Top News:
Bloomberg:
Mets Owners Told to Pay Illegal Madoff Profits — The New York Mets owners have to give up as much as $83 million in illegal profits from Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme and face a trial over another $303 million of their own money to determine if they acted in bad faith, a judge ruled.
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Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Mets' Owners Await Judge's Ruling
Mets' Owners Await Judge's Ruling
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Amazin' Avenue, MetsBlog.com and Yahoo! Sports
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates, McCutchen agree on new contract — BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pirates and star center fielder Andrew McCutchen agreed to terms on a six-year contract worth $51.5 million with a club option for 2018 worth $14.75 million, according to a source. — The contract will buy …
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Yahoo! Sports, baseballmusings.com, HardballTalk and Baseball Nation
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Dave Cameron / FanGraphs Baseball:
Pirates Lock Up Andrew McCutchen
Pirates Lock Up Andrew McCutchen
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MLB Rumors, Where Have You Gone …, Baseball Nation, Baseball Prospectus, MLB Daily Dish and Bucs Dugout
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Crawford will rest wrist for a week — FORT MYERS, Fla. - Red Sox left fielder Carl Crawford will shut down for about a week to rest his sore left wrist, manager Bobby Valentine announced. — “He was examined (by Dr. Donald Sheridan) and determined that he should curtail his swinging …
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Full Count, CBS New York, Yahoo! Sports, the joy of sox and Eye on Baseball
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Final Score: Nationals 3 Mets 1 — The Nationals defeated the Mets, 3-1, at Digital Domain Park tonight. — Dillon Gee pitched two innings to nine batters. He let up one run (a home run to Rick Ankiel). — Matt Harvey pitched two scoreless innings, but walked three of the eight batters he faced.
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
Corey Brock / MLB.com:
Geer grateful to be back after cancer bout — Padres pitcher missed most of 2011 with Stage III melanoma — PEORIA, Ariz. — Like many of the other Minor League pitchers and catchers in Padres camp, Josh Geer arrived in Peoria late last week optimistic about what 2012 holds for him.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Follow The Padres
Thomas Harding / MLB.com:
Paulsen plays hero with walk-off home run — SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rockies first-base prospect Ben Paulsen was co-winner of last year's Abby Greer Award — which goes to the prospect who performs best in Spring Training — with reliever Rex Brothers. But he slumped to .241, albeit with 19 home runs, at Double-A Tulsa.
Discussion:
Purple Row
Associated Press:
Josh Johnson Starts, Helps Marlins Beat Cardinals — JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Josh Johnson was walking the golf course as a spectator at the Honda Classic last week when he encountered a stranger who was a fan of the Miami Marlins ace. — “He said he had me in fantasy league last year,” Johnson recalled.
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Yahoo! Sports
Globe and Mail:
Verlander shuts down Blue Jays — AL MVP Justin Verlander picked up where he left off last season, pitching two scoreless innings in his spring training debut as the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 Monday. — Verlander gave up one hit, struck out one and faced six batters, and said he felt ready for another inning.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Todd Zolecki / MLB.com:
Pineda debuts with two shutout innings — CLEARWATER, Fla. — Right-hander Michael Pineda made his Yankees Grapefruit League debut on Monday afternoon in a 9-3 loss to the Phillies at Bright House Field, allowing one hit and striking out two across two innings.
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Pinstripe Alley
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
Newcomer Molina struggles in first spring outing — Reliever allows five runs in sixth inning; Ramirez has two hits — GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nestor Molina stayed in for a second inning of relief work in his White Sox debut Monday at Camelback Ranch, and the Dodgers took full advantage of the right-hander's expanded workload.
Discussion:
True Blue LA
Brian McTaggart / MLB.com:
Lowrie swings hot bat early in Grapefruit play — KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Dan Uggla went 2-for-3 with a home run and Brian McCann went 2-for-3 and scored twice to lead the Braves to an 10-5 victory over the Astros in the first Grapefruit League meeting between the clubs on Monday afternoon at Osceola County Stadium.
Discussion:
The Crawfish Boxes
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Extension Candidate: Neil Walker — With Andrew McCutchen's extension completed, the Pirates will focus their attention on second baseman Neil Walker, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Biertempfel believes a Walker extension may be “pricier than they originally expected,” but the team will still pony up.
Discussion:
Bucco Blog