Top News:
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Spring Game 10: Tigers at Yankees (with Alex Rodriguez updates including Hal Steinbrenner's comments) — YANKEES — Pitching tonight: CC Sabathia followed by Alfredo Aceves, Jose Veras, Steven Jackson, David Robertson and Anthony Claggett. — TIGERS — Raburn RF — Polanco 2B
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley, River Avenue Blues, MY BASEBALL BIAS, The Yankee Scrolls, WasWatching.com and New York Times
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Joe Lapointe / New York Times:
Rodriguez May Opt for Surgery Sooner — TAMPA, Fla. — One day after the Yankees indicated that Alex Rodriguez would try to play the 2009 season with a torn labrum in his right hip, the tone of their outlook shifted unmistakably toward the more grim possibility of surgery sooner rather than later.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Buster Olney / ESPN.com:
Sources: Good chance Alex Rodriguez can play with injury for New York Yankees … Hip surgery is the worst-case scenario for Alex Rodriguez, but the specialist who examined the Yankees' third baseman earlier this week indicated there is a very good chance that Rodriguez could play the whole season with the labrum tear, sources say.
Discussion:
Mets Merized Online
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Notes On The A-Rod Injury
Notes On The A-Rod Injury
Discussion:
The LoHud Yankees Blog, Sox and Pinstripes, River Avenue Blues, NY Daily News and Sliding Into Home
Ian O'Connor / NorthJersey.com:
PINSTRIPE POSTS — O'Connor: Better off without A-Rod?
PINSTRIPE POSTS — O'Connor: Better off without A-Rod?
Discussion:
Hardball Times
Polls / Brew Beat:
Gagne to see Dr. Yocum, Crew season likely over — Eric Gagne will see noted orthopedist Lewis Yocum in Tempe, Ariz. on Saturday for a second opinion on his injured right shoulder. Whether or not Gagne opts for surgery, it appears extremely unlikely that he'll win a spot on the Brewers' big league roster.
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Associated Press:
Commish defends role steroids scandal again — PHOENIX (AP) — Baseball commissioner Bud Selig again defended his role in the sport's steroids scandal Friday, pointing to the players' union opposition to drug testing and a lack of curiosity by the media as the problem started to grow.
Associated Press:
Sweeney finished playing, joins Dodgers' staff — PHOENIX (AP) — Mark Sweeney, whose 175 pinch hits rank second in major league history, announced his retirement Friday and joined manager Joe Torre's coaching staff with the Los Angeles Dodgers. — Only Lenny Harris had more pinch-hits …
Discussion:
USA Today
Darren Rovell / Sports Biz with Darren Rovell:
Major League Baseball Bans “A-Fraud” — Any fan hoping to make fun of New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez can no longer get a No. 13 Yankees jersey with the word “A-Fraud” on the back. — MLB.com has banned the new A-Rod nickname from the personalization feature on replica jerseys on MLB.com.
Tangotiger / THE BOOK:
How much is a great fielder worth? 25 runs. — Here's one way to tell. — Last year in 2008, with Mark Ellis on the field — perhaps the best-fielding 2B of our generation — the A's allowed 457 runs while recording 3035 outs. This means they allowed 4.07 runs per game.
Polls / Brew Beat:
Emptying the notebook... - The Brewers' veterans are doing everything they can to make sure third base prospect Mat Gamel “gets” the enormity of the opportunity he's facing. Gamel, who is in his first big league camp, was a late arrival Friday morning apparently because his alarm clock failed …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Adam Rubin / Surfing the Mets:
The wrap-up from Jupiter — The Mets beat the Cardinals, 5-4, Friday as Marlon Anderson's RBI single in the ninth scored Jose Valentin with the decisive run. Valentin went 3-for-4, while Anderson raised his spring average to .400 with a 2-for-2 game. — First-base ump Angel Hernandez gave …
Alan Schwarz / New York Times:
Cubs' Rising Star Steps Out of Crouch and Into the Lights — MESA, Ariz. — Geovany Soto went to high school in Puerto Rico, has lived in San Juan most of his life, and will play his next significant game this weekend for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.
Discussion:
Wrigleyville23
Wayne Graczyk / MLB.com:
Korea makes grand statement in rout — Six-run first inning more than enough to down Chinese Taipei — TOKYO — Right-fielder Jin Young Lee belted a grand slam to cap a six-run first inning, and Keun Woo Jeong blasted a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth to give Team Korea …
Discussion:
Red Reporter, Angels blog, Chicago Tribune, struckoutlooking.com and BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Tom Hoffarth / L.A. Daily News:
MEDIA: A novel approach to Magic vs. Bird — Seth Davis sheepishly admits he didn't watch the 1979 NCAA basketball title game between Magic Johnson's Michigan State monsters and Larry Bird's Indiana State underdogs, which took place three weeks before his ninth birthday.
Bill Simmons / ESPN:
The wait is over! The mailbag comes through — Jack from Swarthmore, Pa., e-mailed Wednesday just to say, “69 days! 69 days since your last mailbag! You're killin' me! For god sakes, I went through finals without a fresh mailbag to sink my teeth into. Over 1,500 hours of mailbag-less time.
Peter Schmuck / Baltimore Sun:
Cabrera eager for fresh start with Nationals — Ex-Orioles right-hander looking to find success in Washington — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - When Manny Acta looks at new Washington Nationals pitcher Daniel Cabrera, he sees the same thing everyone in Baltimore has been looking at for the past five years.