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Amy K. Nelson / ESPN.com:
Alex Rodriguez's cousin, Yuri Sucart, would do anything for him … As far back as anyone can remember, Yuri Sucart was always by Alex Rodriguez's side. — Sucart would tell anyone who would listen he was Rodriguez's cousin. But he was also Rodriguez's best friend, confidant and personal protector.
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NY Daily News, Deadspin, SPORTSbyBROOKS, The Yankee Scrolls, iYankees, Baseball & The Boogie Down, Yahoo! Sports, Surviving Grady, Pinstripe Alley, ESPN, IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS, Can't Stop The Bleeding, The Chuck Knoblog, MLB, River Avenue Blues, WasWatching.com and St. Petersburg Times
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T.J. Quinn / MLB:Sources: MLB wants Alex Rodriguez to sit down with its investigators
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NY Daily News, WasWatching.com, The Yankee Scrolls, Sliding Into Home and New York Times
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Rockies' pitcher Francis likely out for year — TUCSON — Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis expects his season to be over before it starts. Francis will undergo exploratory surgery on his left shoulder Wednesday in Denver, he said here today. — The surgery is expected to sideline him between 6-12 months …
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Fox Sports:
Rockies' Francis likely out for season with surgery — Colorado Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis says he will have exploratory surgery on his pitching shoulder next week and will likely miss the 2009 season. Francis said Thursday he will return to Denver for the operation.
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Baseball Musings
Bobbie Dittmeier / MLB.com:
Hank rebukes talk of salary cap — Yankees co-chairman responds to Boston's suggestion of payroll limit — Hank Steinbrenner isn't so keen on a salary cap. — Not long after Red Sox owner John Henry and club president Larry Lucchino said on Wednesday that Major League Baseball …
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Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Lucchino, Henry in favor of salary cap — Red Sox brass address issue of competitive balance for MLB — FORT MYERS, Fla. — Despite their status as a big-market team, the Red Sox's ownership revealed Wednesday that they would be highly in favor of an “enlightened” salary cap …
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Pittsburgh Lumber Co., Let's Go Yankees Blog, The Joy of Sox, Keep Your Sox On and River Avenue Blues
Keith Law / ESPN:
Signing Griffey a shortsighted move by Mariners — The Mariners' agreement with Ken Griffey Jr. is a nostalgia signing that does very little to push the franchise forward and carries some risk of retarding their recovery from five years of mismanagement by the previous baseball regime.
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Atlanta Braves …, Talking Chop, Diamond Hoggers, New York Baseball Hack, Friar Forecast and Lookout Landing
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John Hickey / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:Mariners Notebook: Sojo stops by camp to ‘recruit’
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Lookout Landing
Buster Olney / MLB:
Sources: New York Yanks, San Diego Padres vie for Mexican pitcher — The Yankees and Padres continue to search for pitching depth, even with spring training under way, and both are in the bidding for Walter Silva, a 32-year-old right-hander who had a strong showing in the Mexican Winter League, sources said.
Associated Press:
Orioles, Roberts closing in on 4-year extension — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Brian Roberts and the Baltimore Orioles are near agreement on a $40 million, four-year extension that could keep the second baseman with the team through the 2013 season. — Roberts tried to contain …
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Peter Schmuck / Baltimore Sun:
Orioles' Roberts confirms extension — Second baseman says end of long process is ‘fairly close to done’ — FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. - Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts confirmed this morning that he is on the verge of signing a four-year, $40 million contract extension that will tie him to the team through the 2013 season.
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Yahoo! Sports
Anthony Castrovince / CastroTurf:
Marte designated as Tribe trades for Salas — Well, you knew the Andy Marte Era would come to an end sooner or later here in camp, and it didn't take long. — The Indians traded for RHP Juan Salas today, sending Minor League INF Isaias Velasquez to the Rays. — Salas, 30, was designated for assignment by the Rays on Friday.
Mark Bowman / MLB.com:
Francoeur, Braves avoid arbitration — Outfielder now can focus on Spring Training, upcoming season — LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jeff Francoeur won't need to board his scheduled flight on Thursday morning. Nor will he have to experience the arbitration hearing that had seemed destined to take place.
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Fox Sports, Yahoo! Sports, MLB Rumors, Talking Chop, Chop-n-Change and Babes Love Baseball
Jon Birger / Fortune:
Baseball battles the slump — In one of the hardest-hit parts of the country, the Arizona Diamondbacks are emerging as a case study of how to keep sports fans loyal during the recession ($1.50 hot dogs, anyone?). — (Fortune Magazine) — Calling Arizona Diamondbacks season ticket holder Jackie Smiley …
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
St. Louis Cardinals Pineiro upset with Jose Oquendo decision — JUPITER, FLA. — Debate continues over whether Major League Baseball devised the World Baseball Classic as a competition or global marketing opportunity. — In the Cardinals' training camp, the tournament has become a flash point.
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Hardball Times
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Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:Duncan is back in the swing — JUPITER, FLA. — There were at-bats …
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Bird Land
MLB:
George Steinbrenner, Bernie Williams appear at New York Yankees spring training — TAMPA, Fla. — A pair of familiar faces appeared Thursday at the New York Yankees' spring training camp for the first time this year: owner George Steinbrenner and outfielder Bernie Williams.
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Baseball's Place Under the New Media Sun — The mainstream media really seems to think that the sports business is in trouble. Check out this piece of doom-casting from the Wall Street Journal: … That's a pretty bold statement, considering how healthy the major sports leagues …
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Squawking Baseball
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Jay Jaffe / Baseball Prospectus:The Rush to Judgment — People are never going to be satisfied.
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Pinstriped Bible
Dylan Hernandez / Los Angeles Times:
Young players asked to fill leadership void for Dodgers — Russell Martin restrains teammate Manny Ramirez, who argues with Phillies pitcher JC Romero during the National League Championship Series last season. Martin is one of several young players expected to serve as team leaders in 2009.
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Bottom9 Baseball
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Paul Hagen / Philly.com:
Now with Angels, Abreu happy Phillies won World Series — TEMPE, Ariz. - On the night the Phillies won the World Series, he sat in his apartment high above the streets of New York, eyes fixed on the high-definition screen. He'd been waiting for this moment for a long time. — “I was rooting for them.
Discussion:
The Fightins
Bart Hubbuch / Mets Blog:
Delgado: I've always been clean — PORT ST. LUCIE — Carlos Delgado has been one of the preeminent sluggers in baseball over the past decade, a fact he realizes puts him under the umbrella of steroids suspicion. But the Mets' veteran first baseman insisted today that he is clean and always has been.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Derrick Goold / Cardinal Beat:
Ryan Ludwick on WBC, Adam Kennedy on TLR — JUPITER, Fla. — Ryan Ludwick has told the organizers of Team USA that he would rather stay with the Cardinals than participate in the World Baseball Classic unless they would like him as a starter on the team. He's waiting to hear where he fits on their roster, if he fits at all.
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Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:Tampa Bay Rays finalize deal with versatile switch-hitter Willy Aybar
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Cardinals Best News Links
