Top News:
Adam Rubin / ESPN:
Wilpons plan to be Mets' owners for ‘long time’ — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — After surveying players warming up on the morning of the first full-squad workout, New York Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon reached into his pocket, pulled out a $5 bill and lightheartedly flashed them for the media.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports and BBTF's Baseball Primer …
RELATED:
David Lennon / Newsday:
Fred Wilpon addresses the Mets, Madoff and more — Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon held his own news conference on Field 2 Monday morning as the team stretched behind him during the first day of full-squad workouts. Here's what he had to say in the complete 22-minute interview:
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Andrew Keh / Bats:
At Spring Training, a Defiant Wilpon — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Mets' first official full-team workout of the year brought with it a conversation between reporters and the owner Fred Wilpon, whose appearances in the news media have become rarer as the club has endured a variety of financial troubles.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
Dan Shaughnessy / Boston Globe:
This ban on alcohol is a lot to drink in — David Ortiz (left), Kevin Youkilis, and Adrian Gonzalez chat. Gonzalez sits on a cooler of Powerade, maybe a clubhouse refreshment of choice of the Sox this season with alcohol banned. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff) — FORT MYERS, Fla. - No beer in the Red Sox clubhouse.
Discussion:
Dan Shaughnessy Watch
RELATED:
ESPN:
Francona: Red Sox alcohol ban could backfire
Francona: Red Sox alcohol ban could backfire
Discussion:
Deadspin, the joy of sox and The Heater Feed
Mike Petraglia / WEEI:
MADDON OK'S BEER: 'WE'RE NOT' THE RED SOX
MADDON OK'S BEER: 'WE'RE NOT' THE RED SOX
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, NESN.com and Al's Ramblings
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Reds Extend Sean Marshall — The Reds announced a three-year extension with lefty reliever Sean Marshall, which runs through 2015. The contract is worth $16.5MM, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal notes there's $2MM in performance bonuses each year, $1MM for games started and $1MM for games finished.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, MLB Daily Dish, HardballTalk and Baseball Nation
RELATED:
Mark Zuckerman / Nats Insider:
More details on Zimmerman's contract — VIERA, Fla. — There have been a lot of numbers thrown around since yesterday about Ryan Zimmerman's contract extension, and there's been a bit of confusion over the total monetary value of the deal. Is it a six-year, $100 million extension?
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Federal Baseball and MLB Daily Dish
Richard Durrett / ESPN:
Yu Darvish to make debut on March 7 … SURPRISE, Ariz. — Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish will make his first Cactus League start on March 7 in Peoria, Ariz., against the San Diego Padres. He's expected to throw two innings. — Perhaps the best news for Darvish about that start …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Spencer Fordin / MLB.com:
Fire causes minor damage at Fenway Park — The Red Sox are more than 1,000 miles away, but they had a small problem at home on Monday. A local Boston CBS affiliate reported that fire crews put out a small blaze at Fenway Park on Monday morning, which reportedly caused around $30,000 in damages.
Discussion:
Boston Globe and Yahoo! Sports
David Pinto / baseballmusings.com:
Changes, San Diego Padres — The Padres hope Carlos Quentin can improve the team's .305 OBP the posted in 2011. Photo: Jeff Moffett/Icon SMI — The San Diego Padres finished 2011 71-91, fifth in the National League West as they started a new round of rebuilding. Their play was consistently poor throughout the season.
Discussion:
Gaslamp Ball
John Manuel / Baseball America:
Mariners' Mattox Passes Away — PMariners scout Frank Mattox, who spent his professional career in baseball and spent six years as the Mariners' scouting director, died Sunday night at his home in Peoria Ariz. He was 49. — Mattox collapsed suddenly while sitting down to watch the Academy Awards, according to MLB.com.
Discussion:
Lookout Landing
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Harper, Trout, and Moore: Free Agents? — The offseason deals handed out to Japanese superstar Yu Darvish and Cuban tools king Yoenis Cespedes, as well as the returns generated in the trade market for young talent like Gio Gonzalez, are further proof that there is nothing more valuable …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and Dodger Thoughts
Charles P. Pierce / Grantland:
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong — In Defense of Ryan Braun — The undeniable idiocy of baseball's steroids “crisis” — The system, we are told, worked. That's always the second-last refuge of scoundrels. The system, we were told after the Watergate scandal, had “worked,” even though it hadn't, not fully.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com:
Zumaya unsure if he will undergo surgery — Reliever has already rehabbed from multiple operations on arm — FORT MYERS, Fla. — A day after learning he tore his ulnar collateral ligament, Twins right-hander Joel Zumaya said Monday he still hasn't decided whether he'll undergo Tommy John surgery to continue his career.
Discussion:
Bollinger Beat and Twinkie Town