Top News:
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Spring Game 13: Blue Jays at Yankees (includes A-Rod surgery update) — YANKEES — Pitching today: Andy Pettitte followed by Ian Kennedy, Dan Giese, Dave Robertson, Jose Veras and Jon Albaladejo. — BLUE JAYS — Adams LF — Hill 2B — Lind DH — Overbay 1B — Lane CF — Snider RF
RELATED:
Kobrien / On the Yankees beat:
First players sent to minors — The Yankees sent their first players to the minor leagues today. — They re-assigned right-handed pitchers J.B. Cox, George Kontos and Kanekoa Texiera to minor league camp, and optioned right-hander Andrew Brackman to Class-A Charleston.
NY Daily News:
A-Rod A-OK after successful surgery … Alex Rodriguez underwent successful hip repair surgery Monday at a Colorado clinic. — The 80-minute procedure was performed by Dr. Marc Philippon, a specialist known as the “hip doctor to the stars.” — “Alex is doing very well,” Philippon said.
RELATED:
Joe Lapointe / New York Times:
Rodriguez's Doctor Says Surgery Was Successful — The surgery on the right hip of Alex Rodriguez was successful, his doctor said after it was completed on Monday, and Rodriguez was to leave the hospital in Vail, Colo., and begin rehabilitation immediately in Colorado.
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues
Bart Hubbuch / New York Post:
5TH-STARTER FIASCO SPARKS PEDRO TALK — PORT ST. LUCIE - Paging Pedro Martinez? — Less than a month before Opening Day, the “race” for the Mets' fifth-starter job remains as muddled and uninspiring as ever. — Four of the five candidates threw yesterday, and the results were almost uniformly ugly.
RELATED:
Jim Baumbach / Newsday:
Delgado believes Pudge can help Mets
Delgado believes Pudge can help Mets
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Red Reporter, Can't Stop The Bleeding, 24 Hours From Suicide, Ya Gotta Believe, Mets Fever and MetsBlog.com
Associated Press:
Chipper Jones leaves game with mild oblique strain — TORONTO (AP) — United States third baseman Chipper Jones left Sunday night's game against Venezuela after five innings with a mild oblique strain and will be evaluated again Monday. — Jones was injured swinging at a pitch in the fifth inning …
RELATED:
ESPN:
Lester extension makes good business sense — One can make the case that of all the left-handed pitchers younger than 26 years old, Cole Hamels and Jon Lester would have the most value on the open market. Each is 25. Each has pitched World Series-clinching games.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Over the Monster, USA Today, Squawking Baseball, MLB Rumors, Pinstripe Alley, Keep Your Sox On, ESPN.com and NY Super Blog
RELATED:
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Chavez shut down with sore shoulder — Former Gold Glover was scheduled to play in field on Monday — PHOENIX — The on-again, off-again comeback by Oakland's Eric Chavez hit another snag on Monday, as he was scratched from his expected spring fielding debut at third base because of soreness …
RELATED:
Troy Renck / All Things Rockies:
Details on Cabrera, Garciaparra contracts with Oakland — The Oakland A's are nothing if not contrarian. At a time when small market teams are trimming their budgets, Oakland has opened its wallet. The A's will have around a $60 million payroll — still well below the Rockies' $73 million 00 …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
RELATED:
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
Oakland redefines rebuilding, latest on A-Rod and notes around camps
Oakland redefines rebuilding, latest on A-Rod and notes around camps
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Ed Eagle / MLB.com:
Team USA advances behind big sixth — Iannetta, Pedroia, Youkilis deliver key hits vs. Venezuela's 'pen — TORONTO — For the first five innings on Sunday, Team USA seemed destined for its second nail-biter in as many nights in the World Baseball Classic.
RELATED:
MLB:
Report: Manny Ramirez won't get all his money till 2013 — NEW YORK — Manny Ramirez's money from his new $45 million, two-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers won't be fully paid until June 2013, according to contract details obtained Monday by The Associated Press. — Ramirez
Mike Puma / New York Post:
JETER: YANKEES WILL GET BY — TORONTO - Hip, hip, hooray! Six to nine weeks without Alex Rodriguez doesn't sound so bad to Derek Jeter. — “It's good, better than the other story I heard that he was going to miss a longer time,” Jeter said last night before Team USA faced Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.
RELATED:
Buster Olney / ESPN:
Is Strasburg the best prospect ever? — So just how good is Stephen Strasburg, the San Diego State right-hander who is regarded as the No. 1 talent in this year's draft? — “The best I've ever seen,” says a longtime scout. “And it's not even close.” — C'mon. Better than Mark Prior?
Joe Christensen / Around the Majors:
Twins were wise to pass on Gagne; Cordero update — FORT MYERS, FLA. — The Twins had a $3 million guaranteed offer on the table for reliever Eric Gagne before they agreed to their $1.3 million deal with reliever Luis Ayala. — The decision to go with Ayala instead of Gagne looks better now …
RELATED:
David Pinto / Baseball Musings:
Team Offense, New York Yankees — The series on team offense continues with the New York Yankees. I plug the probable lineup from CBSSportsLine into the Lineup Analysis Tool, and fill in the numbers with Marcel the Monkey projections. The results: — Best lineup: 5.72 runs per game
Matt Eddy / Baseball America:
Minor League Transactions — February 28 through March 7 — Atlanta Braves — Placed on restricted list: OF Rashod Henry — Outrighted to Triple-A: RHP Anthony Lerew — The Nationals released Perez during spring training last year and the 29-year-old minor league veteran failed to latch on with another affiliated club.
Mike A. / River Avenue Blues:
Gardner vs. Gathright — Last week longtime RAB reader and commenter whozat shot me an email asking me if there was any reason to expect Brett Gardner to develop into a better Major League player than Joey Gathright. The comparison between the two players obviously makes sense since they're …
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily
Associated Press:
Scott Kazmir throws 2 innings in Grapefruit League debut — PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Scott Kazmir felt so good in his first spring training game that he had to concentrate on taking it easy. — Kazmir pitched two innings in the Tampa Bay Rays' 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Monday, yielding one run and three hits.
Discussion:
DRaysBay
Steve Popper / Amazin' Stories:
The Final Santana Stage — If you think you've been waiting to see Johan Santana in a Grapefruit League game, it's probably no more than he wants to pitch in one himself. — Throwing a bullpen session on the six-pack of mounds just outside Tradition Field, the sort of side session …