Top News:
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Sox make Mirabelli release official — FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Red Sox have just made Doug Mirabelli's release official. He was placed on unconditional release waivers. — Will he be back? — That all depends on how well Kevin Cash or Dusty Brown handle Tim Wakefield.
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Tony Massarotti / Boston Herald:
Sox release Mirabelli … FORT MYERS - The Red Sox [team stats] almost seemed reluctant to re-sign Doug Mirabelli [stats] to one-year contracts during the last two offseasons. This morning, their reasons became more apparent. — They released him. — Prior to today's meeting between …
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Red Sox release catcher Mirabelli — Surprise move opens door for Cash to assume backup role — FORT MYERS, Fla. — In a move that was somewhat surprising, the Red Sox parted ways with Doug Mirabelli, putting the veteran backup catcher on unconditional release waivers before Thursday's exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Mirabelli released — FORT MYERS, Fla. - Who knows whether the Sox will stick with Kevin Cash as their backup/Tim Wakefield catcher, but for now he appears to be the man. — The Sox haven't yet announced it, but they've released Doug Mirabelli. The veteran, who has been with the Sox since 2001 …
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:
SOX & Dawgs, Defensive Indifference, Center Field, FanHouse, With Leather and Baseball Musings
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Lohse agrees to one-year deal with Cards — JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals moved to address their question-filled starting rotation Thursday by reaching agreement with free agent righthander Kyle Lohse on a one-year contract, pending Lohse passing a team physical Friday. Terms were not disclosed.
Discussion:
ESPN, FanHouse, Bird Land, MLB Rumors, Cardinals Diaspora, Phillies Nation and Rockin' the Red
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Spring Training / Associated Press:
Cards, RHP Lohse agree on 1 year, $4.25M — JUPITER, Fla. (AP)—The St. Louis Cardinals strengthened their thin rotation on Thursday, reaching a preliminary agreement with pitcher Kyle Lohse on a $4.25 million, one-year contract. — The Cardinals said the 29-year-old will take a physical on Friday at the team's spring training site.
Discussion:
The Transaction Guy
ESPN:
ESPN MLB analyst Sutcliffe diagnosed with cancer — ESPN baseball analyst Rick Sutcliffe has been diagnosed with cancer. — Sutcliffe, 51, was diagnosed after a routine test during a physical revealed that he has a treatable and curable form of colon cancer.
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Bill Althaus / Blue Springs Examiner:
Sutcliffe battling cancer — Van Horn graduate, former major league star pitcher ready to fight it — EXAMINER EXCLUSIVE — Rick Sutcliffe, the Van Horn High School graduate who won the National League Cy Young Award with the Chicago Cubs in 1984, is battling colon cancer.
Discussion:
Hire Jim Essian!
Spring Training / Associated Press:
Yanks' Mussina throws 5 perfect innings — TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Mike Mussina threw five perfect innings, but got overshadowed by a batter that struck out in his lone at-bat in the New York Yankees' 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. — Mussina's outing didn't get the biggest ovation from the 10,705 fans at Legends Field.
Discussion:
Scott Proctor's Arm
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Andrew Marchand / ESPN:
Wilpon: Mets to host All-Star Game in near future — New York Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said Thursday he has been informed that commissioner Bud Selig soon will announce the Mets will host an All-Star Game in the near future. — “I'm assured by the commissioner …
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Girardi talks it over with Duncan — Joe Girardi said yesterday that if he saw a replay that showed what Shelley Duncan did was dirty, he would have a meeting with him. — Girardi and Duncan met this morning. — Duncan said later he didn't want to talk about the meeting. Let's see, 2 + 2 ...
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Tyler Kepner / New York Times:A Slide Leads to a Cut and a Festering Wound
Discussion:
NY Daily News, NJ.com, It is about the money, stupid, New York Post, Bats and ShysterBall
John Schlegel / MLB.com:
Tools determine who is MLB's elite — Scouts examine skill categories that make top players — How do you determine MLB's Best? — How do you figure out which of the world's foremost players are the elite among the elite? And how do you really break it down to the individual talents …
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Giants Scouting Crede, Inge — This morning we have reports that the Giants have recently scouted Joe Crede and Brandon Inge. Even without a decent third baseman in the house, I don't really see the point of acquiring either guy. — On Sunday, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo noted …
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Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Francona and Theo chat with Coco — FORT MYERS, Fla. — Willie McGinest used to say “You can't make the club from the tub.” In the case of Coco Crisp, “you can't make a trade from the shade.” — If Coco Crisp wants an exit out of Boston, teams want to see that he's healthy and playing before trying to swing a deal.
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Dan Fox / Baseball Prospectus:
Schrodinger's Bat — Spring Fling … —A. Bartlett Giamatti — For baseball fans, it almost goes without saying that the first game seen each season is a special event. Having not been able to catch the smattering of games on cable or the now indispensable MLB.tv because of other commitments …
Patrick Sullivan / Baseball Analysts:
To Take or Not To Take — I can't imagine that many readers of this site do not have at least some form of addiction to Baseball Reference, a veritable data goldmine for any baseball junkie. I know I sure do. — Recently I have taken to coming up with some point of interest …
Discussion:
THE BOOK
Spring Training / Associated Press:
Bonds' 762nd HR ball to be auctioned off — DENVER (AP)—After snaring the baseball Barry Bonds hit for career homer No. 762, Jameson Sutton stored it in the safest place he could think of—deep inside his closet. — “I didn't tell anyone,” he said. — The 24-year-old from Boulder quickly moved …
