Top News:
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
A Slide Leads to a Cut and a Festering Wound — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Two of his players and two of his coaches were ejected Wednesday, but Yankees Manager Joe Girardi insisted his team had not been looking for a fight. In the visiting dugout after Round 2 of a bruising bout with the Tampa Bay Rays …
Discussion:
NY Daily News, It is about the money, stupid, NJ.com, ShysterBall and New York Yankees etc.
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:Yankees-Rays: The Live Blog
Discussion:
New York Post, NY Daily News, Providence Journal, FanHouse, The Heater, River Ave. Blues, The Bronx Block, Rays Index, Boston Globe, Bats, ESPN.com, Bugs & Cranks, Hot Stove New York, BASEBALL HOT CORNER, MY BASEBALL BIAS, A Red Sox Fan …, iYankees, Pinstripes, Pa and Scott Proctor's Arm
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:Tempers flare in Yanks-Rays matchup
Discussion:
Eephus Pitch, Green Pinstripes, Hardball, Scott Proctor's Arm, Bombers Beat, Bronx Banter and Bugs & Cranks
Kat O'Brien / Newsday:Yankees, Rays brawl in Florida
Discussion:
New York Post, Ken Davidoff's baseball …, YanksBlog.com, Awful Announcing, Hot Foot and The Bottom Line
Jim Street / MLB.com:
Mariners release Ramirez — Lefty's struggles, stocked rotation spell end of road in Seattle — PEORIA, Ariz. — The Mariners' first roster move of Spring Training was a stunner. — Left-handed pitcher Horacio Ramirez, who spent most of last season in the starting rotation …
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Associated Press:
M's release lefty Ramirez 15 months after trading for him — CBSSports.com wire reports — PEORIA, Ariz. — The Seattle Mariners released pitcher Horacio Ramirez on Wednesday, giving up on the underperforming left-hander they acquired in a trade 15 months ago.
Geoff Baker / Mariners Blog:Ramirez released — There you go. Doesn't quite rate as a surprise.
Discussion:
U.S.S. Mariner, Phillies Nation, Associated Press, Mets Today, Rain Delay, MLB Rumors and Lone Star Ball
Jim Street / MLB.com:
Capuano can't find groove vs. Seattle — Left-hander struggles for third straight outing in Cactus play — MARINERS 5, BREWERS 1 — Mariners at the plate: Outfielder Mike Morse tacked on three more hits to his productive spring: a single in the fifth, run-scoring double in the seventh …
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Tony Massarotti / Boston Herald:
No arms surplus here … FORT MYERS — In the unlikely event you're looking for one, here's an opinion: The Red Sox [team stats] need another starting pitcher. — “Six wasn't enough,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona mused yesterday following the Sox' 12-7 win over the Minnesota Twins …
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Boston Herald:
Clay throwing his A game with new Pet … As you may have suspected, life is good if you're Red Sox [team stats] hurler Clay Buchholz. — First he throws a no-hitter in his second start in the bigs. Then Josh Beckett [stats] goes down with a bad back, meaning Clay's odds of starting just got a whole lot better.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Tom Spousta / New York Times:
Crystal Puts Bat on Ball and Tongue in Cheek — TAMPA, Fla. — Say this about Billy Crystal, a 5-foot-5 infield prospect who bats right-handed, throws right-handed and left everything on practice field No. 2 at Legends Field during a workout Wednesday: He has a strike zone the size of a fire ant.
Discussion:
Bucs Dugout
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Chris Girandola / MLB.com:
Crystal lives out pinstripe dreams — Actor-comedian takes BP and fielding practice with Yanks — TAMPA, Fla. — When Harry met a brushback pitch. — An idea spawned on the beaches of Costa Rica a few months ago between Billy Crystal and Derek Jeter turned comedic in the batting cages of Field Two at Legends Field on Wednesday.
Maureen Mullen / MLB.com:
Manny finds wisdom with touch of gray — Slugger refines exercise, diet as career begins to wind down — FORT MYERS, Fla. — The experts will tell us one of the keys to aging well is to continue learning along the way. Older and wiser, as the saying goes.
Alyson Footer / MLB.com:
Lee not a fan of batting in five-hole — Slugger prefers to hit cleanup, but will do what's best for team — LAKELAND, Fla. — Before the start of Spring Training, Astros manager Cecil Cooper projected the Opening Day lineup to include Miguel Tejada hitting third, Lance Berkman fourth and Carlos Lee fifth.
Carrie Muskat / MLB.com:
Piniella to test Soriano at No. 2 in lineup — Move an attempt to keep slugger healthy; Fukudome to bat fifth — SURPRISE, Ariz. — Lou Piniella plans to experiment with the Cubs lineup, dropping leadoff man Alfonso Soriano to No. 2 in an attempt to keep him healthy while inserting Kosuke Fukudome fifth.
Associated Press:
Ga. baseball team plans “Eliot Spitzer” theme night — MACON, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia minor league team is hoping to turn Eliot Spitzer's scandal into a packed stadium. — The Macon Music is capitalizing on the outgoing New York governor's prostitution-related downfall, by serving up a “Eliot Spitzer Night.”
Discussion:
Projo SoxBlog
Amalie Benjamin / Boston Globe:
Coco no go to Mets — Ignore that rumor started about Coco Crisp heading to the Mets for Angel Pagan. — Theo Epstein, through media relations director John Blake, said that the Red Sox have not been talking to the Mets. That the story was a fabrication. — Meanwhile...the Red Sox are leading 6-5.
RELATED:
Anthony Rieber / On the Mets beat:Cuckoo for Coco? — Not really. A Mets official chuckled …
Discussion:
Ya Gotta Believe
Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Joke's on Castillo, but he isn't laughing — Teammates play prank on veteran, putting gum atop his cap — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — By the fourth inning, Luis Castillo retreated to the Mets' clubhouse, passed by a mirror and discovered the reasons for the behind-his-back giggles and grins in the dugout on Wednesday.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Jeff Blair / Globe and Mail:
Janssen's injury sends shock waves — Sometimes you need to look beyond the simple sentence that says “Player X has been diagnosed with Injury Y and will be out for the year,” because the finality of the statement doesn't do justice to the emotions it can send through an organization whenever …
