Joe Mauer is temporarily God in Minnesota after signing a 8-year/$184 million deal to be with the Twins until 2018.  There was on going talks all Winter long about will the Twins be able to sign Mauer to an extension or will he just become a free agent and let the “evil empire” sign him away to New York.  Well all the speculating is over and Mauer is officially a Twin for life (or at least 80% of his career, that’s for sure).
Mauer was the AL MVP last year and …

Demotions and injuries have taken over this edition of the spring training report. Don’t let this get you down though, because there are only 14 days until the start of the 2010 season!

Strasburg Sent to Double-A, For Now
The dream isn’t quite gone for Nationals super-prospect Stephen Strasburg to make the major-league club this year, but he won’t be doing it in April. Washington has placed him in the Double-A location of the farm system to start the season. He allowed two first inning homeruns on Friday, but still struck out …

The edition of the STR focuses on some off the field issues around the league, as well as some pitching tidbits. 18 days til Opening Day!!
Cocaine is a Hell of a Drug

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington apologized on Wednesday for using cocaine at some point during the 2009 season, which has led to him voluntarily accepting additional testing by the MLB in the future. Washington says it was a onetime thing, and he also submitted his resignation after the test, but the team trusted him that he only used it …

This edition of the Spring Training Report covers some recent headlines from Florida and Arizona. The regular season is just around the corner, so those clocks forward an hour and move baseball into your forefront!
Manny, Dodgers Invade Taiwan

The Dodgers just finished up a trip to Taiwan, in which half their squad from camp went over the Pacific Ocean to play the best ball players from Taiwan. From the quotes I read, the Dodgers enjoyed themselves over there in the two games they played (and one got rained out). In a …

Nomar Garciaparra is calling it quits after a 14 year career.  Nomar was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1994.  He was a six time All Star, a two time batting champ, and the 1997 AL Rookie of the Year.  In 1998 he hit .323 with 35 homers and 122 RBI.  In 2000, he hit .372 with 21 homers and 96 RBI.  He is a career .313 hitter.  After getting traded by the Red Sox in 2004, just months before Boston snapped their World Series drought, Garciaparra went on …

Twins All-Star closer Joe Nathan has a torn ligament in his right elbow.  Nathan felt soreness and discomfort after facing just three batters against the Red Sox (including 2 walks).  Obviously any tear of any ligament is a huge deal but this one unfortunately is the ulnur collateral ligament, you know the one that would require Tommy John surgery!
The 35 year old is going to rest for two weeks in an effort to try and build his strength back up.  If this is not successful, Nathan will have to undergo Tommy …

With the season practically around the corner players are reporting to camp in better shape than last year for those who slumped while many others are trying to prove their worth and build upon a good 2009 season for themselves.

Barry Zito is all over the news thus far this Spring.  Just the other day he hit Prince Fielder and a week before that he said that he wants to be the ace of the Giants staff… and he wasn’t joking!  Sorry Barry, but maybe you forgot this guy Tim Lincecum, …

After the first week of spring training, we already have some ‘injuries’ or at least issues to monitor on some pitchers as the season approaches. Hopefully these things will clear up sooner than later, but I wouldn’t worry yet since its still verrrryyyy early.

Down in Arizona, Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb says he felt ‘stagnant’ in his latest bullpen session and is becoming impatient with his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery last season. He only threw in one game, opening day and he missed the rest of the season. It’s unclear whether …

Spring training is underway in Florida and Arizona, so there’s plenty to report out of each teams’ camps. Here are few of the headlines from the first week out of the warmer states with baseball greats!
A-Rod Reflects on Last Year
Around this time last year, Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez was crying and apologizing for his steroid use from ‘earlier’ in his career. Lucky for him, that media coverage faded away due to his hip injury that kept him out til May. Then, when the postseason came, he ‘redeemed’ himself with a …

It’s been a long offseason for Johnny Damon, one that he likely won’t want to go through again.
The Detroit Tigers and Johnny Damon reached an agreement on a one-year/$8 million deal on Saturday to end the saga of Damon’s new team. Nearly a month ago, the Yankees called Damon’s bluff and signed Randy Winn to play outfield to replace Damon. That left Johnny and his agent Scott Boras questioning Damon’s worth on the market and whether the 36-year-old was going to find a home worth his liking (money-wise that is).
The …