1. Designated Bill Hall for assignment.
2. Demoted J.J. Hardy to AAA – Nashville.
3. Dismissed pitching coach Bill Castro.
4. Promoted OF Jason Bourgeois from AAA – Nashville.
5. Promoted SS Alcides Escobar from Triple-A Nashville.

First off I have to say its about damn time they did something with Bill Hall. The guy has been a waste of space for years and been nothing but a thorn in the lineup. This year alone he’s batting .201 with 6 homers, 24 rbis and 72 strikeouts. The strikeouts look even worse when you consider he’s played in only 73 games, almost a strikeout per game. What makes things even worse is that its not a new trend with him.

2005 and 2006 were breakout seasons for him, but since then things have been completely downhill.

In 2005, he had a career high .291 average, two years later he was barely able to hit .254.
In 2006, he had a career high 35 homers, the next season that number was down to 14 and has stayed consistent at that rate since.

Some would wonder steroids, but no the guy just can’t hit a beach ball if it was thrown to him, he’s a strikeout machine. In 2006 when he hit the 35 homers he struck out an astonishing 162 times. He hasn’t come close to that number since but has been around the 125 mark the past two seasons.

Time off hasn’t done him any good, so it was only a matter of time till the Brewers let him walk. They’ve done so now and we’ll see if a change of scenery can do him some good.

Next up is J.J. Hardy. The struggles Hardy has had are much more confusing. He’s never been a star caliber hit but he’s been a very productive one throughout his career.

In 2007, .277 avg with 26 homers and 80 rbis.
In 2008, .283 avg with 24 homers and 74 rbis.
In 2009, .229 avg with 11 homers and 45 rbis.

I’m not quite sure what’s going on him with. His strikeout totals have been rising over the three year period, definitely being on pace for a career high in 2009. He doesn’t walk much but he does enough that you’d think the guy does have some patience at the plate.

When you see that the power numbers haven’t increased it makes you wonder what’s wrong. It’s not like he’s swinging wild, trying to hit homers.

Maybe some time in the minor leagues will do him some good. Clear his head, work with some different instructors and come back in 2010 strong.

They’ve let pitching coach Bill Castro walk. I hate hearing when coaches are let go because the players perform like shit. Especially when you consider the coach is working with nothing but shit. Outside of Yovani Gallardo and Trevor Hoffman there really isn’t a standout name on that pitching staff.

Could a better pitching coach make a difference with players like Manny Parra and his 6.26 era, or Dave Bush and his 5.67 era? Sure, a better one probably could. I don’t think many coaches could do anything with that middle relief thou.

Castro is like many other coaches, the scapegoat. Maybe this off season management will look at the root of the problem, and actually get better personnel in there.

Now the kids they’ve called up. The Brewers have brought up a couple players that are terrors on the base paths. Jason Bourgeois (27) had 36 steals and Alcides Escobar (22) had 42 steals at the time of their call ups. Both are also batting around .300 and should get plenty of chances to show if they belong in the big leagues.

The Brewers are 6.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League Central, with the Chicago Cubs in between the two of them. The playoffs are a long shot with the pitching staff they have. The decisions to bring up the kids and demote the struggling veterans is a good one in my eyes.

Hopefully these two guys show they can play, especially Escobar. If they can the team can focus on their pitching staff this off season, the area they really need to upgrade.

The Padres were offering a four million dollar deal for 2009, with a club-option for 2010 at the same rate. The Brewers only offered two million more. For a player who has been in the league as long as he has that amount is minuscule. Especially with the tens of millions he made when at the top of his game. Regardless thou for the Padres this isn’t to big of a blow as they won’t be contending for anything. For the Brewers is this a great low cost, low risk signing.

One of the major weaknesses for the Brew Crew last season was their relief pitching. Anytime you have to throw Eric Gagne and Salomon Torres out there as your closers, you’re going to struggle. Despite those two bums they still made the playoffs but then got exposed. While some will argue Trevor is on the downside of his career, he’s still a better option those other two. If Torres saved 28 games for the Brewers, then you can easily expect Hoffman to be in the 30 to 35 range. Last season, he saved exactly 30, his 13th time saving 30 or more, a MLB record. He did have his highest era, 3.77 in well over a decade, but he still has that nasty changeup which can more then make up for his lacking fastball.

Does this keep the Brewers as a playoff team? No, but it surely helps them keep them in the race. The team has also added Jorge Julio to the pen and are really trying to strengthen the backend. It’s something they have to do as they will be going to the bullpen a lot more often with out C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets eating all those innings.

Remember thou this all still pending as he hasn’t passed his physical yet.

Offense:
Milwaukee Brewers: The Brew Crew is led by their sluggers, predominately Ryan Braun (37 homers) and Prince Fielder (34 homers), as well as three others with 20+. For the Brewers to win this series they are going to need to continue their long ball success and ride the hot bat of the Prince. Down the stretch, Fielder was a menace at the plate and at a time when his team needed him the most. His numbers in the last 18 games? .409 avg (27 for 66), 6 homers and 19 rbis. Fielder has also destroyed Phillies pitching this year, hitting 4 homers in only 20 at bats, sporting a .350 avg. Minus the power there isn’t much to like about this Brewers offense. The team hits for extremely low average, .253 overall the 7th worst in baseball. The team has some speed but the problem is none of those guys are that likely to get on base. If they do thou, watch out for Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart they could probably get into the heads of the Phillies pitchers.

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies are bolstered by one of the strongest lineups in baseball. So strong their lineup contains the last two NL MVP’s Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard (a front runner for this year’s MVP as well), as well as the best hitting second baseman in baseball Chase Utley. The Phils are a lot like the Brewers in the fact they’d prefer to beat you with the long ball. That’s no surprise thou as they play in a little league park called Citizens Bank. Howard led the team with 48 homers, followed by Utley and Pat Burrell with 33. Much like the Brewers the Phils have a hot bat of their own in Howard. He’s hit .352 with 11 homers and 32 rbis in the month of September, yes 32. This lineup does have a downside thou and that is also their ability to hit for average, they have a .255 avg just a couple ticks better then the Brewers. The Phillies can get away with this thou as the top of their order is an absolute terror on the bases when they get on. When Rollins and Shane Victorino get on the game is pretty much over. Team’s have to worry about keeping them from stealing a base as well the next two hitters Utley and Howard.

Pitching:
Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers rotation is in some major trouble. You have to wonder, can they throw C.C. Sabathia into every game? The postseason rosters were announced not to long ago, and Ben Sheets was left off the roster. This leaves the Brewers with only one bona fide quality starter. That is not what a team needs when attempting to make a long playoff run. Yovani Gallardo is starting Game 1 for the Brew Crew, with Sabathia following in Game 2 on short rest, his fourth consecutive on short rest. The team has to go this route, as it would line Sabathia up for a start in Game 5 should the series go that far. Quite a few people may ask who Gallardo is? Yovani Gallardo was originally projected to be a key starter in this year’s rotation but had lingering effects from a knee injury and missed almost the entire season. His start this past week was his first since May. The only good thing about this is h has a fresh arm, but is he ready for the big game? The other Brewers starters are Jeff Suppan and David Bush. All of these pitchers are fly ball pitchers, not something you want against the Phillies. Their bullpen? They’re so bad I’m not even going to talk about it.

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies aren’t without their own questions on the mound, but they aren’t at a severe level like the Brewers. The Phils will be going with Cole Hamels as their Game 1 starter on long rest, something he usually hasn’t done that well with. I’m sure he’ll be up to the challenge. The biggest debate amongst fans and local Philly media has been whether you start Jamie Moyer at home in Game 2 or go with the inconsistent Brett Myers. The winner of that debate has been Myers much to the dismay of the fans. Myers lately has been pitching like he did before his demotion to Triple-A during the season. The Phillies surprisingly have a strong bullpen, something that hurt them many of times last season. They have arguably the best closer in baseball with Brad Lidge, who went a perfect 41 for 41 in save opportunities with an era of 1.95.

Coaching:
The Brewers have Dale Sveum who took over mid-way through September after the team fired Ned Yost. There isn’t much to say about Sveum except that the Brewers did catch fire after his promotion. The Phillies have Charlie Manuel who is quietly having one of his best managerial seasons of his career. Manuel’s one problem is that he sometimes over manages, and when he does he puts the team and game in jeopardy. It seems that at times he doesn’t trust his team in key situations, and when he shows that distrust the team responds negatively. Take for instance in Saturday’s NL East Division clincher, he didn’t trust Jamie Moyer to go a seventh inning even with how he was pitching. How’d the bullpen respond by almost blowing it, including Lidge nearing his first blown save.

Season Series:
The Phillies dominated the season series by winning 5 of the 6 games, and outscoring the Brewers 33-16. The top 3 in the Phillies lineup were abosolutely dominating against the Brweres pitching. Rollins, Utley and Victorino went a combined 24 for 48 with 3 homers, 10 rbis, and 5 doubles. The most telling stat, they scored 15 runs between them. The pitching was pretty good as well, doing enough to get the job done. Hamels had a pretty bad start in April but lights out against the Brew Crew two weekends ago. Myers even sports a complete game, two-hitter.

The Brewers pitching was absolutely horrendous with both Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan getting rocked. The one thing they do have going for them is the Phillies have not faced Sabathia yet. The hitters? They weren’t dominate but they did perform somewhat. Prince was dominate, while Rickie Weeks and Bill Hall each had productive games against the Phillies. The rest of the lineup hasn’t even showed up with not one regular batting over .225 against the Phillies pitchers.

Prediction:
My prediction is the Phillies are just to strong for the Brewers. The Phils also have the confidence of making the playoffs last season. In last year’s NLDS against the Colorado Rockies they were swept and the players do not want that to happen again. I think the Phils are going to be a team on a mission and absolutely roll over the Brewers. My call is for the Phillies to win the series in four.

First, divisional championship coin flips. These would only occur should there be a tie for the division title. I repeat these will ONLY occur if there is a tie.
Minnesota Twins @ Chicago White Sox
Tampa Bay Rays @ Boston Red Sox
New York Mets @ Philadelphia Phillies
Chicago Cubs @ Milwaukee Brewers
Arizona Diamondbacks @ Los Angeles Dodgers.

I’d say the three teams here that would benefit the most would be Boston, Philadelphia and Milwaukee. Milwaukee because they get away from those Cubbie faithful. Philly and Boston are winners because they get to play in front of their wild fan bases.

Now the Wild Card Scenarios. Again these would only take place should there be a tie.
Minnesota Twins @ Boston Red Sox
Milwaukee Brewers @ Philadelphia Phillies
Milwaukee Brewers @ Houston Astros
Houston Astros or St. Louis Cardinals @ Philadelphia Phillies
Houston Astros or Milwaukee Brewers @ St. Louis Cardinals

The Phillies are huge winners here as they would host any tie breaking game in front of their rabid fan base.

Villanueva has struggled all year long, currently sporting a 6.43 era. Even worse then that he’s given up 22 runs in his last 20 innings, including 8 homers. “I talked to Carlos and a 7, 7-plus ERA is not getting it done,” Yost said. “We have to find ways to get it done in certain spots.” One can understand why Villanueva was given the chance to start this year, in 6 starts in 2007 he had a 2.06 era in 35 innings. He has had mild success as a reliever with a 4.76 era in 79+ innings last season and almost a strikeout per inning. “He’s had success in the ‘pen. We’ll get him back in short stints.”, added Yost.

Like I said, I’m all about getting this kid some work, he’s only 24 and still has a chance to be a special pitcher in the league. But Seth McClung? I just can’t get by the fact that this guy is getting a chance to start again. Yes, he’s been very good in the ‘pen for the Brewers this year going 19 innings with a 3.79 era. But if you go back to his days as a Tampa Bay Ray, as a start he was just atrocious. Over 3 seasons, he compiled a 12-20 record with a 6.17 era in 37 starts. I don’t see whats improved so much that’s going to get this guy to look like a real big league pitcher. Regardless, his first start is tentatively scheduled for Saturday against the Washington Nationals.

With this decision, you’ve got to wonder what is Ned Yost doing? Could he really be throwing darts at the board, hoping someone catches fire and saves his job. He’s definitely managing for that right now, its pretty much obvious. They’ve got the talent but he’s just not getting this team to perform up to it. My call is Yost is unemployed at the end of the season, but the financially responsible Brewers won’t do it before the season is up. They won’t pay someone for doing nothing.

Here’s an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about this. Photo is courtesy of mlb.com

The role of the relief pitcher has truly become a what have you done for me lately, position. A pitcher can have a great season in the closer role, then start off with a struggle, get dealt or moved out of his role, and the talent never returns. Turnbow in 2005, was lights out, a money closer, showing the talent that could possibly make him an elite closer. He saved 39 games with a 1.74 era that season. Then comes 2006, he did save 24, but all of a sudden he was hittable, well not much more then the previous season, but the catch is those guys found their way home leaving him with a 6.87 era.

Now, he’s the Milwaukee Brewers mop-up reliever. With the off-season acquisitions it was known he’d drop in the bullpen pecking order. Eric Gagne, David Riske and Salomon Torres have all closed, and also had success in the role but much more recently then Turnbow. In the 2007 season, Turnbow was setting up for Francisco Cordero and was actually pretty successful, save the era, 4.63. But to be demoted all the way to a mop up role?? Not even Kyle Farnsworth has been treated that badly yet. But then again, Farnsworth doesn’t have the 15.63 era like Turnbow does so far.

A couple weeks ago, Turnbow and his agent, met with manager Ned Yost and Brewers officials to make it known he wasn’t happy with his role on the team. “I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother me,” Turnbow said “It bothers me a lot.” He does take the move in stride thou, and did take blame based on his performance. “You’ve got to earn your right every day you’re here to be in that set-up role. I’ve got to go out there and prove I’m worthy of doing it.” At that point, Turnbow did say he was told by Yost and GM Bob Melvin that he was wanted by the team.

Then again, that was a couple weeks ago. May 1st is when a lot of teams do start to evaluate their players, as the sampling of games has an increased, and could be a better indicator of what type of season the player will have. While this, isn’t completely accurate, it does give a GM an idea of how all the parts will fit. “We’ll talk about the team. The month is over now. We’ll take a look and see. I know he has struggled,” said Melvin.

Turnbow is currently out of minor league options, which would mean he’d have to clear waivers before he can join the AAA boys. He also has a right to refuse a minor league assignment. His salary plays a major role thou in both scenarios. His salary is $3.2 million which would make it highly unlikely any team would claim him off waivers. With that salary, its also unlikely he refuses a minor league stint, if he did that he’d forfeit that money.

Another possibility, an outright release.

If Sheets needs to visit the disabled list, which I wouldn’t be surprised about, I mean really its Ben Sheets then its a big blow to the rotation. Sheets is off to maybe his best start of his career, as he was 2-0 in 3 starts with a complete game shut out. Tallying 23 innings, 20 strikeouts and a 1.17 era in those starts. That era should drop under 1.00 after tonight’s 5 innings are factored in.

Should Sheets go on the DL, the only bright side would be that the team would be able to straight activate Yovani Gallardo instead of demoting or dropping someone from the rotation. I know not that great of a bright side since you’d lose your ace for at least 15 days, and knowing Sheets that could be 45.

Initially it didn’t seem so the team started the year by assigning a contract to superstar in the making, Prince Fielder. Granted the Brewers are still in the “we can pay you what we want” stage, but they gave Fielder only $670,000 instead of the $900k he was requesting. Not much of a difference there, especially for a player who can get you 50 homers a year. “Even the fans don’t want us to lock them up on a basis that doesn’t make sense,” Attanasio said. “What the fans have to understand is that the arbitration system, relative to control of players, favors the clubs their first six years. We’ve got control of these players for four and five more years now. … What fans don’t focus on is that they are going to have the young players here either which way.”

What Attanasio makes sense, Fielder can’t be a free agent till 2010 and Ryan Braun till 2014, so the team has leverage for many many seasons. Well the Brewers ARE looking to keep their players and more importantly keep them happy. The team has begun to give offers to their young guns beginning with these two players. The deals would buy out all 3-years of arbitration, each players first free agent season, and an option for the second season. How much money are we talking about in these offers?

Rotoworld.com reports that Fielder would get a 5-year deal with an option year, while Braun would be 6-years with an option. For Fielder it would take at least $50 million over that span, just by the benchmark that Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard set with $10 million in his first arbitration season. Braun its unsure how much he could make as he is still a few years away.

Braun’s has acknowledged the team made an offer to him. “It’s a tremendous honor, and it shows a lot of respect that they would even talk to me about something like that,” Braun said. “But that’s something for Nez. I’m very involved because I have a pretty good understanding of how it all works, but until it gets to the point where something is close to being done, I kind of stay out of it.” His deal should take quite a while to work on.

I’d have to say for Brewers fans, I’m glad your team is willing to spend the money, FINALLY! This is a team that is going to be in the playoff hunt for many years with this group. If they could get 1 or 2 more pitchers they could easily join the Major League elite teams. It’s that good of a team. With record attendance last year, and 3 million fans within reach this year the spending trend should continue

• San Diego Padres – Mark Prior – shoulder. Prior finally faced live hitters for the first time today. He threw around 25 pitches in batting practice, while throwing about 35 pitches in a bullpen session before that. His fastball was only in the low-80s. Yea I know low 80s, what the hell! But remember the Padres aren’t even considering putting him in game action before June, so he has at least 2 months to build up strength.
• Texas Rangers – Milton Bradley – knee surgery. Bradley is progressing just fine from off-season knee surgery and should open the season with the big leaguers. Bradley played in his second appearance in right but sixth game overall, going 2 for 3 with a homer. He’ll be with the team but don’t expect to see him in the outfield, he’ll most likely need to DH for a while first.
• Mariners – Brandon Morrow – sore shoulder. Morrow has been experiencing a sore shoulder for most of the spring and has struggled mightily in minor league games since returning. The Mariners are considering one of two options. A) starts the season on the DL B) starts the year in the minor leagues. Morrow will be the 8th inning guy thou once his healthy and accuracy has fully returned.
• Toronto Blue Jays – Matt Stairs – sore hip. Stairs has been struggling with soreness in his hip this spring and because of that has only played in minor league games. The good news he’s getting in his work and his swings, downside the pain might still be to much to handle. The only reason he’s been playing in the minors is in case the Jays decide to give him some more healing time and place him on the disabled list. If he goes on the DL it would be backdated quite a bit since he’s been playing with the farm boys.
• Toronto Blue Jays – BJ Ryan – Tommy John surgery. General manager J.P. Ricciardi says BJ Ryan will get to start throwing off a mound sometime next week. He’ll undoubtedly be starting the season on the disabled list but the team somehow expects him to join the club in mid-April. “I think we’ll get Ryan back sooner rather than later,” Ricciardi surmised yesterday. I wouldn’t be surprised if its more of late-April, early-May but we’ll see. In the meantime, Jeremy Accardo will occupy the closing duties till he’s back.
• New York Yankees – Andy Pettitte – back spasms. Daily update number 15,583 for Andy Pettitte. This will be the last time I update on him unless there is a setback. Pettitte is now officially scheduled to start Sunday in a minor league game. That puts him in position to start the fourth game of the season. That would also mean Philip Hughes would likely take his start against the Blue Jays in the #2 spot.
• Milwaukee Brewers – J.J. Hardy – bacterial infection. Hardy missed the last 10 days of action due to a bacterial infection. He rejoined the lineup today and went 2 for 2 with 2 rbis. Not a bad return. Expect him to be in the lineup, Opening Day.
• Milwaukee Brewers – Chris Capuano – damaged ligament in left elbow. Capuano underwent a second opinion on his injured elbow from Dr. James Andrews. After the consultation, Capuano decided NOT to undergo Tommy John surgery. He’ll rest for about a month or so, then work on making a comeback. If there is any pain once he starts working out again then surgery is definitely on the table.
• Chicago Cubs – Scott Eyre – sore left elbow. Eyre was officially placed on the 15-day DL today because of his sore elbow. The move is retroactive to March 22nd. He’ll take time to rest and should miss the first week or so of the season. In the meantime, Sean Marshall will probably take his bullpen spot.
• Atlanta Braves – John Smoltz – sore shoulder. Same deal as Pettitte, barring any setbacks this is the last update about his current problems. Smoltz threw for 20 minutes in the bullpen today and felt great afterwards. “I got everything accomplished that I wanted to,” Smoltz said of today’s session. “It went really well. It was great. It was the best day I’ve had down here.” Smoltz is still starting on the DL but will make his first start on April 6th against Johan Santana and the New York Mets.
• Philadelphia Phillies – Mike Zagurski – Tommy John surgery. Zagurski also went for a second opinion on his elbow but has decided to go for the surgery. He’ll be visiting Dr Andrews down in Birmingham, AL to undergo the surgery at some point within the next 10 days. His goal is to be back for the start of spring training in 2009.
• Minnesota Twins – Carlos Gomez – left leg cramps. Gomez was scratched from today’s lineup due to continued soreness in his left leg. The injury is still considered very minor and the Twins just wanted to give him some extra rest. He should be able to go Friday.
• Minnesota Twins – Jesse Crain – shoulder surgery. Crain will be starting the regular season with the Twins. He’s pitched 5 innings this season with a 1.80 era. He’ll be held back this April, pitching coach Rick Anderson said he will not be used in back to back games for at least one month.
• Tampa Bay Rays – Willy Aybar – hamstring. Aybar is still experiencing problems with his injured hamstring and still not playing in games. He’s only got 28 at bats this season, and to get him some more the team is going to have to use him in minor league games this weekend. He should still be ready for Opening Day thou. “I still believe he’s going to be fine to play in that game,” Rays coach Maddon said. “I’m not hearing anything that leads me to believe that he won’t be.” Hows that for irony, star prospect Evan Longoria, who had a very good spring was sent down to the minors and now his replacement hasn’t even been able to play. Great move by the Rays demote the hot hitting prospect for a guy who’s going to start off pretty cold all to save a dollar.
• Florida Marlins – Jeremy Hermida – tight left hamstring. Hermida played DH today in a minor league game. He hasn’t played in a MLB game since March 15th due to the hamstring injury. The Marlins will place him on the DL retroactive to that date so in all he’ll only miss 4 games, 5 tops. “Worst-case scenario (Hermida could miss) the first four games of the season,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

It will be a late night at work tonight, so if there are any injury updates in the night games, I’ll post them. Look out for tomorrow’s MLB Predictions. I’ll give my predicted records, LCS and World Series winners, as well as MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager Awards then.

• San Francisco Giants – Kevin Frandsen – Ruptured Achilles tendon. This is an unfortunate injury that will cost Frandsen the entire baseball season. Surgery is needed but has not been scheduled yet. He’s expected to be on crutches for around two months after he does have the surgery. Eugneio Velez should take over his backup role
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Scot Shields – Inflamed forearm. An MRI revealed no ligament damage which is a good thing. He’s still expected to start the season on the disabled list. He pretty much just needs to stay behind in extended spring training to get some more action in before facing major leaguers. “He’ll need to pitch and to work out some things, and he can do that better in camp games,” Scioscia said. “If we back-date a DL stint, he’d only miss the first six or seven games. It’s worth the price to pay short term, rather than risk a month or two of the season because he’s doing something he’s not ready for.”
• Kansas City Royals – Hideo Nomo – pulled groin. Nomo pulled his groin in a start Tuesday against the San Diego Padres. He’s now expected to start the season in the minors as he won’t be ready to pitch come opening day. He was already a long shot to make the roster thou.
• Chicago Cubs – Mark DeRosa – sinusitis. This guy has had one rough spring. First an irregular heartbeat, then the flu, now he’s missing game due to sinusitis. The good news for him thou is that the team has finally decided to break off negotiations with the Baltimore Orioles’ about Brian Roberts. His job as the starting second baseman is safe.
• San Diego Padres – Jim Edmonds – strained right calf. Edmonds feels his strained right calf is finally healed enough to at least attempt game action. He’s been running and working out on the side. He will test the calf out this upcoming week in minor league games. He’s still expected to start the season on the DL, just to get in his at-bats.
• Milwaukee Brewers – Yovani Gallardo – knee surgery. Gallardo made his second minor league start today in his recovery from arhroscopic knee surgery. He went three innings giving up one hit and a walk, but no runs. He’s expected to re-join the team in mid-April after a brief DL stint as he is working on strengthening that knee.
• Texas Rangers – Luis Mendoza – finger blister. Mendoza will start the season on the DL because of the blister. This injury really doesn’t affect the rotation thou as he’s the fifth starter and won’t be needed till April 12th. This is more just to get an extra reliever on the Rangers roster during that time. Mendoza will start on the 12th when needed
• Minnesota Twins – Carlos Gomez – left hamstring cramping. The injury isn’t as severe as originally thought. During today’s game, Gomez came up lame after going to the left-center field gap to make a play. The way it looked, it seemed like a strained or pull but luckily it was just cramping. He’ll be considered day-to-day as the team will take it easy with their starting center fielder since this is the hamstring that caused him to miss a few games last season.
• New York Mets – Moises Alou – hernia surgery. Alou showed up at training camp today for the first time since having hernia surgery on March 6th. The recovery time is 4 to 6 weeks, and Alou is hopping to be cleared to at least start jogging shortly. He’s definitely starting the season on the DL with an estimated return of late April, early May.
• Mets – Ramon Castro – strained hamstring. Castro hasn’t played in a game since March 16th and may need to start the season on the DL now. He recently suffered a setback in his recovery efforts.
• New York Yankees – Sean Henn – shoulder tendinitis. Unfortunately for Henn, he’s a victim of the numbers games. Henn is out of options and recently lost his left-handed specialist job to Billy Traber. Due to that, he’ll start the season on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. It’s been a while since he’s pitched in a major league spring training game so the Yankees were at least able to back date this and he could return April 5th. Henn pitched in a minor league game this afternoon and experienced no problems.
• New York Yankees – Brett Gardner – split lip. Gardner suffered a split lip today after foul ball bounced back up and hit him in his mouth. He went to see a dentist after the game, this is clearly a day-to-day injury. Gardner may open the season with the big boys if Melky Cabrera serves out his suspension to start the season.
• New York Yankees – Johnny Damon – flu. Damon was scratched from today’s game due to the flu, he’ll most likely miss another day or two with it. Maybe its a good thing, it will leave him well rested for Opening Day in the Bronx.
• New York Yankees – Andy Pettitte – back spasms. And now the daily Pettitte update. Pettitte had a 10-minute bullpen session today throwing 36 pitches and is now fully on target to pitch in the 4th or 5th game of the season. “It makes me feel good that I got through that and I felt good,” Pettitte said. “I could just tell that I felt a whole lot better this morning when I woke up. It loosened up nice for me.”

That is tonights update. It’s still relatively early in the evening almost 9pm. If there’s enough updates then I’ll send out a Part 2 around midnight.