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From the The Sports Xchange: Randy Johnson was complimentary of reserve catcher Miguel Montero, who grounded out to Johnson in his lone at-bat in the exhibition game after catching 20 of Johnson's 31 starts last season. 'I like him. That's why he caught me. He's a good catcher. He's eager to learn. He listened to me. I don't know everything. I don't claim that. But he wanted to learn,' Johnson said. 'I think if he were to play every day, he would hit 25 home runs, bat .265, .270 and probably have 65, 70 RBI. He's that good of a hitter.'

From the The Sports Xchange: Clint Barmes came to spring training a year ago as a utility player and began the season in that role. Before the end of April, he had supplanted Jayson Nix at second base and then moved to shortstop when Troy Tulowitzki was injured. Barmes missed a month with a knee injury but returned to shortstop in late June when he was healthy. When Tulowitzki returned soon after the All-Star break, Barmes went back to second base. This year, Barmes came to camp the starter at that position. 'It's a different feeling, coming in knowing that I am the guy, that I can play at this level,' said Barmes, who hit .290 last year with 11 homers and 44 RBI but just a .301 on-base percentage. 'There's no worry anymore.'

The Chicago Tribune reports that with Luol Deng (leg) and Tim Thomas (knee) still injured, the Bulls moved to shore up their frontcourt depth by signing Linton Johnson to a 10-day contract Wednesday morning. Johnson, a 6-8 forward, played 41 games for the Bulls during the 2003-04 season, averaging 4.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17.9 minutes. Most recently, Johnson appeared in two games with Charlotte before being waived on Nov. 19, 2008.

From the The Sports Xchange: RHP Blaine Boyer increased the reps on all his exercises in his offseason workouts, doing 50, for example, instead of 20. He was determined to increase his endurance after tiring the last two months last season.

From the The Sports Xchange: Jason Donald knows he has a chance to win a job with the Phillies. Maybe that's why he has been putting so much pressure on himself this spring. Donald, a top prospect who has been working out at second and third base, had only two hits in his first 15 spring training at-bats before he received a pep talk last week from manager Charlie Manuel and hitting coach Milt Thompson. Donald responded with a solo home run against Team USA. 'I think to say I was pressing is an understatement,' Donald told the Philadelphia Daily News. Donald, a natural shortstop, is a candidate to make the team if 2B Chase Utley (Nov. 24 hip surgery) or 3B Pedro Feliz (Nov. 20 back surgery) aren't ready to start the season.

The Denver Post reports Nuggets forward Nene has just once tallied 10 or more rebounds in the last 13 games, and that night he got 10 at Indiana. For the season, Nene averages 7.9 rebounds per game and has totaled 10 or more rebounds 17 times.

By Eddie Sefko PHOENIX — It?s not official, of course. The math says the Dallas Mavericks still haven?t clinched anything. But as far as they are concerned, they can spend all of their energy in the last few weeks of the season looking up, not down. The Mavericks may not be throwing any scares into the top teams in the Western Conference yet, but at the very least, they bolstered their self-confidence Tuesday night with a 122-117 victory over Phoenix — not to mention figuratively putting the proverbial pitchfork into the Suns? playoff hopes. The Mavericks got heroic efforts from Dirk Nowitzki with 34 points and 13 rebounds, Jason Kidd with two clinching 3-pointers and a host of helpers as they went 14 games above .500 for the first time this season. ?We get these questions all the time, people saying your team?s not that good,?? coach Rick Carlisle said. ?We've got games to prove if we?re good or not. That?s what it?s about. This

With durability a concern, RHP will likely start season in 'pen, if he makes team Matt Albers has become the latest pitcher to drop out of the competition for the three open spots in the Orioles' rotation, but this time, it's by design.

American Lindsey Vonn clinched her second consecutive World Cup title in fine style, winning her second downhill of the season Wednesday in Are, Sweden.

La Russa talks about 2009 season