Minority

PHOENIX - Shortly after the Dodgers announced they had optioned Yasiel Puig to their double-A affiliate in Chattanooga, Tenn., Manager Don Mattingly was jokingly asked if he knew what ever happened to the high school basketball coach who cut Michael Jordan. "We're going to be Dean Smith, who enhanced his fundamentals," a smiling Mattingly said, referring to Jordan's coach at the University of North Carolina. Puig, 22, was the revelation of this camp, as he batted a Cactus League-leading .526 with three home runs, 11 runs batted in and four stolen bases.

PHOENIX - Minority owner Magic Johnson visited the Dodgers for the first time this spring and spoke to players in a team meeting Friday morning. "To sum up the whole meeting, it was basically about winning," outfielder Carl Crawford said. "Everybody knows Magic is a winner. " During the hourlong meeting, Johnson took questions from players. "I thought that would be fun," Johnson said. "It was amazing. " Johnson said he was asked about how his Lakers teams approached road games.

PHOENIX -- Encouraged by how his elbow felt Wednesday in his first game in nearly three weeks, Zack Greinke said he thought he could be ready to pitch at the start of the regular season. “I hope so,” Greinke said. “My arm felt really good today. It felt strong.” Greinke faced Chicago White Sox minor league players for four innings, throwing 43 pitches and facing one batter more than the minimum. He gave up a single, hit a batter and induced a double play. “I wasn't perfect,” he said.

— Sail a few throws into left field, bounce a few to second base, and suddenly there's a new guy in the clubhouse poised to take your job. That's the cold, hard reality for Angels catcher Hank Conger , whose throwing woes prompted the Angels to sign veteran catcher Chris Snyder to a minor league deal Monday, a move that will probably push Conger, a first-round pick in 2006, to triple-A Salt Lake, where he has spent most of the last three years....

TEMPE, Ariz. - Bill Lachemann was on the same Dorsey High baseball team as legendary manager Sparky Anderson. He played his first professional game five years before Angels rising star Mike Trout's father was born and caught former Angels pitcher Jim Abbott's first bullpen session four years after qualifying for an AARP card. He turns 79 next month, and he is 27 years older than the team that employs him, the Angels. And what he does now is what he's been doing for decades: produce major league ballplayers.

The days when parents could drop kids off at Disneyland for the day, leaving it up to Mickey and Goofy to watch over the youngsters, are over. Walt Disney Co. has unveiled a new admission policy requiring that children entering any of its U.S.-based theme parks be accompanied by a visitor at least 14 years old. In years past, parents living near theme parks would often use them as day-care facilities during summer vacation and spring break....

My colleague Alexandra LeTellier gave two thumbs down earlier today to a new, Republican National Committee-bankrolled study  on how to improve the party's appeal to, umm, everyone who isn't an older white guy. She's clearly in the RNC's target, being a) female, and b) not yet ossified. But she's not buying what the party leadership is selling. Here's the GOP's problem in a nutshell: It sees a messaging problem, but its critics see a positioning problem. When the economy is slow, people want their policymakers to do something to help the country.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Dodgers signed two pitchers who played in South Korea last season. The other one pitched the game of his life on Sunday. The other one does not have No. 99 on his back, Scott Boras for his agent and $36 million from the Dodgers. What Mario Santiago has now is pride he can hold in his heart forever, the gratitude of an island chopping down giants. Puerto Rico stunned Japan in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday, with a 3-1 victory that eliminated the two-time defending champions from the tournament.

- Luis Jimenez sat in front of his corner locker in the Angels' clubhouse Saturday morning, pounding a wooden mallet into the pocket of a new first baseman's glove to soften the stiff leather. The mitt was a gift from fellow Dominican Albert Pujols . And if Jimenez learns to use it quickly enough it could earn him an invitation to the big leagues sometime this season. "We want to see his versatility," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. "This guy has looked really good at third base.

With all that's going right for the Ducks these days, they moved Friday to land a player who can buttress their standing by acquiring forward David Steckel from the Toronto Maple Leafs for minor leaguer Ryan Lasch and a seventh-round draft pick in 2014. For a low price, the Ducks (20-3-3) gained a face-off specialist and type of veteran player contending teams typically pursue near the trade deadline (April 3 this season). The Ducks, who have won five straight going into Saturday's road-trip finale at St. Louis, demoted left wing Patrick Maroon to minor-league Norfolk to make roster room for Steckel.