Top News:
Ben Shpigel / New York Times:
Revised Batting Order Changes Dynamic for Mets — Carlos Beltrán had seen enough. So in a quiet moment Tuesday afternoon, he pulled a chair beside José Reyes's locker and offered some unsolicited advice. Recalling their conversation Wednesday night after the Mets' 5-2 victory …
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Mark Hale / New York Post:
THE BEL TOLLS — CARLOS' THREE-RUN BLAST, PEP TALK FUEL REYES, METS — The discussion came before Tuesday's game against the Nationals. Carlos Beltran initiated it with Jose Reyes, and because of it things may have changed with this team. — Beltran approached Reyes on Tuesday and delivered this message - be yourself.
Brian Lewis / New York Post:
SMITH BAILS OUT MAINE, AMAZIN'S — Joe Smith rode a roller-coaster rookie season that took him from unhittable to demoted to redeemed. After struggling through some mechanical tinkering this spring, Willie Randolph said the right-handed sidearm reliever is whipping the ball even better than before.
Ken Davidoff / Newsday:
Forbes: Yankees, Mets, Red Sox worth most — The Yankees, Mets and Red Sox top Forbes Magazine's annual list of baseball team valuations, with only the Yankees surpassing $1 billion. Befitting baseball's biggest rivalry, however, the Yankees and the Red Sox are the only clubs that are pegged to operate at a loss.
Discussion:
Bottom9 Baseball
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Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Sox battered in Bronx — Yanks rip Buchholz, 'pen … NEW YORK - Imagine going shopping for apples and instead of reaching for the perfectly ripe ones, you grab the most bruised and nasty ones. — That kind of bizarre retail behavior was exhibited by the pitching staffs of both the Yankees and Red Sox …
Associated Press:
Forbes: Yankees worth $1.3 billion — NEW YORK (AP)—The New York Yankees' value increased to $1.306 billion over the past year, according to the annual estimates by Forbes magazine, a rise of 9 percent over the past year. — The New York Mets were second at $824 million and the Boston Red Sox third …
Chicago Tribune:
Cubs place Soriano on 15-day DL — The Cubs placed left fiedler Alfonso Soriano on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a right calf strain. — Soriano, hitting .175 with five RBIs, left Tuesday's victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the top of the first inning after injuring himself catching a flyball.
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Tom Haudricourt / Brewers Blog:
Turnbow unhappy with role — St. Louis - Brewers reliever Derrick Turnbow is so upset over being relegated to what he calls a “mop-up” role in the bullpen that he asked his agent to contact general manager Doug Melvin to see what the plans are for the beleaguered right-hander.
Evan Grant / Associated Press:
Texas Rangers beat Toronto in 14 innings — egrant@dallasnews.com — TORONTO - In his third meeting with his club in the last week, Rangers manager Ron Washington had gone for more of a pep talk, reminding them it's OK to bend but to let the other team break. — The Rangers seem to finally have heard.
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
No speed? No problem, for White Sox — Low stolen base total not a concern for manager Guillen — BALTIMORE — Give Ozzie Guillen credit for being a man of his word where the team's philosophy on offense is concerned. — The White Sox manager mentioned numerous times during Spring Training …
Dave Studeman / Hardball Times:
Ten things I didn't know last week — Win Shares and Loss Shares — A couple of weeks ago, I talked about the essential place wins and losses have in the sabermetric universe. There are a lot of stats that track a player's contribution to his team's wins (you can probably come …
Jeff Sackmann / Hardball Times:
The benefit of batting eighth — Baseball's conventional wisdom suggests that batting eighth in the National League—that is, in front of the pitcher—has its pros and cons. With an extremely weak hitter on deck, opposing pitchers would seem less likely to throw strikes.
Discussion:
THE BOOK
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Bowden not satisfied with early results — GM hopes for more from Nats, but praises Milledge, Johnson — NEW YORK — Before Spring Training started, general manager Jim Bowden took a page from former Red Sox manager Dick Williams and predicted the Nationals would win more games than they would lose this season.
Discussion:
Nats320
Albert Chen / Sports Illustrated:
The secret to Chien-Ming Wang's success … He's just one man, one man with just one pitch. The ball comes at hitters on a flat plane, thigh-high, at somewhere between 90 and 95 mph, then it takes a sudden plunge, some seven to eight inches toward the dirt.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Bronx Liaison, On the Yankees beat, Let's Go Yankees Blog and My Pinstripes
Rob Maaddi / Associated Press:
Oswalt regains form, Astros top Phillies — PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Roy Oswalt was back to his old self, mixing in nasty off-speed pitches with a sharp fastball. — Oswalt snapped out of an early funk with seven strong innings, Michael Bourn hit a tiebreaking solo homer and the Houston Astros beat …
