Top News:
Julieparise / CBS New York:
Ex-Mets Star Valentine At Work In I-95 Traffic Mess — STAMFORD, Conn. (CBS 2/WCBS 880) — Several stranded trucks turned Interstate 95 into a virtual parking lot in parts of Connecticut Thursday morning. As CBS 2's Wendy Gillette stood in the thick of it, she ran into former Mets player and manager, Bobby Valentine.
Discussion:
USA Today, Amazin' Avenue, Mets Merized Online and Kranepool Society
RELATED:
Craig Calcaterra / HardballTalk:
Bobby Valentine is taking public service very seriously — We all shook our heads when Bobby Valentine was named the public safety director for Stamford, Connecticut, but the dude is committed: he was caught on film directing traffic near the I-95 on-ramp this morning. Click through for the video.
Nick Collias / MLB Rumors:
Spanish Links: Garcia, Belaguer, Rangers — Links in Spanish as the 2011 Caribbean Series inches closer... - The White Sox may be considering Freddy Garcia, but Garcia had a different team in his sights when he spoke yesterday with Israel Pacheco Velásquez from the Venezuelan paper Meridiano.
Discussion:
Sliding Into Home
RELATED:
TMZ.com:
MLB Star Adam Kennedy — Busted for DUI — Seattle Mariners 2nd baseman Adam Kennedy was busted for DUI in Orange County last night .... TMZ has learned. — Kennedy — who was a key member of the 2002 World Series winning Anaheim Angels — was driving on the freeway near Newport Beach around 9 PM …
Discussion:
Seattle Times, U.S.S. Mariner, The Goessling Game, Angels blog and Yahoo! Sports
Keith Law / ESPN:
Ranking the top prospects (Nos. 1-25) — Trout, Harper lead the way in ESPN's fourth annual rankings of top prospects — Welcome to the fourth annual edition of my rankings of the top 100 prospects in baseball. With a slew of impressive debuts from top prospects in 2010 …
Discussion:
ESPN, The Good Phight, HardballTalk, Seattle Times and River Avenue Blues
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Cashman serves up drinks, Pettitte talk — NEW YORK — The most frequent request Brian Cashman heard in his cameo as an evening bartender was also a predictable one from Yankees fans: Serve us up a pitcher, please. — Cashman's hustle in slinging beverages in a fundraiser for prostate cancer …
Discussion:
The LoHud Yankees Blog and Pinstripe Alley
RELATED:
Bob Klapisch / Boston Herald:
Yankees' Brian Cashman is unplugged, but why
Yankees' Brian Cashman is unplugged, but why
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
Ian Begley / ESPN:
Mets see Omar Minaya in advisory role — NEW YORK — New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon said Thursday night that he wants former general manager Omar Minaya to return to the organization in an advisory role. — “I think Omar is a very good man and a very good person also,” …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Amazin' Avenue
Fox Sports:
Guerrero's best bet could be Orioles — Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since August 2005. He appears weekly on MLB on FOX. Follow him on Twitter. — Vladimir Guerrero could be an Oriole soon, if only because he has no choice. — Try to find another suitor.
Discussion:
School of Roch, Orioles Insider, MLB Daily Dish, Britt's Bird Watch, HardballTalk, MLB Rumors and Oriole Post
Evan Drellich / MLB.com:
Beimel narrows decision down to three teams — Veteran lefty reliever considering Red Sox, O's and NL club — BOSTON — Free-agent lefty reliever Joe Beimel has pared down his choices to the Red Sox, Orioles and a National League team, and could sign as soon as Thursday.
Discussion:
Boston Globe
Don Banks / Sports Illustrated:
Titans, Jeff Fisher parting ways … In an unexpected development in what already has been a turbulent offseason in Tennessee, the Titans and Jeff Fisher, the NFL's longest-tenured head coach, are preparing to part ways, SI.com learned Thursday afternoon. — According to an NFL source close …
Discussion:
ProFootballTalk, SBNation.com, The Big Lead, NESN.com, Bleacher Report, The700Level.com and Fanhouse NFL Blog
Associated Press:
U2 concert forcing Florida Marlins-Mariners series to Seattle — NEW YORK — A three-game series between the Florida Marlins and Mariners from June 24-26 has been moved from Miami to Seattle because of a U2 concert. — Major League Baseball said Thursday the change was made because of the scheduling conflict at Sun Life Stadium.
Discussion:
Mariners blog, Baseball Analytics Blog and baseballmusings.com
Aaron Fitt / Baseball America:
2011 Preseason College Top 25 — About Our Grades — We love the 20-80 scouting scale at Baseball America; we use it to assess everything from prospects to our favorite local barbecue restaurants (the Backyard BBQ Pit consistently scores highest). So we figured it would be fun and instructive …
Discussion:
SOX & Dawgs
Troy Renck / All Things Rockies:
No new Rocks' talk on Rangers' Young — With Texas' acquisition of DH-1B candidate Mike Napoli this week, the Rockies have been reconnected to trade rumors involving Rangers' all-star infielder Michael Young. Colorado, however, has not talked with Texas since the Rangers reached out during the winter meetings.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Texas Rangers
RELATED:
Thomas Harding / MLB.com:
Rockies sign Amezaga, Moeller to Minors deals
Rockies sign Amezaga, Moeller to Minors deals
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Inside the Colorado Rockies