Fan News

Provisional rosters for teams participating in the 2013 World Baseball Classic were released on Thursday. Although they are exactly that, provisional, and therefore likely to change prior to the opening round of pool play on March 2, they do offer a general idea about the quality of each squad.

The Detroit Tigers have quietly hired baserunning consultant Jeff Cox to assist the Tigers on running the bases, attempting to give them an edge on their opponents.

When MLB released its 2013 schedule last September, there were a couple of major changes.

With the Houston Astros moving to the American League West, each division in both leagues now has five teams. As a result, each team will play 76 games (19 each) against division opponents, 66 (six or seven each) against non-division league teams and 20 against interleague foes.

Another wrinkle is that there will be at least one interleague game every day of the season.

Spring training, the time of year when jersey numbers like 68, 75 or 83 are commonplace.

Spring training, the time of year when fans are mesmerized by 420-foot bombs, but then have no idea who hit them. Or, they watch a pitcher breeze through the heart of the order by striking out the side, then rack their brains, wondering where the heck did that guy come from?

No player has been mentioned in more trade rumors this offseason than Justin Upton—and with good reason.

If the Tampa Bay Rays want to make a power play in what is a very deep AL East, they should consider signing the top free agent left on the open market: Speedy center fielder Michael Bourn.

Former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona has a new book entitled Francona: The Red Sox Years, and it hits shelves on January 22.

The plan for the Los Angeles Dodgers going into the 2013 season was to play Hanley Ramirez at shortstop. 

Despite that commitment, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti wanted to see Ramirez improve his defense at shortstop.

It's only a matter of time before Major League Baseball gets expanded replay, but first the league has to figure out a protocol for how to go about using it when it's needed.

The big question: Should instant replay be used liberally whenever a situation calls for a review, or should it be the managers who get the ball rolling?

More to the point: Should managers be given challenge flags, just like NFL coaches?

After not pitching in the 2009 World Baseball Classic while recovering from a knee injury, Johan Santana has apparently expressed interest in pitching for Team Venezuela in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, which will begin this March.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN, Santana will try to participate in the event once gets past a few obstacles he will have to go through, due to the time he spent on the disabled list at the end of the 2012 season.