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Center fielder Dexter Fowler certainly isn't stressing now.
He didn't worry last spring, when he hit .149 in 21 games and was so out of sync that then-manager Jim Tracy often batted him eighth in the order -- instead of leadoff -- during the first part of the season. And although this year he arrived for Spring Training at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick with a couple of reasons to be distracted, these distractions are actually positives.
First, Fowler is coming off a winter in which his name appeared in reports of possible trades. But the high price the Rockies asked showed Fowler how the team really felt, and he's still here.
Then there is the arbitration issue. Fowler has requested a salary of $5.15 million, and the Rockies have offered $4.25 million. A hearing could take place any time through Feb. 20, although the two sides could work out a contract of one year or more -- to eat up some, or most of the entire three years of arbitration he has remaining -- before then.
Hearings, during which both sides present their arguments and a panel chooses either the request or the offer, can be contentious, but Fowler is stepping back and appreciating the fact that either way, his payday will be a good one.
"I'm not really worrying about it -- I have a job," said a laughing Fowler, who doesn't have to report to camp until Saturday but was here on Sunday to star in one of the club's TV commercials. "Obviously, I want it resolved and over. I want to be able to go out and just go play."
Fowler finished the 2012 season much better than he started it -- a .300 batting average and career highs in several other categories. Confidence has come from these accomplishments.
The Rockies, under new manager Walt Weiss, certainly could use a better start from Fowler, who is a career .260 hitter before the All-Star break but a .282 hitter afterward. The difference in on-base percentage is slight -- .361 before the break, .366 after -- but the slow starts have included high strikeout counts and long dry spells. But after enduring demotions to Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2010 and 2011, Fowler has learned to shorten his dry spells by staying on an even keel.
Fowler handled last year's poor spring and slow start -- which led to a stretch in which Tyler Colvin started in center -- with composure. He vowed to stay the same this spring, no matter what the numbers say.
"I'm not really worried about it, just trying to prepare for the season," he said.
When listening to offers for Fowler, the Rockies made it known that they needed a starting pitcher with experience, low walks and high ground balls, plus other Major League-ready talent and a young impact player. The goal was to end up with someone like outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, who came from the Athletics as part of the package for Matt Holliday after the 2008 season. But the price was so steep, the Rockies never came close to a deal.
A conversation with Bill Geivett, senior vice president of Major League operations, further set Fowler's mind at ease.
"He said my name had been floating around, but I'd be the first to know if something happened," Fowler said.
Dexter Fowler feeling no stress this spring | MLB-com: News
He didn't worry last spring, when he hit .149 in 21 games and was so out of sync that then-manager Jim Tracy often batted him eighth in the order -- instead of leadoff -- during the first part of the season. And although this year he arrived for Spring Training at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick with a couple of reasons to be distracted, these distractions are actually positives.
First, Fowler is coming off a winter in which his name appeared in reports of possible trades. But the high price the Rockies asked showed Fowler how the team really felt, and he's still here.
Then there is the arbitration issue. Fowler has requested a salary of $5.15 million, and the Rockies have offered $4.25 million. A hearing could take place any time through Feb. 20, although the two sides could work out a contract of one year or more -- to eat up some, or most of the entire three years of arbitration he has remaining -- before then.
Hearings, during which both sides present their arguments and a panel chooses either the request or the offer, can be contentious, but Fowler is stepping back and appreciating the fact that either way, his payday will be a good one.
"I'm not really worrying about it -- I have a job," said a laughing Fowler, who doesn't have to report to camp until Saturday but was here on Sunday to star in one of the club's TV commercials. "Obviously, I want it resolved and over. I want to be able to go out and just go play."
Fowler finished the 2012 season much better than he started it -- a .300 batting average and career highs in several other categories. Confidence has come from these accomplishments.
The Rockies, under new manager Walt Weiss, certainly could use a better start from Fowler, who is a career .260 hitter before the All-Star break but a .282 hitter afterward. The difference in on-base percentage is slight -- .361 before the break, .366 after -- but the slow starts have included high strikeout counts and long dry spells. But after enduring demotions to Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2010 and 2011, Fowler has learned to shorten his dry spells by staying on an even keel.
Fowler handled last year's poor spring and slow start -- which led to a stretch in which Tyler Colvin started in center -- with composure. He vowed to stay the same this spring, no matter what the numbers say.
"I'm not really worried about it, just trying to prepare for the season," he said.
When listening to offers for Fowler, the Rockies made it known that they needed a starting pitcher with experience, low walks and high ground balls, plus other Major League-ready talent and a young impact player. The goal was to end up with someone like outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, who came from the Athletics as part of the package for Matt Holliday after the 2008 season. But the price was so steep, the Rockies never came close to a deal.
A conversation with Bill Geivett, senior vice president of Major League operations, further set Fowler's mind at ease.
"He said my name had been floating around, but I'd be the first to know if something happened," Fowler said.
Dexter Fowler feeling no stress this spring | MLB-com: News
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The Indians stunned the baseball world on Monday night, reeling in free-agent outfielder Michael Bourn. Then again, Cleveland has been swinging surprising moves since this critical offseason for the club started.
If Indians general manager Chris Antonetti has anything else up his sleeve, it might not seem so shocking.
Following the hiring of high-profile manager Terry Francona, a complicated three-team trade and the blockbuster signing of free-agent Nick Swisher, Cleveland continued its aggressive offseason by reaching an agreement with Bourn. According to multiple sources, the sides agreed on a four-year contract worth $48 million, pending the completion of a physical.
The deal includes a vesting option worth $12 million for the 2017 season.
Bourn is scheduled to undergo a medical exam later this week at the club's site in Goodyear, Ariz., where position players are not required to report until Wednesday. Cleveland's Spring Training physicals for its position players are slated for Thursday, and the first full squad workout is planned for Friday morning.
The Indians are still working through the details of the timing of Bourn's physical.
When Bourn officially joins the Tribe, the Indians will be required to forfeit their third pick in the First-Year Player Draft in June, per Major League Baseball's latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. Bourn declined a one-year qualifying offer of $13.3 million from the Braves in order to test free agency, costing the signing club a first-round pick.
Cleveland's first-round selection (fifth overall), however, is protected, and the club already lost its second-round pick by signing Swisher in January. As a result, the Indians lose the 69th pick in a sandwich round between the second and third rounds. The Tribe was awarded that selection as part of baseball's new Competitive Balance Lottery.
Those unique circumstances gave Cleveland an advantage that other clubs could not match in their pursuit of the Scott Boras client. The Mets were among Bourn's suitors, and reportedly offered a four-year deal worth $48 million as well, but New York was hesitant to forfeit its first-round pick as part of the signing process.
Coming off a 68-94 showing in 2012 that sent the Tribe to a fourth-place finish in the American League Central, Antonetti set out to drastically reshape the team's roster and to alter the clubhouse culture. The team's second-half slide cost former manager Manny Acta his job, paving the way for Francona to take on the challenge in Cleveland. Bourn follows a long list of transactions that have completely re-organized the roster.
The traditionally cash-strapped Tribe doled out a four-year, $56 million contract to lure Swisher to Cleveland, and also used one-year pacts to reel in first baseman Mark Reynolds and pitcher Brett Myers. Cleveland also acquired outfielder Drew Stubbs, pitching prospect Trevor Bauer and relievers Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw in a three-team, nine-player trade with the Reds and D-backs.
This past weekend, the Indians also signed veteran Jason Giambi to a Minor League contract -- an avenue also used to net players such as Scott Kazmir and Matt Capps. The Tribe also has an agreement in place on a Minor League deal for pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Another rebuild in Cleveland was clearly not in Antonetti's plans.
As news spread on Monday night that the Indians had landed Bourn, a handful of Cleveland's players expressed their excitement over Twitter.
Tribe closer Chris Perez wrote, "Who would win: The Bourn Supremacy or the Bullpen Mafia? Answer: Tribe fans," on his @ChrisPerez54 profile.
Setup man Vinnie Pestano chimed in by posting, "Bourn? Watch out for the dark horse in the AL Central #tribevstheworld2013," under his handle of @VinnieP52.
Offensively, the 30-year-old Bourn brings speed and versatility to the table. He will assume the reins as Cleveland's leadoff man after hitting .274 with a .348 on-base percentage and a .391 slugging percentage in 155 games last year with the Braves. He mixed in nine home runs (a career best), 26 doubles, 10 triples, 42 stolen bases, 57 RBIs, 70 walks and 96 runs for Atlanta.
Between Bourn, Stubbs and second baseman Jason Kipnis, the Indians now boast three players capable of stealing more than 30 bases.
Over the past five seasons -- split between the Astros and Braves -- Bourn has averaged 150 games per year, hitting .272 with a .338 OBP and a .365 SLG in that span. He has topped 600 plate appearances in each of the past four years, making his vesting option for 2017 (550 plate appearances, plus a physical) seem like a realistic goal.
Bourn was a fourth-round selection by the Phillies in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, but he was dealt to the Astros as part of the five-player deal that sent Brad Lidge to Philadelphia in '07. At the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline in 2011, Houston shipped Bourn to Atlanta in exchange for four players.
Much of Bourn's value is also linked to his stellar defense.
Last season, Bourn's UZR/150 of 22.5 -- a defensive metric on fangraphs.com -- was the best mark among center fielders. His 3.0 defensive WAR (Wins Above Replacement) also ranked first, according to baseball-reference.com.
Cleveland has no plans of moving Bourn out of center field, but the team's defensive alignment will need to be sorted out before Opening Day.
In Michael Brantley, Bourn and Stubbs -- three defensively sound center fielders by trade -- the Indians' outfield will be a place where baseballs go to die. That said, Swisher is solid in right field, adding another element to the situation. If Swisher remains in right, Stubbs would likely be the odd-man out to slide to a reserve outfield role.
Without a full-time designated hitter on the roster, the Indians also have the flexibility to ask Swisher to slide to first base -- a position he has played in 307 games throughout his career. Reynolds could then assume the DH du
If Indians general manager Chris Antonetti has anything else up his sleeve, it might not seem so shocking.
Following the hiring of high-profile manager Terry Francona, a complicated three-team trade and the blockbuster signing of free-agent Nick Swisher, Cleveland continued its aggressive offseason by reaching an agreement with Bourn. According to multiple sources, the sides agreed on a four-year contract worth $48 million, pending the completion of a physical.
The deal includes a vesting option worth $12 million for the 2017 season.
Bourn is scheduled to undergo a medical exam later this week at the club's site in Goodyear, Ariz., where position players are not required to report until Wednesday. Cleveland's Spring Training physicals for its position players are slated for Thursday, and the first full squad workout is planned for Friday morning.
The Indians are still working through the details of the timing of Bourn's physical.
When Bourn officially joins the Tribe, the Indians will be required to forfeit their third pick in the First-Year Player Draft in June, per Major League Baseball's latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. Bourn declined a one-year qualifying offer of $13.3 million from the Braves in order to test free agency, costing the signing club a first-round pick.
Cleveland's first-round selection (fifth overall), however, is protected, and the club already lost its second-round pick by signing Swisher in January. As a result, the Indians lose the 69th pick in a sandwich round between the second and third rounds. The Tribe was awarded that selection as part of baseball's new Competitive Balance Lottery.
Those unique circumstances gave Cleveland an advantage that other clubs could not match in their pursuit of the Scott Boras client. The Mets were among Bourn's suitors, and reportedly offered a four-year deal worth $48 million as well, but New York was hesitant to forfeit its first-round pick as part of the signing process.
Coming off a 68-94 showing in 2012 that sent the Tribe to a fourth-place finish in the American League Central, Antonetti set out to drastically reshape the team's roster and to alter the clubhouse culture. The team's second-half slide cost former manager Manny Acta his job, paving the way for Francona to take on the challenge in Cleveland. Bourn follows a long list of transactions that have completely re-organized the roster.
The traditionally cash-strapped Tribe doled out a four-year, $56 million contract to lure Swisher to Cleveland, and also used one-year pacts to reel in first baseman Mark Reynolds and pitcher Brett Myers. Cleveland also acquired outfielder Drew Stubbs, pitching prospect Trevor Bauer and relievers Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw in a three-team, nine-player trade with the Reds and D-backs.
This past weekend, the Indians also signed veteran Jason Giambi to a Minor League contract -- an avenue also used to net players such as Scott Kazmir and Matt Capps. The Tribe also has an agreement in place on a Minor League deal for pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Another rebuild in Cleveland was clearly not in Antonetti's plans.
As news spread on Monday night that the Indians had landed Bourn, a handful of Cleveland's players expressed their excitement over Twitter.
Tribe closer Chris Perez wrote, "Who would win: The Bourn Supremacy or the Bullpen Mafia? Answer: Tribe fans," on his @ChrisPerez54 profile.
Setup man Vinnie Pestano chimed in by posting, "Bourn? Watch out for the dark horse in the AL Central #tribevstheworld2013," under his handle of @VinnieP52.
Offensively, the 30-year-old Bourn brings speed and versatility to the table. He will assume the reins as Cleveland's leadoff man after hitting .274 with a .348 on-base percentage and a .391 slugging percentage in 155 games last year with the Braves. He mixed in nine home runs (a career best), 26 doubles, 10 triples, 42 stolen bases, 57 RBIs, 70 walks and 96 runs for Atlanta.
Between Bourn, Stubbs and second baseman Jason Kipnis, the Indians now boast three players capable of stealing more than 30 bases.
Over the past five seasons -- split between the Astros and Braves -- Bourn has averaged 150 games per year, hitting .272 with a .338 OBP and a .365 SLG in that span. He has topped 600 plate appearances in each of the past four years, making his vesting option for 2017 (550 plate appearances, plus a physical) seem like a realistic goal.
Bourn was a fourth-round selection by the Phillies in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, but he was dealt to the Astros as part of the five-player deal that sent Brad Lidge to Philadelphia in '07. At the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline in 2011, Houston shipped Bourn to Atlanta in exchange for four players.
Much of Bourn's value is also linked to his stellar defense.
Last season, Bourn's UZR/150 of 22.5 -- a defensive metric on fangraphs.com -- was the best mark among center fielders. His 3.0 defensive WAR (Wins Above Replacement) also ranked first, according to baseball-reference.com.
Cleveland has no plans of moving Bourn out of center field, but the team's defensive alignment will need to be sorted out before Opening Day.
In Michael Brantley, Bourn and Stubbs -- three defensively sound center fielders by trade -- the Indians' outfield will be a place where baseballs go to die. That said, Swisher is solid in right field, adding another element to the situation. If Swisher remains in right, Stubbs would likely be the odd-man out to slide to a reserve outfield role.
Without a full-time designated hitter on the roster, the Indians also have the flexibility to ask Swisher to slide to first base -- a position he has played in 307 games throughout his career. Reynolds could then assume the DH du
Join:
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FOX Sports' MLB on FOX returns for its 18th season in April.
MLB
PICTURE SHOW
See all the best images from spring training in Arizona and Florida.
The FOX Saturday Baseball Game of the Week features a 24-week schedule, including eight consecutive weeks of primetime coverage for the second consecutive year, leading to the 84th MLB All-Star Game on July 16, live on FOX from Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets.
MLB on FOX regional coverage debuts on April 6 with a three-game schedule that features rematches of both 2012 League Championship Series and a key AL West showdown: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels vs. Texas Rangers.
Every US-based team will make at least one appearance this season, and at least one at home during the primetime stretch, which begins in late May.
Primetime coverage begins May 25 with five contests: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals, Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers; Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets; Oakland Athletics vs. Houston Astros; and Miami Marlins vs. Chicago White Sox. The primetime schedule also includes more interleague games on June 15, June 22 and June 29 and culminates on July 13 with five games, including an NL Central battle between the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.
In all, MLB on FOX will present 11 interleague games on eight dates.
The first of this season’s record five Yankees-Red Sox clashes schedule will be televised on June 1. The AL East rivals also square off on July 20, Aug. 17, Sept. 7 and Sept. 14.
The Nationals, Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds are each scheduled to make a maximum nine appearances on FOX, while the Yankees, Tigers, Cardinals, Braves and Dodgers are scheduled for eight appearances. As always, the final two Saturdays of the regular season are yet to be determined, allowing FOX Sports and MLB to choose games that have postseason implications. In October, FOX Sports Media Group and Major League Baseball reached an eight-year, multiplatform media rights agreement that keeps FOX as MLB’s national broadcast television home through 2021.
In addition to its regular-season coverage and the 84th MLB All-Star Game, FOX will broadcast the American League Championship Series and the 109th World Series.
Eric Shanks and John Entz are FOX Sports’ Executive Producers. Don Bui serves as coordinating pregame producer. Pete Macheska is coordinating producer of FOX Sports’ MLB coverage. Bill Webb is lead director.
2013 MLB on FOX regular season broadcast schedule
(Note: Schedule subject to change, times refer to on-air)
April 6 (3:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. DET, STL vs. SF, LAA vs. TEX
April 13 (12:30 p.m. ET) — TB vs. BOS, SF vs. CHC, ATL vs. WAS
April 20 (2:30 p.m. ET) — MIN vs. CWS, DET vs. LAA, WAS vs. NYM
April 27 (12:30 p.m. ET) — ATL vs. DET, PHI vs. NYM, CIN vs. WAS
May 4 (3:30 p.m. ET) — BAL vs. LAA, STL vs. MIL, WAS vs. PIT
May 18 (3:30 p.m. ET) — TB vs. BAL, CWS vs. LAA, CIN vs. PHI
May 25 (7 p.m. ET) — MIA vs. CWS, OAK vs. HOU, STL vs. LAD, ATL vs. NYM, PHI vs. WAS
June 1 (7 p.m. ET) — WAS vs. ATL, ARI vs. CHC, BOS vs. NYY, CIN vs. PIT, SF vs. STL
June 8 (7 p.m. ET) — LAA vs. BOS, STL vs. CIN, SD vs. COL, HOU vs. KC, PHI vs. MIL
June 15 (7 p.m. ET) — WAS vs. CLE, CWS vs. HOU, NYY vs. LAA, DET vs. MIN, SEA vs. OAK
June 22 (7 p.m. ET) — CIN vs. ARI, MIN vs. CLE, BOS vs. DET, LAD vs. SD, TEX vs. STL
June 29 (7 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BAL, MIL vs. PIT, CHC vs. SEA, DET vs. TB, CIN vs. TEX
July 6 (7 p.m. ET) — NYM vs. MIL, ATL vs. PHI, LAD vs. SF, CWS vs. TB, HOU vs. TEX
July 13 (7 p.m. ET) — STL vs. CHC, TEX vs. DET, COL vs. LAD, WAS vs. MIA, NYM vs. PIT
July 16 (7:30 p.m. ET) — 2013 MLB All-Star Game from Citi Field in Flushing, NY
July 20 (3:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BOS, ATL vs. CWS, PIT vs. CIN
July 27 (2:30 p.m. ET) — STL vs. ATL, LAA vs. OAK, NYM vs. WAS
Aug. 3 (3:30 p.m. ET) — LAD vs. CHC, TEX vs. OAK, ATL vs. PHI
Aug. 10 (3:30 p.m. ET) — MIN vs. CWS, TB vs. LAD, BAL vs. SF
Aug. 17 (3:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BOS, SF vs. MIA, ARI vs. PIT
Aug. 24 (3:30 p.m. ET) — OAK vs. BAL, BOS vs. LAD, DET vs. NYM
Sept. 7 (12:30 p.m. ET) — MIL vs. CHC, LAD vs. CIN, BOS vs. NYY
Sept. 14 (12:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BOS, CIN vs. MIL, OAK vs. TEX
Sept. 21 (12:30 p.m. ET) — TBD
Sept. 28 (12:30 p.m. ET) — TBD
MLB on FOX Saturday Game of the Week schedule - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN
MLB
PICTURE SHOW
See all the best images from spring training in Arizona and Florida.
The FOX Saturday Baseball Game of the Week features a 24-week schedule, including eight consecutive weeks of primetime coverage for the second consecutive year, leading to the 84th MLB All-Star Game on July 16, live on FOX from Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets.
MLB on FOX regional coverage debuts on April 6 with a three-game schedule that features rematches of both 2012 League Championship Series and a key AL West showdown: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels vs. Texas Rangers.
Every US-based team will make at least one appearance this season, and at least one at home during the primetime stretch, which begins in late May.
Primetime coverage begins May 25 with five contests: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals, Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers; Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets; Oakland Athletics vs. Houston Astros; and Miami Marlins vs. Chicago White Sox. The primetime schedule also includes more interleague games on June 15, June 22 and June 29 and culminates on July 13 with five games, including an NL Central battle between the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.
In all, MLB on FOX will present 11 interleague games on eight dates.
The first of this season’s record five Yankees-Red Sox clashes schedule will be televised on June 1. The AL East rivals also square off on July 20, Aug. 17, Sept. 7 and Sept. 14.
The Nationals, Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds are each scheduled to make a maximum nine appearances on FOX, while the Yankees, Tigers, Cardinals, Braves and Dodgers are scheduled for eight appearances. As always, the final two Saturdays of the regular season are yet to be determined, allowing FOX Sports and MLB to choose games that have postseason implications. In October, FOX Sports Media Group and Major League Baseball reached an eight-year, multiplatform media rights agreement that keeps FOX as MLB’s national broadcast television home through 2021.
In addition to its regular-season coverage and the 84th MLB All-Star Game, FOX will broadcast the American League Championship Series and the 109th World Series.
Eric Shanks and John Entz are FOX Sports’ Executive Producers. Don Bui serves as coordinating pregame producer. Pete Macheska is coordinating producer of FOX Sports’ MLB coverage. Bill Webb is lead director.
2013 MLB on FOX regular season broadcast schedule
(Note: Schedule subject to change, times refer to on-air)
April 6 (3:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. DET, STL vs. SF, LAA vs. TEX
April 13 (12:30 p.m. ET) — TB vs. BOS, SF vs. CHC, ATL vs. WAS
April 20 (2:30 p.m. ET) — MIN vs. CWS, DET vs. LAA, WAS vs. NYM
April 27 (12:30 p.m. ET) — ATL vs. DET, PHI vs. NYM, CIN vs. WAS
May 4 (3:30 p.m. ET) — BAL vs. LAA, STL vs. MIL, WAS vs. PIT
May 18 (3:30 p.m. ET) — TB vs. BAL, CWS vs. LAA, CIN vs. PHI
May 25 (7 p.m. ET) — MIA vs. CWS, OAK vs. HOU, STL vs. LAD, ATL vs. NYM, PHI vs. WAS
June 1 (7 p.m. ET) — WAS vs. ATL, ARI vs. CHC, BOS vs. NYY, CIN vs. PIT, SF vs. STL
June 8 (7 p.m. ET) — LAA vs. BOS, STL vs. CIN, SD vs. COL, HOU vs. KC, PHI vs. MIL
June 15 (7 p.m. ET) — WAS vs. CLE, CWS vs. HOU, NYY vs. LAA, DET vs. MIN, SEA vs. OAK
June 22 (7 p.m. ET) — CIN vs. ARI, MIN vs. CLE, BOS vs. DET, LAD vs. SD, TEX vs. STL
June 29 (7 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BAL, MIL vs. PIT, CHC vs. SEA, DET vs. TB, CIN vs. TEX
July 6 (7 p.m. ET) — NYM vs. MIL, ATL vs. PHI, LAD vs. SF, CWS vs. TB, HOU vs. TEX
July 13 (7 p.m. ET) — STL vs. CHC, TEX vs. DET, COL vs. LAD, WAS vs. MIA, NYM vs. PIT
July 16 (7:30 p.m. ET) — 2013 MLB All-Star Game from Citi Field in Flushing, NY
July 20 (3:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BOS, ATL vs. CWS, PIT vs. CIN
July 27 (2:30 p.m. ET) — STL vs. ATL, LAA vs. OAK, NYM vs. WAS
Aug. 3 (3:30 p.m. ET) — LAD vs. CHC, TEX vs. OAK, ATL vs. PHI
Aug. 10 (3:30 p.m. ET) — MIN vs. CWS, TB vs. LAD, BAL vs. SF
Aug. 17 (3:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BOS, SF vs. MIA, ARI vs. PIT
Aug. 24 (3:30 p.m. ET) — OAK vs. BAL, BOS vs. LAD, DET vs. NYM
Sept. 7 (12:30 p.m. ET) — MIL vs. CHC, LAD vs. CIN, BOS vs. NYY
Sept. 14 (12:30 p.m. ET) — NYY vs. BOS, CIN vs. MIL, OAK vs. TEX
Sept. 21 (12:30 p.m. ET) — TBD
Sept. 28 (12:30 p.m. ET) — TBD
MLB on FOX Saturday Game of the Week schedule - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN
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The traditional competition for jobs is about to begin at Spring Training, and for a second year in a row, that is about to involve 30 Major League Baseball fans.
Following two weeks of furious campaigning, 30 finalists vying to be contestants in the 2013 MLB Fan Cave earned trips to Spring Training for the final step in their quests for their baseball dream job. These finalists, culled from an applicant list in the thousands, will travel to Arizona next week for a series of interactive challenges and interviews designed to determine the Opening Day lineup that will hunker down to watch every game in the 15,000-square-foot facility at Fourth Street and Broadway in Greenwich Village.
The 30 finalists are: Lindsay Beaver, Calder Cahill, Kaitlyn Cernek, Michael Clair, Vanessa Demske, Sam Dingman, Jeremy Dorn, Jay Ducote, Daniel Farris, Andrew Fleming, Pete Gourlie, Katie Gregerson, Marcus Hall, Martin Jones, Alexandria Justice, Eitan Levine, Christine Lorigo, Bryan Mapes, Nick Mendillo, Travis Miller, Hayden Moss, Mina Park, Thomas Roberts, Stephanie Rodriguez, Angalena Scavuzzo, Jay Tuohey, Kelsey Shea Weinrich, April Whitzman, Ben Wietmarschen and Ally Williams.
The men and women from the U.S. and Canada include recent college graduates, journalists, bloggers, comedians, musicians, a chef, an announcer for a college Quidditch league and a former reality show winner. They have been touted by the likes of Colin Hanks, David Price, Justin Verlander, David Ortiz, Jose Bautista and Dale Murphy.
The Fan Cave is part of a massive overall presence by MLB throughout social media. On Facebook, there are a combined 35,398,450 likes on the MLB and club accounts, with 4,426,678 alone on MLB. On Twitter, there are a combined 8,417,104 followers of the @MLB and official club accounts, and 2,687,016 for @MLB alone. On Instagram, there are a combined 788,930 followers on the @MLBOfficial and club pages, with 126,455 on MLB alone. The Fan Cave's Facebook page and its @MLBFanCave pages on Twitter and Instagram have more than 1.2 million combined followers.
You can see the contestants' videos at MLBFanCave-com, and fans and finalists can look for updates on the Fan Cave's Facebook and Twitter pages.
Those who head for the Cactus League earned the trip in large part by actively campaigning for votes and promoting their candidacy through such platforms as MLB-com Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr and other social avenues, media interviews, and other creative means. In just two weeks, the candidates combined to earn more than 400 endorsements from players and celebs on camera and through Twitter, and participated in more than 200 interviews with national and local TV and radio, newspapers, and online outlets. Some of the highlights of the campaign activity include Park's Photoshop Tumblr; Demske's "Married to Baseball" video featuring some of the A's wives; Scavuzzo's "Best Friends" video featuring the Royals' Sluggerrr mascot; and the first known Fan Cave couple.
Miller, Tuohey, Weinrich and Williams earned their second straight trip to the final-30 spring camp. Will any of them survive the final cutdown this time? Many questions will be answered through a battery of tests and trials involving MLB spring camps.
After the Spring Training visit, MLB will select the final group of Cave Dwellers, who will begin the season in the MLB Fan Cave with the goal of watching all 2,430 MLB games while chronicling their experiences online through videos, blogs, and social media. Along the way, they will be eliminated or remain in the MLB Fan Cave based on the quality of their contributions, with one eventual winner crowned before the end of the World Series.
In 2012, nine Cave Dwellers started the season in the MLB Fan Cave, with Giants fan Ashley Chavez crowned the winner at the World Series.
More than 400 celebrity visitors, including nearly 200 current MLB players as well as musicians, actors, former players and others have visited the MLB Fan Cave since its launch in 2011, participating in more than 500 online videos for fans to share via social media.
Some of the biggest stars in baseball have visited the Fan Cave, including Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, R.A. Dickey, Bryce Harper, Ryan Howard, Derek Jeter, Adam Jones, Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen, Ortiz, Price, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Justin Upton, Verlander and David Wright, as well as Hall of Famers galore. Celebrity guests have included Kevin James, Kate Upton, Jesse Eisenberg, Nick Offerman, Craig Robinson, Charlie Sheen and Eric Stonestreet.
Concert acts have included such top artists as Adam Lambert, Daughtry, Nas, Jason Aldean, The Fray, OneRepublic, Far East Movement, The Avett Brothers, Ziggy Marley, LMFAO and Neon Trees.
Fan Cave finalists head to Arizona for last tests | MLB-com: News
Following two weeks of furious campaigning, 30 finalists vying to be contestants in the 2013 MLB Fan Cave earned trips to Spring Training for the final step in their quests for their baseball dream job. These finalists, culled from an applicant list in the thousands, will travel to Arizona next week for a series of interactive challenges and interviews designed to determine the Opening Day lineup that will hunker down to watch every game in the 15,000-square-foot facility at Fourth Street and Broadway in Greenwich Village.
The 30 finalists are: Lindsay Beaver, Calder Cahill, Kaitlyn Cernek, Michael Clair, Vanessa Demske, Sam Dingman, Jeremy Dorn, Jay Ducote, Daniel Farris, Andrew Fleming, Pete Gourlie, Katie Gregerson, Marcus Hall, Martin Jones, Alexandria Justice, Eitan Levine, Christine Lorigo, Bryan Mapes, Nick Mendillo, Travis Miller, Hayden Moss, Mina Park, Thomas Roberts, Stephanie Rodriguez, Angalena Scavuzzo, Jay Tuohey, Kelsey Shea Weinrich, April Whitzman, Ben Wietmarschen and Ally Williams.
The men and women from the U.S. and Canada include recent college graduates, journalists, bloggers, comedians, musicians, a chef, an announcer for a college Quidditch league and a former reality show winner. They have been touted by the likes of Colin Hanks, David Price, Justin Verlander, David Ortiz, Jose Bautista and Dale Murphy.
The Fan Cave is part of a massive overall presence by MLB throughout social media. On Facebook, there are a combined 35,398,450 likes on the MLB and club accounts, with 4,426,678 alone on MLB. On Twitter, there are a combined 8,417,104 followers of the @MLB and official club accounts, and 2,687,016 for @MLB alone. On Instagram, there are a combined 788,930 followers on the @MLBOfficial and club pages, with 126,455 on MLB alone. The Fan Cave's Facebook page and its @MLBFanCave pages on Twitter and Instagram have more than 1.2 million combined followers.
You can see the contestants' videos at MLBFanCave-com, and fans and finalists can look for updates on the Fan Cave's Facebook and Twitter pages.
Those who head for the Cactus League earned the trip in large part by actively campaigning for votes and promoting their candidacy through such platforms as MLB-com Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr and other social avenues, media interviews, and other creative means. In just two weeks, the candidates combined to earn more than 400 endorsements from players and celebs on camera and through Twitter, and participated in more than 200 interviews with national and local TV and radio, newspapers, and online outlets. Some of the highlights of the campaign activity include Park's Photoshop Tumblr; Demske's "Married to Baseball" video featuring some of the A's wives; Scavuzzo's "Best Friends" video featuring the Royals' Sluggerrr mascot; and the first known Fan Cave couple.
Miller, Tuohey, Weinrich and Williams earned their second straight trip to the final-30 spring camp. Will any of them survive the final cutdown this time? Many questions will be answered through a battery of tests and trials involving MLB spring camps.
After the Spring Training visit, MLB will select the final group of Cave Dwellers, who will begin the season in the MLB Fan Cave with the goal of watching all 2,430 MLB games while chronicling their experiences online through videos, blogs, and social media. Along the way, they will be eliminated or remain in the MLB Fan Cave based on the quality of their contributions, with one eventual winner crowned before the end of the World Series.
In 2012, nine Cave Dwellers started the season in the MLB Fan Cave, with Giants fan Ashley Chavez crowned the winner at the World Series.
More than 400 celebrity visitors, including nearly 200 current MLB players as well as musicians, actors, former players and others have visited the MLB Fan Cave since its launch in 2011, participating in more than 500 online videos for fans to share via social media.
Some of the biggest stars in baseball have visited the Fan Cave, including Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, R.A. Dickey, Bryce Harper, Ryan Howard, Derek Jeter, Adam Jones, Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen, Ortiz, Price, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Justin Upton, Verlander and David Wright, as well as Hall of Famers galore. Celebrity guests have included Kevin James, Kate Upton, Jesse Eisenberg, Nick Offerman, Craig Robinson, Charlie Sheen and Eric Stonestreet.
Concert acts have included such top artists as Adam Lambert, Daughtry, Nas, Jason Aldean, The Fray, OneRepublic, Far East Movement, The Avett Brothers, Ziggy Marley, LMFAO and Neon Trees.
Fan Cave finalists head to Arizona for last tests | MLB-com: News
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2006/12/07
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This is going to be a very different year for Mike Trout because of the expectations, because of the pressure, because of the spotlight. A historic rookie season has set a whole new bar for the prodigy, creating quite a burden for a 21-year-old who was in Triple-A 10 months ago and in high school not long before that.
But as you could see on Thursday afternoon, when he was flanked by Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols in a news conference setting, he has plenty of help. "We're here to back each other up," Hamilton said. "And there's no expectations anybody's going to put on us that we don't already have on ourselves."
The expectations, though, are big.
Pujols is arguably the greatest hitter of his generation, Hamilton is among the most complete outfielders in the game and Trout is simply baseball's most exciting player. Between them, Hamilton and Pujols boast 14 trips to the All-Star Game, four MVP Awards, nine Silver Slugger Awards and five trips to the World Series. In Trout they have a budding superstar coming off a season in which he was unanimously voted the American League's Rookie of the Year and almost the youngest ever MVP.
Together -- and that's how it'll be for at least the next five years -- they're expected to score lots and lose little.
"It's awesome," Trout said, as he often does, in a conference room at the hotel that overlooks the Angels' Spring Training facility. "I remember last year sitting at the house, and all of a sudden, Albert's name popped up with the Angels, and it was a shock to me. I was like, 'Whoa, this is awesome.' And the same thing happened this year. The first thing I did is [text Hamilton] and congratulated him, and he texted me back and said, 'Get your legs loose.' I'm sure Albert would have said the same thing."
Two different roads
Pujols can still recall what he said the first time he met Hamilton, just after hearing he would soon be the first selection in the Draft: "Yeah, right."
It was 1999, during a pre-Draft workout at Tropicana Field for a Rays team that held the first pick. Hamilton was rail thin and hardly resembled the can't-miss prospect many identified him as out of North Carolina.
"Then he started taking BP," Pujols said, "and I was like, 'Are you serious?'"
Perhaps you can excuse Hamilton for not remembering that moment.
"I took a little different route than Albert did, forgot a few things along the way," Hamilton said, drawing laughter from an assembled media that knows his story well. "But we're here together now."
Pujols became a feel-good story, going from the 402nd pick to three-time National League MVP. Hamilton had an epic fall from grace, from No. 1 overall selection to a harrowing drug addiction that put him out of baseball for three full seasons.
Eventually, Hamilton rose from the ashes, starting five straight All-Star games (2008 to 2012) while with the Rangers.
And this offseason the Angels came out of nowhere to sign him to a five-year, $125 million contract.
"I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't appealing when [owner] Arte [Moreno] and the Angels approached me to think about the lineup, think about my place in the lineup with these guys," Hamilton said. "Even though it was against the rival Rangers, the biggest thing for my family and I was praying about it and going where the Lord leads us. And we're exactly where he led us."
Hamilton posted a .305/.363/.549 slash line the last five years, averaging 28 homers and 101 RBIs and being named the AL MVP in 2010. But there were also two alcohol-related relapses, an average of 32 games missed due to injuries and, freshest in everyone's mind, a lost second half that saw him bat .259 with 16 homers and 86 strikeouts in 69 games.
"You want to be as consistent as possible the whole year, but it's tough," he said. "That's why it's a lot harder to stay here."
Sharing the spotlight
That same perspective is engrained in Pujols, which is perhaps why his excitement about this group, while real, is tempered.
It was just last year -- in this same room, heading into this first official workout with his new team -- that Pujols addressed the hype surrounding the Angels because of his presence. But then, with his own head-scratching slump, the team fell flat in April and ultimately missed the playoffs for a third straight year.
"We look good on paper," Pujols said of the current group, "but we still need to go out there and perform and stay healthy."
These were Pujols' numbers last year: .285 batting average, .859 OPS, 30 homers.
But there are two very different ways to look at them.
You can notice that each of those numbers has dropped each of the last three years -- perhaps a sign that the 33-year-old continues to slip and an indication that the Angels will be in trouble toward the latter part of his 10-year, $240 million.
You can also consider what he did after May 15 -- .959 OPS, fifth best in the AL -- and think about what he can do going into a season with more familiarity and less spotlight.
"Obviously, it's a different league, and it's going to be a little different now that I know some of the guys I've faced, but I tried to go out there and do too much last year when I started," he said. "I think I can speak for everybody except for [Mark] Trumbo -- he was the only guy that was hitting in April. Everybody else, we were trying to do too much. We knew what type of team we had, we knew we were better than what our record was showing, and sometimes you start to press. That's human nature."
Trout's encore
And while they pressed, the Angels started off 6-14. But Trout wasn't there. This year he will be, as a left fielder, and there will be one prevailing question.
What now?
Is it realistic to expect a season similar to 2012, when Trout became the first player in history -- at any age -- to combine a .320-plus batting average (.326) with at least 45 steals (49), 125 runs (129) and 30 homers?
Is
But as you could see on Thursday afternoon, when he was flanked by Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols in a news conference setting, he has plenty of help. "We're here to back each other up," Hamilton said. "And there's no expectations anybody's going to put on us that we don't already have on ourselves."
The expectations, though, are big.
Pujols is arguably the greatest hitter of his generation, Hamilton is among the most complete outfielders in the game and Trout is simply baseball's most exciting player. Between them, Hamilton and Pujols boast 14 trips to the All-Star Game, four MVP Awards, nine Silver Slugger Awards and five trips to the World Series. In Trout they have a budding superstar coming off a season in which he was unanimously voted the American League's Rookie of the Year and almost the youngest ever MVP.
Together -- and that's how it'll be for at least the next five years -- they're expected to score lots and lose little.
"It's awesome," Trout said, as he often does, in a conference room at the hotel that overlooks the Angels' Spring Training facility. "I remember last year sitting at the house, and all of a sudden, Albert's name popped up with the Angels, and it was a shock to me. I was like, 'Whoa, this is awesome.' And the same thing happened this year. The first thing I did is [text Hamilton] and congratulated him, and he texted me back and said, 'Get your legs loose.' I'm sure Albert would have said the same thing."
Two different roads
Pujols can still recall what he said the first time he met Hamilton, just after hearing he would soon be the first selection in the Draft: "Yeah, right."
It was 1999, during a pre-Draft workout at Tropicana Field for a Rays team that held the first pick. Hamilton was rail thin and hardly resembled the can't-miss prospect many identified him as out of North Carolina.
"Then he started taking BP," Pujols said, "and I was like, 'Are you serious?'"
Perhaps you can excuse Hamilton for not remembering that moment.
"I took a little different route than Albert did, forgot a few things along the way," Hamilton said, drawing laughter from an assembled media that knows his story well. "But we're here together now."
Pujols became a feel-good story, going from the 402nd pick to three-time National League MVP. Hamilton had an epic fall from grace, from No. 1 overall selection to a harrowing drug addiction that put him out of baseball for three full seasons.
Eventually, Hamilton rose from the ashes, starting five straight All-Star games (2008 to 2012) while with the Rangers.
And this offseason the Angels came out of nowhere to sign him to a five-year, $125 million contract.
"I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't appealing when [owner] Arte [Moreno] and the Angels approached me to think about the lineup, think about my place in the lineup with these guys," Hamilton said. "Even though it was against the rival Rangers, the biggest thing for my family and I was praying about it and going where the Lord leads us. And we're exactly where he led us."
Hamilton posted a .305/.363/.549 slash line the last five years, averaging 28 homers and 101 RBIs and being named the AL MVP in 2010. But there were also two alcohol-related relapses, an average of 32 games missed due to injuries and, freshest in everyone's mind, a lost second half that saw him bat .259 with 16 homers and 86 strikeouts in 69 games.
"You want to be as consistent as possible the whole year, but it's tough," he said. "That's why it's a lot harder to stay here."
Sharing the spotlight
That same perspective is engrained in Pujols, which is perhaps why his excitement about this group, while real, is tempered.
It was just last year -- in this same room, heading into this first official workout with his new team -- that Pujols addressed the hype surrounding the Angels because of his presence. But then, with his own head-scratching slump, the team fell flat in April and ultimately missed the playoffs for a third straight year.
"We look good on paper," Pujols said of the current group, "but we still need to go out there and perform and stay healthy."
These were Pujols' numbers last year: .285 batting average, .859 OPS, 30 homers.
But there are two very different ways to look at them.
You can notice that each of those numbers has dropped each of the last three years -- perhaps a sign that the 33-year-old continues to slip and an indication that the Angels will be in trouble toward the latter part of his 10-year, $240 million.
You can also consider what he did after May 15 -- .959 OPS, fifth best in the AL -- and think about what he can do going into a season with more familiarity and less spotlight.
"Obviously, it's a different league, and it's going to be a little different now that I know some of the guys I've faced, but I tried to go out there and do too much last year when I started," he said. "I think I can speak for everybody except for [Mark] Trumbo -- he was the only guy that was hitting in April. Everybody else, we were trying to do too much. We knew what type of team we had, we knew we were better than what our record was showing, and sometimes you start to press. That's human nature."
Trout's encore
And while they pressed, the Angels started off 6-14. But Trout wasn't there. This year he will be, as a left fielder, and there will be one prevailing question.
What now?
Is it realistic to expect a season similar to 2012, when Trout became the first player in history -- at any age -- to combine a .320-plus batting average (.326) with at least 45 steals (49), 125 runs (129) and 30 homers?
Is
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2006/12/07
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Talk is cheap. Ballplayers aren't. Based on last season, however, one can assume that Angel Pagan's word is gold.
Pagan, the Giants' center fielder and leadoff hitter, reported to camp Friday and vowed to maintain the determined approach that benefited San Francisco during its World Series-winning 2012 season.
Pagan vowed that the four-year, $40 million contract that the Giants gave him last December to remove him from the free-agent market won't impede his drive to excel.
"My bank account did change, but my focus and hunger for the game will never change," said Pagan, 31. "My passion for this game is unbelievable. ... I just want to leave my heart on the field for my teammates and help this club win, not only ballgames but also championships, for four more years."
Pagan's aware that his deal will draw more attention to him. The $10 million average annual value of his pact ranks second among Giants position players only to right fielder Hunter Pence's one-year, $13.8 million contract.
"I signed this contract, and the expectations are really big," Pagan said. "I want to keep doing what I know I can do -- keep being consistent and being a table-setter at the top of the lineup and scoring as many runs as I can for this team."
That described Pagan's 2012 performance. Moved from the leadoff spot to fifth in the batting order about a month into the season, Pagan returned to the top of the order in early August. He put together three hitting streaks of 11 or more games and batted safely in 28 consecutive home games from April 14-June 4, a franchise record.
Pagan's Major League-high 15 triples broke the San Francisco-era record of 12, which had been shared by Willie Mays (1960) and Steve Finley (2006). He established career bests in triples, doubles (38) and runs scored (95), and he hit .288 with 29 stolen bases.
Pagan also grounded into just six double plays in 659 plate appearances, making him one of the National League's most difficult players to double up. Contemporary metrics provided further proof of Pagan's baserunning prowess: He ranked second among NL players with an 8.2 BsR, a statistic which measures baserunning efficiency.
Pagan served as a necessary complement for an offense that ranked last in the Majors with 103 home runs. San Francisco became only the seventh team since 1900 to reach the postseason despite trailing the field in that category.
"I thought it was critical to have another dynamic on our club that would enable us to manufacture runs," manager Bruce Bochy said. "When you don't hit a lot of home runs, you better figure out other ways to score. Speed can do that, whether you steal a base or hit-and-run or bunt a guy over. Pagan did that for us by stealing those bases and getting in scoring position."
After such an active season, Pagan needed a break. He replenished his energy after the World Series by resting for three weeks. "My body asked for it," he said.
Pagan will vanish along with a legion of teammates in early March to play in the World Baseball Classic -- he said that representing his native Puerto Rico "fills my heart" -- but he sounded as motivated as ever to galvanize the Giants.
According to widespread skepticism, the Giants triumphed during the postseason only because they received every possible break. Pagan himself benefited from this sort of good fortune in Game 1 of the World Series, when his third-inning ground ball struck third base and resulted in a double that sparked a three-run rally.
Pagan considered the cynicism and said with a straight face, "We're going to get lucky again, like people say."
New pact doesn't dampen Pagan's desire to win | MLB-com: News
Pagan, the Giants' center fielder and leadoff hitter, reported to camp Friday and vowed to maintain the determined approach that benefited San Francisco during its World Series-winning 2012 season.
Pagan vowed that the four-year, $40 million contract that the Giants gave him last December to remove him from the free-agent market won't impede his drive to excel.
"My bank account did change, but my focus and hunger for the game will never change," said Pagan, 31. "My passion for this game is unbelievable. ... I just want to leave my heart on the field for my teammates and help this club win, not only ballgames but also championships, for four more years."
Pagan's aware that his deal will draw more attention to him. The $10 million average annual value of his pact ranks second among Giants position players only to right fielder Hunter Pence's one-year, $13.8 million contract.
"I signed this contract, and the expectations are really big," Pagan said. "I want to keep doing what I know I can do -- keep being consistent and being a table-setter at the top of the lineup and scoring as many runs as I can for this team."
That described Pagan's 2012 performance. Moved from the leadoff spot to fifth in the batting order about a month into the season, Pagan returned to the top of the order in early August. He put together three hitting streaks of 11 or more games and batted safely in 28 consecutive home games from April 14-June 4, a franchise record.
Pagan's Major League-high 15 triples broke the San Francisco-era record of 12, which had been shared by Willie Mays (1960) and Steve Finley (2006). He established career bests in triples, doubles (38) and runs scored (95), and he hit .288 with 29 stolen bases.
Pagan also grounded into just six double plays in 659 plate appearances, making him one of the National League's most difficult players to double up. Contemporary metrics provided further proof of Pagan's baserunning prowess: He ranked second among NL players with an 8.2 BsR, a statistic which measures baserunning efficiency.
Pagan served as a necessary complement for an offense that ranked last in the Majors with 103 home runs. San Francisco became only the seventh team since 1900 to reach the postseason despite trailing the field in that category.
"I thought it was critical to have another dynamic on our club that would enable us to manufacture runs," manager Bruce Bochy said. "When you don't hit a lot of home runs, you better figure out other ways to score. Speed can do that, whether you steal a base or hit-and-run or bunt a guy over. Pagan did that for us by stealing those bases and getting in scoring position."
After such an active season, Pagan needed a break. He replenished his energy after the World Series by resting for three weeks. "My body asked for it," he said.
Pagan will vanish along with a legion of teammates in early March to play in the World Baseball Classic -- he said that representing his native Puerto Rico "fills my heart" -- but he sounded as motivated as ever to galvanize the Giants.
According to widespread skepticism, the Giants triumphed during the postseason only because they received every possible break. Pagan himself benefited from this sort of good fortune in Game 1 of the World Series, when his third-inning ground ball struck third base and resulted in a double that sparked a three-run rally.
Pagan considered the cynicism and said with a straight face, "We're going to get lucky again, like people say."
New pact doesn't dampen Pagan's desire to win | MLB-com: News
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2006/12/07
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He is a big man with a big laugh.
Anyone who has been around Nelson Cruz can attest to the laugh.
But whether the Texas Rangers' clubhouse will hear it anytime soon remains to be seen.
Cruz's name was among those mentioned in a report in the Miami New Times that linked professional athletes to a South Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs.
Cruz met with the media upon arrival at spring training last week, but said he had been instructed by his lawyers not to comment.
"As soon as it's done, I'll address it and tell everything I know," Cruz told reporters.
In the meantime, Cruz and the Rangers are sticking with the story that this involves an ongoing investigation being conducted by Major League Baseball and that they will await the investigation's outcome.
Attorneys for Cruz, the Pittsburgh firm of Tom Farrell and Jay Reisinger, have already denied the information contained in the New Times report.
What happens from here remains murky. Major League Baseball has no subpoena power and it can't compel New Times to turn over its interview and evidence records.
Nor is there the oft-sworn-by smoking gun, a failed drug test, by one of the alleged miscreants. Don't forget that Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and Lance Armstrong never failed a drug test during their careers, either.
The MLB commissioner's office doesn't need a smoking gun, however. If enough evidence can be obtained linking a player to performance-enhancing substances, the commissioner has the right to impose a suspension.
Evidence, perhaps, like having a player's name -- and his code name, "Mohamad" -- show up in the crude, handwritten note pages of Tony Bosch, who ran the Biogenesis of America clinic?
Well, yeah. That's all it might take.
Until now, it's been hard not to embrace the baseball saga of Nelson Cruz. His career supposedly had hit dead ends both in Milwaukee and in early look-sees with the Rangers.
But in late August 2008, it all seemed to finally come together for Nellie at the age of 28. He hit 33 home runs the next season and made the American League All-Star team.
A late bloomer?
Raise your hand if, as I did, you chose to believe so. He's been fun to watch. He had a stadium hot dog named after him.
How, though, is Cruz going to explain how his name -- with dollar figures attached for products allegedly rendered -- got into Bosch's notebook?
It won't help Cruz that one of the suspected Bosch co-clients is Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, the once-MVP whose escape on a chain-of-custody technicality from a 2011 positive drug test continues to rankle MLB officials.
Braun's involvement in the story, as well as the pinstriped glare cast by Alex Rodriguez, all but guarantee that the New Times report won't quietly vanish from the sports pages.
New Times, meanwhile, faces a dilemma of its own. If it declines to cooperate with MLB, its own credibility and brave report will be consigned to the dust bins of irrelevance under the piles of player denials.
If it does assist MLB, however, New Times will have helped to shake an American institution to its core. Two MVPs, with one swing of the bat.
Nelson Cruz could help the MLB case by telling investigators what he knows about the Biogenesis clinic and Tony Bosch. But I wouldn't count on it. The Farrell and Reisinger law firm that Cruz has enlisted has a long history of representing baseball players suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs -- Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa and Andy Pettitte, among others.
If deemed guilty, Cruz faces a 50-game suspension.
Nobody will be laughing.
Read more here: MLB law doesn't require much to ban Nelson Cruz | Texas Rangers | Texas Rangers News and Vide...
Anyone who has been around Nelson Cruz can attest to the laugh.
But whether the Texas Rangers' clubhouse will hear it anytime soon remains to be seen.
Cruz's name was among those mentioned in a report in the Miami New Times that linked professional athletes to a South Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs.
Cruz met with the media upon arrival at spring training last week, but said he had been instructed by his lawyers not to comment.
"As soon as it's done, I'll address it and tell everything I know," Cruz told reporters.
In the meantime, Cruz and the Rangers are sticking with the story that this involves an ongoing investigation being conducted by Major League Baseball and that they will await the investigation's outcome.
Attorneys for Cruz, the Pittsburgh firm of Tom Farrell and Jay Reisinger, have already denied the information contained in the New Times report.
What happens from here remains murky. Major League Baseball has no subpoena power and it can't compel New Times to turn over its interview and evidence records.
Nor is there the oft-sworn-by smoking gun, a failed drug test, by one of the alleged miscreants. Don't forget that Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and Lance Armstrong never failed a drug test during their careers, either.
The MLB commissioner's office doesn't need a smoking gun, however. If enough evidence can be obtained linking a player to performance-enhancing substances, the commissioner has the right to impose a suspension.
Evidence, perhaps, like having a player's name -- and his code name, "Mohamad" -- show up in the crude, handwritten note pages of Tony Bosch, who ran the Biogenesis of America clinic?
Well, yeah. That's all it might take.
Until now, it's been hard not to embrace the baseball saga of Nelson Cruz. His career supposedly had hit dead ends both in Milwaukee and in early look-sees with the Rangers.
But in late August 2008, it all seemed to finally come together for Nellie at the age of 28. He hit 33 home runs the next season and made the American League All-Star team.
A late bloomer?
Raise your hand if, as I did, you chose to believe so. He's been fun to watch. He had a stadium hot dog named after him.
How, though, is Cruz going to explain how his name -- with dollar figures attached for products allegedly rendered -- got into Bosch's notebook?
It won't help Cruz that one of the suspected Bosch co-clients is Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, the once-MVP whose escape on a chain-of-custody technicality from a 2011 positive drug test continues to rankle MLB officials.
Braun's involvement in the story, as well as the pinstriped glare cast by Alex Rodriguez, all but guarantee that the New Times report won't quietly vanish from the sports pages.
New Times, meanwhile, faces a dilemma of its own. If it declines to cooperate with MLB, its own credibility and brave report will be consigned to the dust bins of irrelevance under the piles of player denials.
If it does assist MLB, however, New Times will have helped to shake an American institution to its core. Two MVPs, with one swing of the bat.
Nelson Cruz could help the MLB case by telling investigators what he knows about the Biogenesis clinic and Tony Bosch. But I wouldn't count on it. The Farrell and Reisinger law firm that Cruz has enlisted has a long history of representing baseball players suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs -- Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa and Andy Pettitte, among others.
If deemed guilty, Cruz faces a 50-game suspension.
Nobody will be laughing.
Read more here: MLB law doesn't require much to ban Nelson Cruz | Texas Rangers | Texas Rangers News and Vide...
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Final rosters for all 16 teams participating in next month's World Baseball Classic are due on Wednesday, and the last of the 28 spots to be filled for Team USA is pending, Joe Torre, the team's manager, said on Monday.
"We will have that Wednesday," Torre, whose day job is acting as Major League Baseball's executive vice president of baseball operations, said during a media conference at Chase Field. "We're planning on it being a pitcher, and we're going to have a discussion about it this evening." Torre wasn't definitive at this point whether that hurler will be a starter or a reliever.
"That's what the discussion will be about," he said about the chat he plans to have with pitching coaches Greg Maddux and Marcel Lachemann.
Right now the U.S. is carrying 14 pitchers, four of them starters -- Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, Giants right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, Rangers left-hander Derek Holland and Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez, a late add, replaced Braves right-hander Kris Medlen, who dropped out because his wife is having a baby.
Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte and Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander had both expressed interest in the team but have since declined to play.
The U.S. had originally wanted to carry five starters into the tournament, which it begins at Chase Field against Mexico on the evening of March 8. In addition to Mexico, Team USA is in a bracket with Italy and Canada and will play all three teams on successive days. Round 2 is at Miami's Marlins Park from March 10-16, and the semifinals and finals are slated for San Francisco's AT&T Park from March 17-19.
The Americans open camp at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick complex on March 4 and play exhibition games against the White Sox at Camelback Ranch on March 5 and the Rockies at Talking Stick on the night of March 6 before opening the Classic.
Japan won the first two international tournaments, played in 2006 and 2009. The U.S. is seeking a better effort this time after being eliminated in the second round in '06 and beaten by Japan in a semifinal game at Dodger Stadium four years ago.
"Certainly, Spring Training has always been that time of the year when you get into shape physically," Torre said. "Then the mental part, you eventually work your way back up to it. Over the last two Classics, I think that's the one area we have to work on -- making sure that those games played in March count.
"This time I've talked to every player, because I wanted to gauge the interest and the excitement about playing with the letters USA across your chest. Every player who is on the team is genuinely excited about this. So I feel comfortable about the team we've put together based on ability and the fact that I think they're going to be ready to do this when we need to."
Like the other 15 teams, the USA announced its provisional roster in January.
The group includes five players from the 2009 team: Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, Mets third baseman David Wright, Red Sox right fielder Shane Victorino, Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and D-backs reliever Heath Bell.
Around the diamond, the U.S. has a starting eight of the Yankees' Mark Teixeira (first base), the Reds' Brandon Phillips (second), Rollins (short), Wright (third), the Twins' Joe Mauer (catcher), Braun (left), the Orioles' Adam Jones (center) and the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton (right).
The bench includes Victorino, plus infielders Ben Zobrist of the Rays and Willie Bloomquist of the D-backs. The backup catchers are Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers and J.P. Arencibia of the Blue Jays, who has been working with Dickey in Nashville, learning how to catch his knuckleball.
The bullpen includes closers Craig Kimbrel of the Braves and Chris Perez of the Indians. The rest of the 'pen is composed of Perez's Cleveland teammate Vinnie Pestano, Luke Gregerson of the Padres, Bell, Glen Perkins of the Twins, Steve Cisek of the Marlins, Jeremy Affeldt of the Giants, Tim Collins of the Royals and Mitchell Boggs of the Cardinals.
Like Tommy Lasorda did for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Torre is coming out of retirement for this three-week period.
Lasorda managed the Americans to the gold medal, their last. This time making it to the final game -- if not winning it all -- is an imperative.
"Having to come out of it on the short end the last two times, you're in this uniform for one reason, and that is to win," Torre said. "If somebody beats you, so be it. But the need to win has to be the most important thing when you go out there. So hopefully we can get it done."
Torre accomplished all that in his managerial career. It ended in 2010 with the Dodgers after a 12-year span with the Yankees from 1996 to 2007, during which his club made the playoffs every year, winning six American League pennants and the World Series four times. That postseason streak went to 14 in 2008 and 2009; in both years the Dodgers lost to the Phillies in the National League Championship Series.
Torre's coaching staff is replete with big names: bench coach Larry Bowa, third-base coach Willie Randolph, first-base coach Dale Murphy and hitting coach Gerald Perry, plus Maddux and Lachemann.
"In my mind this is sort of reminiscent of a sad time, in 2001, when 9/11 happened," Torre said. "We were in New York at the time and visited families of people who had lost their lives. It was at that time when I realized that baseball was more than entertainment on the field. That we meant a lot to a lot of people. And our responsibility was far beyond just playing the game. I told the players this in our first meeting back: 'This NY on our cap means more than just the Yankees.' It's the game, and people need this game to hide out from their problems.
"For me, this is going to be a similar emotion, certainly without the sadness that was part of all that. Emotionally, once you put that uniform on, it's a responsibility. And it's not necessarily the
"We will have that Wednesday," Torre, whose day job is acting as Major League Baseball's executive vice president of baseball operations, said during a media conference at Chase Field. "We're planning on it being a pitcher, and we're going to have a discussion about it this evening." Torre wasn't definitive at this point whether that hurler will be a starter or a reliever.
"That's what the discussion will be about," he said about the chat he plans to have with pitching coaches Greg Maddux and Marcel Lachemann.
Right now the U.S. is carrying 14 pitchers, four of them starters -- Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, Giants right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, Rangers left-hander Derek Holland and Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez, a late add, replaced Braves right-hander Kris Medlen, who dropped out because his wife is having a baby.
Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte and Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander had both expressed interest in the team but have since declined to play.
The U.S. had originally wanted to carry five starters into the tournament, which it begins at Chase Field against Mexico on the evening of March 8. In addition to Mexico, Team USA is in a bracket with Italy and Canada and will play all three teams on successive days. Round 2 is at Miami's Marlins Park from March 10-16, and the semifinals and finals are slated for San Francisco's AT&T Park from March 17-19.
The Americans open camp at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick complex on March 4 and play exhibition games against the White Sox at Camelback Ranch on March 5 and the Rockies at Talking Stick on the night of March 6 before opening the Classic.
Japan won the first two international tournaments, played in 2006 and 2009. The U.S. is seeking a better effort this time after being eliminated in the second round in '06 and beaten by Japan in a semifinal game at Dodger Stadium four years ago.
"Certainly, Spring Training has always been that time of the year when you get into shape physically," Torre said. "Then the mental part, you eventually work your way back up to it. Over the last two Classics, I think that's the one area we have to work on -- making sure that those games played in March count.
"This time I've talked to every player, because I wanted to gauge the interest and the excitement about playing with the letters USA across your chest. Every player who is on the team is genuinely excited about this. So I feel comfortable about the team we've put together based on ability and the fact that I think they're going to be ready to do this when we need to."
Like the other 15 teams, the USA announced its provisional roster in January.
The group includes five players from the 2009 team: Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, Mets third baseman David Wright, Red Sox right fielder Shane Victorino, Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and D-backs reliever Heath Bell.
Around the diamond, the U.S. has a starting eight of the Yankees' Mark Teixeira (first base), the Reds' Brandon Phillips (second), Rollins (short), Wright (third), the Twins' Joe Mauer (catcher), Braun (left), the Orioles' Adam Jones (center) and the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton (right).
The bench includes Victorino, plus infielders Ben Zobrist of the Rays and Willie Bloomquist of the D-backs. The backup catchers are Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers and J.P. Arencibia of the Blue Jays, who has been working with Dickey in Nashville, learning how to catch his knuckleball.
The bullpen includes closers Craig Kimbrel of the Braves and Chris Perez of the Indians. The rest of the 'pen is composed of Perez's Cleveland teammate Vinnie Pestano, Luke Gregerson of the Padres, Bell, Glen Perkins of the Twins, Steve Cisek of the Marlins, Jeremy Affeldt of the Giants, Tim Collins of the Royals and Mitchell Boggs of the Cardinals.
Like Tommy Lasorda did for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Torre is coming out of retirement for this three-week period.
Lasorda managed the Americans to the gold medal, their last. This time making it to the final game -- if not winning it all -- is an imperative.
"Having to come out of it on the short end the last two times, you're in this uniform for one reason, and that is to win," Torre said. "If somebody beats you, so be it. But the need to win has to be the most important thing when you go out there. So hopefully we can get it done."
Torre accomplished all that in his managerial career. It ended in 2010 with the Dodgers after a 12-year span with the Yankees from 1996 to 2007, during which his club made the playoffs every year, winning six American League pennants and the World Series four times. That postseason streak went to 14 in 2008 and 2009; in both years the Dodgers lost to the Phillies in the National League Championship Series.
Torre's coaching staff is replete with big names: bench coach Larry Bowa, third-base coach Willie Randolph, first-base coach Dale Murphy and hitting coach Gerald Perry, plus Maddux and Lachemann.
"In my mind this is sort of reminiscent of a sad time, in 2001, when 9/11 happened," Torre said. "We were in New York at the time and visited families of people who had lost their lives. It was at that time when I realized that baseball was more than entertainment on the field. That we meant a lot to a lot of people. And our responsibility was far beyond just playing the game. I told the players this in our first meeting back: 'This NY on our cap means more than just the Yankees.' It's the game, and people need this game to hide out from their problems.
"For me, this is going to be a similar emotion, certainly without the sadness that was part of all that. Emotionally, once you put that uniform on, it's a responsibility. And it's not necessarily the
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2006/12/07
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Each day that Josh Rutledge arrives at the Rockies' Spring Training complex, he dresses right beside star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
If it's by design, it wasn't Tulowitzki's, since he didn't express an opinion about the clubhouse plan. And Rutledge's only Major League experience was last year, when he came up from Double-A Tulsa to play shortstop after a left groin injury forced Tulowitzki to the disabled list. Guys with that little big league time have no choice in their clubhouse real estate.
But wouldn't it be nice if they could be neighbors for a while?
Rutledge turned heads to the tune of a .274 batting average, eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 73 games. The performance led the Rockies to give Rutledge a crack at the starting second-base job.
Rutledge has started the process of getting acquainted with Tulowitzki. Late last season, as Tulowitzki was finishing his recovery and rehab from the injury, the two worked together during batting and infield practice. They were in Scottsdale nearly a week before full-squad workouts began.
"We're just getting the feeling where we're comfortable with each other is definitely a key," Rutledge said. "We're well on our way to already being there."
It helps that Tulowitzki is easy to work with. He's had to be.
Since making the Majors in 2006, Tulowitzki has had a lengthy list of keystone partners -- Kazuo Matsui, Jamey Carroll, Jeff Baker, Clint Barmes, Eric Young Jr., Chris Nelson, Jonathan Herrera, Mark Ellis and Marco Scutaro, all of whom had a significant number of games alongside Tulowitzki. Add to that the fact that DJ LeMahieu played second base while Rutledge was at short last year, and you have a position that has been a merry-go-round.
None of this stopped Tulowitzki from winning Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and All-Star Game trips in his last two healthy seasons, or finishing in the top 10 in National League Most Valuable Player voting three times. He has said in the past that the time it takes to develop a partnership is overrated.
Still, he sees Rutledge as having traits that could give him staying power.
"Work ethic-wise, he's someone you don't have to challenge in that direction," Tulowitzki said. "He has that already, and that's impressive as a young player. He gets his swings in the cage. He works real hard in the weight room. He's not afraid to work. So that's awesome."
Rutledge, 23, the Rockies' third-round pick in the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, was hot for most of the time he was in the Majors last year. But he also experienced a healthy amount of downside. From his debut on July 13 to a 3-for-5 performance against the Padres on Sept. 1, Rutledge hit .353 with seven home runs, 27 RBIs, 13 doubles and four triples. However, having not played more than 113 games in a professional season before last year, the dropoff was painful and ugly. He hit .181 with one home run and 10 RBIs in the final 31 games. A quadriceps issue made the final month painful. By year's end, he had played 160 total games between Tulsa and Colorado -- almost the equivalent of a full big league schedule, all while dealing with the intensity change in jumping two levels.
"It was good for me to get that experience and realize how long a season actually is and grow on that," Rutledge said.
All that Major League action gave opposing pitchers information that can be used against him, but Rutledge saw quite a bit of video as well.
"I spent a good bit of the offseason looking at swings from last year of myself and making some adjustments," Rutledge said. "I felt like that was a key to me. I've never really had the opportunity to use video as much. It's definitely helped me to be able to see what I'm doing and to make adjustments.
"Anybody that's in the big leagues can hit. It's just all about pitch selection and getting your pitch. That's key for any hitter, not just me. Take what they give you, not try to do too much with what they give you."
To help Rutledge's learning curve, manager Walt Weiss has told him to concentrate on playing second. He would move back to short only if the team lost Tulowitzki and the Rockies didn't like their other options.
If all goes as planned, the Rockies will have an up-the-middle mix of experience, with Tulowitzki and potential Gold Glove center fielder Dexter Fowler, and youth, with second-year men in Rutledge and catcher Wilin Rosario.
"It can work," Weiss said. "When you talk about the youth in Rosario and Rutledge, they're two dynamic athletes. I think overall there's a nice mix of veteran players and youthful players on our roster. That's not a concern with the youth up the middle."
But Rutledge's success brings no guarantees. LeMahieu, benefitting from the regular playing time and some swing adjustments that former manager Jim Tracy and former hitting coach Carney Lansford gave him, finished the year hitting .297. While Rutledge's power potential gives him an inside shot at the job, LeMahieu is striving to change the plans. The Rockies, as history shows, have been known to change their second-base plans.
Rutledge vows to take an even-keeled approach to his assignment and any challenges.
"I feel like if I just play my game, I have a good opportunity in front of me. It helped getting a lot of experience out of me, just to kind of get through the nerves," he said. "But any player coming back is going to be real anxious to get going again. It's not really nerves but if you don't really get butterflies playing this game, you feel like you're doing the right thing."
Rockies' Josh Rutledge getting to know defensive partner Troy Tulowitzki | MLB-com: News
If it's by design, it wasn't Tulowitzki's, since he didn't express an opinion about the clubhouse plan. And Rutledge's only Major League experience was last year, when he came up from Double-A Tulsa to play shortstop after a left groin injury forced Tulowitzki to the disabled list. Guys with that little big league time have no choice in their clubhouse real estate.
But wouldn't it be nice if they could be neighbors for a while?
Rutledge turned heads to the tune of a .274 batting average, eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 73 games. The performance led the Rockies to give Rutledge a crack at the starting second-base job.
Rutledge has started the process of getting acquainted with Tulowitzki. Late last season, as Tulowitzki was finishing his recovery and rehab from the injury, the two worked together during batting and infield practice. They were in Scottsdale nearly a week before full-squad workouts began.
"We're just getting the feeling where we're comfortable with each other is definitely a key," Rutledge said. "We're well on our way to already being there."
It helps that Tulowitzki is easy to work with. He's had to be.
Since making the Majors in 2006, Tulowitzki has had a lengthy list of keystone partners -- Kazuo Matsui, Jamey Carroll, Jeff Baker, Clint Barmes, Eric Young Jr., Chris Nelson, Jonathan Herrera, Mark Ellis and Marco Scutaro, all of whom had a significant number of games alongside Tulowitzki. Add to that the fact that DJ LeMahieu played second base while Rutledge was at short last year, and you have a position that has been a merry-go-round.
None of this stopped Tulowitzki from winning Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and All-Star Game trips in his last two healthy seasons, or finishing in the top 10 in National League Most Valuable Player voting three times. He has said in the past that the time it takes to develop a partnership is overrated.
Still, he sees Rutledge as having traits that could give him staying power.
"Work ethic-wise, he's someone you don't have to challenge in that direction," Tulowitzki said. "He has that already, and that's impressive as a young player. He gets his swings in the cage. He works real hard in the weight room. He's not afraid to work. So that's awesome."
Rutledge, 23, the Rockies' third-round pick in the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, was hot for most of the time he was in the Majors last year. But he also experienced a healthy amount of downside. From his debut on July 13 to a 3-for-5 performance against the Padres on Sept. 1, Rutledge hit .353 with seven home runs, 27 RBIs, 13 doubles and four triples. However, having not played more than 113 games in a professional season before last year, the dropoff was painful and ugly. He hit .181 with one home run and 10 RBIs in the final 31 games. A quadriceps issue made the final month painful. By year's end, he had played 160 total games between Tulsa and Colorado -- almost the equivalent of a full big league schedule, all while dealing with the intensity change in jumping two levels.
"It was good for me to get that experience and realize how long a season actually is and grow on that," Rutledge said.
All that Major League action gave opposing pitchers information that can be used against him, but Rutledge saw quite a bit of video as well.
"I spent a good bit of the offseason looking at swings from last year of myself and making some adjustments," Rutledge said. "I felt like that was a key to me. I've never really had the opportunity to use video as much. It's definitely helped me to be able to see what I'm doing and to make adjustments.
"Anybody that's in the big leagues can hit. It's just all about pitch selection and getting your pitch. That's key for any hitter, not just me. Take what they give you, not try to do too much with what they give you."
To help Rutledge's learning curve, manager Walt Weiss has told him to concentrate on playing second. He would move back to short only if the team lost Tulowitzki and the Rockies didn't like their other options.
If all goes as planned, the Rockies will have an up-the-middle mix of experience, with Tulowitzki and potential Gold Glove center fielder Dexter Fowler, and youth, with second-year men in Rutledge and catcher Wilin Rosario.
"It can work," Weiss said. "When you talk about the youth in Rosario and Rutledge, they're two dynamic athletes. I think overall there's a nice mix of veteran players and youthful players on our roster. That's not a concern with the youth up the middle."
But Rutledge's success brings no guarantees. LeMahieu, benefitting from the regular playing time and some swing adjustments that former manager Jim Tracy and former hitting coach Carney Lansford gave him, finished the year hitting .297. While Rutledge's power potential gives him an inside shot at the job, LeMahieu is striving to change the plans. The Rockies, as history shows, have been known to change their second-base plans.
Rutledge vows to take an even-keeled approach to his assignment and any challenges.
"I feel like if I just play my game, I have a good opportunity in front of me. It helped getting a lot of experience out of me, just to kind of get through the nerves," he said. "But any player coming back is going to be real anxious to get going again. It's not really nerves but if you don't really get butterflies playing this game, you feel like you're doing the right thing."
Rockies' Josh Rutledge getting to know defensive partner Troy Tulowitzki | MLB-com: News
Join:
2006/12/07
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Joe Garagiola called it a career on Wednesday after 57 years in the broadcast booth.
At 87 years old, Garagiola displayed the trademark humor and speaking skills that propelled him into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster as he regaled the assembled media with stories from his illustrious career.
Garagiola broadcast on national network telecasts and for several teams following his retirement as a player in 1954, and he was a regular guest on "The Tonight Show" and a co-host of the "Today Show." Most recently, he had served as an occasional analyst on D-backs' television broadcasts.
Although he had surgery in 2009 to remove a brain tumor, Garagiola said that his health was not a factor in his decision to leave the broadcast booth. Instead it was a simply a matter of wanting to have more time for his wife, Audrey. The two have been married for 63 years.
"I've often said it's the best catch I ever made," Garagiola said of his wife. "The wife is the one who really makes it for you. She's the one who took care of the kids. I was the guy that was on the plane flying here, there, everywhere, coming home and telling her about it, and she'd just smile and say, 'That's great.'"
When Garagiola told D-backs president/CEO Derrick Hall that he wanted to meet with him on Dec. 7, Hall had a feeling something was up. It was, Hall said, the saddest day of his baseball career.
"It was a rather emotional meeting, for sure," Hall said. "But he's not going anywhere. He's still going to be around, he's still going to be at the ballpark, he's always going to be an important member of our family."
Garagiola's son, Joe Jr., was the team's first general manager, and he built the 2001 World Series championship team. Watching his son do that, Garagiola said, is his most cherished baseball memory.
"You guys took me into the family and made me feel like I was part of it at the beginning," he said. "I don't deserve a lot of things that have happened with me, but I remember Jack Benny saying he had arthritis and he didn't deserve that either."
That was just one of the funny lines from Garagiola. Here are a few others:
• Garagiola recently moved into a retirement community.
"You know what the most famous word in our place is?" he asked. "Huh?"
Garagiola's childhood friend Yogi Berra also recently moved into a retirement community.
"I said, 'How's it going, Yog?' And he said, 'It's all right, but geez they've got a lot of old people here.'"
• Traded to the New York Giants in 1954, Garagiola was behind the plate when the Cardinals' Stan Musial stepped up to it.
"This was the fourth team I was traded to when there was only eight in the league and that told me that I was either wanted, or modeling uniforms," Garagiola said. "I didn't know which. And the great Stan Musial comes up to hit, and apparently he didn't see the papers, so he taps the plate and he looks at me, and he backs out and says, 'What the heck are you doing there?' I said, 'I just got traded, Stan.' He said, 'You did, when?' I said, 'This morning.' He kind of looked stunned, and he said, 'Why don't you quit?' You know what I said to him? I said, 'Now?'"
• Speaking of a pitcher with a funky delivery, Garagiola said, "He threw nothing but elbows and fingernails at you, and pretty soon the ball came."
• While catching for a pitcher who only threw a fastball, Garagiola became confused when the pitcher kept shaking off the sign he was putting down. He finally went to the mound and asked the pitcher what was going on, and the pitcher told Garagiola that he wanted to throw a slider.
"I said, 'You don't have a slider.' He said, 'That's why I'll get him out, he won't be looking for it.'"
• When Garagiola became teary-eyed during the news conference, he looked toward manager Kirk Gibson in the crowd and said that if he couldn't hold it together, he was going to ask Gibson to come up and finish for him.
"I'd be happy to," Gibson said.
"You'd be happy to?" Garagiola quipped. "Tell your face you'd be happy to, then, would ya?"
With trademark wit, Joe Garagiola ends career | MLB-com: News
At 87 years old, Garagiola displayed the trademark humor and speaking skills that propelled him into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster as he regaled the assembled media with stories from his illustrious career.
Garagiola broadcast on national network telecasts and for several teams following his retirement as a player in 1954, and he was a regular guest on "The Tonight Show" and a co-host of the "Today Show." Most recently, he had served as an occasional analyst on D-backs' television broadcasts.
Although he had surgery in 2009 to remove a brain tumor, Garagiola said that his health was not a factor in his decision to leave the broadcast booth. Instead it was a simply a matter of wanting to have more time for his wife, Audrey. The two have been married for 63 years.
"I've often said it's the best catch I ever made," Garagiola said of his wife. "The wife is the one who really makes it for you. She's the one who took care of the kids. I was the guy that was on the plane flying here, there, everywhere, coming home and telling her about it, and she'd just smile and say, 'That's great.'"
When Garagiola told D-backs president/CEO Derrick Hall that he wanted to meet with him on Dec. 7, Hall had a feeling something was up. It was, Hall said, the saddest day of his baseball career.
"It was a rather emotional meeting, for sure," Hall said. "But he's not going anywhere. He's still going to be around, he's still going to be at the ballpark, he's always going to be an important member of our family."
Garagiola's son, Joe Jr., was the team's first general manager, and he built the 2001 World Series championship team. Watching his son do that, Garagiola said, is his most cherished baseball memory.
"You guys took me into the family and made me feel like I was part of it at the beginning," he said. "I don't deserve a lot of things that have happened with me, but I remember Jack Benny saying he had arthritis and he didn't deserve that either."
That was just one of the funny lines from Garagiola. Here are a few others:
• Garagiola recently moved into a retirement community.
"You know what the most famous word in our place is?" he asked. "Huh?"
Garagiola's childhood friend Yogi Berra also recently moved into a retirement community.
"I said, 'How's it going, Yog?' And he said, 'It's all right, but geez they've got a lot of old people here.'"
• Traded to the New York Giants in 1954, Garagiola was behind the plate when the Cardinals' Stan Musial stepped up to it.
"This was the fourth team I was traded to when there was only eight in the league and that told me that I was either wanted, or modeling uniforms," Garagiola said. "I didn't know which. And the great Stan Musial comes up to hit, and apparently he didn't see the papers, so he taps the plate and he looks at me, and he backs out and says, 'What the heck are you doing there?' I said, 'I just got traded, Stan.' He said, 'You did, when?' I said, 'This morning.' He kind of looked stunned, and he said, 'Why don't you quit?' You know what I said to him? I said, 'Now?'"
• Speaking of a pitcher with a funky delivery, Garagiola said, "He threw nothing but elbows and fingernails at you, and pretty soon the ball came."
• While catching for a pitcher who only threw a fastball, Garagiola became confused when the pitcher kept shaking off the sign he was putting down. He finally went to the mound and asked the pitcher what was going on, and the pitcher told Garagiola that he wanted to throw a slider.
"I said, 'You don't have a slider.' He said, 'That's why I'll get him out, he won't be looking for it.'"
• When Garagiola became teary-eyed during the news conference, he looked toward manager Kirk Gibson in the crowd and said that if he couldn't hold it together, he was going to ask Gibson to come up and finish for him.
"I'd be happy to," Gibson said.
"You'd be happy to?" Garagiola quipped. "Tell your face you'd be happy to, then, would ya?"
With trademark wit, Joe Garagiola ends career | MLB-com: News
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Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval and Cy Young knuckleballer R.A. Dickey are among 45 major league all-stars on the rosters for the World Baseball Classic.
The final rosters were announced Thursday. The 16-team tournament begins next month.
There are seven players who have won MVP awards, including Cabrera, Joe Mauer, Joey Votto and Miguel Tejada.
Japan won the first two WBC tournaments. This year's Japanese team does not include any players from Major League Baseball.
Ryan Braun, David Wright and Giancarlo Stanton are among the stars on the U.S. team. Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano and free agent Jose Valverde lead the Dominican Republic.
The Italian team includes New York Yankees minor league Pat Venditte, who is an ambidextrous pitcher.
45 MLB all-stars on World Baseball Classic rosters
The final rosters were announced Thursday. The 16-team tournament begins next month.
There are seven players who have won MVP awards, including Cabrera, Joe Mauer, Joey Votto and Miguel Tejada.
Japan won the first two WBC tournaments. This year's Japanese team does not include any players from Major League Baseball.
Ryan Braun, David Wright and Giancarlo Stanton are among the stars on the U.S. team. Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano and free agent Jose Valverde lead the Dominican Republic.
The Italian team includes New York Yankees minor league Pat Venditte, who is an ambidextrous pitcher.
45 MLB all-stars on World Baseball Classic rosters
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In the race to become the first $200 million arm, Justin Verlander has made it clear: Much like everything else he does, he wants to win.
"Of course," he told Yahoo! Sports on Friday morning. "I don't play this game to make the most money. But I do feel like it would be nice to be compensated for what I feel like I've been: one of the best, if not the best, the last few years. In my career, I feel like I've been one of the top. But the last two years, I've kind of separated myself, me and a handful of other guys.
"It's not a thing where I'm like, 'Hey, I want to be the highest-paid player,' where that's the chief goal. It innately comes with my competitiveness. That's just me. That's not why I play the game. I'm good at the game because of that side of me, because I'm competitive at everything I do."
Verlander said "free agency is really cool," though he made certain to note: "I don't think you have to be a free agent to get [$200 million]," an indication that his preference is to stay with the Detroit Tigers, with whom the 30-year-old has spent his entire career.
"I think free agency is really cool and would be a great experience," Verlander said. "I would like to experience it, to be honest with you. But if Detroit comes along and says, 'Hey, here's an offer you can't turn down,' I'm not going to turn it down." The prospect of a $200 million deal for a pitcher grew to a certainty when Seattle signed starter Felix Hernandez to a seven-year, $175 million contract on the eve of spring training. While Hernandez is more than three years younger than Verlander, who turned 30 on Wednesday, the last two years have indeed separated Verlander from his peers.
Among pitchers, there is the Tigers' right-hander and the rest. Since 2011, when he won the American League MVP award, Verlander leads baseball in innings (489 1/3), wins (41), strikeouts (489), ERA+ (166) and opponent batting average (.205). He is second to Clayton Kershaw in ERA (2.52) and opponent OPS (.578). Kershaw is his likely competition for a $200 million deal, between his age (25 in March) and team (the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers). Verlander and Kershaw are both free agents following the 2014 season.
With two years left on his current five-year, $80 million deal, Verlander is more than willing to listen should owner Mike Ilitch propose an extension. Hernandez's $25 million-a-year deal set a new standard on long-term pitching contracts, beating Zack Greinke's just-signed six-year, $147 million free agent bounty by a half-million annually.
"I'm not just going to sit here and say yes to anything," Verlander said. "The risk-reward when you get to a year is intriguing. Me going into the free agent market as long as I pitch the way I have?
"I've gotten conflicting stories out there, and it's because I've said conflicting things. I've come out and said I love Detroit, love the idea of playing my entire career in Detroit, and I do. But also free agency is a cool idea. I can see how it came across as a mixed message." The two aren't mutually exclusive. The Tigers organization understands the longer it waits to pursue an extension with Verlander, the likelier it is he tests free agency, which makes hammering out a deal this year imperative if they want him in their long-term plans. The Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies and other big-market powerhouses would line up to pay Verlander just about whatever he wants for however long he wants.
When asked whether dollars or years were more important, Verlander said: "I would probably say dollars, if I had to choose, just because I'm not worried about getting a 10-year extension. I feel like I'm gonna keep pitching. And if I'm still pitching, I'll get another contract."
The pervasive fear among pitchers past their 30th birthdays – how much longer will my arm hold up? – doesn't concern Verlander. His sturdiness is as much a hallmark as his fastball that gains velocity during games. Other pitchers in the major leagues study his mechanics and try to emulate them, and Verlander sees the precedent set by his brothers in freakish arms, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.
"I looked at [Johnson's] no-hitter when he was 40, and he was throwing 97," Verlander said. "And I’m like, 'All right. I want to do that.' I don't plan on being done at 40."
Best-case scenario, he said, is in a Tigers uniform. Verlander enjoys thinking about his first TigersFest, the offseason extravaganza where fans get to mingle with players. At a table where fans sought autographs, players spent about an hour signing before rotating out. Verlander, merely a prospect at that point, replaced a veteran – and arrived to a chorus he remembers sounding something like: "Awwwwwww-" Now, he can't show his face in Detroit without getting mobbed. He wants to win a World Series with the Tigers after misses in 2006 and last season, and the Tigers – fortified with Torii Hunter, Anibal Sanchez and the return of the injured Victor Martinez – are distinct favorites in the AL Central and perhaps the league.
"I [expletive] love Detroit," Verlander said.
And Detroit will love him even more if all this free agency talk goes away. Verlander said there wasn't a magic number to lock him in. He doesn't need to say it. Ilitch and the rest of the organization know what they have to do.
Let him win the $200 million race.
Y! SPORTS
"Of course," he told Yahoo! Sports on Friday morning. "I don't play this game to make the most money. But I do feel like it would be nice to be compensated for what I feel like I've been: one of the best, if not the best, the last few years. In my career, I feel like I've been one of the top. But the last two years, I've kind of separated myself, me and a handful of other guys.
"It's not a thing where I'm like, 'Hey, I want to be the highest-paid player,' where that's the chief goal. It innately comes with my competitiveness. That's just me. That's not why I play the game. I'm good at the game because of that side of me, because I'm competitive at everything I do."
Verlander said "free agency is really cool," though he made certain to note: "I don't think you have to be a free agent to get [$200 million]," an indication that his preference is to stay with the Detroit Tigers, with whom the 30-year-old has spent his entire career.
"I think free agency is really cool and would be a great experience," Verlander said. "I would like to experience it, to be honest with you. But if Detroit comes along and says, 'Hey, here's an offer you can't turn down,' I'm not going to turn it down." The prospect of a $200 million deal for a pitcher grew to a certainty when Seattle signed starter Felix Hernandez to a seven-year, $175 million contract on the eve of spring training. While Hernandez is more than three years younger than Verlander, who turned 30 on Wednesday, the last two years have indeed separated Verlander from his peers.
Among pitchers, there is the Tigers' right-hander and the rest. Since 2011, when he won the American League MVP award, Verlander leads baseball in innings (489 1/3), wins (41), strikeouts (489), ERA+ (166) and opponent batting average (.205). He is second to Clayton Kershaw in ERA (2.52) and opponent OPS (.578). Kershaw is his likely competition for a $200 million deal, between his age (25 in March) and team (the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers). Verlander and Kershaw are both free agents following the 2014 season.
With two years left on his current five-year, $80 million deal, Verlander is more than willing to listen should owner Mike Ilitch propose an extension. Hernandez's $25 million-a-year deal set a new standard on long-term pitching contracts, beating Zack Greinke's just-signed six-year, $147 million free agent bounty by a half-million annually.
"I'm not just going to sit here and say yes to anything," Verlander said. "The risk-reward when you get to a year is intriguing. Me going into the free agent market as long as I pitch the way I have?
"I've gotten conflicting stories out there, and it's because I've said conflicting things. I've come out and said I love Detroit, love the idea of playing my entire career in Detroit, and I do. But also free agency is a cool idea. I can see how it came across as a mixed message." The two aren't mutually exclusive. The Tigers organization understands the longer it waits to pursue an extension with Verlander, the likelier it is he tests free agency, which makes hammering out a deal this year imperative if they want him in their long-term plans. The Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies and other big-market powerhouses would line up to pay Verlander just about whatever he wants for however long he wants.
When asked whether dollars or years were more important, Verlander said: "I would probably say dollars, if I had to choose, just because I'm not worried about getting a 10-year extension. I feel like I'm gonna keep pitching. And if I'm still pitching, I'll get another contract."
The pervasive fear among pitchers past their 30th birthdays – how much longer will my arm hold up? – doesn't concern Verlander. His sturdiness is as much a hallmark as his fastball that gains velocity during games. Other pitchers in the major leagues study his mechanics and try to emulate them, and Verlander sees the precedent set by his brothers in freakish arms, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.
"I looked at [Johnson's] no-hitter when he was 40, and he was throwing 97," Verlander said. "And I’m like, 'All right. I want to do that.' I don't plan on being done at 40."
Best-case scenario, he said, is in a Tigers uniform. Verlander enjoys thinking about his first TigersFest, the offseason extravaganza where fans get to mingle with players. At a table where fans sought autographs, players spent about an hour signing before rotating out. Verlander, merely a prospect at that point, replaced a veteran – and arrived to a chorus he remembers sounding something like: "Awwwwwww-" Now, he can't show his face in Detroit without getting mobbed. He wants to win a World Series with the Tigers after misses in 2006 and last season, and the Tigers – fortified with Torii Hunter, Anibal Sanchez and the return of the injured Victor Martinez – are distinct favorites in the AL Central and perhaps the league.
"I [expletive] love Detroit," Verlander said.
And Detroit will love him even more if all this free agency talk goes away. Verlander said there wasn't a magic number to lock him in. He doesn't need to say it. Ilitch and the rest of the organization know what they have to do.
Let him win the $200 million race.
Y! SPORTS
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Victor Martinez has a nine-year-old son who epitomizes the joy of simply being on a Major League ballfield, bounding around the outfield during pregame batting practice to shag fly balls, hanging around the clubhouse while players tease him, even calling manager Jim Leyland, 'Skip.'
Victor Jose Martinez switch hits like his dad, and he's a very good hitter for his age, lacing line drives with the same style. With each day, he looks more and more like his 34-year-old father.
And yet with each game this spring, as the older Victor Martinez begins looking more like himself on the field after a year away from the game, he bears more and more resemblance to his nine-year-old son. As stoic and as classy as he is, he cannot hide the smile he carries.
As he rounded the bases on his home run off Roy Halladay in the second inning Sunday, and saw his teammates stepping out of the dugout to congratulate him, he had that kind of enthusiasm.
"I was just like a kid," Martinez said. "Just to see my teammates over there waiting for me, the rest of the staff, that's one of those things that makes me come here every morning and work my butt off and get ready."
It's about being back on the field in the game he loves, no doubt, even in a Spring Training game. He missed all of those after wrenching his left knee working out last January.
When he stepped onto the field Friday at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex for the Tigers' Spring Training opener, he said he thanked God for giving him the spirit to work through the year to get to that point.
"It was a long, long way, and finally, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel," Martinez said. "When I stepped on that field, it was just a feeling that, I don't know, I can't even explain it. It was something great."
However, it's also about believing he's back to the hitter he was before. As much as he believed he had his health back, his surgically repaired left knee no longer an issue, even he has been surprised that he has gotten his timing back as quickly as this.
He's 3-for-7 three games into Grapefruit League play after Sunday's three-hit effort against the Phillies. His base hit off Brandon Morrow on Saturday and his home run off Halladay Sunday were both firsts for him since the 2011 ALCS against the Rangers.
Yes, it's just three games, and they're the first three games of the spring, when pitchers are making their first appearances and simply trying to get their pitches down in most cases -- even Roy Halladay.
It's also the first time Martinez has seen live pitching in more than a year.
"This is only my third game, but yeah, I've been really surprised," Martinez said. "The hard part is just to get the rhythm, pick up the ball from the pitcher's hand. I've been able to do that the last three days. It's a good sign." The fact that he did it off Roy Halladay on one swing Sunday is irrelevant, he said. That doesn't mean it wasn't pretty cool.
Halladay worked past Detroit's first four batters with ease Sunday, striking out two of them while using just 14 pitches. He worked out of a 2-0 count with Prince Fielder to send him down swinging at a nasty changeup, and hoped to do the same when he had a 2-1 count to Martinez.
When Halladay left a pitch over the plate, Martinez pounced.
"I knew I hit that ball good," Martinez said. "I crushed that ball. But honestly, I just put my head down and started running. I told myself, 'At least you have to get to second base.'"
He took what the pitcher gave him, just like he did with a nice, easy single through the right side in the fourth inning. He did much the same when he flared a single into short right field leading off the sixth.
It has impressed his teammates, how quickly he has looked comfortable on the field. It has not necessarily surprised them.
"No, because I know how hard he works," Justin Verlander said. "Having all that downtime, I know he worked his butt off."
Yet as strong as Martinez felt in his rehab this winter, he said his swings were more awkward. With so much time rehabbing, he wasn't used to putting his legs into his swing like usual. Not until a few weeks ago did he get that feeling again. It was a gradual process.
"Adding a little more, adding a little more," Martinez said, "to the point that I know for sure if I let it go and just make the swing that I always make, everything's going to be all right."
The process picked up in a hurry. Now that he has it, he doesn't want to let up.
"He's swinging pretty good right now," manager Jim Leyland said.
Martinez will make the trip from his home in Orlando to Clearwater on Monday morning to get another start, this time likely at first base with Prince Fielder off. The way he's going, Leyland is already anticipating the day when he has to tell Martinez to take a day off.
"He's greedy right now," Leyland said. "He just wants to be out there so bad. I'm going to have to watch him a little bit. But he said he doesn't care how far the trips are, he wants to go. He wants two to three at-bats pretty much every day, but I'll give him a blow. I'll use common sense."
Martinez doesn't sound like he's ready for that yet.
"I don't know, I mean, I don't even have that off-day in my head," Martinez said. "I had a lot of off-days."
Fully recovered, Victor Martinez enjoying his return to field | MLB-com: News
Victor Jose Martinez switch hits like his dad, and he's a very good hitter for his age, lacing line drives with the same style. With each day, he looks more and more like his 34-year-old father.
And yet with each game this spring, as the older Victor Martinez begins looking more like himself on the field after a year away from the game, he bears more and more resemblance to his nine-year-old son. As stoic and as classy as he is, he cannot hide the smile he carries.
As he rounded the bases on his home run off Roy Halladay in the second inning Sunday, and saw his teammates stepping out of the dugout to congratulate him, he had that kind of enthusiasm.
"I was just like a kid," Martinez said. "Just to see my teammates over there waiting for me, the rest of the staff, that's one of those things that makes me come here every morning and work my butt off and get ready."
It's about being back on the field in the game he loves, no doubt, even in a Spring Training game. He missed all of those after wrenching his left knee working out last January.
When he stepped onto the field Friday at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex for the Tigers' Spring Training opener, he said he thanked God for giving him the spirit to work through the year to get to that point.
"It was a long, long way, and finally, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel," Martinez said. "When I stepped on that field, it was just a feeling that, I don't know, I can't even explain it. It was something great."
However, it's also about believing he's back to the hitter he was before. As much as he believed he had his health back, his surgically repaired left knee no longer an issue, even he has been surprised that he has gotten his timing back as quickly as this.
He's 3-for-7 three games into Grapefruit League play after Sunday's three-hit effort against the Phillies. His base hit off Brandon Morrow on Saturday and his home run off Halladay Sunday were both firsts for him since the 2011 ALCS against the Rangers.
Yes, it's just three games, and they're the first three games of the spring, when pitchers are making their first appearances and simply trying to get their pitches down in most cases -- even Roy Halladay.
It's also the first time Martinez has seen live pitching in more than a year.
"This is only my third game, but yeah, I've been really surprised," Martinez said. "The hard part is just to get the rhythm, pick up the ball from the pitcher's hand. I've been able to do that the last three days. It's a good sign." The fact that he did it off Roy Halladay on one swing Sunday is irrelevant, he said. That doesn't mean it wasn't pretty cool.
Halladay worked past Detroit's first four batters with ease Sunday, striking out two of them while using just 14 pitches. He worked out of a 2-0 count with Prince Fielder to send him down swinging at a nasty changeup, and hoped to do the same when he had a 2-1 count to Martinez.
When Halladay left a pitch over the plate, Martinez pounced.
"I knew I hit that ball good," Martinez said. "I crushed that ball. But honestly, I just put my head down and started running. I told myself, 'At least you have to get to second base.'"
He took what the pitcher gave him, just like he did with a nice, easy single through the right side in the fourth inning. He did much the same when he flared a single into short right field leading off the sixth.
It has impressed his teammates, how quickly he has looked comfortable on the field. It has not necessarily surprised them.
"No, because I know how hard he works," Justin Verlander said. "Having all that downtime, I know he worked his butt off."
Yet as strong as Martinez felt in his rehab this winter, he said his swings were more awkward. With so much time rehabbing, he wasn't used to putting his legs into his swing like usual. Not until a few weeks ago did he get that feeling again. It was a gradual process.
"Adding a little more, adding a little more," Martinez said, "to the point that I know for sure if I let it go and just make the swing that I always make, everything's going to be all right."
The process picked up in a hurry. Now that he has it, he doesn't want to let up.
"He's swinging pretty good right now," manager Jim Leyland said.
Martinez will make the trip from his home in Orlando to Clearwater on Monday morning to get another start, this time likely at first base with Prince Fielder off. The way he's going, Leyland is already anticipating the day when he has to tell Martinez to take a day off.
"He's greedy right now," Leyland said. "He just wants to be out there so bad. I'm going to have to watch him a little bit. But he said he doesn't care how far the trips are, he wants to go. He wants two to three at-bats pretty much every day, but I'll give him a blow. I'll use common sense."
Martinez doesn't sound like he's ready for that yet.
"I don't know, I mean, I don't even have that off-day in my head," Martinez said. "I had a lot of off-days."
Fully recovered, Victor Martinez enjoying his return to field | MLB-com: News
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Baseball union head Michael Weiner said Monday there have been talks about increasing the penalties for violating baseball's drug testing program.
"There are certainly some players who have expressed that," Weiner said. "We've had discussions with the commissioner's office. If it turns out that we have a different penalty structure because that's what players are interested in, that's what the owners are interested in, it will be for 2014."
Weiner spoke to the media after he met with the Toronto Blue Jays as part of his annual tour of spring training camps.
"On one hand, we do have the toughest penalties of any team sport," Weiner said. "Fifty games is more than you'd see for the first time in football and hockey and basketball. More and more players are vocal about the desire to have a clean game. More and More players are vocal about being willing to accept sacrifices in terms of testing in order to make sure we have a clean game."
Changes to the drug program must be approved by both Major League Baseball and the players' union.
"One of the strengths of our Joint Drug Testing Program is that the bargaining parties have an ongoing dialogue about the program and potential changes that can make it even more effective," Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for economics and league affairs, said in a statement. "We look forward to discussions with the MLBPA about changes that may be needed to respond to recent developments." One area where increased attention helped encourage change was in testing for human growth hormone.
"The players approved this change, and it was an important change to have year around blood testing to improve the possibility of detection for the use of HGH," Weiner said. "It was something the players felt very strongly about. The players at this point have very little patience for players that are trying to cheat the system, and understand that year around HGH testing is an important component."
HGH testing began last year but was limited to spring training.
Also, Weiner says he will be speaking with the players who were named in a report by The Miami New Times as having allegedly purchased performance-enhancing drugs from a defunct Florida anti-aging clinic.
"Whether there's anything to these stories or not, they're (the players) sick of this issue," Weiner said. "So, it's natural for a lot of guys to say, maybe we need different penalties. We'll have that discussion over the course of 2013."
Weiner succeeded Donald Fehr as union head in 2009, and this tour is his first of spring training since announcing in August he is being treated for a brain tumor.
MLB union chief says increasing drug penalties possible
"There are certainly some players who have expressed that," Weiner said. "We've had discussions with the commissioner's office. If it turns out that we have a different penalty structure because that's what players are interested in, that's what the owners are interested in, it will be for 2014."
Weiner spoke to the media after he met with the Toronto Blue Jays as part of his annual tour of spring training camps.
"On one hand, we do have the toughest penalties of any team sport," Weiner said. "Fifty games is more than you'd see for the first time in football and hockey and basketball. More and more players are vocal about the desire to have a clean game. More and More players are vocal about being willing to accept sacrifices in terms of testing in order to make sure we have a clean game."
Changes to the drug program must be approved by both Major League Baseball and the players' union.
"One of the strengths of our Joint Drug Testing Program is that the bargaining parties have an ongoing dialogue about the program and potential changes that can make it even more effective," Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for economics and league affairs, said in a statement. "We look forward to discussions with the MLBPA about changes that may be needed to respond to recent developments." One area where increased attention helped encourage change was in testing for human growth hormone.
"The players approved this change, and it was an important change to have year around blood testing to improve the possibility of detection for the use of HGH," Weiner said. "It was something the players felt very strongly about. The players at this point have very little patience for players that are trying to cheat the system, and understand that year around HGH testing is an important component."
HGH testing began last year but was limited to spring training.
Also, Weiner says he will be speaking with the players who were named in a report by The Miami New Times as having allegedly purchased performance-enhancing drugs from a defunct Florida anti-aging clinic.
"Whether there's anything to these stories or not, they're (the players) sick of this issue," Weiner said. "So, it's natural for a lot of guys to say, maybe we need different penalties. We'll have that discussion over the course of 2013."
Weiner succeeded Donald Fehr as union head in 2009, and this tour is his first of spring training since announcing in August he is being treated for a brain tumor.
MLB union chief says increasing drug penalties possible
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An announcement is expected within a week on whether opening matches for the 2014 Major League Baseball season will be played for the first time in Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Discussions are reaching their final stages, as the SCG Trust and Destination NSW look to pull off a sporting coup to rival visits later this year by soccer giants Manchester United.
The original proposal is to bring MLB powerhouse the Los Angeles Dodgers, owned by basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, down for a three-match series in late March or early April to open next year's season at the SCG, against fellow west coast team the Arizona Diamondbacks.
A spokesman for the SCG Trust said negotiations still centred around 2014, but there was no update on whether other details had changed since the proposal was first made public last year.
However, the Trust said it needed a final decision on whether the games will go ahead within the next week.
It's understood the Dodgers are still the main team involved in the negotiations.
"At the moment we haven't heard anything definite one way or the other," said the SCG spokesman.
It's predicted the series would boost tens of millions of dollars into the NSW economy and be televised to more than 300 million viewers in over 80 countries around the world.
The event would mark the 100-year anniversary since the Chicago White Sox played exhibition matches at the SCG in 1914.
It would also follow the new year's Ashes cricket Test between Australia and England as one of the first major events to take place at the refurbished SCG.
By then construction at the historic ground would be completed, with a new state-of-the-art northern stand and giant video screen the main features of the multi-million dollar project.
The MLB has increased its presence in Australia over the past few years and the Australian Baseball League has looked to grow the sport, which is a dominant force in the Americas and in Asia.
Major League representatives hope the matches wouldn't be a one-off, and that the MLB would return to Australia every four years.
It wouldn't be the first time major American sports have ventured to Australian shores.
The National Football League played a pre-season exhibition game between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers at ANZ Stadium in 1999 in front of a crowd of 73,811.
Announcement to come soon on MLB in Aus - The West Australian
Discussions are reaching their final stages, as the SCG Trust and Destination NSW look to pull off a sporting coup to rival visits later this year by soccer giants Manchester United.
The original proposal is to bring MLB powerhouse the Los Angeles Dodgers, owned by basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, down for a three-match series in late March or early April to open next year's season at the SCG, against fellow west coast team the Arizona Diamondbacks.
A spokesman for the SCG Trust said negotiations still centred around 2014, but there was no update on whether other details had changed since the proposal was first made public last year.
However, the Trust said it needed a final decision on whether the games will go ahead within the next week.
It's understood the Dodgers are still the main team involved in the negotiations.
"At the moment we haven't heard anything definite one way or the other," said the SCG spokesman.
It's predicted the series would boost tens of millions of dollars into the NSW economy and be televised to more than 300 million viewers in over 80 countries around the world.
The event would mark the 100-year anniversary since the Chicago White Sox played exhibition matches at the SCG in 1914.
It would also follow the new year's Ashes cricket Test between Australia and England as one of the first major events to take place at the refurbished SCG.
By then construction at the historic ground would be completed, with a new state-of-the-art northern stand and giant video screen the main features of the multi-million dollar project.
The MLB has increased its presence in Australia over the past few years and the Australian Baseball League has looked to grow the sport, which is a dominant force in the Americas and in Asia.
Major League representatives hope the matches wouldn't be a one-off, and that the MLB would return to Australia every four years.
It wouldn't be the first time major American sports have ventured to Australian shores.
The National Football League played a pre-season exhibition game between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers at ANZ Stadium in 1999 in front of a crowd of 73,811.
Announcement to come soon on MLB in Aus - The West Australian
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2006/12/07
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Marlins right-hander Jose Fernandez, one of the top prospects in the game, now has a high-profile agent.
The 20-year-old is being represented by Scott Boras, the prominent Newport Beach, Calif.-based agent.
"We are very excited about having Jose," Boras confirmed to MLB-com on Wednesday night. "He has the potential to be a future ace."
Shortly after the 2012 season, Boras said, he met with Fernandez, and the two sides agreed to come together.
The Marlins' first-round pick in 2011, Fernandez is ranked first on the Marlins and seventh overall on the MLB-com's Top 100 Prospects list.
Fernandez is in his first big league Spring Training camp, and on Thursday morning he will start in a B Game against the Cardinals on a back field at the Roger Dean Stadium complex.
Miami intends to have Fernandez open the season at Double-A Jacksonville. If he shows he is ready, he could make the leap to the Majors in 2013.
At Class A Greensboro and advanced Class A Jupiter last year, Fernandez combined for a 14-1 record with a 1.75 ERA. He struck out 158 in 134 innings.
After two straight last-place finishes, the Marlins overhauled their roster, trading away high-priced veterans Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson. The team is being built around a young nucleus, and Fernandez is expected to be a centerpiece.
In 2013, Miami's payroll has dramatically reduced from a year ago, being trimmed from about $100 million to roughly $40 million.
Boras, who represents some of the top-paid players in the game, has not had too many clients play for the Marlins since Jeffrey Loria assumed ownership in 2002.
The biggest name, of course, is Ivan Rodriguez.
In 2003, then a free-agent catcher, Rodriguez signed a one-year, $10 million deal. He became a central figure in the Marlins winning the World Series.
With Fernandez being represented by Boras, it will be interesting to see whether the Marlins reassess their policy on not awarding no-trade clauses.
On Monday night, Loria, was non-committal when asked whether the team would consider changing its policy.
Top Marlins prospect Jose Fernandez signs with agent Scott Boras | MLB-com: News
The 20-year-old is being represented by Scott Boras, the prominent Newport Beach, Calif.-based agent.
"We are very excited about having Jose," Boras confirmed to MLB-com on Wednesday night. "He has the potential to be a future ace."
Shortly after the 2012 season, Boras said, he met with Fernandez, and the two sides agreed to come together.
The Marlins' first-round pick in 2011, Fernandez is ranked first on the Marlins and seventh overall on the MLB-com's Top 100 Prospects list.
Fernandez is in his first big league Spring Training camp, and on Thursday morning he will start in a B Game against the Cardinals on a back field at the Roger Dean Stadium complex.
Miami intends to have Fernandez open the season at Double-A Jacksonville. If he shows he is ready, he could make the leap to the Majors in 2013.
At Class A Greensboro and advanced Class A Jupiter last year, Fernandez combined for a 14-1 record with a 1.75 ERA. He struck out 158 in 134 innings.
After two straight last-place finishes, the Marlins overhauled their roster, trading away high-priced veterans Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson. The team is being built around a young nucleus, and Fernandez is expected to be a centerpiece.
In 2013, Miami's payroll has dramatically reduced from a year ago, being trimmed from about $100 million to roughly $40 million.
Boras, who represents some of the top-paid players in the game, has not had too many clients play for the Marlins since Jeffrey Loria assumed ownership in 2002.
The biggest name, of course, is Ivan Rodriguez.
In 2003, then a free-agent catcher, Rodriguez signed a one-year, $10 million deal. He became a central figure in the Marlins winning the World Series.
With Fernandez being represented by Boras, it will be interesting to see whether the Marlins reassess their policy on not awarding no-trade clauses.
On Monday night, Loria, was non-committal when asked whether the team would consider changing its policy.
Top Marlins prospect Jose Fernandez signs with agent Scott Boras | MLB-com: News
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St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has announced that he would like to see Major League Baseball ban collisions at the plate.
Matheny, a former catcher, knows the price players can face because of the heavy hits that sometimes come when a baseball and a base runner reach home plate at about the same time. One of the most durable catchers in the history of the game, he was forced to retire in 2006 after a series of concussions left him in danger of permanent damage to his health.
But the big question is: How can baseball outlaw plays at the plate without fundamentally changing the game and eliminating one of the most exciting parts of the America's pastime -- when a runner takes off from second base on contact, an outfielder gets to the ball quickly, and he makes a perfect peg to the plate as the entire crowd stands on its feet at once in hushed anticipation of the call on whether the runner is safe or out?
This isn't elimination of the fake-to-third, throw-to-first play. It deals directly with the fundamental objective of the game: trying to reach home plate to score a run. You can't turn that into the equivalent of a gimme putt in a golf scramble. The reason there is a collision in the first place is because a single run is so important to both the offense and the defense that players on both sides are willing to sacrifice their bodies to get it -- or to stop the other guy from getting it.
Would Major League Baseball deem that runners have to give themselves up on close plays? I don't see any compromise solution short of that. If you try to force the base runner to slide, the defense gains a tremendous tactical advantage because the catcher could block the plate without any fear of paying a price for the move. If the rules were changed to dictate that any contact had to take place below the head, it would be impractical because a hunkered-down catcher fielding a throw is going to put his head in a place where it can't be missed.
In an Aug. 28 game last season, St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina was knocked on the head and had to leave the game after a collision with Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Joel Harrison. After watching the video from several angles, it is apparent that Harrison wasn't aiming for Molina's head. But the Cardinals backstop was so low when he caught the ball and braced for the blow that there was no way Harrison, already committed to throwing his shoulder, could have avoided hitting Molina in the face. For the record, Molina hung on to the ball for the out, and he received a standing ovation from Pittsburgh fans as he was helped from the field.
With the adoption of such a rule, suddenly Major League Baseball would open the can of worms the National Football League has dealt with since a ban on blows to the head of quarterbacks was put in place a few years ago. Flags fly all the time for phantom hits to the head of the signal caller.
Do we really want to see umpires -- who are trying to watch for the tag with the ball while simultaneously keeping an eye on when the foot or hand of the runner reaches the plate -- try to determine at the same time if the base runner touches the catcher's head?
A ban on blows to the head wouldn't have helped San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, who had his leg broken in a gruesome home-plate collision in a 2011 with Scott Cousins of the then-Florida Marlins. Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann injured his knee in a collision in 2006 with Josh Burns of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the most famous home-plate collision of them all, Pete Rose avoided Ray Fosse's head in the 1970 All-Star game but broke the catcher's shoulder with a crushing blow.
Those plays stick out in baseball fans' memories. But serious injuries to catchers in home-plate collisions are actually pretty rare.
Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench blamed Posey's positioning for his injury in an NBC report shortly after it happened. He said most catchers who get hurt put themselves in a spot where they're not in position to absorb the blow. He had an interesting, commonsense recommendation at the time. And it's probably the only thing that could really work without adversely impacting the integrity of the game. Bench said catchers need to be coached better to not only get into proper position to defend themselves, but they also need to be taught to effectively estimate if they have the time to properly position themselves, catch the ball and make the tag. They should be coached to decide, if the answer is no, to clear the home-plate area to avoid any unnecessary contact.
It's impossible to ask players not to give their best when the game is on the line. But it is entirely reasonable to advise them to get out of the way when it's not.
I just don't see how you can legislate out a play at the plate without taking a big bite of the life out of baseball. Even if commissioner Bud Selig outlawed collisions at the plate today, it wouldn't stop concussions for catchers. Where would you stop?
When a guy like Matheny -- who was so tough that in May of 1998 when he was hit in the face by a pitch that knocked out a couple of teeth he still insisted on playing the next day -- says he's concerned about concussions in baseball, the powers that be are well-advised to listen. But we need to remember that the bulk of Matheny's concussions, by his own admission, came from foul balls bouncing off his mask at 100 mph, not collisions with another player in a tag play at the plate. Baseball executives simply can't protect players from every possible injury. Would they outlaw foul balls next? How about the elimination of pitches in excess of 50 mph?
Baseball is beautiful because the rules are intuitive and consistent. There are no judgement calls where the umpire needs to decide the players' intent. There's really no room for conjecture or interpretation. Either the balls is fair or it is foul. The pitch is a ball or it is a strike, and base runners are s
Matheny, a former catcher, knows the price players can face because of the heavy hits that sometimes come when a baseball and a base runner reach home plate at about the same time. One of the most durable catchers in the history of the game, he was forced to retire in 2006 after a series of concussions left him in danger of permanent damage to his health.
But the big question is: How can baseball outlaw plays at the plate without fundamentally changing the game and eliminating one of the most exciting parts of the America's pastime -- when a runner takes off from second base on contact, an outfielder gets to the ball quickly, and he makes a perfect peg to the plate as the entire crowd stands on its feet at once in hushed anticipation of the call on whether the runner is safe or out?
This isn't elimination of the fake-to-third, throw-to-first play. It deals directly with the fundamental objective of the game: trying to reach home plate to score a run. You can't turn that into the equivalent of a gimme putt in a golf scramble. The reason there is a collision in the first place is because a single run is so important to both the offense and the defense that players on both sides are willing to sacrifice their bodies to get it -- or to stop the other guy from getting it.
Would Major League Baseball deem that runners have to give themselves up on close plays? I don't see any compromise solution short of that. If you try to force the base runner to slide, the defense gains a tremendous tactical advantage because the catcher could block the plate without any fear of paying a price for the move. If the rules were changed to dictate that any contact had to take place below the head, it would be impractical because a hunkered-down catcher fielding a throw is going to put his head in a place where it can't be missed.
In an Aug. 28 game last season, St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina was knocked on the head and had to leave the game after a collision with Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Joel Harrison. After watching the video from several angles, it is apparent that Harrison wasn't aiming for Molina's head. But the Cardinals backstop was so low when he caught the ball and braced for the blow that there was no way Harrison, already committed to throwing his shoulder, could have avoided hitting Molina in the face. For the record, Molina hung on to the ball for the out, and he received a standing ovation from Pittsburgh fans as he was helped from the field.
With the adoption of such a rule, suddenly Major League Baseball would open the can of worms the National Football League has dealt with since a ban on blows to the head of quarterbacks was put in place a few years ago. Flags fly all the time for phantom hits to the head of the signal caller.
Do we really want to see umpires -- who are trying to watch for the tag with the ball while simultaneously keeping an eye on when the foot or hand of the runner reaches the plate -- try to determine at the same time if the base runner touches the catcher's head?
A ban on blows to the head wouldn't have helped San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, who had his leg broken in a gruesome home-plate collision in a 2011 with Scott Cousins of the then-Florida Marlins. Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann injured his knee in a collision in 2006 with Josh Burns of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the most famous home-plate collision of them all, Pete Rose avoided Ray Fosse's head in the 1970 All-Star game but broke the catcher's shoulder with a crushing blow.
Those plays stick out in baseball fans' memories. But serious injuries to catchers in home-plate collisions are actually pretty rare.
Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench blamed Posey's positioning for his injury in an NBC report shortly after it happened. He said most catchers who get hurt put themselves in a spot where they're not in position to absorb the blow. He had an interesting, commonsense recommendation at the time. And it's probably the only thing that could really work without adversely impacting the integrity of the game. Bench said catchers need to be coached better to not only get into proper position to defend themselves, but they also need to be taught to effectively estimate if they have the time to properly position themselves, catch the ball and make the tag. They should be coached to decide, if the answer is no, to clear the home-plate area to avoid any unnecessary contact.
It's impossible to ask players not to give their best when the game is on the line. But it is entirely reasonable to advise them to get out of the way when it's not.
I just don't see how you can legislate out a play at the plate without taking a big bite of the life out of baseball. Even if commissioner Bud Selig outlawed collisions at the plate today, it wouldn't stop concussions for catchers. Where would you stop?
When a guy like Matheny -- who was so tough that in May of 1998 when he was hit in the face by a pitch that knocked out a couple of teeth he still insisted on playing the next day -- says he's concerned about concussions in baseball, the powers that be are well-advised to listen. But we need to remember that the bulk of Matheny's concussions, by his own admission, came from foul balls bouncing off his mask at 100 mph, not collisions with another player in a tag play at the plate. Baseball executives simply can't protect players from every possible injury. Would they outlaw foul balls next? How about the elimination of pitches in excess of 50 mph?
Baseball is beautiful because the rules are intuitive and consistent. There are no judgement calls where the umpire needs to decide the players' intent. There's really no room for conjecture or interpretation. Either the balls is fair or it is foul. The pitch is a ball or it is a strike, and base runners are s
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Matt Kemp went 0-for-2 in his Cactus League debut Friday, but declared it a success anyway.
"Good to get it out of the way," said Kemp, returning to game action less than five months after surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. "I was excited. I felt a little jumpy, just like any first Spring Training game. But I'm just happy to be back on the field."
So are the Dodgers, who earlier in the day revealed that outfielder Carl Crawford would be shut down for a week with lingering effects of August Tommy John elbow surgery.
Kemp, though, hasn't had a recent setback and is on track for Opening Day.
"I swung and fouled a changeup. Last year, that would have made my left shoulder hurt," he said. "I didn't hurt today. That's a really good sign that my shoulder is well and responding to the rehab."
Kemp -- easing back into action as the designated hitter against San Diego and starter Freddy Garcia -- battled back from an 0-2 count in the first inning to ground to third base. In his third-inning at-bat, he took a called strike three with runners on first and third.
"That last at-bat, I wish I had gotten some ribbies or something. You never like to strike out," he said. "But it's only the second at-bat, so I'm not panicking."
Dodgers' Matt Kemp goes hitless in Spring Training debut | MLB-com: News
"Good to get it out of the way," said Kemp, returning to game action less than five months after surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. "I was excited. I felt a little jumpy, just like any first Spring Training game. But I'm just happy to be back on the field."
So are the Dodgers, who earlier in the day revealed that outfielder Carl Crawford would be shut down for a week with lingering effects of August Tommy John elbow surgery.
Kemp, though, hasn't had a recent setback and is on track for Opening Day.
"I swung and fouled a changeup. Last year, that would have made my left shoulder hurt," he said. "I didn't hurt today. That's a really good sign that my shoulder is well and responding to the rehab."
Kemp -- easing back into action as the designated hitter against San Diego and starter Freddy Garcia -- battled back from an 0-2 count in the first inning to ground to third base. In his third-inning at-bat, he took a called strike three with runners on first and third.
"That last at-bat, I wish I had gotten some ribbies or something. You never like to strike out," he said. "But it's only the second at-bat, so I'm not panicking."
Dodgers' Matt Kemp goes hitless in Spring Training debut | MLB-com: News
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MLB has heightened awareness and discipline for performance-enhancing drugs. Bud Selig wants penalties for offenders to be even fiercer.
That's the latest from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who reports that baseball's commissioner is ready to start stiffening what's already a "three strikes and you're out" program for violators of MLB's PED policies.
Although Selig did not fully elaborate on what those penalties would be or how they would be enforced, Selig noted that sweeping changes are coming, and coming fast:
My view is that it should be done as expeditiously as possible...We've made meaningful adjustments to our testing and now the time has come to make meaningful adjustments to our penalties. I feel very strongly about this. This is for the best interest of this sport, and everybody in it.
MLB's current system gives players three chances to avoid using steroids and other drugs on the league's banned list of substances (via MLB-com).
The first offense merits a 50-game suspension, the second a 100-game ban and the third offense could invoke a lifetime ban from professional baseball. As noted by CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, Selig is looking to up the first offense penalty and thinks three strikes is far too many—among other potential changes: Although current penalties are tenfold better than what they were at the height of the Mark McGwire/Barry Bonds scandals, they still give plenty of room to offenders looking to fool the system.
Recent stories of PED use in baseball haven't helped dissuade that opinion. Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz and others made headlines during the offseason for their alleged involvement in a Miami clinic (via the Miami New Times) that specialized in cheating the system, and each is undergoing an extensive review process by MLB as a result. Additionally, Melky Cabrera was a National League MVP candidate last season for the San Francisco Giants before the discovery of PEDs in his system. Now, his stellar season is under fire, and there are some that don't believe his improvement had anything to do with baseball skill—just steroids.
Selig is out to make sure his players are punished for cheating.
MLB has drawn heat for not acting sooner when it knew of cheating, but it appears the baseball commissioner will do everything in his power to heighten awareness, prove that the league is trying to get rid of steroids for good and hopefully scare off those interested in juicing in the process.
Bud Selig Believes MLB's Drug Penalties Should Be More Strict | Bleacher Report
That's the latest from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who reports that baseball's commissioner is ready to start stiffening what's already a "three strikes and you're out" program for violators of MLB's PED policies.
Although Selig did not fully elaborate on what those penalties would be or how they would be enforced, Selig noted that sweeping changes are coming, and coming fast:
My view is that it should be done as expeditiously as possible...We've made meaningful adjustments to our testing and now the time has come to make meaningful adjustments to our penalties. I feel very strongly about this. This is for the best interest of this sport, and everybody in it.
MLB's current system gives players three chances to avoid using steroids and other drugs on the league's banned list of substances (via MLB-com).
The first offense merits a 50-game suspension, the second a 100-game ban and the third offense could invoke a lifetime ban from professional baseball. As noted by CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, Selig is looking to up the first offense penalty and thinks three strikes is far too many—among other potential changes: Although current penalties are tenfold better than what they were at the height of the Mark McGwire/Barry Bonds scandals, they still give plenty of room to offenders looking to fool the system.
Recent stories of PED use in baseball haven't helped dissuade that opinion. Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz and others made headlines during the offseason for their alleged involvement in a Miami clinic (via the Miami New Times) that specialized in cheating the system, and each is undergoing an extensive review process by MLB as a result. Additionally, Melky Cabrera was a National League MVP candidate last season for the San Francisco Giants before the discovery of PEDs in his system. Now, his stellar season is under fire, and there are some that don't believe his improvement had anything to do with baseball skill—just steroids.
Selig is out to make sure his players are punished for cheating.
MLB has drawn heat for not acting sooner when it knew of cheating, but it appears the baseball commissioner will do everything in his power to heighten awareness, prove that the league is trying to get rid of steroids for good and hopefully scare off those interested in juicing in the process.
Bud Selig Believes MLB's Drug Penalties Should Be More Strict | Bleacher Report
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Liriano had originally agreed to a two-year, $12.75 million deal on Dec. 21, shortly before fracturing his non-pitching arm during a fall at his home. According to Major League sources, the reworked deal is for one year, plus an option for 2014, and is guaranteed for $1 million, but Liriano can still earn the full $12.75 million through incentives.
Liriano's pact became official when he passed the requisite physical earlier Friday.
To accommodate Liriano on their 40-man roster, the Pirates outrighted right-hander Vin Mazzaro to Triple-A Indianapolis, while concurrently extending to him an invitation to big league Spring Training.
Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington and Greg Genske, Liriano's agent, worked long and hard to come to an agreement after the pitcher's injury clouded the original accord.
"We are excited to add Francisco Liriano to our roster," Huntington said. "Francisco is recovering from his right arm injury and we look forward to him joining our rotation once he is ready to go."
The terms of the contract offer the club protection in the event the fracture, of the southpaw's right humerus, renders him unavailable for an extended period. Conversely, Liriano has protection if he is fit to pitch through the injury. All of the incentives are based on time spent on the active roster.
In addition to his $1 million guarantee, Liriano can earn an additional $3.75 million in 2013 based on the number of days he is not on the disabled list due to the right arm injury.
The 2014 club option is for $8 million, but it becomes a vested option at any of three levels -- $5 million, $6 million or $8 million -- based on the number of days he is not DL-ed in 2013 due to the right arm injury.
If the 2014 option does vest at $5 million or $6 million, however, Liriano would still be able to reach the $8 million with bonuses based on games started in 2014.
The Pirates see a considerable upside in Liriano, who went 6-12 with a 5.34 ERA while splitting last season between the Twins and the White Sox. He is only 29, and over the last three seasons ranked fifth among American League southpaws with 480 strikeouts. Even in 2012, his 9.59 strikeouts per nine innings was the third-best rate among AL pitchers who worked at least 100 innings. Liriano already has one Comeback Player of the Year Award in his collection, earning that honor in 2010, when he went 14-10 in Minnesota following a 5-13 slide the season before.
Pirates get creative to bring Francisco Liriano to Pittsburgh | MLB-com: News