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The story about the MLB-Upper Deck settlement this morning led a lot of people — even those who aren’t big fans of Upper Deck cards — to lament the fact that baseball has seen fit to give one company a monopoly over the baseball card racket.  It’s a good point because monopolies, as a rule,…

UPDATE: Tom Haudricort confirms that the Brewers met with Boras yesterday to talk about a Fielder extension. No offer was made, but the fact that they’re even talking now is unusual for a high-profile Boras client. 5:15 P.M.: Brewers’ beat writer Adam McCalvy noted some strange behavior by the Milwaukee brass (Milwaukee brass?) today: Brewers…

The Giants and the Brewers played in the Cactus League today and, against all odds, something (kinda) meaningful happened: In the first inning of today’s Cactus League game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Zito hit Prince Fielder in the back with his first pitch in apparent retaliation for Fielder’s staged “bowling pin” celebration after his homer…

Derek Jeter was on Mike Francessa’s show this morning and was asked about Yankee stadium: They said they were going to try to make it – at least with field conditions – as close to the old stadium as possible and they did a great job. (Asked if his fly balls had extra carry that…

Updates from the scratch files: Jose Reyes was given the OK to do whatever it is he’s doing this week. The blood work that was mentioned when he was scratched this morning came back OK, though no one is saying what the blood work was for apart from saying it has nothing to do with…

Heyman tweets that the Diamonbacks have offered $13.5 million over two years to Mark Reynolds. You’ll recall that the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro recently did some rough calculations of what he thought Reynolds might be worth right now, and he came up with three years, $15 million.  In light of Reynolds’ age and his strikeouts,…

SI’s Tim Marchman — after acknowledging just how hard it is to objectively rate general managers due to differing payrolls, owners, and expectations — tries to rate the general managers. Top 5: Andrew Friedman, Theo, Cashman, Larry Beinfest  and Jack Zduriencik. Bottom 5 (worst first): Dayton Moore, Ed Wade, Brian Sabean, Ned Colletti and Omar…

With the Jason Heyward hype reaching Weiterian levels — even Chipper Jones is getting into the act — it’s easy to convince yourself that the Braves are going to break camp with Heyward as their starting right fielder. Bryan Smith of FanGraphs, however, thinks everyone should just slow down. After citing the way the Rays…

What was it I said this morning about Nick Johnson staying healthy this year?  He just got scratched as the DH for today’s Yankees game. No reason given. I’m going to guess . . . um, Zollinger-Ellision Syndrome.  Day-to-day.  Might need a cortisone shot for it or something. UPDATE:  It’s lower back stiffness. My wife…

“Two years ago, I played, and I was good. I go to Chicago, not good. I’ve been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me.” Yesterday it was stats vs. scouts. Today it’s Bradley vs. Chicago. Enough with the Cub-related false dichotomies already. Can’t we all just agree that everyone…

The Reds have Aroldis Chapman pitching in an intrasquad game today. They plan on having him make is real competitive debut on Monday.  But he’ll be in relief, and not starting. What gives, Dusty? “If we pitch him later, fans stick around and we sell more beer.” People wonder how Dusty Baker has stuck around…

I get tired of salary cap talk sometimes because I don’t think it’s worth spending so much mental energy debating something that is never, ever going to happen in Major League Baseball. Because of that, I usually limit myself to one big post on it a year, and I like to save it for the…

These two stories in the headline stack over at MLB.com today make me think that there was a memo sent around last week or something: 1. Family roots keep Hairstons grounded; 2. Family keeps Prince grounded: The Hairston story is more interesting simply because I don’t know as much about the Hairstons as I do…

No, Joe Girardi hasn’t announced it, but the Star Ledger’s Marc Carig has deduced as much from what Girardi said about the two slot yesterday. Girardi’s comments: “On-base is extremely important to me because the guys behind him can all hit the ball out of the ballpark. So, yes, you’d love to have a guy…

LaVelle Neal reports that Joe Mauer’s agent, Ron Shapiro, is in Fort Myers meeting with Twins’ execs today. Everyone is saying it’s a routine visit, but Neal reports that, yes, Shapiro and the Twins will be negotiating about Mauer, which they have been doing on and off for a few weeks now. Ominous note: Neal…

Major League Baseball sued the Upper Deck baseball card company about a month ago for releasing baseball cards with team logos and stuff without having a license to do so. The case settled yesterday.  All that’s missing from the settlement terms is a provision which requires Upper Deck’s CEO to be Bud Selig’s butler for…

Jose Reyes was supposed to suit up for the Mets in today’s game against the Cardinals, but he’s been scratched because his physical “raised a small concern with doctors” who want to do some additional blood work on him.  Reyes says he feels fine and its nothing serious. My guess: Midichlorian count is a little…

Red Sox phenom Casey Kelly made his debut yesterday.  He threw ten pitches against college kids.  Those pitches inspired 2700 words between the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy and WEEI’s Alex Speier. Overkill? Sure, but if you’re like me you really can’t get enough info about young players. I’ve not had a chance to see Kelly pitch…

Joe Torre recently said that he’s going to manage in 2011 and his agent is currently negotiating with the Dodgers for an extension to make that so, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be back: “I’m sort of sorry I said I’m even doing it, to be honest with you,” Torre said. “I know what I…

Every year at about this time Bernie Williams makes a visit to Yankees camp. Every year at this time some reporter plays the “so, is Bernie really retired?” game, even though it’s obvious that he’ll never play again. In a way it’s like a happier version of those guys who keep pounding the “why won’t…

RHP Juan Serrano defected from Cuba last year, and today the Cubs signed him.  Bruce Levine of ESPN reports that it’s a $250,000 deal, which makes it a minor league thing unless teams are giving out half-season contracts now.  The team has yet to confirm, as physicals need to be passed and all of that…

The title kind of said it all, but that was Jones’ quote after today’s game against the Mets:  “I will be shocked if he doesn’t break camp with us.” Everyone who has watched his two games against the Mets so far is raving.  He’s hit the ball hard. He scored from second base on an…

I am shocked, shocked to find that corruption is going on in Albany! The state Commission on Public Integrity charged Gov. David A. Paterson on Wednesday with violating state ethics laws when he secured free tickets to the opening game of the World Series from the Yankees last fall for himself and others. The announcement…

Good story in today’s New York Times about Hideki Matsui’s transition to life with the Angels.  There’s one rather shocking fact — About 50 Japanese reporters are following the Angels this spring, compared with three daily beat writers from American news organizations — and a whole lot of interesting happy-to-be-here stuff: “He’s got a really…

If Milton Bradley-Marlon Byrd comparisons weren’t lame enough, stuff like this makes them lamer: After Marlon Byrd saw Carlos Marmol throw a batting practice session recently, he pulled the young Cubs closer aside. Byrd could tell what Marmol was throwing. “I fixed it,” Marmol said Tuesday. “It’s not a good thing. I know what I…