Top News:
Tim Marchman / New York Sun:
Mets Have a Backup Plan for the Backup Plan — At least as much as the next man, I've taken it as a given that the Mets, having not signed or traded for the sort of durable starter they needed over the winter, will enter spring training facing a mounting catastrophe.
RELATED:
Kevin Kernan / New York Post:
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS — PETERSON: METS HAVE RIGHT INGREDIENTS FOR ROTATION — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The sun was shining brilliantly yesterday on the row of bullpen mounds head groundskeeper Tommy Bowes and his crew have groomed to perfection here at the Mets spring training complex.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
5 questions to consider as Mets report to St. Lucie — The Mets are coming off a 97-win season, in which they tied the Yankees for most wins in the majors. Pedro Martinez has spoken glowingly about his recovery from rotator-cuff surgery. Willie Randolph has a new contract.
David Lennon / Newsday:SPRING TRAINING PREVIEW: Plenty of arms for a contest
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
John Altavilla / Hartford Courant:Deep Bullpen Answer To Issues In Rotation
Discussion:
the metropolitans
Mark Hale / New York Post:TEAM FOR THE AGES — METS NEED YOUNGSTERS TO STEP UP, VETERANS TO HOLD UP
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Benson out for season with rotator cuff tear — In a sharp blow to the Orioles' 2007 hopes, right-hander Kris Benson will miss the entire season due to a partially torn rotator cuff, FOXSports.com has learned. — Benson, 32, will require surgery to repair his injury …
Discussion:
Oriole Magic, Sweaty Men Endeavors, MLB Trade Rumors, Camden Chat, Always Amazin' and Hot Foot
RELATED:
Boston Globe:
It's Truck Day — Today marks the unofficial start of spring training for the Red Sox: It's Truck Day at Fenway Park! The Sox equipment truck left from Fenway Park in Boston today, bound for the team's spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. Here, Michael Patti struggles to put the spring training banner on the van.
RELATED:
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Gearing up for spring — Equipment truck departure signals Spring Training is nearing — BOSTON — Several dozen Red Sox fans lined up across the street from Fenway Park early Monday afternoon to witness the unofficial beginning of spring for any true New Englander.
Tim Kurkjian / ESPN:
Red Sox's rotation filled with several potential aces … What team has the best rotation in baseball? That used to be an easy question. For the better part of 10 years, the Braves were the simple answer, but it's not an easy question now. There are six or seven good rotations …
Discussion:
Pride of the Yankees
Aaron / AaronGleeman.com:
Mauer Through 2010 — We're sadly still destined for two straight years of hearing and reading about how Johan Santana may leave Minnesota at some point, but for a while at least we've been spared from similarly premature talk about Joe Mauer's possible departure.
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Joe Capozzi / Palm Beach Post:
Marlins upset Cabrera skipped caravan stops — MIAMI GARDENS — Less than a week before they take him to arbitration, the Marlins delivered an early salvo at their most productive player, All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera. — In front of hundreds of fans and season-ticket holders during the weekend …
RELATED:
Karen Crouse / New York Times:Marlins Wonder if Star's Smile Can Muster Support for New Stadium
Discussion:
FishStripes
NY Daily News:
Joe, without a net — Faces what looms as last licks — When Joe Torre shows up in Tampa this week, he officially begins the last year of what could be his last contract managing the Yankees. Here is what Brian Cashman, Torre's immediate boss even if he is still an underboss to George Steinbrenner, says about that:
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Sal Baxamusa / Hardball Times:
MIT Sloan Sports Business Conference Recap — This weekend I attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Sports Business Conference in Cambridge, Mass. This year's conference focused on the role of analytics in sports management, although, like many business school events …
Discussion:
Sabernomics
RELATED:
Pat / Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?:
Jim Tracy — I wanted to do a post about Tracy, but I don't really feel like it fits the same mold as the rest of the season preview stuff, so I'm just going to put it out there. — It's been over a year since Tracy's hire and I still don't know what I think about him, which has to be a bad sign.
Paul Hagen / Philly.com:
Phils trainer was best you never heard from — Innovative Cooper reflects on his career — THERE WAS no big retirement announcement. Just a brief ceremony on the field at Citizens Bank Park before a game in August, a point of the evening when most fans are busy strolling through Ashburn Alley …
Discussion:
Balls, Sticks, & Stuff
Walk Like a Sabermetrician:
Historical Park Factors — I have just posted a new spreadsheet with park factors for all teams, 1901-2004, as a Google Spreadsheet. These are five-year park factors, calculated in the same manner I describe on this page. — The guiding philosophy was to try to include as much data as possible.
Will Carroll / Baseball Prospectus:
Positional Health Reports — Introduction — For the past four seasons, I have written team health reports in the preseason, giving fans and fantasy players an advance look at the risks their teams face from injury. Those reports have been among the most accurate available and …
Sports Illustrated:
Rotation — Optimists point to the Brewers' starting rotation and note that Ben Sheets has the stuff to become one of the game's elite, Chris Capuano is an All-Star-caliber lefty, Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas each won 12 games last year, and Jeff Suppan was the MVP of the NLCS.
