Top News:
NY Daily News:
Yankees' two losses to Mets would not have gone over well with George Steinbrenner — TAMPA — It is an accepted premise — except, of course, when it came to George Steinbrenner — that spring training games are mostly meaningless and that none of the players' performances, good or bad, are anything worth getting all worked up about.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley and HardballTalk
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Joel Sherman / New York Post:
Lagares batting ninth? Why Mets think it'll work — Mets center field Juan Lagares could bat first — or ninth. — TAMPA - Juan Lagares led off Wednesday and smoked an 0-2 double off the left-field wall against Masahiro Tanaka, stole third and scored when John Ryan Murphy heaved the ball into left field.
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue, ESPN and New Jersey Online
Jared Diamond / Wall Street Journal:
Mets Try New Trick on Defense: Predicting Where Ball Will Be Hit — Thanks to their slow-footed middle infielders, Mets find themselves on the forefront of a trend sweeping baseball: the science of defensive positioning — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.—As the Mets' infield coach …
Mike Ozanian / Forbes:
MLB Worth $36 Billion As Team Values Hit Record $1.2 Billion Average — If Major League Baseball traded on a stock exchange it would be worth $36 billion. The average baseball team is now worth $1.2 billion, 48% more than a year ago, the biggest year-over-year increase since we began tracking team values in 1998.
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Darren Rovell / MLB:
Forbes: Average MLB team worth $1.2B
Forbes: Average MLB team worth $1.2B
Discussion:
ESPN, McCovey Chronicles and DRaysBay
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Jeter's replacement already earning eye-popping praise from Yankee vets — FOX Sports — Look familiar? Actually, Didi Gregorius' defense is already earning praise Derek Jeter's never received. — I walked into the Yankees' spring complex with no preconceived notions about what I wanted to write.
Discussion:
USA Today, HardballTalk, CBSSports.com and BBTF's Baseball Primer …
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New York Post:
Betances: My velocity ‘nowhere near where it should be’
Betances: My velocity ‘nowhere near where it should be’
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley and HardballTalk
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Alex Rodriguez continues to earn Joe Girardi's confidence as Yankees' DH
Alex Rodriguez continues to earn Joe Girardi's confidence as Yankees' DH
Discussion:
CBSSports.com and HardballTalk
MLB.com:
Duo combines for five hits and four RBIs in tie against A's — 3/25/15: Carlos Gomez hits a home run to left field on the first pitch he sees from Sonny Gray — PHOENIX — Carlos Gomez hit a leadoff home run and logged RBIs in each of the first three innings as the Brewers knocked around A's Opening …
Discussion:
Brew Crew Ball
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Tim Elfrink / Miami New Times:
MLB INVESTIGATING CLAIMS TYING MARLINS PITCHER JARRED COSART TO GAMBLING — UPDATE: Cosart has apparently now responded to the claims; an account claiming to be his new official Twitter says his original account was hacked and DMs were sent to incriminate him in a gambling conspiracy.
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Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago:
White Sox' Carlos Rodon strikes out nine Royals in four innings — SURPRISE, Ariz. - Carlos Rodon was dominant in his fourth Cactus League start Wednesday night, striking out nine Kansas City Royals in four innings without allowing a walk. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft …
Discussion:
South Side Sox
Ryan Lawrence / Philly.com:
Victorino would welcome Hamels to Boston — FORT MYERS, Fla. - Cole Hamels will almost certainly take the mound in a Phillies uniform on Opening Day, 2 weeks from yesterday, at Citizens Bank Park against the Boston Red Sox. — Spring training trades - particularly spring training blockbuster trades - are extremely rare.
Discussion:
Boston Herald, The Big Lead, CBS Boston and HardballTalk
CSN Chicago:
Cubs: Theo Epstein responds to Scott Boras' criticism of Kris Bryant situation — Your browser does not support iframes. — While Kris Bryant has been tearing up the Cactus League throughout spring training and is leading the major leagues in home runs, the debate has raged regarding whether …
Discussion:
Bleacher Nation, Beyond the Box Score, Chicago Tribune, CBSSports.com, CBS Chicago and MLB Trade Rumors
Rob Neyer / Fox Sports:
NOT SO FAST, LUCROY! — About a year ago, I was at the SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix and got to talking about pitch-framing with Dave Cameron. While we agreed that pitch-framing's important and does deserve a place in any serious analysis, Dave told me FanGraphs wasn't going to include pitch-framing …
Discussion:
Redleg Nation
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Minor Moves: Devin Lohman, Mitchell Boggs — Here are the day's minor moves, updated as we go: — The Phillies announced that they have acquired minor league shortstop Devin Lohman from the Reds in exchange for future considerations. Lohman, 25, has spent the past two seasons …
Meghan Montemurro / delawareonline:
Sizemore ‘forgotten man’ so far this spring — CLEARWATER, Fla. - Grady Sizemore has become a bit of a forgotten ballplayer with the Phillies this spring. — The Phillies made bringing back Sizemore a priority, signing him to a one-year, $2 million contract in mid-October.
Discussion:
CBSSports.com
Associated Press:
Norris Strong for Blue Jays in 5-2 Win Over Orioles — SARASOTA, Fla. — Looking to cement a spot in the Toronto rotation, Daniel Norris allowed one run in six impressive innings as the Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 on Wednesday. — Norris gave up three hits and struck out seven without walking a batter.
Discussion:
Camden Chat
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