Top News:
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Ethier wins left-field job — Pierre forced to bench after hitting just .169 this spring — LOS ANGELES — Andre Ethier won the Dodgers' starting left-field job from veteran Juan Pierre and will start Opening Day vs. the Giants on Monday, Los Angeles manager Joe Torre announced Sunday.
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Dylan Hernandez / Los Angeles Times:
Dodgers' Pierre isn't happy about situation — Veteran outfielder, who will learn today whether he has lost starting job in left to Ethier, says he doesn't get management's thinking. — Juan Pierre will meet with Manager Joe Torre before the Dodgers' exhibition finale against the Boston Red Sox today …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Rays Anatomy, Can't Stop The Bleeding, DRaysBay, The Transaction Guy and The Griddle
Jeff Zrebiec / Baltimore Sun:
Orioles release Gibbons — Team responsible for paying $11.9 million left on outfielder's contract — The Orioles finalized their roster today, releasing veteran outfielder Jay Gibbons, who had been the second longest tenured member of the club. — With the move, the Orioles …
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Associated Press:
Orioles release outfielder Gibbons — BALTIMORE — Jay Gibbons was released Sunday by the Baltimore Orioles, who lost patience waiting for the oft-injured outfielder to regain the form that enabled him to hit 26 home runs in 2005. — Gibbons batted .189 with no homers and four RBIs …
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
El Duque might start season on DL — MEMPHIS - Mets officials appeared to be leaning toward placing Orlando Hernandez on the DL to start the season, paving the way for Mike Pelfrey to make at least two starts, the first opposite Tom Glavine on Saturday in Atlanta, the Daily News has learned.
Discussion:
New York Post, NJ.com, Amazin' Avenue, Mets Merized Online, The 'Ropolitans and Hot Foot
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Bart Hubbuch / Mets Blog:
Pelfrey named No. 5 starter — MIAMI — The Mets decided El Duque wasn't healthy enough to be their No. 5 starter out of spring training, naming Mike Pelfrey instead. — Pelfrey was tabbed over Orlando Hernandez despite an 8.14 ERA this spring. — El Duque pitched well in his last start Friday …
New York Times:
A Journey to Baseball's Alternate Universe — Ithaca, N.Y. — WITH the baseball season under way and the memory of scandal in the sport so fresh, many fans yearn for an earlier era, a time when mythology mingled with baseball. The sport's most mythic achievement is Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak …
Ben Shpigel / New York Times:
From Views to Fastballs, Wagner Won't Hold Back — MIAMI — In late November, about a week after Tom Glavine signed with Atlanta, Billy Wagner told MLB.com that he viewed the Mets as a third-place team. Within a few days, Wagner received a call from General Manager Omar Minaya, who asked if he was misquoted.
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Unsung Braves built for October glory … We take you back in time to the first week of March. The 2008 Grapefruit League was only a few days old. But a National League scout already had caught on to something that hadn't yet dawned on the rest of the hemisphere.
Ken Mandel / MLB.com:
Phillies finalize Opening Day roster — Philadelphia enters regular season carrying 11 pitchers — LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. — With no last-minute waiver claim or trade, the Phillies set their 25-man roster on Sunday in preparation for Monday's regular-season opener against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.
David Pinto / Baseball Musings:
NL Central Preview — Cardinals … This is a sad team. Not two years removed from their World Championship, St. Louis looks like a team scraped from the scrap heap. Even their great players are questionable. Albert Pujols's elbow is hanging together by a thread.
Nat Boyle / MLB Rumors:
To Be Dealt: Bay, Nady, Marte, Morris, Wilson — A short but sweet article came out in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette this morning detailing the Pirates' five main trade candidates. No new or surprising names appear on the list but it's a handy roundup for those not up to date on their Bucco news.
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Brian Cashman answers your questions — We've had a lot of fun with the reader Q&A feature on the blog but this one is special. — We put the word out for questions for Brian Cashman last week and a record 512 e-mails came into blog headquarters from around the world.
Discussion:
WasWatching.com
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
Ozzie reveals Opening Day lineup — Uribe to play second, Swisher to lead off against Sabathia — MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ozzie Guillen never has been one to hide the truth from White Sox fans, the media covering the team or anyone else in the general vicinity when he is holding court.
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New York Post
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