Stephen Piscotty A Potential Royals' Offseason Target?

Two once third base prospects converted to outfielders offer similar first names, logjams, and upside

Royals Review

Royals Send P.J. Walters To Triple-A, Release Jon Rauch

Andy McCullough Twitter

Royals Re-Assign P.J. Walters To Minors Camp

Dick Kaegel Twitter

Duffy and another left-hander, Donnie Joseph, were optioned to Omaha. In addition, right-handers P.J. Walters and Cory Wade were reassigned to Minor League camp.
Kansas City Official Site

Royals Sign Jon Rauch To Minors Deal

Jon Heyman Twitter

Jon Rauch Close To Signing With Unknown Team

Zach Links Twitter

Colby Rasmus Gets Breather Due To 'Body Soreness'

Colby Rasmus was held out of the Blue Jays' lineup on Sunday afternoon because of what's being described as "general body soreness."

Toronto Official Site

Brian Schneider Has No Regrets About Walking Away From Game; Still Visits Training Camps

To help himself through his withdrawal, Schneider, 36, made a few appearances at Florida MLB spring training sites, including the Cardinals, Marlins and Phillies in February and March.

The Morning Call

Jon Rauch Opts Out Of Contract With orioles

Rich Dubroff Twitter

Orioles Sign Jon Rauch To Minors Deal

Luke Jones Twitter

Marlins Release Jon Rauch

Roto-Marlins Twitter

Intimidating Jeff Niemann Working On Keeping Pitches Down

At 6-foot-9, Jeff Niemann can be an intimidating presence on the mound.

Only three active players -- Jon Rauch (6'11"), Chris Young (6'10") and Kam Mickolio (6'9") -- can match him in height.

Cardinals Official Site

Matt Holliday Ejected For Arguing Third Strike

The Cardinals' Matt Holliday has been ejected for arguing a called third strike in the eighth inning of St. Louis' game against Toronto.

AP/Fox Sports

Bullpen Help A Hot Commodity

Relief pitchers are viewed by many as the most volatile assets in baseball.

That remains the case now, maybe more than ever before. And that is why relievers will again be among the most desired – and fickle – commodities at the trade deadline.

Fox Sports

Bullpen Trade Targets

Two weeks into the season, bullpen holes are appearing all over the place among the presumed contenders. The White Sox's closer situation has been so bad that Ozzie Guillen joked about calling Bobby Thigpen, the Yankees have lost left-handed setup man Pedro Feliciano for the season without seeing him throw a pitch in a major league game, the Rangers' strong start has masked the problems of their setup men and the Red Sox are scrambling for depth. Ryan Franklin, the Cardinals' closer, is off to a terrible start.

ESPN

Dan Haren Picks Up Win In First Relief Appearance Since 2004

Dan Haren, making his first relief appearance since 2004 with the Cardinals, picked up the win, moving to 2-0 with a scoreless 14th as the ninth Angels pitcher of the night. The only pitchers on the staff who didn't toil were Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana.

Angels Official Site

Twins Make Kevin Slowey Available, But Where Will He Go?

The Minnesota Twins have chosen Scott Baker over Kevin Slowey as their No. 5 starter, and sources say they are willing to trade Slowey for a late-inning reliever.

Fox Sports

Mike McCoy One Of Three Players Competing For Blue Jays Bench Spot

Earlier this week, Farrell outlined how he foresees his outfield shaping up. Travis Snider will start in left, Rajai Davis in centre and Juan Rivera in RF. The reserves have yet to be determined but Scott Podsednik, Corey Patterson and Mike McCoy will be competing for the two open bench spots. On the games when Rivera needs some time off Davis will slide over to RF with one of the reserves stepping in to start in centre.

North Of The Border

Are The Blue Jays A Viable Option For Albert Pujols?

As I hear about how the talks are souring between the St-Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols, I sit here, I wonder, I dream. There’s arguably a 0.05% chance that Albert Pujols will not be a Cardinal in 2011 or 2012, and probably a lesser chance that he would become a Blue Jay if he were available.

Jays Journal

Prospectus Hit & Run: Insurance Policies

With the marquee free agents all signed, the blockbuster trades blockbusted, and even most of the bargain bins raided, there's little left to do this winter but count the days until pitchers and catchers report. That is, unless you're into keeping score regarding the players who have crawled out from under rocks or been shaken out of brothels for the purposes of being given a minor-league deals with invitations to spring training, of course.

Baseball Prospectus

Star Pitchers Returning From Injury

Penny was supposed to be a reclamation project for the St. Louis Cardinals last season, but a back injury in May ended his year after just nine starts, two weeks before Detroit's Armando Galarraga had a perfect game taken away by a missed call by umpire Jim Joyce in early June.

Penny finished the year 3-4 with a 3.23 ERA but he had apparently done enough to warrant a contract from the Detroit Tigers this offseason worth $3 million with another $3 million in incentives. His arrival in the Motor City allowed Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski to trade Galarraga to the Diamondbacks, leaving Detroit with a rotation of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Phil Coke.

Penny, 32, is a two-time National League All-Star who pitched for the 2003 World Series champion Florida Marlins. He's won 108 games in 11 seasons, including consecutive 16-win seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006 and 2007. But he's struggled in the American League. He had a 5.61 for the Boston Red Sox in 2009 and was traded to the San Francisco Giants at midseason, where he went 4-1 in six starts.

Sports Illustrated