The moment the Los Angeles Dodgers arrived in Taiwan this week, players were handed a cup of cold fig jelly, a traditional Taiwanese drink known to restore and rejuvenate. In return, the Dodgers are being asked to restore and rejuvenate baseball as the national pastime on this island nation of 23 million people.

Taiwanese professional baseball has been rocked by a game-fixing scandal that resulted in the February indictments of 24 people, including nine players from the four-team league. Several more players are under investigation, including pitcher Chin-Hui Tsao, who pitched for the Colorado Rockies and Dodgers before returning to his homeland in 2008.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking into contingency plans for their opening-day bullpen while Ronald Belisario tries to report to camp.

Belisario has been unable to secure a visa for the 2010 season and remains in his native Venezuela. The right-hander went 4-3 with a 2.04 ERA in 69 games as a rookie last year, helping Los Angeles win the NL West.

Former NL Cy Young Award winner Eric Gagne, in camp on a minor league deal, is one of the relievers that could benefit from Belisario's absence.

Mays, Cepeda and fellow Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry gathered Thursday for a little reunion and some good-natured ribbing.

Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou used to hit up Giants teammate Willie Mays when they needed a little extra cash. The $5 of daily meal money didn?t stretch very far back in the 1960s.

I was the banker, Mays said.

We're grateful to him for everything, Cepeda said. We learned so much from him. We have such a great friendship.

First baseman Todd Helton and the Colorado Rockies agreed Thursday to $9.9 million, two-year contract extension through the 2013 season.

The first baseman is earning $16.6 million this year, and he agreed to defer $13.1 million of his $19.1 million salary in 2011 over a 10-year period beginning in 2014.

Colorado had a $23 million option for 2012 with a $4.6 million buyout as part of the $141.5 million, nine-year contract that began with the 2003 season. Instead, he will receive $4.9 million in 2012 under the new deal.

Alex Rodriguez may soon be talking to federal authorities, and he hopes it will happen close to spring training.

Lawyers for the Yankees slugger are setting up an interview as part of an investigation into a Canadian doctor who is the focus of a cross-border drug smuggling case involving human growth hormone.

Rodriguez said the site is under discussion but he would like it to be near the team complex in Tampa rather than in Buffalo, N.Y., where the U.S. investigation is being conducted. He expects to soon know the interview date.

Kathleen Mehltretter, acting U.S. attorney for western New York, said it is not unusual for investigators to go to those they want to interview but declined to comment on the investigation. Maureen Dempsey, an FBI spokeswoman in Buffalo, would not comment on Rodriguez's statements, citing the investigation.

Six-times All-Star Nomar Garciaparra retired on Wednesday after signing a one-day contract with the Boston Red Sox so he could end his career with the team he made his mark with.

The 36-year-old Garciaparra, one of baseball's best shortstops during his prime, played nine of his 14 Major League Baseball seasons with the Red Sox.

"I filled in a reason to retire on the contract, and my reason was because my daughters want daddy home," Garciaparra, who is married to soccer great Mia Hamm, told a televised news conference at Boston?s spring training camp in Florida.

Minnesota Twins All-Star closer Joe Nathan has a torn ligament in his throwing elbow.

General Manager Bill Smith says the plan is to rest Nathan for two weeks, eliminate the soreness and build strength in his elbow before making any decisions about surgery.

Nathan was 2-2 with a 2.10 ERA, and had a career-high 47 saves last year. Nathan may get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon who operated on his elbow last October to remove bone chips. Nathan hurt his ulnar collateral ligament. Injuries to that ligament have led to season-ending Tommy John surgery in other pitchers.

Nathan flew back to Minneapolis Sunday after feeling soreness in the elbow in Saturday?s game against Boston.