Spring Training

Filed:March 23rd, 2009

Micah Hoffpauir (left), with Henry Blanco and Koyie Hill (Cubbie Nation/File)

No, I'm not going to pile on.

On Sunday, Rangers GM Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington sat down with 11-time Gold Glove outfielder Andruw Jones to talk about his future with the team.

During the offseason, Jones signed a minor league contract that would pay him a base salary of $500,000 and up to $1 million in incentives. 

In that contract, Jones had an opt-out clause if he was not placed on the Rangers 25-man roster by today, then he could get out of the contract in hopes of making another major league team.

Aaron Heilman is next up in the Pinkie’s series of season outlooks for the Chicago Cubs.

Heilman was originally drafted by the New York Mets as the 18th overall pick in the 2001 MLB Draft. He spent his college years at Notre Dame, and grew up in Logansport, Indiana, which is only about 134 miles away from Chicago.

Japan will face South Korea tonight to determine the WBC championship.

Japan is defending this title, which they acquired in 2006, and will place Hisashi Iwakuma on the mound to face Korea’s Jung Keun Bong.

For the New York Mets, this spring has been very eventful and it will only get more interesting. They will be under a strong microscope to show that they have put two consecutive September collapses/meltdowns behind them, and that Jerry Manuel is in control of a team who needed a radical changeup in attitude and approach.

Manuel has been preaching a "team first" message and does not want anyone to play the part of the hero, they must all do their part to get the job done, and that no one player is more or less responsible than any other teammate.

I had to edit this article all over again because editor John Mccurdy made me look like a fool and he made me look stupid. Thank you John. Do me a favor and stay away from my articles.

You can't win every game in spring training, and the Yankees didn't have their best players playing. They lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 5-0.

Here are my individual player performance grades:

You can’t win every game in spring training and the Yankees didn’t have their best players playing. The Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 5-0.

The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers by a score of 4-3.

Do you get the title though? Grading "Jobination." It's like, grading "domination" except I put Joba and domination together.

Joba has been dominant with strikeouts in spring training.

It's 79 degrees in Tampa. I'm jealous because I like the heat. It's 50 here in Morris Plains so it's not that bad.

When I say the name David Patton, you probably immediately think of the former New England Patriots wide receiver, or maybe the last name elicits the former United States Army General about whom a great movie was made starring George C. Scott.

It might not be long before fans of the Chicago Cubs think of someone new.

In this winter's Rule V Draft, the Cubs selected a right-handed relief pitcher by that name, and he's having one heck of a spring in Arizona.

According to Brian Hoch of MLB.com, Phil Hughes was among six Yankees who were assigned to the minor league camp today. The others were Anthony Claggett, Steven Jackson, Humberto Sanchez, Sergio Mitre, and Jason Johnson.

YANKEES
Melky Cabrera CF
Johnny Damon LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Hideki Matsui DH
Xavier Nady RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Cody Ransom 3B
Jose Molina C
Angel Berroa SS