Top News:
NY Daily News:
Can't Spring ahead — Only 17 days until pitchers and catchers - do you know where your teams are? — It's been that kind of a sluggish winter in which the grade for the majority of GMs is still an incomplete. — Even the White Sox's Kenny Williams, who made some bold moves to address …
Discussion:
DRaysBay
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John Harper / NY Daily News:
Hank: Don?t question Yanks' titles — Angered that Yankee integrity was called into question, Hank Steinbrenner spoke out this past week about the Mitchell Report that last month named 20 current or former Yankees as users of steroids or human growth hormone.
Discussion:
MY BASEBALL BIAS
John Harper / NY Daily News:
Mets are leavin' Livan on hold — Despite an apparent lack of movement in trade talks for Johan Santana, the Mets still are very much in pursuit of the Twins' lefthander, according to baseball sources. As a result, they are not likely to sign Livan Hernandez, or any other pitcher …
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Bernie-Cashman feud heats up — Drove over to the Greentree Country Club in New Rochelle tonight to see Bernie Williams, who was helping raise money for Hillside Food Outreach. — The Journal News planned to cover the event anyway. But after hearing what Brian Cashman said about Williams …
Jack Curry / Bats:
Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein Talk Baseball — It wasn't Brian Cashman Unplugged, but it was pretty close. When Cashman, the general manager of the Yankees, and Theo Epstein, his counterpart with the Red Sox, combined for a lecture at William Paterson University on Friday night, Cashman was the chattier and more candid of the two.
TwinCities.com:
CHARLEY WALTERS: Minnesota Twins could trade Santana within 10 days — The Twins, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees are not holding up the proposed trade of Twins pitcher Johan Santana. It's Santana, who is seeking $150 million over six years.
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Joel Sherman / New York Post:
JOHAN HAS METS ON HOLD — One major reason neither Livan Hernandez nor Kyle Lohse has signed yet is because they are waiting on the Mets, who in turn will not make a decision about Hernandez and Lohse until they find out for sure what the Twins are doing with Johan Santana.
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Hot Stove: Coonelly cool in PirateFest crossfire — None of the questioners at PirateFest's various Q&A sessions with management and players carried a press pass, but that hardly diminished the pointed queries from the fans in attendance Friday and yesterday.
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Janie McCauley / Associated Press:
Beane defines A's direction toward youth and development — OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane reiterated Saturday that the movement of his club toward youth and development is a sign home run king Barry Bonds probably isn't in the plans.
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Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Mailbag: The important statistics — MLB.com's Marty Noble answers Mets fans' questions — I enjoy reading your stories. You give straight answers to tough questions, and I look forward to your Mets mailbags. That being said, I have a comment about two recent stories dealing with Brian Schneider.
Discussion:
FIRE JOE MORGAN
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Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Shields gets his, so just what can Kazmir expect? — Executive vice president Andrew Friedman bought Scott Kazmir lunch Friday. Only fair, because at some point the Rays will ask Kazmir to buy into their future. — Last week's seven-year potentially $44-million contract with James Shields sent …
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Atkins bringing surge into new season — The ache of Garrett Atkins' slumps, both with a glove and a bat, was numbed by two words: low and short. — Atkins, known for his pulseless poise, was hitting .220 on May 27, his skid growing more perplexing with each swing. In the field, his range became limited.
Discussion:
Purple Row
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Faith brings Texas Rangers' Hamilton back from the brink — egrant@dallasnews.com — SMITHFIELD, N.C. - Just past 8 a.m. on a gray Eastern Carolina Friday, Josh Hamilton's silver GMC truck, grinding gravel into grit, rumbles into the alley directly across Market Street from the Ava Gardner Museum.
Susan Slusser / San Francisco Chronicle:
Cust says no to Mitchell Report — A's DH denies using steroids — (01-26) 17:58 PST — Jack Cust hadn't discussed the Mitchell Report publicly since it was released in December with his name included, the result of a conversation former teammate Larry Bigbie alleges they once had in the minor leagues.
Tim Dierkes / MLB Trade Rumors:
Brian Bannister Q&A, Part 2 — Royals starter Brian Bannister was kind enough to answer questions for MLBTR readers. The first part of the Q&A can be found here. — MLBTR: What's the most misunderstood aspect of succeeding in baseball by typical fans, sportswriters, and announcers?
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Alan Schwarz / New York Times:
A Voice of Skepticism on the Impact of Steroids — One of the most influential baseball minds of the last 40 years is angry. And he is coming out of retirement to vent. — Fans may not know Eric Walker's name, but they know his handiwork. Walker was a National Public Radio correspondent …
Joe Cowley / Chicago Sun Times:
Sox in Brief: Extension for Jenks in works — White Sox general manager Ken Williams is among the first to admit mistakes were made last offseason — namely that he discounted the effect that pending free agency would have on players such as Jermaine Dye and Mark Buehrle.
