Major League Baseball News and Rumors
Former NY Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey shows up to Toronto Blue Jays spring training camp with higher expectationsMaybe you remember R.A. Dickey. He used to pitch for the Mets. He’s the guy who climbs mountains and rescues sex slaves and writes books, and who has turned reinvention into an art form, and there he was Tuesday morning, in the hazy sunshine of Florida … |
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Ken Belson, nytimes.com The Yankees Ticket Exchange is the team's answer to its dissatisfaction with StubHub practices, and it may set a floor for resale prices. |
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Usually, if you mention the word "abuse" to a pitcher, he thinks of appearances in many different roles and the pain that goes with it, then he heads in the other direction. Miguel Batista just laughs and signs the contract. |
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Jason Beck, MLB.com Max Scherzer's shoulder issues that hampered him down the stretch last season, they say, are a thing of the past. The right-hander wants to stick around in a Tigers uniform for the long term if he can. |
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Mike Oz, yahoo.com Here's one guy you didn't expect to see taking batting practice today: Pope John Paul II. This video is making the rounds of John Paul II (not the guy who retired on Monday, the one before him) in a batting cage during a 1987 trip around California. The… |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com Players wander into the Los Angeles Dodgers' spacious clubhouse all morning, exchanging handshakes and hugs, asking about health and family, smiles all around. |
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Richard Justice, MLB.com There are things the San Francisco Giants did that everyone can appreciate. These are basic baseball fundamentals that can be measured and replayed, fundamentals that show up in the box score to be debated and admired. |
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Ken Gurnick, MLB.com The new Dodgers ownership has demonstrated it will do things beyond the wildest imagination in the name of winning. But after welcoming pitchers and catchers to Spring Training on Tuesday, Don Mattingly said he's not changing his approach to managing. |
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Greg Johns, MLB.com Lefty starter Joe Saunders officially signed a one-year Major League deal with the Mariners on Tuesday and first baseman/outfielder Mike Carp was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. |
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General manager Jon Daniels said the Rangers are still looking outside the organization for a possible utility infielder who can play shortstop, but candidates may be reluctant to sign with the club because playing time is limited behind its incumbent A… |
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The Rangers have acknowledged that outfielder Nelson Cruz is part of an MLB investigation into a Miami wellness clinic that allegedly sold performance-enhancing drugs, but Daniels said the Rangers have heard very little from the league on the subject. |
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Jane Lee, MLB.com Though Tommy John surgery was just around the corner, Brett Anderson did find solace away from the mound in the days leading up to his major operation in 2011. Such comfort was tucked away in the kitchen. |
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Mike Oz, yahoo.com And just like that, your big baseball card collection feels inferior. Topps unveiled the world's largest baseball card today in Florida, near the Detroit Tigers spring training camp. The card measures nearly 90 feet tall and 60 feet wide and features th… |
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Mark Bowman, MLB.com Tim Hudson wants to end his career with the Braves, but as he enters the last year of his contract, he understands that this could be his final season in Atlanta. |
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David Brown, yahoo.com Earlier on Tuesday, The Stew passed along the info that the Pittsburgh Pirates were asking focus groups to help them re-design their logo. But did you know that another iconic mustachioed character was once the Bucs symbol? Back in 1976, in the middle o… |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com Third baseman Scott Rolen declined the Cincinnati Reds' offer to attend spring training, but stopped short of saying he's ready to retire. |
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Gregor Chisholm, MLB.com As Spring Training began, Toronto took stock of injuries and began introductions among this year's players, many of them new, who enter the season with high expectations. |
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Scott Baker threw about 40 pitches at 70 percent effort on Tuesday, the first workout day for Cubs pitchers and catchers, but the right-hander will be "babied" this spring in his comeback from Tommy John surgery, manager Dale Sveum said. |
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The status of the Orioles' agreement with pitcher Jair Jurrjens remains in limbo, with executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette saying Tuesday that he hoped to have a resolution within the next few days. |
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David Brown, yahoo.com Your browser does not support iframes. As The 700 Level points out, the best part of this video might be the glimpse we get of Carlos Ruiz wearing a "Fake Tough" T-shirt, which references the Cole Hamels diatribe Nationals GM Mike Rizzo made l… |
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Scott Merkin, MLB.com Divisional changes haven't lessened White Sox general manager Rick Hahn's belief that the South Siders can challenge for the top spot in the American League Central. |
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ESPN.com news services, ESPN.com Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners reached an agreement Tuesday on a contract that is expected to make him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball. |
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Barry M. Bloom, MLB.com Formerly archrivals as members of the Yankees and Red Sox, respectively, Nick Swisher and Terry Francona represent just two prongs of a serious Tribe makeover that includes former Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds and will place free-agent signing Mic… |
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Didi Gregorius, considered Arizona's shortstop of the future, has a right elbow injury that has prevented him from throwing or batting for the past month. |
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SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) -- Kansas City has acquired utility player Elliott Johnson from the Tampa Bay Rays as the player to be named in the Dec. 9 trade that sent James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City for top prospects Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi alo… |
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Alex Rodriguez will not report to spring training with the Yankees' position players and will work on his rehabilitation from hip surgery in New York. |
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GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) -- Right-hander Mat Latos has agreed to an $11.5 million, two-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds, avoiding what would have been baseball's first salary arbitration hearing of the year. |
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Greg Johns, MLB.com Mariners catcher Jesus Montero says he's put last week's report linking his name to the controversial Miami anti-aging clinic behind him and is focused solely on getting ready for Spring Training and the upcoming season. |
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PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -- Mariners catcher Jesus Montero on Tuesday again denied any involvement with a Florida-based anti-aging clinic under investigation by Major League Baseball. |
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Ian Browne, MLB.com Moments after sitting down for his annual Spring Training State of Papi address on Tuesday, David Ortiz reported what Red Sox fans were hoping to hear. |
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Ian Browne, MLB.com For as long as Dustin Pedroia has played baseball -- Little League, high school, college and into the pro ranks -- he never recalls experiencing the bitter taste of a losing season. Then came 2012, the most depressing summer of his life. |
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ESPN.com news services, ESPN.com Russell Martin is not frightened by the Pittsburgh Pirates' streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons. |
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Mike Oz, yahoo.com Brace yourselves, we've got bad news. There's a new viral dance craze. It's called the "Harlem Shake" and it's getting headlines as "the new Gangnam Style," which is about as cringe-worthy a phrase as exists in the English language. … |
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T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com In an ironic and unexpected turn of events, the Rangers go into a season looking at their starting rotation as being the No. 1 asset on the team, something they haven't been able to claim since maybe the mid-1970s. |
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Greg Johns, MLB.com An emotional Felix Hernandez signed a seven-year contract extension with the Mariners at a news conference Wednesday in Seattle. |
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David Brown, yahoo.com Every season most of the 30 front offices in Major League Baseball generate a marketing slogan designed to rally their respective fans and, hopefully, make customers out of them. Who knows if they work? Most of the time, we just make fun of the gimmickr… |
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Adam Rubin, ESPN.com New York Mets closer Frank Francisco is being held back from throwing because of right elbow inflammation. |
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Mike Oz, yahoo.com With spring here, baseball players are getting back in shape, relishing being back on the field, speaking up about offseason controversies and, in some cases, getting in some early jabs. Today's installment of spring trash talk comes from Arizona Diamon… |
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John Koblin, deadspin.com After Roger Clemens threw a large part of a shattered bat at Mike Piazza in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, the Mets catcher's first instinct was to beat him up. Piazza thought better of it, though, for plenty of reasons: It was the first inning of a g… |
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About 10 minutes into the first pitchers' fielding practice on Tuesday, Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz limped into the training room. |
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Ken Gurnick, MLB.com An estimated crowd of 23,000 at the recent FanFest, and 27,000 season tickets already sold, speak to the pent-up enthusiasm buzzing around the Dodgers. Today, the excitement shifts to Arizona, where pitchers -- including Zack Greinke -- and catchers rep… |
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Andrew Keh, nytimes.com Pitcher Johan Santana's health will be a consideration as he and the Mets decide whether he should pitch for Venezuela at the World Baseball Classic in March. |
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Tom Singer, MLB.com A year ago, he was working on saving his career. Now Jason Grilli is working toward saving games. At 36, the right-handed reliever is in Pirates camp as a first-time closer, the chance of a long baseball lifetime he has long wanted and feels he now dese… |
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Bryan Hoch, MLB.com The demands haven't changed as the Yankees filtered into town, looking ahead to the first mandatory workout for pitchers and catchers. The expectation is a championship-caliber club that will make a serious run at a 28th World Series title. |
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David Brown, yahoo.com Some drugs are OK to use in Major League Baseball and some aren't — even if they aren't OK for you. And the hypocrisy is starting to catch up with the sport. The Boston Red Sox announced Monday they're reviewing their policy on Toradol, a legal anti-inf… |
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Jay Schreiber, nytimes.com There was always an air of unreality about the Mets' pursuit of outfielder Michael Bourn, who is going to Cleveland on a four-year, $48 million contract. |
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David Brown, yahoo.com In addition to running on a treadmill Monday for the first time since ankle surgery, Derek Jeter took about 80 grounders at shortstop during a workout at the New York Yankees training facility in Tampa. By design, Jeter didn't move much laterally and he… |
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Todd Zolecki, MLB.com Phillies pitchers and catchers hold their first official workout Wednesday at Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, Fla., and the club hopes to start answering some of the lingering questions from the offseason. |
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Brittany Ghiroli, MLB.com On the heels of the organization's most successful season in 15 years, the Orioles officially open a much-anticipated 2013 season today, as pitchers and catchers report to the team's spring facility in Sarasota, Fla. |
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David Brown, yahoo.com This is the message that greets you at Otis Nixon's website: My life today is Christ-Centered, free from the past experiences and storms of drugs and alcohol, trials and tests of keeping it real. My testimony speaks for itself. Well, the testimony of Fo… |
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Bryan Hoch, MLB.com Yogi Berra is not planning to attend Spring Training with the Yankees this year because the 87-year-old Hall of Famer's travel has become limited. David Kaplan, the director of the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, N.J., said that Berra's health is good a… |
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Corey Brock, MLB.com Padres pitchers and catchers officially report for Spring Training Tuesday, with their first workout scheduled for Wednesday. Position players will follow on Friday, as the Padres begin preparation for 2013. |
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Chris Haft, MLB.com The reigning World Series champions, who also captured the title in 2010, are prepared to strive for their third championship in four seasons with essentially the same crew that swept the Detroit Tigers in four Fall Classic games last October. |
