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
Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Nats' Opener Comes With a Lot of Questions — 2nd Season Begins With a Slew of Injuries, No Owner Once Again — and More — Jim Bowden has been in baseball for more than two decades, and has never experienced anything like it. Frank Robinson is entering his 51st season in the sport, and, likewise, this is new to him.
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Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Notes: Workout just the start for Nats — After getting in time on field, team faced strategy meetings — NEW YORK — The Nationals took the field at Shea Stadium late Sunday morning and had their usual hitting and fielding drills, which lasted about 90 minutes. But their day was far from over.
Discussion:
Distinguished Senators
Jorge Arangure Jr / Washington Post:Nationals' Astacio Heads to DL
Discussion:
Federal Baseball, THE BELTWAY BOYS, District of Baseball, Capitol Punishment and Just A Nats Fan
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
White Sox roll in opener — Thome hits first homer; McCarthy picks up win — CHICAGO — Neither euphoria from a pregame unfurling of the 2005 White Sox World Series championship banner nor a deluge of seemingly biblical proportions could delay the South Siders from their appointed rounds Sunday night …
Discussion:
Dan Agonistes
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Mark Newman / MLB.com:
Waiting ends as the games begin — Anything is possible as another baseball season commences — After watching a different team win every World Series in this decade, after watching the last two champions end a collective 174 years of drought, after watching Johnny Damon cut his hair …
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
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.
Ryan Vb / Cardinals Diaspora:
More than Just a Really Good Sandwich — PRE-GAME RUB DOWN — There's a couple of obvious things you don't want to say when writing about a series in Philly. References to "Philadelphia freedom," the liberty bell, ironic comments about brotherly love, and that sort of thing are all best saved …
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.
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 …
Landon Thomas Jr / New York Times:
Case Study: Fix a Baseball Team — IT has been a rough first inning for Andrew E. Friedman, the cherubic-faced 29-year-old general manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Opening day looms, and one of his best young pitchers has been lit up for four runs while his third baseman has booted one ball and overthrown another.
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
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 …
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