Rafael Furcal said Thursday in Cardinals camp that his right elbow "still hurts" when he tries to throw.
"It still hurts," Furcal told reporters. "A lot." The veteran shortstop opted to rehab a torn UCL in his throwing elbow rather than undergo Tommy John surgery, but it's a bone spur in the elbow that is giving him more trouble right now. Furcal guesses that he probably won't play the field for the first 10-15 games of spring training, though he could start some at DH. The Cardinals may have to start Ronny Cedeno at shortstop if Furcal's issue lingers. Pete Kozma and Ryan Jackson could also be in the mix.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Feb 21 - 5:21 PM

Rusty- This may lead to the Cardinals talking to the Indians about Cabrera again.

I could see that.

But I think the Tribe is in a far different mode than they were earlier in the winter when they might have dealt Cabrera.

I do believe they though that they had to deal him to upgrade their roster, then they got away without doing that. Surprise, surprise, surprise (in my best Gomer Pyle voice)

Now they are contenders for one of the wildcard slots.

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FINAL WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ROSTERS


http://www.ibaf.org/doc/6ac92815-b446-4 ... 022113.pdf

Manny Ramirez could be heading to a league as erratic as he is!

Ted Berg, USA TODAY Sports

According to Jon Morosi of FoxSports.com, Manny Ramirez is "in talks to play for the EDA Rhinos of the Taiwanese professional league."

Ramirez's major league career spanned parts of 19 seasons and was marked by outstanding offensive production, shaky and sometimes indifferent defense, colorful to bizarre behavior, and, near its end, suspensions.

Ramirez would represent by far the most notable former major leaguer to compete in Taiwan's top professional circuit — dusting the likes of John Halama and Mel Rojas. Though Ramirez's seemingly carefree demeanor often entertained fans during his successful stints in Cleveland, Boston and Los Angeles, it might be significantly more difficult for Manny to be Manny under a more nefarious pressure not uncommon in the Taiwanese game.

The short history of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League has been marked by scandal and corruption. Here are five of the most notable controversies in CPBL history:

— In 1997, all but two members of the China Times Eagles were found to be fixing games and banned from the league. To complete their schedule, the Eagles borrowed players from the league's six other teams, then folded in the offseason.

— In August 1996, a group of local gangsters carrying weapons abducted four players from the Brother Elephants team and held them in a hotel room, pistol-whipping second baseman Wu Fu-Lien and shoving a gun in the mouth of pitcher Chen Yi-Hsin. Per Time magazine, "According to prosecutors, the kidnappers were from a syndicate that had lost $125,000 on an Elephants game. They believed the players had intentionally thrown it after being paid off by a rival gang."

— In 2010, more than 40 players, including several of the league's best-known stars, were found to be colluding with gamblers and mob bosses to throw games, a scandal that indicted a prominent local politician and one notorious bookmaker nicknamed "the Windshield Wiper" for his ability to clean up messes.

— In 2005, a yearlong investigation by prosecutor Hsu Wei-Yueh into a gambling scandal involving players paid in cash or sexual services to throw games was derailed when Hsu himself was arrested and sentenced for his part in a bribery scandal.

— In April 1999, Wei Chuan Dragons manager Hsu Sheng-Ming was stabbed four times after dropping his daughter off at school. Police arrested two suspects, but he declined to press charges.

On the upside for Manny, should he choose to join the Rhinos? Their logo should appeal to his childlike sense of wonderment:

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Rays are "excited by what they see in" Roberto Hernandez.Olney says Hernandez -- who was formerly known as Fausto Carmona -- has a shot to open the season as the Rays' No. 4 or No. 5 starter. The 32-year-old right-hander signed a one-year, $3.25 million contact in December and could be of value to AL-only fantasy leaguers. Feb 21 - 4:05 PM

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Manny Acta hired to ESPN Baseball Tonight English and became the first Dominican to do this program in its English version.

Manny Acta signed a multiyear contract as a baseball analyst for the cable television network ESPN, mainly in the English edition of "Baseball Tonight".

He also became the first Dominican to be a member of a series in English in this category that covers all of the major games, as well as being closer to returning to be manager with a new opportunity.

Buck Showalter, Dusty Baker, Terry Francona, Bobby Valentine and Joe Giraldi, returned to manage in the majors after being commentators.

Baseball Tonight is a program that broadcasts on ESPN and airs in the English editions which summarises all the day's action of Major League Baseball in ten editions at night to the east coast for forty minutes.

"I will be baseball analyst, commentator, and get another perspective of the field" said Acta, who had had experience in baseball broadcasts in Spanish for Fox, for five years in the playoffs.

Acta 44, who was the first manager for the WBC Dominican and Caribbean Champion in 2004 and managed in Venezuela and the Dominican, recently signed earlier this month as general manager of Club Atlético Licey.

Hope he does not fall asleep like he did in the Indians dugout.

Steven Wright allowed two hits and struck out three over two flawless innings of work against Toronto. (Nathan Denette/AP)


By Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com | 2/25/2013 5:52 P.M. ET

DUNEDIN, Fla. --

The Red Sox roughed up Blue Jays ace R.A. Dickey for two runs over two innings en route to a 4-2 victory on Monday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

The game featured a rare matchup of knuckleballers, with Dickey on the hill for the Blue Jays and Minor Leaguer Steven Wright getting the call for Boston.

It marked Dickey's first appearance in a Blue Jays uniform since being acquired in a December trade with the Mets. His afternoon got off to a rough start, as a pair of seeing-eye singles put two on and nobody out in the first.

Boston's Jarrod Saltalamacchia then came through two batters later with an RBI single to right field. The second run came around to score when a Dickey knuckleball bounced away from catcher J.P. Arencibia, which allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. to trot in from third.

Dickey came back out for the second and allowed another leadoff single, but he was eventually aided by an inning-ending double play, which was turned by Jose Reyes and Lance Zawadzki. Dickey was charged with both runs on four hits and one walk while throwing 24 of his 34 pitches for strikes.

Wright was relatively flawless and likely made a strong impression on Tim Wakefield, who was in attendance for the game and will be traveling to Fort Myers on Tuesday to begin a working relationship.

"I was a little nervous," Wright said. "I was not scared, just a little nervous, because you want to do your best in general but to have guys with a keen eye for the knuckleball. ... Once I got out there, I felt pretty good."

The 28-year-old Wright allowed just two hits while striking out three over two innings of work. He threw 25 of his 40 pitches for strikes and allowed just one batter to reach scoring position.

Left fielder Melky Cabrera led the way on offense for Toronto. He went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles while driving home Reyes in the third with a liner down the left-field line. Edwin Encarnacion got into the action in the sixth with a solo homer of J.P. Durbin on a 3-1 count. It was his first home run of the spring

Bidder buys Schilling's bloody sock

A bloody sock worn by Curt Schilling while pitching for the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals was sold for $92,613 at a live auction on Saturday night at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion.

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Wake working with knuckleballer Wright

February, 25, 2013

Feb 252:20PM ET

By Chris Girandola, Special to ESPNBoston.com

Dunedin, Fla. --

Red Sox manager John Farrell spoke with the media for about 15 minutes prior to Monday's contest against the Blue Jays, with whom he spent the past two seasons as skipper. The Toronto press joined the Boston corps to see what he had to say about facing his former team for the first time.

While Farrell offered a few gracious comments about his time with the Toronto organization, the former Blue Jays manager was firmly focused on the Red Sox.

“April will get here when it does," said Farrell, who was booed by Jays fans here. "We’ve got a lot of work to do right now. I’m certainly not looking too far ahead. How that (facing the Blue Jays) unfolds -- we’ll see. I fully respect that team. They’ve got a darn good team, and I look forward to competing against them."

Here are some other notable highlights:

* Red Sox righthander Steven Wright matched up against Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey in Monday’s game, a battle of two knuckleballers. Farrell said it was just a coincidence that two knuckleballers started against each other.

"We didn't call Toronto and ask if Dickey was going to pitch so we would match him Wright, so it's just coincidental," Farrell said when asked if the Red Sox planned on having Wright face Dickey. "It falls on the same day. So this is one of the rarities and really a unique opportunity to see two knuckleballers, one which obviously is a reigning Cy Young Award winner and one who is developing to hopefully become a big league pitcher."

Farrell was excited about Wright being able to gain some insight from former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who was on hand in Dunedin to begin his stint as a mentor to Wright.

"To have him in person, not only here in today's game to watch how these two innings will go, but also be with him in uniform when he throws his side, those interactions are invaluable," Farrell said. "I'm sure R.A. can probably speak to some of those interactions that Wake had when he was out in Seattle. It's such a tight-knit fraternity, to have a guy with him that's blazed a long successful trail ahead of him, I'm sure he'll take advantage of it."

Wakefield said it is the first time he has seen Wright pitch, either live or on video.

"I know he throws it hard, which is fine," Wakefield said. "I wish I could have thrown mine harder, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t blessed with the arm speed. R.A. throws his just as hard and he won the Cy Young. I told him, I don’t care how hard you throw it, I don’t care you hold it. The big key is regaining your delivery and taking the spin off it consistently."

Blue Jays Claim Lars Anderson

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 25 at 12:52pm CST]

The Blue Jays claimed Lars Anderson off of waivers, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). The White Sox designated Anderson for assignment last week to create roster space for Conor Gillaspie.

Anderson appeared in six games for the Red Sox last year, but Boston traded the 25-year-old to the Indians for Steven Wright at the non-waiver trade deadline last July. The Indians traded Anderson to Arizona in the December trade that sent Shin-Soo Choo to Cincinnati. The White Sox then acquired Anderson by claiming him off of waivers from the Diamondbacks.

Anderson, a left-handed hitter, spent most of the 2012 season at Triple-A, where he posted a .250/.353/.396 batting line in 470 plate appearances.

rusty2 wrote:Blue Jays Claim Lars Anderson

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 25 at 12:52pm CST]

The Blue Jays claimed Lars Anderson off of waivers, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). The White Sox designated Anderson for assignment last week to create roster space for Conor Gillaspie.

Anderson appeared in six games for the Red Sox last year, but Boston traded the 25-year-old to the Indians for Steven Wright at the non-waiver trade deadline last July. The Indians traded Anderson to Arizona in the December trade that sent Shin-Soo Choo to Cincinnati. The White Sox then acquired Anderson by claiming him off of waivers from the Diamondbacks.

Anderson, a left-handed hitter, spent most of the 2012 season at Triple-A, where he posted a .250/.353/.396 batting line in 470 plate appearances.

In past years he would be referred to as Suitcase Anderson!

Suitcase Anderson!

and Knapsack Canzler

Manny Ramirez reaches verbal agreement with EDA Rhinos, will play in China if he doesn’t sign with a Major League team by March 7



Baseball may be done with Manny Ramirez, but Manny Ramirez isn't done with baseball.
In a sure sign of the impending Apocalypse, Manny Ramirez, the thing that wouldn't go away, is returning to baseball - in China.

Yes, the international-incident-waiting-to-happen is in motion as ESPN Deportes reported that Ramirez has reached a verbal agreement to play for the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional League. The deal, however, won't be finalized for another 10 days as Ramirez has until March 7 in which to land a contract with a Major League team.

If no deal is struck - and really, do you see one coming? Even Ramirez' agent Barry Praver said "nobody is interested" - Ramirez will be the biggest thing to hit China since they topped off the Great Wall. (That's sarcasm). So if all goes according to plan, the Dominican star will open Rhino season in China on St. Patrick's Day. Only the quirky Ramirez could pull that off.



Ramirez' last attempt at a comeback came in 2012 with the Oakland A's.

"It will be a new experience ," Ramirez said. "Experience another culture where I keep doing what I love and all I've done in my life - playing baseball."

The 40-year old Ramirez last played in the majors in 2011 when he appeared in five games with the Rays before he abruptly retired after five games when he - surprise - tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and faced a 100-game suspension as a repeat offender. After sitting out the balance of the 2011 season, Ramirez un-retired and signed a minor league deal in 2012 with the Oakland A's. But he never reached the majors and after playing in 17 games for the A's Triple-A team in Sacramento, he was waived, never to be heard from again. Until now.

Ramirez tuned up for his Excellent Orient Adventure by playing with Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League where he hit .293 with four homers and 17 RBI in 25 games. In his 19-year career, spent primarily with the Indians and Red Sox, Ramirez hit .312 with 555 homers while being named a 12-time All Star.

And now Manny is going global. Watch for "Manny Shi ta Ziji Manny" t-shirts to pop up all over China. Loosely translated it's Mandarin for "Manny being Manny."

Milwaukee Brewers’ Italian sausage costume is missing after someone stole it and went barhopping in it

Larry Brown Sports:

TEAMS: Milwaukee Brewers

The Italian sausage costume used for the sausage race during Milwaukee Brewers home games is missing, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Though this seems like a story straight from “The Onion,” it’s actually true. According to the Journal Sentinel, someone stole the Klement’s Racing Italian Sausage costume from the city’s Winter Festival and wore it out to go barhopping in Cedarburg, Wis.

The costume was just lying in back room unused and a witness reportedly saw someone walk out while wearing it on Feb. 16. Whoever stole the costume reportedly hit up two different Cedarburg bars with it on that night.

Mustard Girl All American Mustards has offered a year’s supply of mustard to whomever returns the costume.

The Italian Sausage, Bratwurst, Polish Sausage, and Chorizo all compete in the “Sausage Race” during Brewers home games. The costumes, which cost $3,000, are also available for rent. So you’re telling me someone got to take that awesome costume barhopping and will get a year’s supply of mustard for returning it?