Cubs manager Lou Piniella confirmed that Ted Lilly will return from the disabled list this weekend in Milwaukee, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. Lilly made his final tuneup start on Monday night, tossing 88 pitches over seven innings for Single-A Peoria. Piniella indicated that Lilly could make his season debut on either Saturday or…

UPDATE: After “reinterpreting” the ruling, major league baseball will allow Joe Maddon to wear his hoodie, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. It’s a victory for the little, err, casual people. Monday, 5:43 PM: Rays’ manager Joe Maddon likes to wear a hoodie over his jersey — or more likely, over a…

Corey Patterson, who opted for free agency after failing to make the Mariners as a non-roster player this spring, is back with the Orioles after agreeing to a minor league contract on Tuesday. Patterson was last a useful major leaguer in his first year with the Orioles in 2006. After coming over from the Cubs…

The Boston Globe reports that Jacoby Ellsbury will land on the 15-day disabled list nine days after he suffered bruised ribs in a collision with Adrian Beltre while trying to catch a foul popup. Replacing him on the roster will be veteran Darnell McDonald, who was off to a stellar .341/.372/.683 start in 41 at-bats…

Really. We’re 12 or 13 games into the season, and you can already vote for All-Stars.  It’s no different than every year, I suppose, but ever year I continue to be shocked that some guys are going to make the mid-summer classic based on stuff they did in the first two or three weeks of…

Maury Brown has a list of all of the PED suspensions since the drug testing regime came into play. There have been sixteen major and minor league players suspended for drugs in 2010 (all but Volquez were minor leaguers actually).  Of those, ten were pitchers. Indeed, since the advent of drug testing, the majority of…

It’s probably a moot point after Ike Davis was called up yesterday, but Mets general manager Omar Minaya told the New York Post that Daniel Murphy isn’t close to returning from a sprained knee. Minaya declined to reveal whether the Mets plan to keep Davis in the majors for good or potentially send him back…

The Reds’ flagship station, 700 WLW, reports that Edinson Volquez has released a statement. The upshot: the drugs he was taking were prescribed by a Dominican doctor to help Volquez and his wife “start a family,” and that the drugs just also happened to be on the MLB-banned drug list. I’ll defer to a fertility…

It was a big deal when the MLBPA went after the Florida Marlins a few months ago, essentially accusing them of pocketing revenue sharing money and not investing enough  to improve the team anywhere apart from the bottom line.  It was a serious enough criticism that even Major League Baseball agreed and the league, the…

We’re about to have a major media firestorm over the nature of PED suspensions Why? Because, pursuant to the drug testing policy and the Collective Bargaining Agreement,  Edison Volquez’s suspension begins immediately. As in, while he’s still on the disabled list due to recovery from Tommy John surgery. What this means is that the 50…

UPDATE III:  Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman reports the identity of the PED positive: It’s Edinson Volquez of the Cincinnati Reds.  Volquez will be suspended for 50 games. Of course, he’s already out at least until the fall recovering from Tommy John surgery. UPDATE II:  I have learned that the player to be suspended is a…

Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post went in search of someone who might actually like the horrendous song Creed singer Scott Stapp recorded for the Marlins and shockingly found a few players who dig it. Seriously: Wes Helms–the veteran clubhouse leader known affectionately among his teammates as “Uncle Wes”–said he’s a huge fan of…

When I started this gig I was so smitten with my personal freedom and the lack of any expectation to maintain a professional appearance that I grew out a big ugly beard. After a month or two the concept of rebelling got old so I shaved it off. Johnny Damon is going through the same…

Handed the Angels’ starting job at third base following Chone Figgins’ departure as a free agent, Brandon Wood has made three errors in 97 innings defensively and is just 4-for-40 (.100) with 12 strikeouts at the plate. Wood also struggled in his previous stints with the Angels, and now has a .178 batting average and…

The Denver Post is reporting that Colorado Rockies President Keli McGregor was found dead in his hotel room this morning. The specific cause of death is not known yet, but police are saying that it was natural causes. McGregor is likely more well-known nationally for playing tight end for the Broncos, Colts and Seahawks, but…

ESPN 710′s Shannon Drayer reports that Cliff Lee’s suspension for throwing a pitch over the head of Arizona’s Chris Snyder during a spring training game has been dropped by Major League Baseball. Lee’s defense, in a nutshell, was that he had been struggling with his command early in spring training anyway, and that he really…

Last week I surmised that Giants prospect Madison Bumgarner’s significant drop in velocity and recent struggles meant “something clearly isn’t right with him physically” and Rob Neyer of ESPN.com took that conclusion a step further: I’m afraid this goes beyond “something clearly isn’t right with him physically at this point.” I’m afraid he’s hurt. I’m…

UPDATE: Gordon Edes of ESPN is reporting that Cameron’s strain is actually a tear — akin to a sports hernia, he says — and that it may require surgery. If so, he’d miss a good month and as much as six weeks. Edes reminds us that both Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton suffered similar injuries…

That according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.  And he’ll be returning tomorrow, in all likelihood. Fernando Rodney has been 4 for 4 in save opportunities since assuming the closer role (the only appearance in which he gave up any runs was mopup duty in a 10-1 loss to the Twins on April 8th).…

Ian Kinsler is expected to test his high-ankle sprain by doing some running today and if all goes well should be cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week. Kinsler has been sidelined since injuring his ankle in the middle of spring training, but the Rangers have gotten surprisingly good production at…