Lidge will undergo surgery, out 3-6 weeks

On Saturday, Brad Lidge felt something while throwing a pitching during batting practice. He was checked out by team doctors who determined his injury to be a torn miniscus.

Lidge will undergo athroscopic surgery and will miss 3-6 weeks, which means he still should be ready for Opening Day.

Colon to sign with Red Sox

After the Boston Red Sox announced the contract extension of manager Terry Francona, the Sox made another, even surprising, annoucement.

The Boston Red Sox announced that they have signed former AL Cy Young Award winner, and former Angel, Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract.

A minor league contract is minimal risk to the Red Sox. If he shows he's healthy and ready to go, then he adds to an already strong pitching rotation. If not, they release him towards the end of spring training and they move on.

Francona signs extension with Red Sox

After leading the Boston Red Sox to 2 World Series titles in his first 4 years as the manager, the team has signed manager Terry Francona to a contract extension that will go through 2011 and includes club options for 2012 and 2013.

Under Francona, the Boston Red Sox are 8-0 in World Series game. He's the first manager in major league history to win his first 8 straight World Series games.

Check out Pro Sports Beat

For those of you who check in at this site daily, I hope you enjoy everything that's here. I was invited on to prosportsbeat.com as the baseball writer, so I'll be doing more of an article format than just posting newest signings.

Thanks again for checking in and make sure you shoot over to Pro Sports Beat and check them out as well.

Looking Foward to 2008: New York Yankees

The New York Yankees once again go into a season without the title of "defending World Series Champions. After failing to win the American League East for the first time since 1997, they finished the season as the ALWild-Card winner. However another postseason birth ended in a third straight first round exit, this time at the hands of the Cleveland Indians. The continued playoff failure finally brought an end to the Joe Torre era. Torre never failed to make the playoffs in his 12 years as Yankee Skipper, but he could never recover after game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. Since their 19-8 win in Fenway Park the Yankees have won four post-season games in total over the past 3 years. For the first time in over a decade the Yankees would have a new manager and they again turned to a catcher. Former Yankee and three time World Series champion Joe Girardi will take the reigns and hope to guide the Yankees to the World Series for the first time since 2003 and to their first title since the turn of the century in 2000.


Much of the off-season chatter revolved around the opt-out of Alex Rodriguez and the possible acquisition of Johan Santana. In the end, A-Rod remained a Yankee and Santana landed in New York, but in Queens rather than the Bronx. The rest of the Yankees Off-season was geared around keeping their aging veteran core intact. Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera were each given multiyear contracts and Andy Pettitte signed on for at least one more year. Bryan Cashman's refusal to part with young talent such as Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy in a deal for Santana, could put his job security in jeopardy should the youngsters struggle in their first full year in the Majors.


Arrivals:INF Morgan Ensberg
IN Chris Woodward
INF Nick Green
OF Jason lane
RHP Latroy Hawkins
RHP Jonathan Albaladejo
Re-Arrivals:
3B Alex Rodriguez
C Jorge Posada
RHP Mariano Rivera
LHP Andy Pettitte
C Jose Molina

Departures:RHP Tyler Clippard
RHP Roger Clemens
1B Doug Mientkiewicz
1B Andy Phillips
OF Bronson Sardinha
LHP Mike Myers
LHP Ron Villone
RHP Luis Vizcaino


Offense: The Yankees still have one of the most lethal lineups in baseball. Alex Rodriguez won his third MVP in five years with a monster season. With solid bats like Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui throughout the line-up and Youngsters like Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Shelley Duncan coming into their own, the Yankees appear to be strong one through nine. Former MVP Jason Giambi is in the final year of his contract with the Yankees, will have to fight for plate appearances with Matsui, Damon and Duncan. If he can stay healthy, Giambi could be a big force in the middle of the line-up, but that is a big If. With more flexibility off the bench with potential bats like Ensberg, Lane, Betemit and Duncan, Girardi figures to be able to change and adapt his team as the season progresses.


Pitching: With a deal for Johan Santana never materializing, the Yankees will rely heavily on youngsters in their rotation. Chine-Ming Wang will again anchor the staff followed by Andy Pettitte, from there it's anybody’s guess. Phil Hughes pitched well down the stretch coming off of a hamstring and ankle injury that sidelined him for half the season. His playoff performance was outstanding, picking up the team’s only win in game 3. Mike Mussina hopes to bounce back after a very poor year posting the highest ERA in his 17 year career. The 5th starter role will come down to whether young flamethrower Joba Chamberlain will be in the rotation or the bullpen. Should new manager Joe Girardi return Joba to the pen where he dominated down the stretch after his promotion to the majors, Ian Kennedy would be the likely candidate to round out the rotation. The bullpen figures to be the area of concern for this Yankee team. With Joba and Rivera a the back end, the task to bridge the gap will fall to Latroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth and a cast of youngsters and non-roster invitee's who will compete in spring training.

Prediction Time:

With the Boston red Sox winning their second World Series in four years and no signs of slowing down, the Yankees may spend another year looking up at the defending champs. Much of the Yankees success will rely of how well the young pitchers develop and succeed at the big league level. If Hughes and Kennedy and deliver on the promise they shower in September and October, and in Joba stays dominant in either the set-up role or as a starter they have a chance to catch-up with the sox. Scoring runs shouldn’t be a problem but keeping runs off the board might be, if the kids run into growing pains they will find themselves again on the outside looking in come late October.


Yankees: 91-71

Kim signs with the Pirates

According to a Press Release from the Pittsburgh Pirates this morning, the team has signed free agent right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim to a 1-year contract, though the terms of the deal have not been released.

Pirates GM Neil Huntington made the announcement saying:

"Byung-Hyun Kim is a veteran right handed pitcher who has pitched, and wants to again pitch, late in games out of the bullpen," said Huntington. "He has been tough on right-handed hitters over the past three seasons and had success against both left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters when he pitched primarily as a reliever. Byung-Hyun will compete to earn a role on our club as a reliever and he adds an experienced option for us in our bullpen competition."

Blue Jays bring back Stewart

Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports, Shannon Stewart will return to the team that drafted him in 1992 and a team that he played for from 1995-2003...the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays and Shannon Stewart agreed on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training on Sunday. The Blue Jays plan on putting him into the mix for the left field job. Prior to his signing, the Jays were going to have a platoon situation between Matt Stairs and Reed Johnson.

Stewart finished the 2007 season with a .290 batting average with 12 HR's and 48 RBI'ss in 146 games season with Oakland A's.

Manny Ramirez signs on with Scott Boras

Super-agent Scott Boras has landed another big time client and another Red Sox, this time it's outfielder Manny Ramirez.

Ramírez left former agent Greg Genske, who had represented him since his former parner, Jeff Moorad — who negotiated Ramírez's eight-year, $160 million deal with the Sox before the 2001 season.

Trot Nixon signs with Arizona

Almost a week ago, former Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon was in Arizona working out for the Diamondbacks.

Apparently, Arizona liked what they saw. On Friday, they signed Nixon to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Nixon is an insurance policy in case Chad Tracy is not fully healthy come opening day.

Weaver returning to St. Louis?

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Cardinals are considering right-handers Jeff Weaver and Bartolo Colon, especially with Matt Clement looking more and more like he won't be ready for Opening Day.

For Weaver, this would be his 2nd tour of duty with the Cardinals, his first tour was capped off with a World Series Championship. I wasn't sure why the Cardinals didn't bring him back in the first place, especially seeing how well he pitched for them down the stretch.

As for Colon, pitchers and catchers have already reported to their respective camps and the former AL Cy Young Award Winner is still without a job. A lot of teams have been interested, but have been turned off by his medical reports on his injured right shoulder.

Huh..turned off by Colon's medical reports but they signed Matt Clement. I guess it wouldn't surprise me if the Cardinals took a chance on another injured pitcher.

Angels win arbitration case with Rodriguez

Angels' closer Francisco Rodriguez got his name on the list of players defeated in arbitration this year. KRod was seeking $12.5M, while the Angels offered and won at $10M.

The only player to win his arbitration case, to no surprise, was Phillies' 1st baseman Ryan Howard.

Royals, Brewers to switch leagues?

According to the Kansas City Star, a rumor has popped up that has a trade going down between the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers.

Though, this isn't your every day, run of the mill, swap of players. It's rumored that the Royals could be moving to the National League Central while the Brewers would return to the American League, where they had been until 1997.

Though this rumor is being dismissed by the Royals, there's talk that they have wanted to return to the National League and actually had a chance to make the move back in 1997, but turned it down after consideration.

DBacks give GM Byrnes extension

According to the AP, the Arizona Diamondbacks have locked up general manager Josh Byrnes for another 8 years.

Byrnes became the GM in 2003 and has built up the minor league system that helped the Diamonbacks win the NL West title in 2007.

Rowand wants Giants to acquire Crede

Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports, new Giant Aaron Rowand was apparently asked for a character reference for former teammate, and free agent 3rd baseman, Joe Crede from the Giants front office.

Though Rowand does admit he may be biased because of being teammates he said "They inquired and asked about what kind of guy he is," Rowand said. "They obviously know what he can do as a baseball player."

Crede was limited to only 47 games in 2007 due to injury and underwent surgery to fix a herniated disk in June of last year.

"He's one of the most clutch hitters I've ever played with," Rowand said. "I can't tell you how many ballgames he won for us in '05. He makes adjustments, he hits home runs, he hits in the clutch and he plays Gold Glove third base."

Looking Forward to 2008: New York Mets

The New York Mets had one of the biggest collapses in 2007, allowing the Philadelphia Phillies to win the NL East, resulting in the Mets missing the playoffs.

General Manager Omar Minaya needed to make sure that didn't happen again in 2008. Though their offseason seemed like it was going to go by without a major move, that move came, and what a big one it was.

The Mets sent Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber to Minnesota for right-hander Johan Santana, a player that a lot of baseball writers and fans would end up with Boston or the Yankees.

When you have a rotation that starts with Santana and follows with young John Maine, that's not a bad 1-2 punch in the NL East.

Arrivals:

C Brian Schneider

OF Ryan Church

C Johnny Estrada

RHP Matt Wise

RHP Brian Stokes

RHP Steven Register

OF Angel Pagan

Departures:

LHP Glavine

C Paul Lo Duca

OF Lastings Milledg

RHP Mota

C Estrada

RHP Juan Padilla

RF/1B Green

2B Jose Valentin

INF/OF David Newhan

LHP Dave Williams

C Sandy Alomar Jr.

C Mike DiFelice

1B/OF Jeff Conine

RHP Aaron Sele

OF Ben Johnson

On the offensive side of the ball, the Mets should be just as strong as they were last season. Start things with outfielders Carlos Beltran and Moises Alou, 1st baseman Carlos Delgado, 3rd baseman David Wright and SS Jose Reyes, there really isn't that much to worried about.

The biggest question mark for the Mets is the back end of their rotation. How will Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez and possibly Mike Pelfrey be in the 3,4 and 5 spots?

Prediction Time:

The Phillies are the defending NL East Champions, and although the Mets have reloaded, I just don't know how their pitching staff will hold up through the entire 2008 season. The Mets should be the team to beat in the NL East, but the Phillies will give them a heck of a run.

Mets - 92 - 70

Fogg signs with Reds

According to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, the Cincinnati Reds picked up another pitcher to help out their starting rotation.

On Thursday, the Reds came to an agreement with free agent right-hander Josh Fogg on a 1-year $1M deal.

GM Wayne Krivsky on signing Fogg "It heated up here the last couple of weeks. Looking at the board of who was available, we thought he'd be a good fit."

Josh Fogg on signing with the Reds, "This was a place I wanted to end up. I think the opportunity to come in as a veteran guy and add a little stability to the pitching staff was one of the reasons I signed here."

Sheffield pulls no punches about former agent

Gary Sheffield is known for being outspoken, so when he was asked about his former agent Scott Boras, that outspoken nature continued.

Because of the grievance between the two, stemming from Sheffield's 3-year deal with the Yankees in 2003, has not yet been settled, Sheffield wouldn't talk about specifics but that didn't mean he wouldn't take his shots at Boras.

“It ain’t going to be pretty,” he said. “No fine is going to be big enough. No suspension is going to be long enough.”

“Nothing happens. Then, he comes back, `I want some more money.’ That’s basically the way he’s acting,” Sheffield said. “I don’t know why. It’s probably personal with him. But when it’s done, it’s going to be personal with me.”

Jenifer Langosch returns to The Hot Corner

Jenifer Langosch, who was one of the first interviews I ever did for this site, was good enough to take time out of her busy spring training schedule to answer a few questions on the Pirates as they get ready for their 2008 season.


Baseball-Rumors: What's your take on the letter to the fans from GM Neil Huntington?

Jenifer Langosch: All I can really say about this is that what Huntington says in that letter is truly what he means. He did do an overhaul of the system, and despite the lack of offseason moves, he is happy with where this team is going.

I'd have to agree on his insistence on not overspending in the FA market. The Pirates have been burned by signing older guys (i.e. Jeromy Burnitz, Sean Casey, Joe Randa, etc...) and it never pays off. All it does is provide a one-year fix (if that), and the cost is high. This year's FA market really wasn't that great when it came to finding affordable players for a team like Pittsburgh. Huntington made it a priority not to overspend because of panic in needing to make a splash in the news -- and I think that was smart.

The trouble with this team is that there is always going to be a struggle in finding a balance between producing now and building for the future. I think Huntington addresses that in this letter. He will have to make unpopular decisions because of the structure of this club (i.e. build up through farm system and trade away veteran players to restock system -- like a cycle). There is some stuff to be optimistic about this year, and the biggest thing that Huntington has gotten across this spring is that he believes in the direction and new philosophy of this organization.


Baseball-Rumors: Is there more or less pressure on Adam LaRoche going into 2008?

Jenifer Langosch: Definitely less. LaRoche came into last season being called the savior of this ballclub. He was being called upon to single-handedly turn around this team into a contender. Those expectations not only weren't fair, but they also wore on LaRoche.

He's arrived at ST fully healthy, ready to take on a leadership role (by example) and feeling stronger than he has at the beginning of camp in the past. The weight of this team doesn't lie on any one player -- and LaRoche (and everyone else) understands that this year.


Baseball-Rumors: How good is the battle going to be between Ryan Doumit and Ronny Paulinofor the starting catcher's job?

Jenifer Langosch: Not sure how exciting it's going to actually be simply because Paulino has the job already. Doumit has arrived in fantastic shape, and the organization still sees him as a potential option behind the plate in the future. However, the job has already been given to Paulino. I wouldn't expect there to be a competition so much in ST. Doumit will have a chance to prove that he has improved at the position, but unless something drastic happens, Paulino will start behind the plate. Where the competition will more likely come into play is during the season.

If Paulino doesn't produce (offensively or defensively) as the season goes on, then the team is going to have a decision to make. That's when you might see Doumit compete for that starting spot.


Baseball-Rumors: I know Chris Duffy is battling an injured left shoulder. Do the Piratesexpect him to be ready for Opening Day?

Jenifer Langosch: Duffy is expected to be ready... but don't expect him to be on the Pirates' Opening Day roster. He just started taking BP this week and he is still limited on his throwing. The Pirates expect him to be able to participate in ST games once those begin, but with Duffy's rustiness from time off and with the Nyjer Morgan/Nate McLouth battle going to determine the team's starting CF, Duffy will start the season in Triple-A.

Ryan Howard makes arbitration history

I'm not sure what the Phillies were thinking with this decision, but they decided to go to arbitration with 1st baseman Ryan Howard on Thursday.

Howard made $900k last year, but after hitting .268 with 47 HR's and 136 RBI's last year, he tied Alfonso Soriano for the highest amount ever given to a victorious player after being awared $10M.

The Phillies tried to get something done prior to the hearing, even negotiating right before the start of the hearing. Phillies assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said, “We negotiated right up to the courthouse steps with Ryan in a variety of ways and unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.”

Looking Forward to 2008: Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins looked like they could be in the hunt to win the AL Central, that was before Torii Hunter departed via Free Agency and they traded their ace Johan Santana to the NY Mets.

Now, the Twins seem in a little bit of a rebuilding mode, though they are a young team, they should still be a fun team to watch in 2008.

The Twins did show, however, that they were willing to keep around a few familiar faces of their franchise, locking up Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau to long term deals. Along with those familiar faces, will be some new ones that should bring veteran presence, guys like Adam Everett, Craig Monroe and Mike Lamb.

Arrivals:

SS Adam Everett

3B Mike Lamb

IF Brendan Harris

OFs Delmon Young

Craig Monroe

Jason Pridie

Livan Hernandez

Carlos Gomez

Deolis Guerra

Kevin Mulvey

Phil Humber

Departures:

Torii Hunter

Johan Santana

Rondell White

Lew Ford

Jason Tyner

Jason Bartlett

Matt Garza

Carlos Silva

With Johan Santana, Matt Garza and Carlos Silva missing from the rotation, the Twins will have to see who they will fill those rotation spots with. Will it be nearly as strong without those 3? That's still yet to be determined. Though, even with those 3 in the mix, the Twins still finished 4 games under .500.

Though their pitching staff will be different from that of 2007, offensively, this team might surprise some people. Catcher Joe Mauer, 1st baseman Just Morneau, outfielder Michael Cuddyer and DH Jason Kubel lead the Twins' offense, but let's not forget new additions Adam Everett, Mike Lamb and Craig Monroe who can also give opposing pitchers fits.

Prediction Time:

I can't imagine losing Santana, Hunter and Silva is going to help this ballclub, but if the players they received in return from the Mets for Santana can pull their weight and the trio of Mauer, Cuddyer and Morneau can have big years, maybe the Twins can be a pain in the sides of the Indians and Tigers.

Twins - 70-92