Roto Snips

[Edwards Kings]

"Miguel Tejada has yet to report to Royals' camp due to illness.

Tejada was prepared to board a plane in his native Dominican Republic Thursday before falling ill. The Royals instructed him to stay at home and attempt to report to camp Saturday if he feels better. The illness won't affect Tejada's bid for an Opening Day roster spot."

Translation of Royals management response..."Oh crap, we forgot we invited you! Stay home as long as you want. October or November is fine with us!"

[ALL-IN JD]

More great news for Met fans!!!

Mets manager Terry Collins said Marlon Byrd could be the team's regular right fielder.
A more realistic goal for Byrd is probably being the regular right fielder against left-handers, with Mike Baxter starting against righties. Byrd, 35, hit an abysmal .210/.243/.245 with one home run in 153 at-bats between the Cubs and Red Sox in 2012, but he batted a much better .286/.337/.414 with 21 dingers for the Cubbies from 2010-11.

[Edwards Kings]

More great news for Met fans!!!

Mets manager Terry Collins said Marlon Byrd could be the team's regular right fielder.
A more realistic goal for Byrd is probably being the regular right fielder against left-handers, with Mike Baxter starting against righties. Byrd, 35, hit an abysmal .210/.243/.245 with one home run in 153 at-bats between the Cubs and Red Sox in 2012, but he batted a much better .286/.337/.414 with 21 dingers for the Cubbies from 2010-11.

It is all good. Byrd says he is in the best shape of his life!

[DOUGHBOYS]

New drinking game-
Must down a drink every time you hear a player or see it on RotoWorld say these five words-
'Just getting my work in'...No sober days ahead.

Other per usual's-

'The soreness is normal'
'We have every confidence'
'Changing his swing will help'
'We're giving him a different release point'
'The rest should help'

All just signs of spring and the hope that 'springs' eternal.
For fantasy players, we'd rather have the flat out truth. But that won't come till much later in the spring training part of the season.

[DOUGHBOYS]

I poke fun at the snipets, but how cool is it to see these snipets based on 'real' results at spring training ?
Ahh, baseball season is close.

[DOUGHBOYS]

'Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Carl Crawford being ready for Opening Day will be a "challenge" following the outfielder's setback with his surgically-repaired left elbow.'

With this, and the Youkilis injury, the fantasy baseball world is right again....

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'Nelson Cruz has left Rangers' camp in order to have a muscle strain in his chest region examined'

Not happy with Phoenix doctors, Cruz is headed for Miami ....

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'Jay Bruce returned to the Reds' lineup Thursday'

Bruce sat out a few days with hurt feelings after Gekko reported that LaRoche was just as good six rounds later

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'Russell Martin is back in the Pirates' lineup Friday'

Martin suffered from delusions of grandeur.
Thinking that the Canadian WBC team would be like his old Little League team and he can play shortstop once again......

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'Carl Crawford is experiencing some forearm tightness that may be related to his Tommy John surgery.
MLB.com's Ken Gurnick calls it a "mild setback."

He'll miss the beginning of the season and probably more.
Hey Ken, define mild setback for me, willya?

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'Elvis Andrus is out of the Rangers' lineup on Thursday against the Indians because a new tattoo is causing some extra sensitivity in his left biceps.
The Rangers probably aren't too pleased with the situation, but Andrus should be fine in a day. Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News calls the tat "elaborate." '

Elvis getting a tattoo of Ann-Margret....ummmm Ann-Margret

[Captain Hook]

Can't see Andrus with a tat like that - actually the one he just got is a tribute to his father .....of course by now he reaiizes he should have done it two months ago NOT in spring training

[DOUGHBOYS]

Elvis always denied rumors about his tatooing of Ann-Margret.
Some things never change.

[Edwards Kings]

Chris Perez will not appear in Cactus League games for the next 3-4 weeks after being diagnosed with a strain of the subscapularis muscle in his right shoulder.
The closer will be shut down for the next 7-10 days and obviously will no longer pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. While he technically could have time to make it back for Opening Day, this almost surely means he'll begin the season on the disabled list. Vinnie Pestano should handle the ninth inning while Perez is out.

Mr. Pipp? Paging Wally Pipp! You're job is leaving without you!

[Raskol]

And Mark Prior signs a contract with the Reds....

[DOUGHBOYS]

Let's do a few more...

'After Brayan Pena's RBI groundout in the top of the 14th, Joaquin Benoit pitched a scoreless bottom of the inning -- by the skin of his teeth -- to earn his first save in Detroit's 2-1 win over the Mariners.
Benoit gave up a two-out double to Dustin Ackley with Justin Smoak on first base. Had it been the ninth inning, Smoak probably would have been gone for a pinch-runner. However, in the 14th, there was no one left to use. The Mariners tried to score Smoak on the double anyway, but the throw beat him easily and Smoak was unable to jar the ball loose, though he did his best to run over Pena at the plate. That gave Benoit a save, whether he deserved it or not.'

Well, excuuuuuuse me!
Benoit owners can give a rat's ass in whether Benoit 'deserved' the Save or not. There'll be a time this year, when a ball should be caught behind Benoit, and won't.
In the end, Benoit owners, at least the ones that have him starting this week, are happy campers and could care less about being 'deserving'.



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'Domonic Brown is scheduled to undergo an MRI on his sore mid-back Thursday in Philadelphia.
Brown was pulled from Wednesday night's game in Cincinnati after experiencing some back stiffness. "I don't know what happened," said the 25-year-old outfielder. "We're going to get an MRI and see exactly what's going on. I don't think it's anything major at all." '

Pop goes the spring training balloon and the air out of Brown owners.....

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'Ryan Zimmerman left Wednesday's game in the seventh inning after his left hamstring tightened up on him.
Zimmerman has been dealing with the ailment for a few days, but Wednesday was the first time he missed any action. Nationals manager Davey Johnson said the third baseman's removal was precautionary, though, and he expects Zimmerman to play Friday after Thursday's off day.'

This is code for- 'Hey Zimmerman owners! Get a crappy 3b off FAAB this week!'

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'Ryan Braun said his neck is no longer an issue.
Braun entered Wednesday's game with just one hit in his last 18 at-bats while striking out 10 times over that stretch. It prompted concerns about a neck injury that cropped up earlier in the month, but the outfielder insists his swing is just out of whack right now. "My neck is fine now," he said. "It was [messed] up for a while. The first couple of games in St. Louis I'm sure it didn't help, but it's not an issue now. Nothing is physical. I'm fine. My swing just [stinks] sometimes."

A player needs to say, "Now, I just suck" after saying something like this....
Braun has two homers and eight rbi.
Last year, he didn't have one month without at least five homers and 15 rbi.
PED issues aside, he has rendered the whole 'should I take him with the first pick, second pick, third pick, fourth pick' argument meaningless so far this season...

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'John Lannan will have his left knee examined on Thursday by the Phillies' team doctor.'

Followed by the Phillies having their heads examined for signing him......

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'Wednesday's game between the Angels and Twins was postponed due to rain.
No makeup date has been announced. The clubs will just push their scheduled starters back, so Tommy Hanson and Vance Worley will pitch on Friday. '

An innocent enough report.
But not only are Angels and Twins hitting owners upset about missing at bats against two struggling pitchers, the owners of Worley, brave enough to start him now know he goes on the road to the White Sox and Hanson owners know that his match up goes from Twins hitters to Tigers hitters.

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'Dodgers placed LHP Chris Capuano on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left calf.
It's not clear exactly what the MRI on Capuano's calf revealed, but obviously it was bad enough to necessitate a DL move. With Capuano and Zack Greinke on the DL and Aaron Harang now in Seattle, the Dodgers will turn to Ted Lilly to fill out the back-end of their rotation. '

Say what you want about Carlos Quentin, but not many hitters can take out two starting pitchers without swinging a bat.

[Edwards Kings]

Carlos Santana is out of Wednesday's lineup due to the flu.
There's a chance he would have been rested anyway with the day game. He should be fine for Friday's series opener against the White Sox.

Flu today, back Friday? I have seen other blurbs like this that claim the player has the flu (not the wishy-washy "flu-like" symptoms), but should be back "tomorrow" or in a "day or two". I wonder what they give these guys to get them over the flu so fast? When I had the flu, attaching defibrillator paddles to my gonads and maxing up the charge would probably have made me feel BETTER!

MLB trainers...share your secrets!

[headhunters]

i will help out. when they say "drink plenty of fluids" , they don't mean scotch.

[Edwards Kings]

i will help out. when they say "drink plenty of fluids" , they don't mean scotch.

NOW you tell me...Granny had it wrong all those years....

[headhunters]

yae too- i kept telling them i was drinking with lots of ice-- but no dice.

[gpchurchill]

Brandon League blew his first save of 2013 in the Dodgers' extra-innings loss to the Mets on Wednesday.
League entered the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead, but a leadoff double by Mike Baxter was followed two batters later by David Wright's two-out single. Blown save notwithstanding, League is still a passable closer despite the fact that a better option exists on his own team in Kelvin Herrera. With the money the Dodgers are paying him, League won't be removed from the ninth-inning role due to one rough outing.


classic

[Edwards Kings]

Al Alburquerque experienced a pinching sensation in his right groin Wednesday but expects to be fine.
"I think I need to stretch more before I pitch in the game," he told reporters. "It's nothing serious. I don't feel like it's anything serious." Alburquerque has a 1.69 ERA and 18/6 K/BB ratio in 10 2/3 innings this year.

Outside of the context of baseball, this is wrong in so many ways.

[DOUGHBOYS]

'Prince Fielder went 2-for-4 with a home run in Sunday night's win over the Braves.
Fielder was held in check for most of the game, but hit a three-run shot in the seventh inning off reliever Cory Gearrin. After playing Saturday's game at DH, Fielder was back in the lineup at first base. He's now batting .294/.421/.541 with 26 RBI and a .962 OPS in 23 games this season.'

Imagine how Fielder owners in leagues across America felt when looking at the box score and seeing that it was Cabrera who hit a three run homer, not Fielder.
OOPS

[DOUGHBOYS]

It looks like they have pulled and deleted the Fielder snipet....

[DOUGHBOYS]

'Despite being cleared of any structural damage after an MRI exam Monday, Yankees third baseman Kevin Youkilis could still require a stint on the disabled list because of a lower back injury, CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman reports. Youkilis, who has played just once over the past nine games, is scheduled to receive an epidural Tuesday before the team determines his candidacy for the DL.
"I have had epidurals and played the next day or two days later," manager Joe Girardi, a former catcher, told the New York Post Monday. "I don't know if he is in position to play in two days. I probably wasn’t as bad as he felt. ... He has a pre-existing condition so it can get irritated."

Youkilis' possible DL stint would be backdated only to last Saturday after he ended a six-game absence to play against the Blue Jays, finishing 0 for 3 with a walk. Over the past three seasons, he has not played more than 122 games, primarily due to injuries.
'"The big thing for me and the doctors is to get me as healthy as possible to play all the way through the end of September," the 34-year-old said. "I've felt different things in different areas." '

This is not from RotoWorld. There are a few things interesting about this snipet.
Girardi seems to be voicing displeasure that a DL stint is needed after an epidural. But, we don't get his tone from snipets.
So a little slack has to be granted there.

Also, he covers Youkilis by saying he had a pre-existing condition, which made me laugh, because by now, Youkilis seems to have a pre-existing condition nearly everywhere.
What is funny is that fantasy owners knew what the Yankees are buying into here, and most, probably assumed that the Yankees knew what they were getting in Youkilis, in only tendering him a one year contract.
But they don't know.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been played Saturday in restarting his disabled list time.
It should be fun to watch the Youkilis/Yankee soap opera over the next few months.
Youkilis last sentence in the snipet is telling.

One other thought...
With ARod, Youkilis, and whoever replaces them at 3B, the Yankees will be spending $40 million dollars on one position this year......Only in America.

[Bronx Yankees]

Looks like Tulo is sitting out tonight's game due to "heavy legs."

I've heard of pitchers' arms feeling heavy, but never heavy legs. Perhaps Tulo's body is tired because he hasn't been on the DL once so far this year.

[KJ Duke]

***NEWS FLASH *** Dan Kenyon joins rotoworld ... his first post:

Starling Marte hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning but the Pirates lost to the Nationals on Sunday.
Marte is batting .325/.390/.528 in 30 games this season and he's on pace for 26 homers, 84 RBI, 52 stolen bases and 125 runs scored. Some regression should be expected, but the young outfielder is a major talent and capable of having a very special sophomore season.

A dough classic!

[Outlaw]

***NEWS FLASH *** Dan Kenyon joins rotoworld ... his first post:

Starling Marte hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning but the Pirates lost to the Nationals on Sunday.
Marte is batting .325/.390/.528 in 30 games this season and he's on pace for 26 homers, 84 RBI, 52 stolen bases and 125 runs scored. Some regression should be expected, but the young outfielder is a major talent and capable of having a very special sophomore season.

A dough classic!

Regression from last year or regression from this years agressive performance? lol
Talk about double speak, first regession, then major talent, then very special season....Alflack ducks, all of them

[King of Queens]

I'm seeing more and more mistakes like this on RW this year:

============================================

Jhoulys Chacin allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks over seven innings in Sunday's win over the Rays.

It was Chacin's first start since being placed on the DL last month. He escaped a three-run first inning to come away with the win. Had he not been coming off an injury, Chacin might have been able to throw a complete game, but the Rockies took him out after just 85 pitches. Chacin has a 2.56 ERA in five starts this season. May 5 - 8:31 PM

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I suppose he "escaped" the 6th inning as well (another 3 runs allowed there). Unfortunately, the 6 runs he allowed in the 1st and 6th were enough for him to be the LOSING pitcher.

[DOUGHBOYS]

'Alex Cobb was charged with three runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings Sunday in a loss to the Rockies.
Colb allowed three solo home runs in what was otherwise an effective outing. While he managed to post a quality start, Cobb hasn't looked nearly as good in his last two games as he did to open the season. His next start is Friday at home against the Padres.'

I'm guessing the same writer did both of these sterling reports, Glenn.

I was pretty happy with Cobb's start for my teams. What does a guy have to do?
Pitch like Cobb did in his first few starts ALL the time?
Cobb isn't an ace. And was taken in the middle of most drafts.
And, oh yeah, HE WON THE GAME!