Top News:
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Spring Training: McLouth bumps Gerut in surprising move — Santos named fifth starter, four players cut to finalize roster — FORT MYERS, Fla. — Nate McLouth would not board the bus. — Having seen teammate Jose Bautista — pillow in hand — get pulled off a bus earlier in the week …
Discussion:
Buried Treasure
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Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates, Torres agree to two-year extension — FORT MYERS, Fla. — Another key player has forfeited free agency to remain with the Pirates. — Reliever Salomon Torres yesterday agreed to terms with the team on a two-year contract extension worth $6.5 million that will keep him in Pittsburgh through 2008.
Discussion:
Bucs Dugout
Rob Rossi / PittsburghLIVE.com:
Pirates make roster moves — BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pirates made roster moves Friday morning prior to their exhibition game in Fort Myers, Fla., against the Minnesota Twins. — Optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis was outfielder Jody Gerut. — Pitcher Brandon Duckworth was reassigned to the club's minor-league camp.
Jack Curry / New York Times:
With Greenies Banned, Up for a Cup of Coffee? — For perhaps half a century, amphetamines have been accessible to major league baseball players. If players were weary after a late night out, a long trip or a streak of tiring games, they could find the pep pills almost as readily as they could sip coffee or swig soda.
Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Notes: Wright hits fifth in loaded lineup — Third baseman to break up lefties Delgado and Floyd — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — With one date remaining on the Mets' exhibition game schedule, Willie Randolph unveiled the batting order he later identified as the one he expects to use most often among …
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Miles appears to get the nod at second base — PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. — Moving before, during and after Friday's exhibition win over the New York Mets, the Cardinals reversed field at second base, postponed a call on their final position player and solidified a pitching staff.
Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Twins' Liriano charged with DUI — FORT MYERS, Fla. — Twins lefthander Francisco Liriano was arrested by the Cape Coral Police Department early Thursday and charged with driving under the influence. — Liriano was pulled over at 1:58 a.m. after leaving a Cape Coral bar. He was driving alone at the time.
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Jason Williams / twincities.com:Liriano arrested on a drunk-driving charge
Discussion:
Commentary Page
Thomas Boswell / Washington Post:
Hit, or Miss — Everybody knows what's wrong with the Nationals. We've listened to the litany since last fall when Esteban Loaiza and Hector Carrasco left town. We heard the wails when Brian Lawrence and Luis Ayala were lost for the season to injuries. Ramon Ortiz, Tony Armas …
Enrique Rojas / ESPN:
Source: Ortiz, Red Sox close to $50M deal … MIAMI — Dominican David Ortiz is about to sign a $50 million extension of his contract with the Boston Red Sox, a family member told ESPNdeportes.com. — If the new contract is finalized, "Big Papi" would earn an average $12.5 million per year from 2007 to 2010.
Associated Press:
Kris, Anna Benson headed for divorce — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Anna Benson wants a divorce from Orioles pitcher Kris Benson, who still thinks the Mets traded him because of his impulsive wife. — Anna Benson, an actress and model who has posed topless, filed for divorce in Atlanta on Thursday.
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Tony Kuttner / MLB.com:
Notes: A's get Dominguez from Texas — Oakland ships Bynum, Rheinecker to Texas for righty — OAKLAND — The A's on Friday picked up a relatively young arm they've been coveting, giving up a promising hitter for whom they had no room. — In a three-team deal, Oakland acquired right-hander Juan Dominguez …
Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
Reds Opening Day outlook — Ownership wants to see success sooner, not later — Players need to earn spots in Reds Spring Training and not win them by default. — That was the objective of Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron and new general manager Wayne Krivsky.
Discussion:
Redleg Nation
Tom Tippett / diamond-mind.com:
Projected Standings for the 2006 Season — How much, and how well, will Barry Bonds play? Will Roger Clemens pitch this year, and where? Which leadoff-hitting center fielder will do more for his team, Johnny Damon or Coco Crisp? Have the Mets added enough talent to end the Braves division-winning streak?
Discussion:
The Birdwatch
Baseball Prospectus:
Preseason Predictions — NL Staff Picks, 2006 — Yesterday we started our prediction miniseries with a look at the American League. Today we unveil our National League and World Series picks. — Each author's ballot may be found later in the article. Here, we neatly summarize the results.
Don Walker / JSOnline:
New deal for Miller, Brewers — dwalker@journalsentinel.com — The Miller Brewing Co. and the Milwaukee Brewers have reached agreement on a new seven-year marketing and promotions deal. — The deal is separate from an existing naming-rights agreement for Miller Park …
John Delcos / The Journal News:
Randolph weighing final roster spots — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The Mets have two spring-training games left to find the answer to their last significant roster question: should they take 11 or 12 pitchers north? — A day after he revealed the order of his rotation, manager Willie Randolph …
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