OFF THE WALL

Looking back

* Team owners approved the launch of MLB Network, a 24-hour cable channel dedicated to baseball, during their meetings last week. The channel is expected to begin broadcasting Jan. 1, 2009. Commissioner Bud Selig said it will be part of basic cable packages, and will debut in a record 47 million homes, with a weekly Saturday night game.

Looking ahead

* The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays will play four games beginning Monday, but only three will count. Monday’s annual Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown, N.Y., is an exhibition. The teams will then fly to Baltimore for a three-game series. Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 29.

It’s a fact

* New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre announced that pitcher Tyler Clippard would start tonight against the Mets, making his major league debut. If so, he would be the 11th starter used by the Yankees this season, the seventh rookie to start for them and the fifth to make his major league debut. And it’s only May 20.

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MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

LONG BEACH STATE 49ERS IN THE MINORS

JASON VARGAS, P

New Orleans, triple A

Vargas continued his yo-yo between the majors and minors last week when the New York Mets called him up for an emergency start, but the 24-year-old left-hander is expected to be sent back down when Orlando Hernandez comes off the disabled list this week. He gave up five runs in seven innings in the no-decision, his first major league start since April 2006. Vargas started last season with the Florida Marlins but was sent back to the minors after a shaky start and traded to the Mets in the off-season. He also reached the majors in 2005, a year after he was drafted in the second round. At New Orleans, he is 2-3 with a 5.30 earned-run average this season. He is 17-13 with a 4.02 ERA over four minor league seasons.

EVAN LONGORIA, 3B

Montgomery (Ala.); double A

Longoria, 21, is showing why the Tampa Bay Devil Rays made him the third pick in last year’s draft. In 140 at-bats through Friday, he was batting .321 with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs. He homered in three consecutive games last week, driving in 10 runs during that May 12-14 stretch. At that rate, a promotion to triple A is looming and a trip to the majors by season’s end is not out of the question. That’s no surprise, considering he needed only 33 at-bats at low-level Class A before graduating to a higher-level Class A last season, then stayed there for only 110 at-bats before graduating to double A. Over three stops last season, he played 62 games and batted .315 with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs.