The beginning of the season finally arrived, but unfortunately brought one of the more tragic occurrences in recent baseball history. Let's take a look:
- The top story of the week is unquestionably Nick Adenhart's tragic, untimely death. Adenhart, 22, was killed in a car accident just hours after tossing six scoreless innings against the A's. My strongest condolences to the familes and friends of Adenhart, Courtney Stewart, and Henry Pearson, as well as the Angels organization and Angels fans. R.I.P. Nick.
- Pedro Martinez doesn't have any thoughts of retiring or sitting the 2009 season out. He still fully plans on playing, and reportedly is not interested in lowering his $5MM asking price or taking an incentive-laden deal. Will a contender in need of a fifth starter eventually give in and pay the price, or will Pedro have to bring down his asking price if he wants to play in 2009? Where do you see him going, and for how much?
- The Giants took a shot at adding some much-needed pop to their lineup when they signed the recently-released Dallas McPherson. Will San Francisco finally be the place where McPherson reaches his potential, or will he retain his Quadruple-A label?
- Speaking of recently-released players, the Padres signed Chad Gaudin to a minor-league deal early this morning. As we always say, if there's any place for a pitcher to get his career back on track, Petco Park in San Diego is it. Nice signing by the Friars.
- Here's a signing I never thought I'd type: The Mariners signed Jeff Zimmerman to a minor-league deal this week. Yes, the same Zimmerman who saved 28 games for the Rangers in 2001 and hasn't pitched in the big leagues since. He's had two Tommy John surgeries since then, and will attempt to make a comeback in Seattle at the age of 36. Can't see it happening, but it'd make for a nice story, wouldn't it?
- Lots of extension talks this week: Ryan Zimmerman and the Nats put their talks on hold until after the season, but Zimmerman says they've come a long way; John Lackey backpedaled a bit on his Opening Day deadline for extension talks, now that he's dealing with an elbow injury; and Tim Lincecum is fine discussing an extension mid-season. There's no deadline on those talks.
- Offseason in Review updates: Rays, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, and Brewers.
