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It is only the second week of Spring Training, but the Minnesota Twins were already dealt a possibly crippling blow to their chances of returning to the postseason in 2010.   According to USA Today, All-Star closer Joe Nathan was sidelined with a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

According to Yahoo! Sports, All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez returned to New York Mets camp on Monday after being hampered by conjunctivitis for more than two weeks.

Rodriguez had been told to stay away from the team until the pink eye cleared, but the contagious infection took longer than expected to improve.

He was sick when he reported to New York’s spring facility, but his eye went undiagnosed until just before full-squad workouts began on Feb. 25.

Joe Nathan has a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

At best, it’s partially torn, and he’ll be able to avoid surgery and pitch through the pain this season, albeit with a seriously diminished skill-set due to the injury.

Third baseman Hank Blalock has signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays worth $925,000, plus an extra $400,000 in incentives, reports Jon Heyman .

Blalock's contract is worth approximately $6 million less than what he was earning with the Texas Rangers last season. 

According to Nick Cafardo, the contract talks seem to be progressing:

The newest host on the San Francisco Giants' flagship radio station took a swipe at how the club opted to exact revenge against Milwaukee Brewers slugger Prince Fielder.

F.P. Santangelo, a former big leaguer and current part-time Giants analyst, said that Barry Zito's hitting Fielder with a pitch in Thursday's spring training game was a weak, inappropriate response to the controversial home plate celebration Fielder and his Milwaukee teammates acted out following his game-winning home run late last year.

The San Francisco Giants found an unlikely enforcer willing to play the role of the old-school tough guy on Thursday.

Remember Prince Fielder's September 2009 walkoff home run that beat the Giants? How Fielder and his teammates enjoyed a choreographed celebration as Fielder crossed the plate?

The Giants, particularly Zito, remember well.

A source in the Tampa Bay Rays organization says that outfielder Jermaine Dye is backing off his demand for a contract that promises he’ll get a starting job. The Rays are the only team making that promise, so Dye’s agent Bob Bry is reportedly looking elsewhere and might have contacted the San Francisco Giants.

Dye, 36—yeas old, hit  .302 with 20 home runs for the White Sox in the first half of 2009. When he became the topic of trade talks every single day, he fell to .179 with just seven homers in the second half.

Professional baseball leagues and ballclubs have long scouted Japan for hidden talent.  Attaining pitchers like Hideo Nomo and Daisuke Matsuzaka, and bats like Ichiro and Hideki Matsui have long been the goal of big league clubs searching for those diamonds in the rough.

The Chico Outlaws of the Independent Golden Baseball League are reportedly interested in signing Japanese knuckleballer Eri Yoshida, according to the Japan Times. 

I am going to have to admit, I am pretty tired this morning.

Last night was the playoffs of my Team Trivia league, and it was a long night for a Tuesday.

Like the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, we finished in second place and earned a silver medal.

While we didn’t accomplish our ultimate goal of finishing first, I will take solace in the fact that we finished ahead of a team that had a girl who was on Jeopardy! on their squad.