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11:40 AM ET, March 24, 2016

Ballbug

 Top News: 
ESPN:
Alex Rodriguez says he'll retire after 2017 season  —  Alex Rodriguez plans on retiring at the end of the 2017 season after playing out his contract with the New York Yankees, the designated hitter told ESPN on Wednesday.  —  “I won't play after next year,” Rodriguez told ESPN on Wednesday.
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USA Today:
Alex Rodriguez will retire when contract expires after 2017 season  —  Alex Rodriguez's record-setting and embattled major league career, launched when he was an 18-year-old shortstop in 1994, will end with his retirement after the 2017 season, the New York Yankees slugger told ESPN New York on Wednesday.
The New / New York Times:
Decoding the N.F.L. Database to Find 100 Missing Concussions  —  From 1996 to 2001, the N.F.L. gathered data in an effort to study the dangers of concussions.  Whenever a concussion was diagnosed, the team physician was to record information like the player's position, his symptoms and how much time he spent recovering.
Discussion: NESN.com
RELATED:
New York Times:
In N.F.L., Deeply Flawed Concussion Research and Ties to Big Tobacco  —  The National Football League was on the clock.  —  With several of its marquee players retiring early after a cascade of frightening concussions, the league formed a committee in 1994 that would ultimately issue …
Mike Ozanian / Forbes:
Baseball's Most Valuable Teams  —  In baseball, the pecking order of team values has more to do with what goes on outside the ballpark than the number of fans that come through the turnstiles, buy beer or rent a party suite at the game.  —  The New York Yankees, worth at least $3.4 billion …
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Los Angeles Times:
Time Warner Cable lowers price of Dodgers channel, hoping to end stalemate  —  The Dodgers' Charlie Culberson is at bat during a spring training game against the Seattle Mariners on March 21, 2016, in Phoenix.  —  Time Warner Cable is floating a proposal designed to end the standoff …
Discussion: True Blue LA
Matt Lauer / ESPN:
Legendary baseball announcer Joe Garagiola Sr. dies at age 90  —  Joe Garagiola, who turned a modest major league catching career into a 57-year run as a popular broadcaster in the sports world and beyond, died Wednesday.  He was 90.  —  The Arizona Diamondbacks announced his death …
Los Angeles Times:
Los Angeles Rams will be featured on HBO's ‘Hard Knocks’  —  Rams running back Todd Gurley, last season's offensive rookie of the year, is the kind of talent to which the Rams want to draw attention on “Hard Knocks.”  —  The Los Angeles Rams are ready for their close-up.
Nick Cafardo / BostonGlobe.com:
Trade talk around Red Sox heats up as camp winds down  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Activity is beginning to pick up on the baseball trade front as rosters get closer to being set, opt-outs in contracts are being executed, and players out of options are being discussed.
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Rob Bradford / Full Count:
Story behind Dave Dombrowski's mandate to not worry about contracts when planning playing time
Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune:
President Obama: Jose Abreu's separation from son 'can't be the kind of policies we want to promote'  —  The Tampa Bay Rays and Cuban national team played an exhibition game at the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana on March 22, 2016.  U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro attended.
Discussion: The Athletic
RELATED:
JP Morosi / Fox Sports:   Major League Baseball returned to Cuba and it was a sight to behold
Scott Bordow / Arizona Republic:
Diamondbacks' Patrick Corbin sharp 2 years after surgery  —  Patrick Corbin will celebrate a two-year anniversary Friday.  —  Well, maybe celebrate is too strong of a word.  Corbin will surely think about the Tommy John surgery performed on his left elbow March 25, 2014, and the season and a half he was out of baseball.
Tim Dierkes / MLB Trade Rumors:
Orioles Sign Zach Phillips, Designate Chris Jones  —  The Orioles have signed lefty Zach Phillips to a one-year deal, announced the team.  To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, they designated southpaw Chris Jones for assignment.  MLBTR has learned that Phillips received a Major League deal worth $510K.
ESPN:
Dodgers OF Andre Ethier out 10-14 weeks after fracturing right tibia  —  GLENDALE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will be out 10 to 14 weeks after fracturing his right tibia.  —  Ethier, the projected starter in left field this year, was injured after fouling a ball off …
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 More News: 
Patrick Saunders / Denver Post:
Gray was the third overall pick in the 2013 draft
Discussion: MLB Trade Rumors and Purple Row
Jeff Howe / Boston Herald:
Bruce Arians: Patriots initiated talks that led to Chandler Jones trade
Discussion: ProFootballTalk and NESN.com
Kristie Ackert / New York Daily News:
Yankees' Starlin Castro says Noah Syndergaard is Mets pitcher he'd least like to face
Discussion: New York Post and Amazin' Avenue
ESPN:
Matt Carpenter was good as contact hitter, but he's great as power hitter
 Earlier Picks: 
Sam Amick / USA Today:
Dwight Howard believes he can be dominant again
Discussion: NESN.com and Bleacher Report
Marc Topkin / Tampa Bay Times:
Delayed in Cuba, Rays eventually made it home around 5 a.m.
Discussion: Sportsnet.ca
John LaRue / The Hardball Times:
Ground Rule Doppelgangers
 

 
From WeSmirch:

Rosemary Rossi / Variety:
Leslie Charleson, ‘General Hospital’ Icon Who Played Monica Quartermaine, Dies at 79

People:
Meghan Markle Delays Netflix Debut of With Love, Meghan amid Los Angeles Wildfires

Ryan Hudgins / Us Weekly:
Aubrey Plaza Deletes Instagram Account 1 Week After Husband Jeff Baena's Death

 
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