent replacement for former AL MVP Guerrero, while Weaver has the mentality and tal- ent to become the Angels’ ace after Lackey’s departure. Although the rest of the division has improved, Scioscia rarely fielded an unimpressive team during his first decade on the Angels’ bench, and this collec- tion should be in the hunt again. Athletics 2009: 75- 87, fourth place. Man- ager: Bob Geren He’ s Here: RH Ben Sheets, OF Coco Crisp, 3B Kevin Kouz- manoff, INF Jake Fox, INF Adam Rosales, OF Gabe Gross, RH Edwar Ramirez. He’s Outta Here: INF Bobby Crosby, INF Nomar Garciaparra, INF Adam Kennedy, RH Santiago Casilla, OF Aaron Cunningham, OF Scott Hairston. Projected Lineup: CF Coco Crisp, LF Rajai Davis, RF Ryan Sweeney, DH Jack Cust, C Kurt Suzuki, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, 1B Daric Barton or Eric Chavez, 2B Mark Ellis, SS Cliff Penning- ton. Rotation: RH Ben Sheets, RH Justin Duchscherer, LH Brett Anderson, LH Dallas Braden, RH Trevor Cahill, RH Vin Mazzaro or LH Gio Gonzalez if Duchscherer is hurt. Key Relievers: RH Andrew Bailey, RH Brad Ziegler, RH Michael Wuertz, LH Craig Bres- low. Bottom Line: Sheets and Duchscherer missed all of last season with injuries. If they return to their All-Star form, the A’s will have one of the league’s stronger rotations. But Sheets has struggled mightily in the spring and Duchscherer is likely to open the season on the DL. Crisp and Chavez also are com- ing off injury-plagued years and are being counted on to help an offense that was ninth in the league in runs scored. Davis’ 41 steals were the most for an A’s player since Ricky Henderson in 1998. After making the playoffs four straight years from 2000- 03, the A’s have been back to the postseason just once in the last six campaigns. They hope they hit rock bottom last year, when they had their most losses since losing 88 games in 1998. While the health questions surrounding the veteran pitchers are impor- tant, the key to the rebuilding process will be if the young pitchers like Anderson and Cahill can be as good as the vaunted Big Three of Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito were a decade ago. Seattle Mariners 2009: 85- 77, third place. Man- ager: Don Wakamatsu He’ s Here: LH Cliff Lee, 2B Chone Figgins, OF Milton Bradley, 1B Casey Kotchman, RH Brandon League, OF Eric Byrnes, 1B-DH Ryan Garko. He’s Outta Here: 3B Adrian Beltre, 1B Russell Branyan, C Kenji Johjima, OF Bill Hall, INF Jack Hannahan, RH Brandon Morrow, RH Chris Jakubauskas, RH Miguel Batista, RH Carlos Silva, RH Randy Messenger. Projected Lineup: RF Ichiro Suzuki, 2B Chone Figgins, 3B Jose Lopez, LF Milton Bradley, CF Franklin Gutierrez, DH Ken Griffey Jr., 1B Casey Kotchman, C Rob Johnson, SS Jack Wilson. Rotation: RH Felix Hernan- dez, LH Cliff Lee, LH Ryan Row- land-Smith, RH Ian Snell, LH Justin Vargas. Key Relievers: RH David Aardsma, RH Brandon League, RH Mark Lowe, RH Sean White. Bottom Line: The Mariners drove sabermetric fans batty by overcoming an anemic offense to finish with a winning record. The reason was pitching and defense. Seattle led the AL in ERA last season (3.87), then added Lee, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2008 with Cleveland. The Mariners are so devoid of power that Kotchman could become the No. 3 hitter despite never hitting more than 12 homers in a season. After adding Lee, Figgins and Kotchman, locking up Hernan- dez for $78 million and bring- ing back Griffey to keep the clubhouse rollicking, anything less than a first playoff appear- ance since 2001 would be a huge disappointment. The Mariners have enough pitching and defense to beat anyone — but will they get enough offense to win the division? Bradley already is proving to be a huge risk, getting ejected from two recent spring games for run-ins with umpires. Sec- ond-year general manager Jack Zduriencik’s rebuilding plan is moving along quite nicely. It may just be enough for Octo- ber baseball in Seattle. Texas Rangers 2009: 87- 75, second place. Man- ager: Ron Washington He’ s Here: OF- DH Vladimir Guerrero, RH Rich Harden, RH Colby Lewis, LH Darren Oliver, RH Chris Ray. He’s Outta Here: OF Marlon Byrd, RH Kevin Millwood, C Ivan Rodriguez, INF Hank Blalock, DH Andruw Jones, INF Omar Vizquel, LH Eddie Guardado, LH Jason Grilli. Projected Lineup: CF Julio Borbon, 3B Michael Young, LF Josh Hamilton, DH Vladimir Guerrero, 2B Ian Kinsler, RF Nel- son Cruz, 1B Chris Davis, C Jar- rod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus. Rotation: RH Rich Harden, RH Scott Feldman, RH Colby Lewis, LH C.J. Wilson, LH Matt Harrison. Key Relievers: RH Frank Francisco, RH Darren O’Day, LH Darren Oliver, RH Chris Ray, RH Dustin Nippert, RH Neftali Feliz. Bottom Line: With the Rangers coming off only their second winning record in 10 sea- sons, good for second place in the division, team president and pending part-owner Nolan Ryan has set the bar for this year at 92 victories. Some reasons for Ryan’s optimism: Young and Hamilton are healthy after both missed most of the final month last season; Guerrero has some- thing to prove after not being re- signed by the Angels; and Hard- en now heads up the rotation. But the Rangers are depending on several youngsters, including Borbon leading off and playing center field, and the back end of the rotation is unsettled. It also appears that every team in the division has improved. Washing- ton is going into the final year of his contract and has survived some slow starts in the past. The manager likely won’t have as much leeway this time because of the expectations for the team. There was also the revelation this spring that Washington last summer used cocaine — he says only one time. The Rangers knew about his indiscretion, sticking with him then and again when it became public. MLB Spring Training Glance AMERICAN LEAGUE WL Pct Tampa Bay 18 7 .720 Cleveland 16 8 .667 Detroit 15 10 .600 Minnesota 14 11 .560 Kansas City 13 11 .542 Boston 13 14 .481 New York 12 14 .462 Toronto 10 12 .455 A’s Angels 11 14 .440 9 14 .391 Baltimore 10 16 .385 Seattle 10 16 .385 Chicago 9 15 .375 Texas 9 16 .360 NATIONALLEAGUE WL Pct GIANTS 20 10 .667 Atlanta 16 9 .640 Chicago 16 9 .640 Padres 17 10 .630 St. Louis 14 11 .560 Colorado 15 12 .556 Philadelphia 12 11 .522 Houston 13 12 .520 Florida 13 13 .500 Milwaukee 13 13 .500 New York 13 13 .500 Dodgers 11 12 .478 Arizona 12 15 .444 Cincinnati 9 15 .375 Washington 8 18 .308 Pittsburgh 7 17 .292 NOTE:Split-squad games count in the stand- ings;games against non-major league teams do not. ——— Tuesday’s results Chicago Cubs 5, San Francisco 3 Chicago White Sox 2, Oakland 0 Atlanta 9, N.Y.Yankees (ss) 6 Colorado 3, L.A. Dodgers 1 Detroit 10, Baltimore 9 Florida 9, Washington 5 Houston 5, Philadelphia 2 Kansas City 7, Cleveland 2 L.A. Angels 1, Milwaukee 1, tie, 10 innings Minnesota 4, Pittsburgh 1 N.Y.Yankees (ss) 5, Toronto 3 San Diego 7, Cincinnati 5 St. Louis 9, N.Y.Mets 4 Tampa Bay 9, Boston 9, tie Texas 4, Arizona 2 Today’s Grapefruit League games Boston vs Baltimore, 10:05 a.m. Houston vs Atlanta, 10:05 a.m. Minnesota(ss) vs Yankees, 10:05 a.m., ESPN Pittsburgh vs Detroit, 10:05 a.m. Tampa Bay vs Minnesota (ss), 10:05 a.m. Toronto vs Philadelphia, 10:05 a.m. Washington vs St. Louis, 10:05 a.m. Florida vs N.Y. Mets, 10:10 a.m. Today’s Cactus League games Cincinnati vs Oakland, 1:05 p.m. San Francisco vs L.A. Dodgers, 1:05 p.m. Kansas City vs San Diego, 12:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (ss) vs Milwaukee, 1:05 p.m. L.A. Angels vs Chicago Cubs (ss), 1:05 p.m. Seattle vs Texas, 1:05 p.m. Arizona vs Colorado, 1:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox vs Cleveland, 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati vs L.A. Dodgers at Las Vegas, Nev., 7:05 p.m. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB x-Lakers 54 20 .730 — x-Phoenix 48 26 .649 6 Clippers 27 47 .365 27 KINGS 24 51 .320 30.5 WARRIORS 21 52 .288 32.5 Southwest Division WL Pct GB x-Dallas 49 25 .662 — San Antonio 44 29 .603 4.5 Memphis 38 35 .521 10.5 Houston 37 36 .507 11.5 New Orleans35 40 .467 14.5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB x-Utah 49 26 .653 — x-Denver 48 27 .640 1 Okla. City 45 28 .616 3 Portland 45 29 .608 3.5 Minnesota 14 60 .189 34.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB y-Boston 47 26 .644 — Toronto 36 37 .493 11 New York 26 47 .356 21 Philadelphia 26 48 .351 21.5 New Jersey 10 64 .135 37.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB x-Orlando 52 22 .703 — x-Atlanta 47 26 .644 4.5 Miami 40 34 .541 12 Charlotte 38 35 .521 13.5 Washington 21 52 .288 30.5 Central Division WL Pct GB y-Cleveland 58 16 .784 — Milwaukee 41 32 .562 16.5 Chicago 35 39 .473 23 Indiana 28 47 .373 30.5 Detroit 23 50 .315 34.5 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ——— Tuesday’s results Indiana 102, Sacramento 95 Houston 98, Washington 94 Milwaukee 107, L.A. Clippers 89 Oklahoma City 111, Philadelphia 93 Phoenix 111, Chicago 105 Today’s games Sacramento at Minnesota, 5 p.m.,CSNCA Golden State at Utah, 7 p.m.,CSNBA L.A. Clippers at Toronto, 4 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Cleveland, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Miami at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Phoenix at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at Memphis, 5 p.m. Washington at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Houston at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. New York at Portland, 7 p.m. NIT At Madison Square Garden, New York Semifinals — Tuesday’s results Dayton 68, Mississippi 63 North Carolina 68, Rhode Island 67, OT Championship — Thursday Dayton vs North Carolina, 4 p.m. CBI Championship Series (Best-of-3) Virginia Commonwealth leads 1-0 Game 2 — Wednesday Virginia Commonwealth at Saint Louis, 5 p.m. Scoreboard CIT Championship — Tuesday’s result Missouri State 78, Pacific 65 WOMENSNCAA DAYTONREGIONAL At University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio Regional Championship — Tuesday’s result Connecticut 90, Florida State 50 KANSASCITYREGIONAL At Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo. Regional Championship — Tuesday’s result Oklahoma 88, Kentucky 68 FINALFOUR At Alamodome, San Antonio National Semifinals — Sunday Connecticut vs.Baylor Stanford vs. Oklahoma National Championship — Tuesday Semifinal winners NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-SHARKS 47 19 10 104 247 198 x-Phoenix 47 23 6 100 210 187 Kings Central Division Anaheim 36 31 8 80 211 227 Dallas 43 27 6 92 220 202 33 29 14 80 216 238 WL OT Pts GF GA x-Chicago 46 22 7 99 243 195 Nashville 44 28 6 94 214 214 Detroit 40 23 13 93 212 201 St. Louis 37 30 9 83 207 207 Columbus 32 32 13 77 208 246 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 45 26 4 94 244 195 Colorado 41 27 7 89 225 207 Calgary 38 29 9 85 194 193 Minnesota 37 33 6 80 208 226 Edmonton 24 45 7 55 194 260 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Pittsburgh 44 25 7 95 237 217 x-New Jersey 44 26 6 94 203 184 Philadelphia 38 32 6 82 221 210 N.Y.Rangers 34 32 10 78 201 206 N.Y.Islanders 31 35 10 72 199 236 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Buffalo 42 23 10 94 215 189 Ottawa 42 30 5 89 210 220 Montreal 37 31 8 82 204 208 Boston 35 29 12 82 191 189 Toronto 28 36 13 69 204 253 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA z-Washington 49 15 12 110 296 219 Atlanta 34 31 12 80 227 242 Carolina 32 35 9 73 210 236 Florida 30 33 12 72 195 220 Tampa Bay 30 34 12 72 199 240 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. x-clinched playoff spot z-clinched conference Tuesday’s results Atlanta 3, Toronto 2 Boston 1, New Jersey 0, OT Columbus 3, Tampa Bay 2 Detroit 5, Edmonton 4 Los Angeles 2, Nashville 0 N.Y. Rangers 4, N.Y. Islanders 3 Ottawa 5, Washington 4, OT St. Louis 4, Chicago 2 Phoenix at Vancouver, late Today’s games San Jose at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.,CSNCA Carolina at Montreal, 4 p.m. Florida at Buffalo, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Anaheim at Colorado, 6 p.m. Phoenix at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Monday’s late result Anaheim 3, Dallas 1 NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Greg Biffle 3. Matt Kenseth 4.Kevin Harvick 5. Jeff Burton 6.Kurt Busch 7. Jeff Gordon 8.Tony Stewart 9. Clint Bowyer 898 884 882 837 785 776 773 770 747 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 739 11.Paul Menard 12. Brian Vickers 13. Joey Logano 14. Carl Edwards 15.Denny Hamlin 16.Kyle Busch 17. Mark Martin 18. Martin Truex Jr. 620 616 735 734 728 727 710 703 684 668 19. Jamie McMurray 654 20. Kasey Kahne 21. Scott Speed 22.Ryan Newman 612 23. Elliott Sadler 574 24.David Reutimann 568 25. Juan Pablo Montoya 563. 26. AJ Allmendinger 559 27. Brad Keselowski 551 27.David Ragan 551 29. Marcos Ambrose 543 30.Sam Hornish Jr. 516 31.Bobby Labonte 32. Regan Smith 33.Travis Kvapil 34.David Gilliland 35.Robby Gordon 36. Mike Bliss 37.Kevin Conway 38.Max Papis 39. Boris Said 40.Joe Nemechek 41.Dave Blaney 44. Aric Almirola 45. Michael Waltrip 46.David Stremme 47. Casey Mears 504 495 493 453 407 364 344 290 252 251 235 42. Michael McDowell 209 43. Bill Elliott 202 154 149 143 73 48. Robert Richardson Jr. 70 49.Terry Cook 50. John Andretti 52 49 Upcoming Schedule April 10 — Subway Fresh Fit 600, Avondale, Ariz. April 18 — Samsung Mobile 500, Fort Worth, Texas April 25 — Aaron’s 499, Talladega, Ala. May 1 — Crown Royal Presents The Heath Cal- houn 400, Richmond, Va. May 8 — Southern 500, Darlington, S.C. May 16 — Autism Speaks 400, Dover, Del. May 22 — x-NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Concord, N.C. (Continued from page 1B) thing but teams trying to improve to get to their ultimate goal, just as we have. Our focus has always been in-house and will continue to be in-house, whether we're playing the 1927 Yankees or we're playing the 1962 Mets." The Angels don't ever expect it to be easy. They should get quite a push from the Mariners and Rangers. "All the upgrades with Seattle taking Chone Figgins away from me, we've got Milton Bradley over there, we've got Griffey, we've got Ichiro, they look really good," Hunter said. "That's something we can't focus on. Texas, they always have a pretty good team. At the same time, we won the division last year. Don't forget that. We still hold the crown and we still play the game the right way. The way Scioscia teaches us the game, it puts us in a great position to win. We're still the team to beat. But I do see the upgrades. I'm not stu- pid." Mariners fans will have to wait to get their first look at new ace Cliff Lee in a Seattle uniform. Not only has he been nursing several nagging injuries — such as a strained abdominal muscle — and recovering from foot surgery that could land him on the disabled list to start the year, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner has been suspended for the first five games. He was penalized for throwing over the head of Arizona's Chris Snyder in a spring training game. No matter who it is, contender or not, a fast start in April is always the hope. "2009 is over and everyone is chasing everyone else," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. KINGS (Continued from page 1B) ing a Kings basket, Indiana scored the next seven points to go ahead 92- 78 with 6 minutes left. The Kings controlled most of the first half, taking their biggest lead at 50-35 on Landry’s basket in the second quarter. Indiana cut the deficit to seven on Solomon Jones’ two free throws late in the period, but Spencer Hawes’ jumper gave Sacramento a 56-47 advantage at the break. The Pacers began the third quar- ter with an 11-2 run to tie the score at 58-all. Granger’s 3-pointer extended the lead to nine later in the period, but the Kings got with- in 73-70 on Landry’s free throw. May 22 — x-Sprint Showdown, Concord, N.C. May 30 — Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C. June 6 — Pocono 500, Long Pond, Pa. June 13 — Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400, Brooklyn, Mich. June 20 — Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif. June 27 — Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Loudon, N.H. July 3 — Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca- Cola, Daytona Beach, Fla. July 10 — LifeLock.com 400, Joliet, Ill. July 25 — Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Aug.1 — Pennsylvania 500, Long Pond, Pa. Aug.8 — Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y. Aug.15 — Carfax 400, Brooklyn, Mich. Aug.21 — Irwin Tools Night Race, Bristol, Tenn. Sep.5 — Labor Day Classic 500, Hampton, Ga. Sep.11 — Richmond 400, Richmond, Va. Sep.19 — Sylvania 300, Loudon, N.H. Sep.26 — AAA 400, Dover, Del. x-non-points race DEALS National Basketball Association WASHINGTON—Signed G-F Cartier Martin to a 10-day contract. National Hockey League NHL—Suspended Philadelphia F Daniel Carcillo two games for delivering a cross check to the head of New Jersey F David Clarkson during Sunday’s game. ANAHEIM—Recalled G J.P. Levasseur from Springfield (AHL). DALLAS—Signed F Sean Backman to a one-year contract. DETROIT—Reassigned RW Willie Coetzee from Red Deer (WHL) to Grand Rapids (AHL). MONTREAL—Reassigned G Robert Mayer to from Cincinnati (ECHL) to Hamilton (AHL). Signed D Brendon Nash to a two-year con- tract. N.Y. RANGERS—Agreed to terms with G Cameron Talbot. PITTSBURGH—Signed D Kris Letang to a four-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season. ST. LOUIS—Signed D Brett Ponich, who will remain with Portland (WHL). TORONTO—Signed F Brayden Irwin to a two-year contract. Major League Soccer SAN JOSE—Signed G Jon Busch. NEW YORK—Signed assistant coach Richie Williams to a contract extension. Major League Baseball American League OAKLAND—Reassigned RHP Jason Jen- nings to their minor league camp. BALTIMORE—Agreed to terms with OF Joey Gathright on a minor league contract. Optioned LHP Alberto Castillo, RHP Chris Tillman and INF Justin Turner to Norfolk (IL). Reassigned C Adam Donachie and OF Jeff Salazar to their minor league camp. CHICAGO—Optioned OF Alejandro De Aza, RHP Daniel Hudson and INF Brent Lillibridge to Charlotte (IL). Reassigned RHP Greg Aquino, LHP Charlie Leesman, C Donny Lucy and LHP Erick Threets to their minor league camp. DETROIT—Optioned INF Brent Dlugach to Toledo (IL). Assigned RHP Josh Rainwater, RHP Robbie Weinhardt, C Robinzon Diaz and INF Jeff Larish to their minor league camp. NEW YORK—Optioned RHP Jonathan Albaladejo, RHP Mark Melancon, INF Juan Miranda, INF Kevin Russo and OF Greg Gol- son to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (IL). TAMPA BAY—Optioned OF Justin Ruggiano to Durham (IL). TORONTO—Optioned LHP Jesse Carlson and LHP David Purcey to Las Vegas (PCL). Assigned OF Jeremy Reed to their minor league camp. National League SAN FRANCISCO—Optioned OF Darren Ford to Richmond (EL) and OF Francisco Peguero to San Jose (Cal). ARIZONA—Optioned RHP Billy Buckner, RHP Kevin Mulvey, 1B Brandon Allen and OF Cole Gillespie to Reno (PCL). Reassigned C Sean Coughlin to their minor league camp. ATLANTA—Announced RHP Juan Abreu cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Myrtle Beach (Carolina). CHICAGO—Optioned INF Micah Hoffpauir and OF Sam Fuld to Iowa (PCL).Assigned C Chris Robinson to their minor league camp. Released INF Kevin Millar. COLORADO—Optioned 2B Eric Young, Jr. to Colorado Springs (PCL). Reassigned C Paul Lo Duca, C Paul Phillips, LHP Matt Reynolds, OF Cole Garner, OF Matt Miller, OF Jay Payton, SS Omar Quintanilla and 1B Michael Paulk to their minor league camp. FLORIDA—Traded LHP Jay Voss to Detroit for LHP Nate Robertson and cash considera- tions. Released RHP Seth McClung. Optioned RHP Rick Vandenhurk and RHP Tim Wood to New Orleans (PCL). HOUSTON—Reassigned C Jason Castro, INF Edwin Maysonet and RHP Wilton Lopez to their minor league camp. MILWAUKEE—Placed RHP Jeff Suppan on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 26. NEW YORK—Optioned INF Nick Evans, OF Jason Pridie and RHP Tobi Stoner to Buffalo (IL). Claimed RHP Manny Acosta off waivers from Atlanta. PITTSBURGH—Reassigned RHP Brian Bass, RHP Vinnie Chulk, RHP Anthony Claggett, RHP Steven Jackson, RHP Jeff Karstens, RHP Jeremy Powell and C Luke Carlin to their minor league camp. ST. LOUIS—Optioned C Matt Pagnozzi to Memphis (PCL). SAN DIEGO—Optioned 2B Matt Antonelli, OF Aaron Cunningham, OF Luis Durango, RHP Ernesto Frieri and C Dusty Ryan to Portland (PCL). Golden League CALGARY—Named Morgan Burkhart man- ager. National Football League OAKLAND—Signed S Hiram Eugene. SAN FRANCISCO—Signed PK Shane Andrus to a one-year contract. MINNESOTA—Signed DE Mike Mont- gomery. PHILADELPHIA—Re-signed CB Ellis Hobbs and LB Chris Gocong to one-year contracts. TENNESSEE—Agreed to terms with CB Tye Hill. College NCAA—Placed the Texas-Pan American men’s basketball program on two years pro- bation for recruiting violations between 2006 and 2008 and the IUPUI on three years pro- bation for a variety of infractions involving all sports. BOSTON COLLEGE—Fired men’s basket- ball coach Al Skinner. PENNSYLVANIA—Named Jerome Allen men’s basketball coach. PITTSBURGH—Signed football coach Dave Wannstedt to a contract extension. TOLEDO—Named Tod Kowalczyk men’s basketball coach. UCLA—Dismissed sophomore C J’mison Morgan from the men’s basketball team. UTEP—Named Tim Floyd men’s basketball coach.