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:Coco in for face-to-face — Tito, Theo call Crisp for meeting
Discussion:
Associated Press, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, The Bottom Line, MLB Rumors and MLB.com
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:
FanHouse, Baseball Musings, Bird Land, Rockin' the Red, Bucs Dugout, Cardinals Diaspora and Phillies Nation
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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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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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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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Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Entire Yanks lineup will travel to VT — Majority of roster expected to participate as club honors victims — TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees' Spring Training schedule normally limits their travel to Florida's highway system, but on Tuesday, they'll take perhaps their most meaningful and poignant trip of the season.
Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Beltran boasts new level of happiness — Mets comment on change in center fielder after fatherhood — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The proclamation from Carlos Beltran that the Mets were the team to beat in the National League East raised eyebrows and perhaps the tenor of the Mets' relationship with the Phillies.
Barry Svrluga / Nationals Journal:
Personnel issues — ... which, of course, are different than personal issues, which I'm sure you don't want to hear from me. But a few things. — * Dmitri Young will get three or four at-bats tonight, then play tomorrow in the home game. — * Ryan Zimmerman is not in the lineup tonight …
Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
Giants, White Sox differ on Crede's value — Source: Offer is much less than Williams is seeking — TUCSON, Ariz. - The difference in opinion over the value of Joe Crede is about as wide as the gap between the White Sox third baseman's 2006 Silver Slugger Award season and his .080 spring average.
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Bernie Miklasz / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Lamping resigns as Cardinals' president — After an active, ambitious and highly successful 13-year run as the Cardinals' team president, a tenure highlighted by the opening of the new Busch Stadium and the franchise's 10th World Series championship, Mark Lamping is heading to New York and New Jersey to pursue a new dream job.
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 …
David Murphy / Philly.com:
Benson could be ready by end of May — Kris Benson wants his next appearance to come in a Grapefruit League game. The Phillies seem more inclined to let him start at least one more game against minor league competition. Either way, we got a little more insight today into the team's thinking for Benson's future today.
Discussion:
Phillies Nation
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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