News & Notes
-Boston is closing in on a four year, $70 million extension with Josh Beckett, according to SI.com’s Jon Heyman. Boston is refusing to offer Beckett a 5th year like they offered John Lackey, but will have both under contract at about the same pay through the 2014 season. Will their values last the duration of their deals? I’m going to go with no based on their injury histories, but I’d like to hear what you have to say.
-In an expected move, Mets SS Jose Reyes will start the season on the DL but will likely only miss the first week of the season. The greatest risk Reyes has of missing time is with his hamstring, which he says feels great. It will be interesting how Reyes is used when he returns, since Manager Jerry Manuel wanted to bat him third in the order before Reyes’ thyroid scare. Jon Niese is third in the Mets rotation; Oliver Perez is 5th. Good to see New York finally viewing Perez for what he really is.
-Huston Street experienced a setback with his injured shoulder and has been shut down indefinitely, according to Troy Renck. Franklin Morales is expected to close in his stead with Rafael Betancourt likely the next option. Manny Corpas is on thin ice with the Rockies after an abysmal Spring and barely made the team. In retrospect, Colorado’s November 2008 trade of Matt Holliday to Oakland for Street, starting OF Carlos Gonzalez and back end starter Greg Smith turned out fairly well.
-Seattle was unable to bring Jarrod Washburn aboard as a stopgap starting pitcher as Cliff Lee begins the 2010 campaign on the DL. The Mariners will settle for a combination of Ryan Rowland-Smith, Ian Snell, Doug Fister and Jason Vargas. The money that Washburn wanted during the offseason ultimately went to Erik Bedard, which is one of Jack Zduriencik’s only mistakes of the winter.
-Phil Hughes will make his first start on April 15, and the media will be speculating every day until his first pitch. We’ll see if the Yankees pushed the right buttons when it comes to their young starters.
-1B prospect Kila Ka’aihue is among the final Royals cuts, but I expect him to be up this year mashing in the middle of the Kansas City order.
-Steve Phillips is joining AOL FanHouse as an analyst.