Houston Astros: It's so far, so good for Craig Biggio in his new center-field home.

Biggio, displaced by newcomer Jeff Kent after 11 seasons at second base, is still listed there on the team's Web site. But he'll be roaming the outfield when exhibition play begins Friday, and he's learning on the fly.

"It's all about communication,'' Biggio said. "Just like in the infield, you have to talk to the other players and work together. If you don't, you aren't going to be very successful.''

Biggio, 36, says he's still getting used to his new environment.

"It's just getting used to the elements, the wind and the angles. There might be a high sky or no high sky, things like that,'' he said.

Entering his franchise-record 16th year with the Astros, Biggio returns after hitting just .253 with 15 homers and 58 RBI in 2002. He agreed to move to center when Houston signed Kent to a two-year, $18.2 million deal to play second this winter.

The four-time Gold Glove winner agreed earlier this month to a $4 million, one-year contract extension through 2004.

Biggio could bat leadoff for manager Jimy Williams, who said Tuesday he's feeling confident as Grapefruit League exhibition play approaches.

"I like our club, but I never get comfortable,'' he said. "You can't get comfortable with this game because then you feel like you're satisfied. We're not satisfied.''

San Francisco Giants: Damian Moss, obtained in an offseason trade from the Braves for Russ Ortiz, believes he can win 15-to-20 games if he stays healthy.

"The Giants offense speaks for itself," Moss said Tuesday. "Last year when you look on paper the Braves were the best team. But when you combine offense and pitching, the Giants were the better team.

"With guys like Barry Bonds hitting 46 home runs and leading the league in hitting, you should be able to win. I just want to improve on last year."

Moss will join a rotation that includes Jason Schmidt, Livan Hernandez, Kirk Rueter and either Ryan Jensen or Kurt Ainsworth. Moss went 12-6 with a 3.42 ERA as Atlanta's No. 5 starter in his first full season in the majors last year.

"They taught me a lot," he said.

Moss is the first Australian-born player in Giants franchise history and is one of just 16 Australians to play in the majors. His career is still followed closely in Australia, where he graduated from Liverpool Boys School in Sydney in 1993. A game he pitched against the Los Angeles Dodgers was televised live there last year.

Moss said having teammates/pitchers like Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux around helped put the game in perspective.

"You try to emulate those guys, the professional way they approach the game," said Moss. "You want to throw up numbers like those guys have. It rubs off on you."

New York Mets: Tom Glavine won't be pitching against his old friends on the Atlanta Braves this week.

The left-hander, who signed with the Mets during the offseason following 16 seasons in Atlanta, will pitch in New York's split-squad game against Baltimore in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. The other Mets' squad will play the Braves in Kissimmeee.

"During the season he'll face them enough,'' Mets manager Art Howe said Tuesday.

As New York got ready for the start of the exhibition season, Mike Piazza hit a two-run, first-inning homer off Mike Bacsik in Tuesday's intrasquad game. Piazza's team won the seven-inning game 2-1.

Jason Middlebrook gave up a run-scoring single to Cliff Floyd.

"I threw batting practice four or five times (prior) and it seemed like I threw another batting practice today,'' Bacsik said. "They hit the ball well off me, but that's fine, it's the first day.''

Colorado Rockies: Second baseman Ronnie Belliard has a sprained ankle, the Colorado Rockies' first injury of spring training.

Belliard was a limited participant in Tuesday's workout after twisting his right ankle in a running drill on Monday.

Manager Clint Hurdle said Belliard might not play in Wednesday's intrasquad game for precautionary reasons.

Fortunately for the Rockies, the injury comes at a position where the club has more than adequate depth. There are no less than five candidates at second base -- Pablo Ozuna, Brent Butler, Belliard, Chris Stynes and Luis Lopez.

"We couldn't bring in any more people than we did,'' Hurdle said. "We'll find a second baseman.''

Ozuna, acquired in the Mike Hampton trade with Florida, figures to be the frontrunner, but all five will see extensive work this spring.

"We're going to roll these guys through games,'' Hurdle said Tuesday. "It's going to be a turnstile. A guy like Butler can play five innings at second, then he can go play a couple of innings at third or at short. The same with Ozuna, who could even run to the outfield.

"Lopez and Stynes are versatile and can move around, too. Belliard might be the only guy who is locked in more to the second base position.''

Milwaukee Brewers: Wes Helms doesn't like talking about his time in Atlanta, and not because he was buried on the bench for the talent-laden Braves.

Helms isn't upset about going from a perennial playoff participant that has won 11 straight division titles to Milwaukee, a team that hasn't had a winning season in 11 years.

"I think a lot of guys have to be on a winning team, but this is what motivates me," Helms said. "A challenge."

Helms is being counted on to become the Brewers' first established third baseman since Jeff Cirillo in the late 1990s and to help turn around a franchise that hasn't been to the playoffs since 1982.

"I don't have to be in the best atmosphere to be motivated," Helms said. "I could be put on the bottom of the earth and I'll be motivated to get back to the top."

Helms, behind such veterans in Atlanta as Chipper Jones at third and Julio Franco at first, sees the Brewers as the opportunity of a lifetime. And that's why he's not looking back at his time in Atlanta, where he hit 17 homers in 444 at-bats in 198 games over three-plus seasons.

" ... My total heart is in Milwaukee. (The Braves) are my enemy now," Helms said.

Neugebauer's surgery set: Milwaukee right-hander Nick Neugebauer will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Friday in Los Angeles.

The Brewers won't know until after the operation how long Neugebauer will be out, although the hard thrower said last week he's steeling himself for the possibility of missing the entire 2003 season.

Anaheim Angels medical director Dr. Lewis Yocum will perform the operation. Yocum also operated on Neugebauer on Sept. 19, 2001, repairing tears to his right labrum and rotator cuff.

Neugebauer was limited to 12 starts last season, when he went 1-7 with 4.72 ERA. He worked out all winter but had to stop throwing last week when he felt pinching in the back of his shoulder.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Darren Dreifort took another step in his comeback from elbow and knee surgeries by throwing two scoreless innings Tuesday in an intrasquad game.

He struck out two and allowed only a first-inning single to rookie second baseman Joe Thurston.

"It seems he has a better idea and better command than two years ago,'' pitching coach Jim Colborn said. "His delivery was smooth. I'm letting a little excitement creep in about what might happen.''

The 30-year-old Dreifort has pitched in just 16 games since signing a five-year, $55 million contract before the 2001 season. He underwent elbow surgery in the summer of 2001 and had arthroscopic knee surgery last year.

He has made it through the first two weeks of spring training confident he can start the season at full strength. He gets another test Saturday when he pitches in an exhibition game against the Montreal Expos in Melbourne.

"Everything feels normal,'' he said. "It's nice to be out there pitching to hitters. It gives you a pretty good read on how you're doing.''

Boston Red Sox: After all the setbacks Chad Fox endured, he's thrilled to be an important part of Boston's bullpen.

Fox spent five years with Milwaukee, a team with relatively few fans and little success. He had three major operations, missed the 2000 season and ended three of the last four years on the disabled list.

And, in 1995, his only sibling -- his "best friend" -- died of cancer at age 28.

Chris Fox was two months from getting his Master's in architecture from Columbia when he was diagnosed. The disease had spread through much of his body, but he was strong enough to go from Houston, where the family lives, to New York to receive the degree and be recognized as the second highest-ranking student in his class, Fox said.

Chris died on July 27, 1995, about three months after the diagnosis.

"He was my biggest fan," Fox said.

In his best season, Fox, 31, was 5-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 65 relief appearances for the Brewers in 2001. He struck out 80 and walked 36 in 66 2/3 innings with a fastball in the mid-to-high 90s and a slider. Last Dec. 24, the Red Sox signed him as a free agent.

So far in camp, Fox feels terrific. He's expected to eat up innings in middle relief and possibly -- if Boston follows through with its closer-by-committee approach -- earn a save here and there.

"I still want to play bad. I want to win," Fox said. "But I know whatever the results at the end of the day I can walk through those doors and still, I'm daddy. And that's the most important thing to me."

Arizona Diamondbacks: Outfielder Danny Bautista is ready to put last season behind him and looking toward picking up where he left off.

Bautista said the injury to his left shoulder, suffered while diving for a ball May 22, is not holding him back coming into spring training this year.

"I've been feeling very good right now," Bautista said after Tuesday's workout. "I'm ready to go. Day by day my shoulder gets stronger."

New York Yankees: Hideki Matsui worked out Tuesday, one day after having a root canal.

"No problem," Matsui said through an interpreter. "Just one tooth. It didn't hurt as much as I thought."

Manager Joe Torre said Matsui will play in the Yankees' spring training opener Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds.

Seattle Mariners: Shin Soo Choo was disappointed as he left the Seattle Mariners' spring training complex Tuesday.

The young South Korean outfielder had been looking forward to a practice game against his uncle's team, the Lotte Giants, but the contest was rained out. The Giants represent the area of his homeland where Choo grew up.

"I'm very disappointed because it was my team, my hometown team,'' Choo said through an interpreter.

Choo said his uncle, Jung Tae Park, is a star second baseman for the Giants.

A promising prospect with a solid bat, Choo gets another chance Wednesday, when the teams again try to play. And he'll have an opportunity this season to climb the Mariners' farm system.

"Watching him, the tools he has and the passion he has, we're expecting big things out of him,'' Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "He's got a lot of things down that most 20-year-olds don't have.''

Choo is a former pitcher who was clocked at 95 mph, but he's been converted to outfield because of his strong arm and steady hitting. During two seasons in the farm system, he's hit no worse than .302.

"Everybody expects to be a good hitter if you can hit .300, so I'm concentrating on doing that,'' Choo explained.