Diamondbacks Sign Kip Wells To Minors Deal

Baseball America

Marlins Could Look To Pedro Feliz, Felipe Lopez As Third Base Options

Outside, keep an eye on Pedro Feliz, who is in Royals camp -- at the moment. Other names that are floating around out there: Felipe Lopez, Eric Chavez and Garrett Atkins, along with the much pricier option: Michael Young.

Miami Herald

Pirates Release Garrett Atkins

The Pirates this morning granted an unconditional release to infielder Garrett Atkins, signed by the club as a minor league free agent in the offseason.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Dick Groat Named To National College Baseball Hall Of Fame

The National College Baseball Hall of Fame announced its 2011 class, of which former Pirates shortstop Dick Groat is a member. Groat played two seasons at Duke University, where he was also a standout on the basketball team. The induction ceremony will be July 3 in Lubbock, Texas.

By Gosh, It's Langosch

Prospectus Hit & Run: The Vortcies Of Suck

It's one thing for a contending team to suffer such subpar production at a position that it helps doom their playoff hopes, hence the Replacement-level Killers. But because bad baseball so often makes for good copy, it's often more fun to hunt the fish at the bottom of the major-league barrel for the positions where players' contributions could be considered the worst in the majors, regardless of a team's status as a contender. What follows is an "all-star" team of players who produced tornado-level disasters amid their lineups, often at salaries that represented far more than just a cool breeze running through their team's bank account. These are the Vortices of Suck.

Baseball Prospectus

Dodgers Release Pat Borders

Baseball America

Garrett Atkins Signs Deal With Pirates

Troy Renck Twitter

From Albert Pujols To Derek Jeter To Roger Clemens To Freak: Salary Arbitration Records

What do you do when you have a bird land on your shoulder with 20 years worth of salary arbitration information? Begin looking at some records. This isn’t everything (at some point, I see a database and offering up services for salary arbitration cases), but it’s something fun to look at.

The Biz Of Baseball

Orioles May Bring Cesar Izturis Back

Wigginton and Izturis remain the most likely to return, although much of that depends on how the team lands its biggest need: a power bat.

Orioles Official Site

Checking The Numbers: Minor League Contract Candidates - Batters

Now that the World Series has ended—and a hearty congratulations to the Giants and their fans—baseball has officially entered its off-season. In the very near future, teams will begin to sign or trade players or cut them loose after deciding they are not worth an arbitration raise. Not every signing is created equally, however, as these transactions can range anywhere from the high-profile free-agent inking a monster deal to Willy Taveras being given a shot at making a major-league roster.

Baseball Prospectus

Orioles Unconditionally Release Garrett Atkins

The Orioles announced today that first baseman Garrett Atkins cleared waivers and was given his unconditional release.

Baltimore Sun

Garrett Atkins Reacts

A day after the Orioles designated him for assignment, Garrett Atkins was dealing with a mix of emotions.

Britt's Bird Watch

Orioles Designate Garrett Atkins For An Assignment

The Orioles designated Garrett Atkins for assignment prior to Sunday's series finale against the Nationals, recalling right-handed reliever Koji Uehara in his place.

Orioles Official Site

Don Baylor Wants To Manage; Cardinals Scouting Dan Haren, May Be Interested In Cliff Lee

Don Baylor reads the names of those being considered for managing jobs and he wonders, why not me?

Boston Globe

Orioles Likely To Drop Garrett Atkins

The likely candidates to be expunged include Garrett Atkins, the club's Opening Day first baseman who signed a one-year contract worth $4.5 million in the offseason. Atkins has struggled offensively, with just one homer and nine RBIs, and has rarely played this month.

Baltimore Sun

Julio Lugo Sends Game Into Extras, But Orioles Still Lose

Scott scored on Matt Wieters' ground ball to second, and Julio Lugo tied the game with a bloop single for just his second RBI of the year. Lugo stole second and advanced to third when catcher Wil Nieves' throw skated into center field, putting the go-ahead run 90 feet away for pinch-hitter Garrett Atkins. But Capps hunkered down to retire Atkins on a fly out.

Orioles Official Site

Orioles Recall Alberto Castillo

The move to recall Alberto Castillo in Hughes' spot is one that replaces a lefty with a lefty. Given that Hendrickson is starting the O's pen would be shorthanded, so Castillo gives the club some depth.

Britt's Bird Watch

J.D. Drew Goes Deep Twice In Red Sox Loss

The swing in momentum was jarring for both Bard and the Red Sox. J.D. Drew had just put Boston ahead for the first time on the night. His second solo homer of the night, a blast to center, had snapped a 3-3 tie in the top of the eighth. For Drew, it perhaps signified the end of his early-season struggles.

Red Sox Official Site

Comparing Apples To Apples, Colby Rasmus To Grady Sizemore

In its annual tome of baseball predictions and gold mined from major-league minutiae, Baseball Prospectus explores the season Adam Wainwright had in 2009, weighing the value of his Gold Glove and his eight extra-base hits with his NL-best first-place votes for the Cy Young Award. The conclusion the author of the entry comes to is that “you could fairly accuse him of being the best all-around talent on the mound today.”

Birdland

Cesar Izturis Back In The Orioles Lineup On Sunday

Cesar Izturis is in today's lineup and said he's feeling much better. He had a sore throat and was a late scratch from Friday's game as well.

Britt's Bird Watch