We wish Luis Salazar the best as he recovers from eye surgery. Doctors were unable to prevent the Braves minor league manager from losing his eye after a line drive hit him in the face. Here are today's links…
- Braves outfielder Nate McLouth leads off Steve Henson's list of rebound candidates in 2011 at Yahoo Sports. As MLBTR's Mike Axisa has pointed out, it's a make or break year for McLouth.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times examines the Rays' remade bullpen.
- Adam Wainwright tells B.J. Rains of FOX Sports Midwest that he hasn’t talked to the Cardinals about his two-year, $21MM option for 2012-13. But as the rehabbing right-hander suggests, somebody will pick him up if the Cards don’t.
- The Marlins released outfielder Chris Lubanski, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). The Marlins signed the 2003 first rounder to a minor league deal in December after he posted an .899 OPS for Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in 2010.
- The Mets have made it clear to free agent infielder David Eckstein that they have no interest in him, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. One person familiar with the Mets tells Heyman that it's about "fifty-fifty" whether Luis Castillo opens the season as the team's second baseman.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic explains how after a name change and a suspension, Juan Paniagua got a $1.1MM bonus from the Yankees instead of a $17K bonus from the D'Backs (link at USA Today).
- Tim Dierkes breaks down the closing situation for all 30 MLB teams in a must-read piece at RotoAuthority.
Juan should change his name once more,this time to Billetes. That means Bills in spanish, as in dollar bills.Paniagua means bread and water, with $1.1MM in his pocket, he won’t be playing for that anymore!
I’m sure that a contributing factor in the disparity of dollars is simply that it’s the Yankees and not the DBacks.
Eckstein to Phillies. RIP Nate Dogg.
There once lived a man named Adam Wainwright. In 2007, he was told to step up in the wake of Chris Carpenter’s Injury. He has since become one of the leagues best pitchers.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if McClellan is a mirror image?
That first sentence set it up to be a poem. What an upset.
He will step up, and the Cardinals will become the greatest team to ever and to end the 2011 season at 159-3.
Who do those 3 losses go to?
The Cardinals had so many wins to spare that they decided to donate 3 of them to charity.
Teams felt bad so they decided that someone had to lose to the Pirates.
I thought that was the Cubs thing to do.
Albert Pujols.
If he was still on the team, I would have gone with Joe Mather
Brian Tallet had to make a few spot starts.
Isn’t it obvious? The Pirates of course.
Don’t forget how he stepped up as a great closer for that postseason run in ’06!
Don’t remind me…
Yadier Molina.
Aaron Heilman, Carlos Beltran, Everyone else…
Not sure what you’re point is, we all saw the outcome of that… Haha, I’m just messing with ya dude. I obviously have no allegiance to the Cards.
… I’d still say the Yadier Molina comment makes far more sense as a zinger.
Though I have say for the record, after Endy Chavez’s catch I found myself suddenly rooting for the Mets over my favorite NL team.
Even if they don’t pick up his option I’d be surprised if St Louis let Wainwright slip away from them. And I’d be equally surprised if Wainwright didn’t want to stick around to be in Dave Duncan’s mystical pitching aura.
Mystical aura that has hurt Wainwright, Penny, and Carpenter…
Carpenter already had an injury history.
They ALL had an injury history
McLouth will have a bounce-back year. New hitting coach, new hairstyle, new confidence…it’s like he’s been reborn.
His new hairstyle will do for him what Pavano’s mustache did for him last year.
I’d be shocked if the Cards don’t pick up Wainwright’s option. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Agreed. Considering his history, age and the success of players coming back from Tommy John surgery I think it is a no-brainer.