A wise man once said this of artificial turf: “if a horse can’t eat it, I don’t want to play on it.” We as fans don’t have to play on turf, but we do watch games played on it, and it’s kind of a drag. Really, if I have a choice of games I’ll almost…

Colorado added a pair of veterans on minor-league deals, signing infielder Alfredo Amezaga and catcher Chad Moeller. Moeller has little chance of cracking the Opening Day roster with Chris Iannetta and Jose Morales ahead of him on the depth chart, but Amezaga should have a legitimate chance to claim a bench spot if healthy. Amezaga…

You gotta wake up pretty early in the morning to be this much of a joyless scold: At this point, I would much rather have someone who is “no name” – but a real and qualified “baseball person” – someone trying to make his bones as a hard working GM, running the Yankees. Someone who…

There are some guys whose movements I’ll always track no matter how far away they get from major league baseball. Jose Canseco. Jose Lima before he died (and don’t think I won’t post more stuff about him eventually). Another one is Byung-Hyun Kim, who has fascinated me for years.  NPB Tracker reports that he has signed…

Does the 2010-2011 offseason got you down, Yankees fans? Then why not look ahead to next winter? Larry Koestler of Yankeeist does that this morning. The upshot? Seems like the free agent pickins are a tad slim: A quick glance at the free agent starting pitching list yields the following potentially interesting names: Mark Buehrle,Chris Carpenter…

We know Brian Cashman is already an expert on stout, but last night he had to expand his game a little: Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman donned his spiked hair/bandana hairpiece and assumed his celebrity bartender persona — Hard Cash — at Foley’s Pub and Restaurant on Wednesday to pour drinks and help raise money to fight…

What will it take for Brandon Webb to get you into a car? The former Cy Young Award winner, who is trying to make a comeback from shoulder surgery with the Texas Rangers, is selling used cars with his brother-in-law in his hometown of Ashland, Ky. A lot of pro athletes have businesses on the…

As first reported by Mike Axisa of MLB Trade Rumors, the Diamondbacks avoided arbitration on Wednesday evening with Miguel Montero by agreeing to a one-year contract that will pay the catcher $3.2 million in 2011. Montero was eligible for arbitration this winter for the second time in his career.  Last season he pulled in $2…

Back in November of 2003, the Padres decided to abandon the traditional road gray uniforms that most teams used and continue to use. Instead, they decided to play away games in a sand-colored jersey, meant to represent the beaches of San Diego. The change was met with immediate criticism.  The Padres’ new sand jersey looked…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Rotation 1. Dallas Braden 2. Trevor Cahill 3. Brett Anderson 4. Gio Gonzalez 5. Brandon McCarthy 6. Rich Harden 7. Josh Outman 8. Bobby Cramer 9. Tyson Ross 10. Guillermo Moscoso 11. Anthony Capra The Brian Fuentes and…

The Angels got all sorts of deserved flak for taking on $81 million of Vernon Wells‘ contract in a trade with the Blue Jays last week.  But they could end their offseason on a high note. According to Mark Saxson of ESPN L.A., the Halos have opened long-term contract discussions with ace right-hander Jered Weaver.…

Rob Neyer has a very good — and uncharacteristically personal — post up today about the Royals.  He was a fan dating back to 1976. Then, six or seven years ago they lost him through mismanagement, contempt for their fans and overall misery. And now he wonders: is it too late to come back? Is…

After originally seeking a two-year, $16 million contract Vladimir Guerrero has lowered his demands to one year and $8 million, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Guerrero earned $6.5 million in 2010 via a one-year deal with the Rangers and slumped down the stretch before struggling mightily in the playoffs, so with plenty of other…

Last month we learned that the St. Louis chapter of the BBWAA was going to have a roast of Tony La Russa.  Well, it happened last week, and FOXSportsMidwest.com has some of the highlights of it here. The profanity is bleeped out, but it does get a tad blue.  There’s a good J.D. Drew joke by…

Murray Chass’ “I know Mike Piazza did steroids because he had back acne” crusade has its charms, but sadly, it does not have much medical science on its side. We know this, because Howard Megdal did some shoe leather reporting on the matter and was told by multiple dermatologists that (a) back acne is common;…

In an effort to add some left-handed relief options the Orioles have signed Clay Rapada to a minor-league contract and offered the same to Joe Beimel, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Rapada has spent parts of four seasons in the majors for the Cubs, Tigers, and Rangers while logging a total of…

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training. Rotation 1. Wandy Rodriguez 2. Brett Myers 3. J.A. Happ 4. Bud Norris 5. Ryan Rowland-Smith 6. Nelson Figueroa 7. Wesley Wright 8. Jordan Lyles 9. Aneury Rodriguez 10. Cesar Carrillo The scary thing is that this probably…