Major League Baseball News and Rumors
Beltre: Rangers have enough to compete in AL WestAdrian Beltre watched this offseason as the Texas Rangers tried to sign the top free-agent pitcher on the market and keep slugger Josh Hamilton. |
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Third baseman Kaleb Cowart, MLB.com's top-ranked player in the Angels' system, will get his first taste of big league camp this spring. |
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Richard Durrett, ESPN.com Texas Rangers starter Yu Darvish will have a personal catcher in 2013, as manager Ron Washington indicated his plan is for Geovany Soto to catch most of Darvish's starts. |
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Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein says he understands the ballclub's culture better now than he did when he first arrived in Chicago. |
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T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com The Rangers continue to dance with the possibility of signing free-agent pitcher Kyle Lohse, and they have remained in contact with agent Scott Boras. |
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Richard Durrett, ESPN.com Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre said Friday that he's going to play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com The Toronto Blue Jays and catcher Henry Blanco have agreed to terms on a one-year, $750,000 non-guaranteed contract. |
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Former major league outfielder Kosuke Fukudome has returned to Japan where he will play for the Hanshin Tigers of the Central League. |
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Paul Casella, MLB.com The Orioles have avoided arbitration with Nolan Reimold, agreeing Friday to a one-year deal with the outfielder. |
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Chris Haft, MLB.com Right-hander Mason Tobin joined the competition for what's expected to be one, and only one, vacancy in the Giants' bullpen, signing a Minor League contract with an invitation to big league Spring Training. |
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Jason Beck, MLB.com The Tigers' Winter Caravan is scheduled for Jan. 24-25, leading up to the return of TigerFest at Comerica Park on Saturday, Jan. 26. The full schedule of events for the caravan and players participating has not yet been released. |
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Greg Johns, MLB.com Highly touted young prospects Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, Mike Zunino and Nick Franklin are among 18 non-roster players invited to Major League Spring Training by the Mariners on Friday. |
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Larry Walker won't be going to the Hall of Fame but he has plenty of thoughts on the ballot, the PED controversy and why he treated this year's experience differently. |
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Jordan Bastian, MLB.com Roughly one month remains until the start of Spring Training. The sound of baseballs popping in gloves. The smell of freshly trimmed outfield grass. It's all right around the corner. That makes this a good time to go Around the Horn, taking a look at th… |
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David Brown, yahoo.com Given a choice, Milton Bradley probably would prefer the days when we wrote stories about him raging at umpires or reporters. Bradley's alleged rage at his wife might have much more serious implications on his life. Bradleyfaces serious prison time — up… |
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Greg Johns, MLB.com Now that the Mariners have come up empty in pursuit of a trade for D-backs right fielder Justin Upton, the obvious question is, what's next? |
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The Orioles selected left-hander T.J. McFarland from the Indians during the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings, and while it's typically easier to retain those players by stashing them in the bullpen, the plan remains to give the 23-year-old a look as … |
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David Brown, yahoo.com If superagent Scott Boras has a beef with how newly modified rules are affecting his clients on the free-agent meat market, he is not complaining publicly. We are nearing mid-January and the best players available, all of whom were expected to make big … |
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Ken Gurnick, MLB.com Carl Crawford, coming off Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, will be the Dodgers' starting left fielder in 2013. That's their story and they're sticking to it. |
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Brittany Ghiroli, MLB.com For Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, it was a no-brainer when invited to play for Team USA in this spring's World Baseball Classic. |
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Bill Chuck, yahoo.com On January 11, 1973, baseball owners agreed to the most significant change in baseball's history by allowing the American League to experiment for three years with a "designated pinch-hitter." The decision to try this in the AL was made after … |
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Rhett Bollinger, MLB.com After going from starting pitcher to reliever and now closer, Glen Perkins has served in just about every pitching role for the Twins since being called up in 2006. He flourished in his role as closer in the second half of 2012 with Matt Capps dealing w… |
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Mark Bowman, MLB.com The D-backs are running out of potential places to trade Justin Upton, and there is once again reason to at least wonder if the Braves could add another Upton to their outfield mix. |
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Kevin Kaduk, yahoo.com Major League Baseball announced this week that managers will now be able to use cell phones to call their bullpens, a story that sent us into the archives in search of an appropriate picture. We eventually settled on a picture of Lou Piniella chatting a… |
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Bernie Pleskoff, MLB.com With middle-of-the-order power potential and improving defensive skills behind the plate, Tommy Joseph could be the Phillies' catcher of the future. |
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Bryan Hoch, MLB.com Hal Steinbrenner said the Yankees' desire to avoid a luxury tax penalty will not impact their commitment to fielding a championship-caliber team. |
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Stuart Miller, nytimes.com Fred McGriff's Hall of Fame credentials would be clearer had he not been overshadowed in baseball's steroid era. |
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Tom Singer, MLB.com In baseball's ideal scheme, the corners of the infield are power positions, and the Pirates are in good position to live up to that blueprint with third baseman Pedro Alvarez and first baseman Garrett Jones. |
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Doug Miller, MLB.com Baseball is a macho sport. So if a player is willing to venture into the foreign land known as the yoga studio, he's usually in for the rudest of awakenings. |
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Zack Meisel, MLB.com A number of players who have agreed to Minor League deals with a Spring Training invites could pay dividends for their respective teams this season. |
