Jim Frey Dies At 88

The Cubs legacy of Jim Frey, the former manager and general manager who died this week, includes two National League East titles and a questionable decision that might have prevented the Cubs from putting away the Padres in the 1984 playoffs.

Chicago Tribune

Gary Mathews Discusses Whether The Phillies Are Too Good To Be In Last Place

Gary Matthews joined Kevin Wheeler to talk about the Cards/ Phillies series, the comparison between Cards and Phillies fans, why the Phils are too good to be in last place, the struggles of Ryan Howard, and the Phillies MVP.

101 ESPN

Angels' Trade For David Freese Arresting For One Optimist

Here’s the problem about trying to be positive about anything the Angels do.

Orange County Register

Five-Year Probabilistic Model Of Range: Centerfielders

The five year look at fielding using an objective probabilistic model of range continues with centerfielders. As always, we start with the complete team data:

Baseball Musings

Bernie Bytes 9-3-10: What Reds Must Do

We already know what the Cardinals must do this weekend: win games. And the The way I see it, the Cincinnati Reds' assignment in STL this weekend consists of three parts:

Bernie's Five Minutes

Hamstring Keeps Scott Rolen On The Bench Again; Jason Isringhausen Could Be Reunited With Walt Jocketty

Third baseman Scott Rolen was out of the lineup on Tuesday for the fourth straight day as he tries to recover from a sore right hamstring.

Reds Official Site

Tigers Release Ben Johnson

Baseball America

Bernie Bytes 6-24-10: Does Tony LaRussa Deserve Credit For Matt Holliday Eruption?

Matt Holliday and Tony La Russa and the anti-TLR crowd: I'm just curious ... does Cardinals manager Tony La Russa deserve any credit for helping to ignite Holliday's hot streak by moving Holliday to the No. 2 hole?

Bernie's Five Minutes

Checking In On The Sophomores

Now we're cooking with fire. Comparisons for Rasmus included Ron Northey, Ellis Burks, Oddibe McDowell and Alex Gonzalez. Pick enough players across a broad spectrum of actual performance, and one of 'em is bound to connect. Right now, it's coming up Burks. Here are their sophomore seasons to date, both coming at age 23:

The Hardball Times

Teams Paying For Players No Longer On The Team

Recently Rob Neyer (here and here) and Joe Posnanski (here) brought up how some teams are still paying the salaries of players released or traded to other teams. I went to Cot's Contracts to find which teams were being burdened by these contracts. The site also listed which teams had players on them that had some of the salaries paid by other teams for a total over 168 million dollars in 2010. Here are the 5 biggest salaries being paid by another team:

Beyond The Boxscore

Sunday's Lineups 4-18-10

1. Schumaker 2B
2. Ludwick RF
3. Pujols 1B
4. Holliday LF
5. Rasmus CF
6. Molina C
7. Freese 3B
8. Ryan SS
9. Wainwright P
Obviously, You're Not A Golfer

Sensing that their bullpen was ready to handle whatever scarce innings Adam Wainwright leaves unaccounted for, the St. Louis Cardinals did not make a roster move this afternoon to fortify the pitching staff.
Cardinal Beat

Felipe Lopez's Last Grand Slam Came April 4, 2008

NOTES: It was Lopez's first grand slam since he hit one for Washington on April 4, 2008, off Aaron Heilman, then with the Mets. ... Manuel, who had considered moving Reyes, the leadoff man, to third, said before the game he'll leave Reyes at the top of the order for now. Reyes was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. ... Pro wrestling legend Ric Flair threw out three first pitches, all that bounced several times. ... Wright made three nice plays at third, twice robbing Joe Mather and ranging far to his left to snare Pujols' grounder in the third. ... The Cardinals have won the opener of all four series.

AP/Fox Sports

Torii Hunter Was Wrong, But Had Valid Point

OK, Torii Hunter said something really stupid. Something unacceptable, something indefensible, something he now must live with. He should have chosen his words more carefully, and judging from his subsequent comments to an Angels-sponsored blog, he knows it.

But let’s not miss the point.

The point is that baseball, despite a slight uptick from 2007 to ‘08, is still not attracting enough African-American athletes — and maybe not enough American athletes, period.

Fox Sports

Terry Evan Relaxed, Competing For Job

Terry Evans' enthusiasm is visible in his eyes.

"It's really the first Spring Training where I feel like I'm in the mix, competing for a [roster] spot," the Angels' outfielder said. "The last couple of years I could see what was happening. Coming into camp this year, it's a little more exciting."

Angels Official Site

Cardinals Fall Flat In Florida Opener

If the St. Louis Cardinals based this season’s marketing slogan off Thursday’s Grapefruit League opener against the New York Mets, they could do worse than "Oh, the humanity."

STL Today

Mark Mulder Deserves Better

Few athletes live with more insecurities than pitchers.

Underhand, not overhand, is the natural way to throw a ball. Look at a picture of Roger Clemens or someone else throwing a fastball, and you will see an arm doing something it wasn't designed to do. It's natural that injuries result from throwing thousands of pitches every year at maximum effort.

Chicago Tribune

Why The Critics Of J.D. Drew May Be Off-Base

The locker sits at the end of the row, closest to the door that leads to the field, not far from the door that leads out of the park. It is perfectly positioned for J.D. Drew, a player who sometimes seems in need of an escape route. There is rarely anyone in his space, his presence a rarity in a clubhouse filled with more outspoken players, more visible players.

Boston Globe

John Smoltz's Age, Arm Raise Concerns For Mets

The Mets are missing the dynamic that creates champions. I believe Johan Santana, Wright and Murphy and possibly Francoeur have more desire to win than the rest of the team put together. I'm not knocking other players, but bringing in John Smoltz and/or Pedro Martinez would do more to inject this team with the shot it needs to win.
-- Gary S., Orlando, Fla.

I don't think you'll see Martinez in a Mets uniform again. But the club does have a degree of interest in Smoltz. The condition of his arm is an issue, of course. But if he were to make 25 starts, that issue would fade. But how can they tell? And the club already has six potential starters with issues. But I would enjoy watching Smoltz pitch regularly.

Mets Official Site

Sources: Fernando Tatis Re-Signs With Mets, Returns For Third Season

The Mets have found the righty-hitting complement to spell Daniel Murphy at first base. And it's a familiar face.

Fernando Tatis will return for a third season, according to a source. The deal should become official within days.

NY Daily News

The Mets Are Not Interested In John Smoltz? Why Not?

Seriously! Why not?

They've added dysfunction with the squabble with Carlos Beltran.

They've added questionable health with Kelvim Escobar and Jason Bay.

Sully Baseball