Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be looking at a few of the questions facing each team this spring. 1. Just how many starting pitchers will the Jays go through with Roy Halladay gone? Even with Halladay throwing 239 innings at the top of the rotation last year, the Blue Jays had 12 different…

While acknowledging that there’s still some competition going on, Mets manager Jerry Manuel laid out his plans for the lineup and the rotation on Friday. Although the fourth and fifth spots are still uncertain, Manuel sees the lineup shaking out like this: CF Angel Pagan 2B Luis Castillo SS Jose Reyes LF Jason Bay/3B David…

No pumping iron for the M’s: Just got out of the Mariners weight room down here, which, I have to say, is almost completely devoid of weights. The Mariners, as we mentioned yesterday on the blog, have signed a three-year contract with Dr. Marcus Elliott of Santa Barbara, Calif., founder of the Peak Performance Project…

It was White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s birthday yesterday. Ozzie Guillen got all sentimental: “As soon as he dies, I’ll get the [bleep] out.” Seriously, though, Ozzie has much love for Reinsdorf: “I think I love Jerry, and he knows it, he’s like a father to everyone here. He’s not just my boss. I think…

This is somewhat frightening: Unbelievable. Pablo Sandoval hit .330 last year even though he couldn’t see clearly. He’s wearing new glasses now. Pitchers beware. Of course now that he’s had a trip through the league the pitchers aren’t going to give him as much good to hit this year as they did last year, so…

“I’ll tell you what. Watching him throw a (bullpen workout) is almost like watching Zack (Greinke) throw one. He’s that accurate.” Royals pitching coach Bob McClure, commenting on Kyle Farnsworth’s pitching, apparently moments after taking a giant hit off a crack pipe.

A tweet from Tigers beat writer Jason Beck: Leyland on Dontrelle today: “Very, very impressed. Nice, smooth delivery. Good command overall. Very good. I’m very happy with what I saw.” Early spring training bullpen sessions are notoriously poor indicators of future performance, but if Willis can pitch a lick this year it would be wonderful…

FOX’s Ken Rosenthal thinks it’s time to realign the divisions to break up the Red Sox-Yankees hegemony.  You gotta go to the interactive map in the middle to see his actual idea for radical realignment, but it breaks down like this: AL Atlantic:  Yankees, Mets, Nationals, Orioles, Blue Jays; AL Great Lakes: Reds, Indians, Tigers,…

I did a Pujols post and an Heyman post, so now here’s Heyman on Pujols: Baseball executives agree on a couple things regarding superstar Albert Pujols, the Cardinals and their future together. 1. Pujols and the Cardinals have a very good chance to stay together beyond 2011, when his first nine-figure contract expires, and… 2.…

Heyman hears things: Carlos Beltran made nice when he got to Mets’ camp, saying that he got over the club’s hardball tactics in the wake of Beltran’s decision to have surgery after Mets doctor David Altcheck approved it but the Mets had yet to give written approval (Mets ownership has threatened to dock is pay…

We’re living in the dark ages of baseball nicknames. Most players don’t even have one, and most of those who do have dumb ones that rarely amount to more than adding a “y” or “ey” on to the end of their names.  In a sport that gave us “Oil Can,” “The Yankee Clipper,” and “Death…

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy sat down with Ryan Braun who, despite entering his fourth season in the majors, sounds like he’s firmly ensconced in his sophomore year: “I’m really in the moment right now . . . I’ve learned to live in the moment. The quote I’ve heard is, ‘Be where you are when you’re there’”…

Jay Buhner was in M’s camp today showing off a new bat he’s helping a Washington-based sporting goods company develop: It’s a new bat called the Axe, made of maple with a handle that’s shaped like, you guessed it, the handle of an axe . . . The idea, Trudeau said, is based on stories…

This week’s “Twittergate” is just another exhibit of Ozzie Guillen’s burning desire to be the center of attention . . . One wonders, however, when Sox fans will reach their tipping point on Guillen’s antics. – Dan McNeil of the Chicago Tribune, sounding not unlike Principal Vernon from “The Breakfast Club” and likely unaware that…

Zoinks! It’s not me saying it. It’s Bill at Crashburn Alley. There’s math and caveats and stuff so you should probably read the whole thing rather than expect me to blockquote it, but the argument boils down to this: trading Howard would clear payroll space, allow the team to retain Jayson Werth, would help replenish…

Athletics’ prospect Michael Taylor spent the winter playing in Mexico. Sounds fun: “Animals on the field. Like chickens and stuff like that. People having barbecues in the stands. Just piling up firewood. The passion. They had bands, a lot of live music,” he said yesterday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. “It was just a different environment.…