Baseball

The rumors are true. And so are the reports from SportsCenter, USA Today, and every single Boston-based sports page known to the net. Nomar Garciaparra signed a one-day minor-league contract with the Boston Red Sox and then retired. This likely is somehow associated with the criteria to have your number retired at Fenway, but I call that a long shot.

This article was originally published at TheDailyCub.com, my blog offering thoughts and insight on the Chicago Cubs.

After breaking down the starters a few days ago, it’s time to look at the guys who will be working off of their performances.

The Cubs’ bullpen has always been a concern, and they have been changing closers pretty much every season.

With steroid testing now implemented all around Major League Baseball and an era known best as "The Steroid Era" coming to a close it's just about time we got to ranking the players who juiced during the in the era.

Washington Nationals right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg made his spring training debut Tuesday in a 9-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Viera, Fla.

Strasburg, who was selected by the Nationals with the No. 1 overall pick out of San Diego State University in the 2009 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, fanned two batters in two scoreless innings before the was relieved.

Brett Gardner did not start in center field for the New York Yankees today as they played the Detroit Tigers in a Spring Training game.

Curtis Granderson started in center field for the Yankees and got two hits against his old team.

Gardner started in left field. Gardner raised his spring batting average to .143 when he got one hit in two times at bat. Gardner also worked a base on balls and scored two runs.

Gardner also grounded into a double play and left a runner on base.

I guess today is just going to be the day that black men make me weep.

That's my first thought after running through the morning news, and finding these delightfully insane, and completely narcissistic interviews with Milton Bradley and Torii Hunter.

The Big Three; Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and manager Joe Girardi, it appears, will have to wait until the end of the 2010 campaign to restructure their contracts.

"People just have to understand that everybody does business in a different way,” Steinbrenner said to reporters following Tuesday’s news conference to announce the details of the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl.

Pirates fans haven't been treated to much good baseball or many star players since former Pirate Sid Bream raced home to win the NLCS for the Atlanta Braves in 1992.

But 2010 could be different, even if the won/loss column does show the Pirates with an above-.500 record when everything is said and done.

There is plenty to like about this years team and plenty of reasons to watch the Pirates as they continue the long journey back from the cellar.

A lot of baseball fans will remember the name Mark Prior. He was a young right-hander out of USC that burst on to the scene in 2003 with the Chicago Cubs. He made 30 starts that season, finished 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA and struck out an eye-popping 245 batters.

While running a major league team, there are only so many ways you can gain a real advantage. Having more capital then your opponent is the easiest way, but teams continually look for other ways to better themselves at an inexpensive price.

This is termed a market inefficiency. Basically, the best thing a team can do is find something of value that isn't being valued properly on the open market.