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A knuckleball?

After playing parts of four seasons as a first baseman for the San Francisco Giants, Lance Niekro retired at age 29 in 2008. He slipped into a funk after the death of his father, Joe, and decided baseball wasn't for him.

But now he's back, this time as a pitcher. He's throwing the knuckleball, which got his uncle, Phil Niekro, into the Hall of Fame and his father 221 victories in a career that extended until he was 43.

Atlanta signed Niekro to a minor-league contract last week.

"It's going to be an adventure," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "But it's going to be a fun one."

Joe taught Lance how to throw a knuckleball when he was 13, and he has fooled around with it ever since. The Braves are committing minor-league innings to give him a chance to extend the family legacy. Phil will be his tutor.

The Braves say it's no gimmick.

"I don't think you ever would undertake anything unless you felt it could develop into something," said Kurt Kemp, the Braves' farm director. "We all feel it's definitely one of those things like, what have we got to lose? ... We're going to set a course of action to develop his knuckleball and give him a chance to pitch through spring training and see where we are."

Tim Wakefield remains the only knuckleballer in the majors. R.A. Dickey and Charlie Haeger have gotten there in recent years, but both currently are searching for jobs. Charlie Zink is the top knuckleballer in the minors, having won 14 games for Triple-A Pawtucket last season, but he was rocked in his big-league debut for the Red Sox.

Laser eye surgery?

After hitting .267 at Triple A in 2007, Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span went in to get new and improved vision. He hit .340 in his first 40 games at Rochester, then .294 after being promoted to the big leagues in 2008.

His teammates do not believe the improvement was a coincidence. That's why 2006 AL Most Valuable Player Justin Morneau, coming off a season in which he hit .300 and drove in 129 runs, had the procedure done in November. Right fielder Michael Cuddyer also went in for laser surgery.

Span, a left-handed hitter, had surgery only on his right eye, the one closest to the pitcher. Morneau and Cuddyer had it on both and already report positive results.

Because they are in the middle of guaranteed contracts, Morneau and Cuddyer needed the Twins' approval for the surgery.

"I had multiple discussions with people on it," general manager Bill Smith said. "The biggest thing is making sure the people involved are reputable, and they were."

A caddie?

Matt Treanor, signed last week to a one-year, $750,000 deal to be the backup to new Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird, provides a ray of hope for Dontrelle Willis, whose ERA has jumped from 2.63 in 2005 to 3.87 in '06, 5.17 in '07 and 9.18 in '08.

Willis was the starting pitcher on June 2, 2004, when Treanor made his big-league debut for Florida. Willis took a perfect game into the seventh that night. Treanor was the Marlins' catcher for 11 of Willis' last 14 starts in 2007.

The Detroit Free Press reports Treanor saw Willis on a recent trip to Florida but didn't discuss Willis' struggles.

"If I know him, and I think I do, he's working his butt off to show everybody that 2008 was just a bad part of his career," Treanor said.

A 90-plus fastball?

Some really good pitchers never get chances in the big leagues because they don't throw hard enough to convince general managers and managers — sometimes even pitching coaches — to take a chance on them. One of those is lefty Heath Phillips, who recently signed a minor-league deal with Kansas City.

The White Sox have one in right-hander Lance Broadway, who is 2-0 in two big-league starts but rarely gets mentioned for the two vacancies in the starting rotation.

Batting practice against Johan Santana?

Most mortal hitters would skip it, but not new Phillie Raul Ibanez. He has hit .353 with an .836 on-base plus slugging percentage in 34 at-bats against Santana's wicked fastball-changeup combination, of which he'll see a lot the next three seasons.

The last word

"(Closing) isn't pressure; not knowing if you're ever going to pitch again, that's pressure." —Former Cub Kerry Wood after signing with Cleveland.

The Whispers

Despite Red Sox owner John Henry theatrically cutting off negotiations during a face-to-face meeting, Boston entered the weekend still believed to be the likely landing spot for Mark Teixeira — unless agent Scott Boras wasn't bluffing when he said he had a better bid than Boston's, believed to be eight years for $165 million to $170 million. If there is a better one, it is from Washington, and Teixeira probably will take it, no matter how non-competitive the Nationals figure to remain. After all, this is a team that non-tendered No. 2 starter Tim Redding. ...

If Ryne Sandberg's team starts winning, he will become the heir apparent to Cubs manager Lou Piniella. He's moving to Double-A Tennessee after two seasons in Peoria. ... Outfielder Victor Diaz, the Clemente High product who helped spoil the Cubs' 2004 season when he was with the Mets, is the most productive hitter in the Dominican Republic this winter (.328, 17 doubles, 17 homers in his first 46 games). He's a minor-league free agent worth a look by either of Chicago's teams, although he might be more of an AL player than a fit for Wrigley Field. ...

Orlando Cabrera has outplayed Rafael Furcal the last two seasons, but Cabrera still is waiting for an attractive offer while Furcal stiffed Oakland and Atlanta before signing to stay with the Dodgers. Furcal is nowhere near as safe a bet as he was when he did his last three-year deal with the Dodgers, after 2005. ... Still no word from Kenny Rogers on whether he will retire. He's 44 but has a history of contributing when he has been counted out. He might be a decent gamble for Atlanta or even Florida. ... Root for Kyle Davies next season. He's in line to be Kansas City's No. 3 starter but is spending the winter working for his father's construction business, which specializes in building and remodeling McDonald's in the Atlanta area. ... Don't rule out the Brewers eventually sending J.J. Hardy to Minnesota for some of the Twins' young pitching. That's a good match, and GM Bill Smith would rather have Nick Punto as a utility guy than his shortstop.