 1. Blalock is close to agreement with Rays
2. Brewers, Fielder talking long-term deal
3. Reyes' ailments treatable
4. Valentine says he wasn't offered Marlins job
5. Jays Talk: The Jays Are Turning Heads
6. Buster Posey enters game at first base, and why you shouldn’t freak out about it
7. Diamondbacks' Brandon Webb may start the season on DL
8. Cubs reliever has tear in right shoulder that often means the end for pitchers
9. Nats pick Marquis over ex-Sox Garland because Garland didn’t want to mentor young pitchers
10. The Cubs shrug off the Mets' late signing of reliever Kiko Calero
11. Could the Yankees develop a late interest in Jermaine Dye?
1. Blalock is close to agreement with Rays
Si is reporting Third baseman Hank Blalock is close to an agreement with the Tampa Bay Rays, sources say.
Blalock has spent all eight seasons of his major-league career with the Texas Rangers.
Last year, he .234 with 25 home runs and 66 RBIs in 123 games. In his best season, 2004, Blalock had 32 home runs and 110 RBIs.
For his career, Blalock has 152 HRs and 535 RBIs.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/03/06/blalock.rays/index.html#ixzz0hV1vlPYa
2. Brewers, Fielder talking long-term deal
JS online is reporting The Brewers initiated talks to get first baseman Prince Fielder, whose two-year, $18 million deal ends after this season, signed to a long-term contact. The team has kept quiet about it, but Fielder said GM Doug Melvin and assistant Gord Ash went to Los Angeles to meet with his agent, Scott Boras. Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, who is based in L.A., is said to also be involved in any talks about Fielder's future with Milwaukee. No official contract offer has been made yet.
TO read more..
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/86447422.html
3. Reyes' ailments treatable
The Ny Post is reporting Fear not, Mets fans. While star shortstop Jose Reyes is undergoing extensive examinations for thyroid problems, Dr. Terry Seltzer, an assistant professor at NYU's School of Medicine, said Reyes' problems are treatable. His three options: surgery to remove the glad, anti-thyroid drugs and radioactive iodine. An overabundance of thyroid produces dangerous symptoms, including an irregular heartbeat, weight loss, sleep loss and tremors, but given Reyes' prognosis is good, and given the early detection, he could return to action soon.
To read more..
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/docs_ailment_very_treatable_oVp0gFeLm7BHA7sqdz2HCJ
4. Valentine says he wasn't offered Marlins job
CBS Sports is reporting Bobby Valentine says he was never offered the Florida Marlins' manager job last October, contrary to speculation at the time.
Valentine says the rumors were "an unnecessary nuisance" for him and Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez.
The Marlins' front office did little to discount the rumors at the end of last season. Owner Jeffrey Loria was disappointed the Marlins missed the playoffs, and team president David Samson would not endorse Gonzalez for guiding the team to 87 wins, third-best total in franchise history.
Valentine, who is working for ESPN, has known Loria since their days together in the Texas Rangers organization.
Valentine has managed the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and in Japan.
To read more..
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/13019398/valentine-says-he-wasnt-offered-marlins-job?tag=pageRow;pageContainer
5. Jays Talk: The Jays Are Turning Heads
The Jays Journal is reporting I don’t care if it’s spring training, or if the majority of the players are lackadaisical about their play, these guys are competitors and none of them like to get shown up at any time. However, this is exactly what the young Jays have done to the Phillies and Yankees, the last 2 championship teams, in the last 2 days. Yesterday’s game was especially impressive, since the Jays pitchers (Shaun Mar*****, Zech Zinicola, Melkin Valdez, and Steven Register) 3 hit the tough Yankee lineup until the 6th inning, and only allowed 6 hits overall. Shaun Mar*****’s outing is reassuring and he showed great poise on the mound. The lone harsh point for the Jays pitchers was when Zechry Zinicola beaned Francisco Cervelli in the head.
Cervelli left under his own power, but is definitely concussed for the second time in two years. He got a bat to the head in 2009. I heard a story on Home Plate XM Radio that had CC Sabathia offer to pay the entire bonus to Francisco Cervelli (over 365,000 each) because some of the players had issues with giving him a full world series bonus portion. For those who don’t know, the world series winning team gets to decide who gets a portion (players, managers, trainers, ect..) and Yanks Go Yard have the information about this year’s cut here. You have to be pretty greedy to want to leave a player’s name off the list when you’re making millions and you know how much this money can mean to younger and utility players. For some, it more than doubles your salary. I am now officially a much bigger CC fan than I already was. Good for him, and I hope it taught the younger NYY guys a lesson in ethics. Anyway, all that to say that I’m glad Cervelli got the money he did because he may need it if he keeps being concussed. Many great careers have been shattered by concussions, still, I hope he feels good by the end of the week and keeps playing (even if he does play for the evil empire, lol).
Jordan Bastien has the full reaction to Cervelli’s beaning by Zinicola here. Quick fact added in that post by Bastien before game highlights: Molina was AJ Burnett’s favorite target and the only catcher he would through to in ‘09. Well, he certainly got Shaun Mar*****’s vote, since he felt great about Jose Molina’s catching skills and mentioned how great he will be with the young staff. Molina himself made a great stride towards staying on with the Jays (although you have to believe that if Mar***** endorses you to stay, you’re pretty well staying), by adding:
“I can’t wait to catch all of them. I hope I can do that. The guys I’ve already caught, they’ve been awesome. They have good arms and they want to learn. They come up to me a lot and ask different questions and I’m really happy to answer them.”
What great and encouraging news on all fronts. Any time players communicate well and trust opinions as this indicates, it makes everything cohesive and gets the game flowing the right way. Great stuff. I was vocal about not needing another defensive catcher with Raul Chavez onboard, but the more I read up on Molina, the more I like his presence on the Jays. I should have known there was a reason to the move made by Alex “The Great” Anthopolous. lol. If JP Arencibia keeps swinging a hot bat this spring and gets off to a hot start in AAA, could Alex decide to deal John Buck who is on a 1 year deal and keep Molina instead? He’d surely make a great teacher for JP. Just a thought.
As for the hitters, well, they’re all fired. Why? Because they’re all using up their hits in spring training!! lol. They look outstanding top-to-bottom thus far. AJ Burnett was definitely not on his game, but even if this equals a hard batting practice, it definitely boosted the confidence of the Jays hitters who got a whopping 18 hits off Yankees pitchers. Here are the highlights:
To read more..
http://jaysjournal.com/2010/03/07/the-jays-are-turning-heads/
6. Buster Posey enters game at first base, and why you shouldn’t freak out about it
Blogs mercury news is reporting Buster Posey is breaking in his first baseman’s glove.
The Giants’ mega-talented catcher entered today’s game at first base in the top of the sixth inning. He recorded one putout, held a runner on the bag and otherwise looked pretty normal over there.
If you have the impulse to freak out, remember a few things:
–The Giants are way short on bodies in the infield because of injuries. And they had to fill out split squads today.
–Posey isn’t taking grounders or logging innings at any other infield position. He won’t have six gloves in his locker.
–He’s still a catcher. No doubt about it.
When Bruce Bochy said he planned for Posey to get some light work at first base this spring, it wasn’t because anyone in the organization doubts his skills behind the plate. They’d like first base to be an option for him to aid with double-switches in the future — something that could lead to at-bats alongside Bengie Molina if the Giants decide he’s ready at some point this season.
To read more..
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2010/03/06/buster-posey-enters-game-at-first-base-and-why-you-shouldnt-freak-out-about-it/
7. Diamondbacks' Brandon Webb may start the season on DL
Azcentral is reporting Right-hander Brandon Webb's "stagnant" condition, to use his word, has the Diamondbacks acknowledging for the first time that he could begin the season on the disabled list.
"If we get 30 starts from him, great," General Manager Josh Byrnes said Friday. "If we get 20, that's great. We just need to get it right."
Byrnes said that if Webb doesn't get in a Cactus League game by around next weekend, he probably won't have time to get ready for his first start of the season. He was scheduled to start on April 7 in the third game of the season.
Webb said he wasn't able to "let loose and let it go," which has been evident in his below-normal velocity in the two bullpen sessions open to reporters. The sinkerball pitcher is coming back from August shoulder surgery.
Manager A.J. Hinch said Webb looks robotic in his movements, almost too mechanical.
"There's a time to push the gas pedal and a time to back off and we're trying to figure out what stage we're at," Hinch said.
Byrnes mentioned the club's history in recent spring trainings with pitchers Randy Johnson and Max Scherzer, both of whom were held back early in the season but were healthy for the majority of the year.
To read more..
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2010/03/05/20100305diamondbacks-brandon-webb-disabled-list.html
8. Cubs reliever has tear in right shoulder that often means the end for pitchers
The Chicago Tribune is reporting A significant ligament tear in the front, bottom part of Angel Guzman's right shoulder could mean the end of the line for the injury-plagued Cubs right-hander.
Guzman, 28, has not decided whether to have surgery. Even if he has it, there's no guarantee he will be able to pitch with the unstable shoulder. Research shows players trying to come back from that type of surgery seldom succeed, so most try to avoid it.
Manager Lou Piniella said "it might be better" if Guzman goes home to Venezuela to consider his options. His brother, Daniel, was murdered in a random act in January. Guzman then had knee surgery before spring training and now the shoulder injury.
"I feel bad for the young man," Piniella said. "It looks like he's basically snakebitten. These injuries come one after another."
If Guzman opts for the conservative route and tries to strengthen the shoulder without surgery, it would take up to six weeks before knowing whether he could try to pitch. Either way, he will get a second opinion.
To read more..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0307-cubs-guzmqn-chicago--20100306,0,1978529.story
9. Nats pick Marquis over ex-Sox Garland because Garland didn’t want to mentor young pitchers
The Chicago Tribune is reporting The Nationals signed Jason Marquis instead of Jon Garland after Garland said he had no interest mentoring younger pitchers. …
To read more..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-100306-phil-rogers-whispers,0,6523996.story
10. The Cubs shrug off the Mets' late signing of reliever Kiko Calero
The Chicago Tribune is reporting The Cubs shrug off the Mets' late signing of reliever Kiko Calero. They were close to adding him to a thin bullpen but backed off after thoroughly exploring the health of his arm. He could be this year's J.J. Putz for the Mets — minus the horribly one-sided trade that obtained Putz from the Mariners.
TO read more..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-100306-phil-rogers-whispers,0,6523996.story
11. Could the Yankees develop a late interest in Jermaine Dye?
The CHicago Tribune is reporting Could the Yankees develop a late interest in Jermaine Dye? They signed Nick Johnson as a designated hitter because they wanted to replace Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon with left-handed batters but Johnson's lower-back problems have raised a caution flag given Johnson's history of injuries. …
TO read more..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-100306-phil-rogers-whispers,0,6523996.story
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