MLB

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Chris Tillman missed an intrasquad exhibition Sunday after suffering a "core muscle injury," per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

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Oakland Athletics pitcher Henderson Alvarez is inching closer to a return to the mound after undergoing shoulder surgery.

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The Texas Rangers picked veteran MLB outfielder Drew Stubbs up this August after he was released by the Colorado Rockies. Few could have expected Texas to keep Stubbs around once his contract expired, but the Rangers have indeed signed the free agent to a minor league contract, per MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.

On Saturday, Gerrit Cole voiced displeasure with the Pittsburgh Pirates for their modest contract offer to the Cy Young-caliber ace. The team responded Sunday, admitting it made a mistake in how it handled negotiations.

On Sunday, the Toronto Blue Jays announced they signed veteran relief pitcher Rafael Soriano to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to major league spring training.

After New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes showed off his fancy rides in Florida last week, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon was more than happy to show off his whip in Mesa, Arizona.

His style, however, isn't quite as flashy as Cespedes'.

Eduardo Rodriguez has been diagnosed subluxation of the patella tendon after undergoing an MRI on Sunday according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Rodriguez originally suffered the injury on Saturday.

The knee remains structurally intact and the ligaments are fine, though there is swelling, per Mastrodonato, leaving a timetable to the southpaw's recovery unclear.  

Shortstop Ian Desmond has been a huge part of the Washington Nationals' success in recent years, but the two sides parted ways Sunday as Desmond signed with the Texas Rangers in free agency.  

Although Major League Baseball's spring training generally isn't a haunted house environment, even would-be contenders never know when something is going to pop up and say, "Boo!"

It's on this note that we're going to comb through 20 presumed contenders and pick out one big fear each one of them should have this spring. And because it would be too easy to suggest that maybe the best players could suffer devastating injuries, we're going to stick strictly to practical concerns.

The San Diego Padres passed over pitcher James Shields for Opening Day starting duties in favor of Tyson Ross, but Shields insisted it's not a huge deal.

According to Mike Cranston of the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports), Shields took it in stride while speaking about the subject Saturday.