Top News:
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
PSL: Omar Talks with Reporters from Dugout — Omar Minaya just talked with reporters from the dugout. … According to Minaya, Moises Alou will have surgery and should be on a bike roughly one week later, “hopefully.” He is expected to be back in four to six weeks, as had been reporters yesterday.
RELATED:
David Lennon / Newsday:
Alou's hernia adds to Mets' injury woes — Moises Alou found out Wednesday of a hernia in his hip that will cause him to miss the start of the season. (Newsday/David L. Pokress) — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Mets, despite a dizzying rash of injuries, clung tightly to the belief that they would be at full strength by Opening Day.
Jim Baumbach / Newsday:
Kenny Lofton could help solve Mets' problems — Jim Baumbach says the Mets can solve their injury problems in the outfield by signing 40-year-old veteran Kenny Lofton. The Mets would be Lofton's 12th team in his 17-year career. (MCT Photo) — The Mets are trying hard not to panic …
David Lennon / Newsday:
El Duque hopes new windup will work out — Moises Alou found out Wednesday of a hernia in his hip that will cause him to miss the start of the season. (Newsday/David L. Pokress) — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Orlando Hernandez, with a revamped lower leg kick, may not look the same on the mound.
Ed Price / New Jersey Online:
Yanks not blessed by April schedule — TAMPA, Fla. — Blame Benedict. — Not ex-Atlanta Braves catcher Bruce Benedict, but Pope Benedict XVI. — The Yankees' April schedule is “terrible,” as general manager Brian Cashman said yesterday, and it will affect the roster decisions they make in spring training.
RELATED:
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Joba Chamberlain bitten by HR ball — TAMPA - Joba Chamberlain called it “just one of those days.” — Of course, Chamberlain had never experienced a day like this since joining the Yankees last August, at least one without midges around. — The hard-throwing 22-year-old allowed two runs on two hits …
Discussion:
River Ave. Blues
RELATED:
Sports Illustrated:
Nobody's perfect (cont.) — Mets — Need: Backup for first base, right field. — Carlos Delgado's hip problems have to be a concern even if he's telling Mets people he's good to go. The MRI was said to be negative, and Delgado insists these hip problems aren't a recurrence of last year's hip problems.
Todd Zolecki / philly.com:
Phillies show striking out not all that bad — LAKELAND, Fla. - Strikeouts are a sensitive subject for hitters, and understandably so. — They're terrible. — The feeble hack at the ball. The dejected look after the third strike. The sad walk to the dugout. — Except strikeouts aren't so terrible.
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Spring Training: Middle infield center of bench attention — Josh Wilson, Rivas impress management in early games — BRADENTON, Fla. — It could be that Josh Wilson and Luis Rivas are battling for one backup middle infielder's job on the Pirates' roster. — Or, it could be that there is no job to be had.
Discussion:
Bucs Dugout
RELATED:
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Yankees-Reds: The live blog — Welcome to Ed Smith Field in Sarasota, Fla. It's 71 degrees and the Yankees are playing the Cincinnati Reds. It'll be Chien-Ming Wang vs. Aaron Harang. — A swarm of bees delayed the game here last year when the Yankees were in town. So if the live blog suddenly ends, you'll know why.
Discussion:
The Bronx Stop
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
Ozzie Smith is Back in Spring Training... With his Barbeque — Ozzie Smith, the now Hall of Famer, and defensive great that played for the St. Louis Cardinals is in Spring Training. Yes, Ozzie “The Wizard” is warming up for the season, preparing the tools of the trade …
David O'Brien / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Tiger takes on Smoltz at plate — Winter Haven, Fla. — Two days after John Smoltz, Jeff Francoeur and Tom Glavine played 18 holes with PGA star Tiger Woods, Smoltz faced his pal again Wednesday — this time in the pitcher's domain. — Woods donned a batting helmet and Braves jersey …
Discussion:
FanHouse
Rick Morrissey / Chicago Tribune:
Sox have rhetoric, but what's behind words? — The new ad campaign for the White Sox is “Share the Passion, Show the Swagger,” and it hits all the right notes, as far as those things go. — But I would like to go on record as saying “Show Some Life, For Crying Out Loud” didn't get a fair shake.
Will Carroll / Baseball Prospectus:
New York Yankees — The Yankees have a tendency to bring in players that are past their prime, which would make many think that I'd give Gene Monahan and his staff something of a pass for this team's lower-third finish in Three-Year Rank category. However, while Monahan is almost an institution …
Discussion:
MY BASEBALL BIAS
Art Garfamudis / ESPN:
Stop the revolution . . . I want to get off — So Jeremy Brown has called it quitskies, huh? You'd think that the retirement of a guy who is built somewhat like me would make me sad, but it doesn't. Instead, I danced a hora when I heard it. — At least, I did the dance after the person …
