Top News:
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Second base: Drafting — Three strong years bear fruit, but questions follow — BRADENTON, Fla. — Mickey White, the Pirates' scouting director from 1999 to 2001, is a professional scout for the Florida Marlins these days, back in the bleachers eyeing raw talent.
Discussion:
Honest Wagner
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Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
First Base: International signings — Lagging in Latin America a costly mistake — BRADENTON, Fla. — The earliest point in the building process for any Major League Baseball team is through Latin America. That is because international players — anyone outside the United States …
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Home plate: The majors — Littlefield quietly seeks window of opportunity — BRADENTON, Fla. — Although Dave Littlefield does not cite a role model for building a franchise, he could do worse than to take a look up the Turnpike. — No general manager in Major League Baseball …
Discussion:
Honest Wagner
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Third base: Development — Thorough teaching methods, planning pay off — BRADENTON, Fla. — Once the Pirates sign a player, he becomes the project of Brian Graham, director of player development since late 2001. — Graham's job might be the most difficult to judge on the staff.
Discussion:
Honest Wagner
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Spivey is out, Luna is in — PHILADELPHIA — After a spring training that spiraled from worrisome to a bonafide concern, Cardinals second baseman Junior Spivey will not join the club for opening day and a roster move will be made Monday that determines his future with the club.
Discussion:
St. Louis Cardinals Blog
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Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Questions remain as Cards break camp — JUPITER, FLA. — Thankfully, the Cardinals receive a do-over for spring training. It's called the regular season. — A team that led the major leagues with 100 victories last season closed camp Saturday, bringing north almost as many questions as it trucked to Florida six weeks ago.
Jorge Arangure Jr / Washington Post:
Nationals' Astacio Heads to DL — No. 3 Starter Will Have MRI Exam On Stiff Forearm — BALTIMORE, April 1 — Washington Nationals starting pitcher Pedro Astacio was placed on the disabled list after he experienced stiffness in his right forearm; he threw two innings in Saturday's 8-4 exhibition loss against the Baltimore Orioles.
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Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Guillen Wants to Finalize Contract Extension — Earlier this week, Washington Nationals right fielder Jose Guillen said he badly wanted to get his proposed contract extension finalized by the start of the season, and that he wouldn't negotiate once the year began, meaning the Nationals …
Associated Press:
Rangers trade for mound help; Eaton to have surgery — ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers traded outfielder David Dellucci to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night for right-hander Robinson Tejeda and minor league outfielder Jake Blalock. — Tejeda could provide help soon …
RELATED ITEMS:
Richard Durrett / Dallas Morning News:Rangers deal Dellucci to Phillies for pitcher
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Conor / San Diego Serenade:
Baseball Season Will Be Starting Soon — "Baseball season will be starting soon" begins Going to Tennessee by The Mountain Goats. Fortunately, the next line "But we have no baseball team here" need not apply to us here in San Diego, nor any longer to my family back in Virginia.
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Yankees win! Thaaaa Yankees win! … We are peering through the haze, peering ahead to October. — We see confetti floating. We see champagne spouting. We see another of baseball's interminable World Series droughts fading into the past tense. — The Cubs, you ask? The Indians?
Discussion:
The Joy of Sox
Awiggo / Burnt Orange Nation:
Spring Preview: Georgia Bulldog Group Evaluation — If Austin is the capital of the college sports world these days, Athens is the capital of the college sports blogosphere, with no fewer than six outstanding blogs devoted to the Georgia Bulldogs. I'd be lying if I told you that I'm deeply interested …
Alan Schwarz / New York Times:
Finally, an Error-Free Way to Measure Fielding — John Dewan was furious. In November, when the defending champion Chicago White Sox traded their outstanding center fielder, Aaron Rowand, to the Philadelphia Phillies for the plodding slugger Jim Thome, Dewan was certain his favorite team …
New York Post:
AVOID THE 'ROID ENJOY THE RIDE — April 2, 2006 — Hardball's guide to an intriguing '06 season — ANOTHER baseball season arrives wrapped in steroid hell. The past sins of illegally juiced players and negligent caretakers have created the mother of all performance-enhancing hangovers.
Discussion:
Capitol Punishment
Deadspin:
The Best Damn... April Fools Joke. — Okay, I was had, and I am dumb A couple of readers have written in (and my thanks to them) to tell me that the "fight" between Michael Strahan and Tom Arnold on The Best Damn Sports Show was, in fact, an April Fools Joke. My congratulations to everyone involved.
Alan Schwarz / New York Times:
Take Me Out to the Box Score — To most baseball fans, box scores are as invigorating as the morning coffee sipped over them. These ever-changing encapsulations of each game's events have a history of their own, one that mirrors baseball's evolving rules and values over more than 150 years …
Scott Andera / Palm Beach Post:
Statistical significance — Laugh at them all you want, but 'stat masters' fill a role for serious fans, explaining and predicting most everything that happens on the diamond. — For millions of baseball fans, poring over the previous night's box scores while pouring out some cereal is a part of life.
Discussion:
Walk Like a Sabermetrician
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Notes: Lofton placed on 15-day DL — Outfielder joins growing list of Dodgers' wounded — ANAHEIM — New management team or not, the Dodgers are starting out 2006 a lot like 2005: injured. — They had to put 38-year-old center fielder Kenny Lofton on the 15-day disabled list Saturday night …
