Top News:
Jim Callis / Baseball America:
Mock Draft 4.0 — Bonus demands adds more confusion to wide-open draft — When team officials head to bed the night before the draft, they usually have a pretty good idea of who they're going to take in the first round. They may not know exactly who's going to fall to them …
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Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
The Mock Draft — This one could be a mess folks, and it's all about bonus demands at this point. Right now, you have as many as four high school pitchers—Jacob Turner, Tyler Matzek, Matt Purke, and Shelby Miller—looking for big, big money, with the first three all telling teams they're looking …
Discussion:
By Gosh, It's Langosch, Pinstriped Bible, Bucs Dugout, The Nats Blog, Texas Rangers, Baseball America and Bottom9 Baseball
Baseball Analysts:
The 2009 MLB Draft is (Finally) Upon Us — The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft begins today at 6 p.m. ET. The MLB Network will broadcast the first round from its Studio 42 in Secaucus, N.J. with MLB.com providing on-air coverage of the remainder of the draft …
Discussion:
Baseball America, DRaysBay, Athletics Nation, River Avenue Blues and The Yankee Universe
Steve Henson / Yahoo! Sports:
Mock draft: No. 1 pick a no-brainer — Buzz up! — Attention: This is only a test. — This is not the real draft. — Not even close. — This is a mock draft, meaning I will undoubtedly be ripe mocking material Tuesday night after the real draft is conducted by real major league baseball decision-makers.
Jim Callis / Baseball America:
Ninety Minutes & Counting . . . And I just got my makeup done here at MLB Network, so I look pretty. — As mentioned in this morning's complete first-round projection, many of the projected first-round high schoolers threw out bigger asking prices than expected.
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Crystal ball: The final projection — With just hours to go, here's how we see the Draft shaking out — It would be tempting to continue making calls and tweaking the first-round projections until right up before the Draft, but at some point there comes a time to let go.
Philly.com:
Lidge goes on disabled list — Righthander Brad Lidge was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right knee, retroactive to June 7, the Phillies said today. — To take his spot on the 25-man roster, the Phillies selected the contract of catcher Paul Bako from double-A Reading.
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Associated Press:
Phillies' Lidge on DL with sprained knee — NEW YORK (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge has gone on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained right knee. — The move was announced before Tuesday's series opener at the New York Mets and was retroactive to Sunday.
Tony Massarotti / Boston Globe:
A missed mark — Even now, as Mark Teixeira continues to pound away at opposing pitchers at a frantic rate, the impact of his arrival in the American League East has yet to be felt. For the Red Sox, after all, Teixeira was not as much about the present as he was about the future.
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Dave Sheinin / Washington Post:
Strasburg Negotiations Between Nationals, Boras Could Result in Historic Signing — Nationals, Boras Set to Negotiate After MLB Draft — They are separated by 2,700 miles, a negotiating gap that could be as large as $40 million and a philosophical chasm regarding players' rights …
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Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com:
West, Carroll enjoy big nights in Florida win — Starter takes no-hitter into seventh; outfielder nearly cycles — MIAMI — While facing off against a guy now closely related with the number 300, it was the number 1 that seemed to ring loudest at Land Shark Stadium on Monday.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
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Joe Posnanski / Sports Illustrated:
Talkin' about the underappreciated base on balls, with Bill James … People have violently different views about walks in baseball. I like them because I believe that they are still the most underappreciated weapon in baseball. Bill likes them because they epitomize team play — “Hey …
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Dylan Hernandez / Los Angeles Times:
Padres' Heath Bell has a new look — Padres closer lost 25 pounds in the off-season. His trainer? Nintendo's Wii. — Reporting from San Diego — Heath Bell reported to the San Diego Padres' camp this spring weighing 25 pounds less than he did at the end of last season. — His secret?
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Jared Diamond / MLB.com:
‘Judge Mo’ ready for next kangaroo court — Rivera receives robe, gavel from Milian of 'The People's Court' — NEW YORK — Mariano Rivera had already been named honorary judge of the Yankees' clubhouse when he presided over the team's kangaroo court almost three weeks ago. Now the team has made it official.
Discussion:
Hardball Times
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
X-man making progress; pitchers take their cuts — Xavier Nady continues to make progress with his injured right elbow in Tampa, leaving open the possibility the outfielder could rejoin the Yankees next week for their nine interleague games in National League parks.
Trsullivan / Postcards from Elysian Fields:
Rangers acquire RHP Grilli to replace Benson — The Rangers have acquired RHP Jason Grilli for cash considerations, according to a source. He was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies last week. — He was 0-1 with a 6.05 ERA in 22 games for the Rockies as a reliever.
Rick Hummel / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cards ‘always open’ to deals, DeWitt says — Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. emerged from a 25-minute, closed-door meeting with manager Tony La Russa on Monday morning, but DeWitt said no trades were imminent. — “It was usual, catch-up stuff,” he said.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Bob Raissman / NY Daily News:
Raissman: Keith in no hurry to rip loafing Met — Considering the current state of effort in baseball, it's big news when a player actually busts it out of the box determined to arrive safely at his final destination. — Players who go catatonic as soon as they hit the ball, guys who jake it …
Ted Berg / SNY.tv:
Notes from the Minors — On Buffalo, Binghamton, Buttzville and beyond — If you read Matt Cerrone's MetsBlog.com, you know that I spent the weekend on a two-city tour of the upper levels of the Mets' Minor League system. It was a fun but tiring trip, and because I'm still recovering …
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
