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Turner Sports announced that John Smoltz has joined the TBS broadcast team as an analyst for their Sunday afternoon games and select Braves games. Smoltz joins a lineup of color commentators that includes Ron Darling, Buck Martinez, David Wells, and Dennis Eckersley, with Ernie Johnson, Brian Anderson, and Dick Stockton filling play-by-play duties. Chip Caray’s…

Lance Berkman is questionable to be ready for Opening Day following knee surgery last week and Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros are leaning toward veteran utility man Geoff Blum as his replacement at first base. In his absence, Geoff Blum started in the No. 5 spot in the lineup Sunday,…

Jed Lowrie has been sidelined for the past four days because of a so-called “mystery” illness that sapped his energy and accelerated his heart rate. He underwent a stress test and various blood work yesterday and has apparently been cleared of anything serious, with Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reporting that he “could resume…

Yesterday several Rule 5 picks were sent back to their original teams, but the Brewers worked out a deal with the Indians for Chuck Lofgren to remain in the organization without being on the big-league roster all season. In exchange for being able to keep Lofgren and, just as importantly, demote him to the minors…

Lou Piniella revealed a few tidbits this afternoon, most notably that Mike Fontenot has a leg up on Jeff Baker as the Cubs’ starting second baseman. “Right now, as we speak, I think that Fontenot has probably jumped ahead a little in the second base slot,” Piniella told Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. “It…

Kerry Wood was scratched from his scheduled appearance Saturday with a sore right lat muscle, but the Indians quickly announced Sunday that he was already back on track and would be able to throw a bullpen session today followed by game action Wednesday. Unfortunately, those plans have changed. Wood did not throw a bullpen session…

Mark Reynolds and the Diamondbacks were said to be in contract talks for months now, and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the two sides have finally agreed to a three-year, $14.5 million contract with an $11 million team option for 2013. Reynolds is coming off a career-year that saw him hit .260/.349/.543…

This morning the Dodgers re-assigned Eric Gagne to minor-league camp, removing whatever slim chance he had of claiming an Opening Day bullpen spot. Gagne hasn’t been an effective major-league pitcher since mid-2007 and spent last year pitching poorly in an independent league, so his demotion is certainly no surprise. He chose a minor-league deal from…

Joe Nathan is still likely headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery, but Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Twins’ closer will give his injured elbow “a vigorous test” by playing catch Saturday. Complicating matters is that Nathan was “bedridden Saturday and Sunday with a virus and still had a sore throat…

Dustin McGowan missed all of last season following shoulder surgery, but manager Cito Gaston reports that he “looked good” during a two-inning simulated game yesterday. McGowan tossed 44 pitches, after which Gaston noted that “he threw well, free and easy.” He’s now scheduled to appear in a minor-league game Friday and if that goes well…

No official announcement has been made, but various sources report that the Blue Jays have signed 19-year-old Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechevarria for $10 million. Hechevarria headed to the Dominican Republic after defecting from Cuba and held workouts for at least a half-dozen teams last month. He must have impressed, because he ended up with nearly…

Update: According to Alyson Footer, Astros Sr. Director of Social Media, Berkman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this morning. Dr. David Crumbie removed loose cartilage debris from the knee and did not see any sign of ligament or meniscus damage. He’s still expected to miss 2-4 weeks, leaving Opening Day in doubt. Friday…

In case you had any doubts about just how much entertainment value the White Sox have cost the world by blocking Ozzie Guillen from creating his own website, here are his latest couple posts on Twitter today: Oh my god seam penn defended ours president hugo chavez thas easy when you no leave in venezuela…

Last week two Indians players went down with injuries during the same workout and now we know the damage. Outfield prospect Jordan Brown will miss 4-8 weeks following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. Brown was competing for a bench job following a breakout 2009 season in the minors, but instead…

James Shields has started Game 1 for the Rays for the past two seasons and manager Joe Maddon just announced that he’ll get the Opening Day nod again this year: We feel very good about him being the opening day starter. We feel as though he’s earned the right to maintain that position. He was…

Ozzie Guillen has racked up nearly 40,000 followers in just three weeks on Twitter, but the White Sox apparently squashed the manager’s plans for a personal website. I’ll let Guillen explain: It was something we tried to do, and Major League Baseball was going to help us. All of a sudden the front-office people didn’t…

Via the Dodgers’ official Twitter feed, here’s a picture of Manny Ramirez (plus Angel Berroa and Ronnie Belliard) on the 15-hour trip to Taiwan: Once there Manny went 0-for-3 as the Dodgers lost the first of three games against a Taiwanese All-Star team, but it looks like he made a few new friends on the…

Mike Lowell was initially hoping to make his spring training debut tomorrow, but now it sounds like he won’t play until Monday at the earliest. Here’s manager Terry Francona: We’re probably shooting more for Monday with Mikey Lowell. That’s probably a realistic target. I don’t know if it will happen. Normally teams have every reason…

Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch admitted today that “we are running out of time” for Brandon Webb to be ready for Opening Day, with Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reporting that “it’s becoming more and more clear” that he’ll begin the season on the disabled list. Webb hasn’t pitched since complaining of shoulder soreness on…

Desmond Jennings is one of the truly elite prospects in baseball, ranking No. 6 on Baseball America‘s annual top 100 list, but things aren’t going smoothly for him this spring. Jennings was plunked on the elbow in his very first Grapefruit League at-bat, missed a few days, returned to the lineup, and then sprained his…

General manager Omar Minaya and agent Peter Greenberg just announced that Jose Reyes will “refrain from athletic activity” for 2-8 weeks after follow-up tests showed that his thyroid levels rose again when he did controlled physical activity this week. He’s expected to begin the season on the disabled list, and in addition to resting will…

Showing yet again that they’ve never met a prospect they won’t rush, the Mets have reportedly decided to keep Jenrry Mejia in big-league camp through the end of spring training to evaluate him as an Opening Day bullpen option. Mejia is one of the game’s best pitching prospects and has looked great so far this…

Milton Bradley has made headlines lately for basically refusing to stop talking about how miserable he was in Chicago, but did have some nice words for one member of the Cubs: I have nothing bad to say about Jim Hendry. He gave me $30 million. God bless Jim Hendry and his family. Most of the…

Aaron Boone officially retired last month to join the Baseball Tonight crew on ESPN and five years after calling it quits his brother Bret Boone has now found a job managing the Victoria Seals of the independent Golden Baseball League. Boone spent most of his 14-year career with the Mariners and Reds, but finished on…

I tuned into yesterday afternoon’s Nationals-Tigers game just to see Stephen Strasburg’s spring training debut, but also got a look at Cristian Guzman’s surgically repaired right shoulder as he lobbed a weak, high-arcing throw to first base after fielding a Strasburg-induced grounder. Even before the injury Guzman was pretty lax with his throws to first…