Ok, let's start off with the news of the day: The Brewers got through their first intrasquad game yesterday, a 2-1 victory and tough loss for the Brewers, and there appear to be positive feelings all around coming from it. In Adam McCalvy's notes today, he points out that Mike Rivera gunned down a baserunner during his time behind the plate. Mark him down as the early frontrunner for backup catcher.
If you'd like to see the alternative, the White Sox played a 4-inning intrasquad game yesterday, which featured an apparent lack of pitching, a general manager shouting at a star player for not running out a single, and a player leaving with a "tweaked" groin.
As noted in the comments yesterday, MILB.com has their Brewer season preview up.
If I listed these links from most to least cryptic, this post over at Al's Ramblings would've led off today.
Now, on to injuries:
The Rays are holding their breath today with the news that Scott Kazmir is undergoing a precautionary MRI to investigate some elbow stiffness. ESPN.com says he's out 2 weeks. Rays Anatomy says he'll likely miss Opening Day. If he hasn't had the MRI yet, how do they know?
Mark DeRosa is expected back in Cubs camp next week.
Baseball Digest Daily notes that Omar Vizquel is going to need to have his knee scoped and is out 4-6 weeks. They also note that Rangers SP Brandon McCarthy has been shut down after experiencing elbow soreness.
Other reads of note:
The high school in Oakland that produced Jimmy Rollins and Dontrelle Willis is shutting down its athletic programs in the face of a budget crisis. This seems like an obvious question, but it's nowhere to be found in the post: Has anyone called Jimmy Rollins and Dontrelle Willis?
Dayn Perry says the 2007 Cardinals overachieved and the 2008 Cardinals could be worse. He slides on some trash talk about the NL Central.
No job offers today, since the Orioles already hired a 27-year-old to be their director of baseball operations.
But, if you're looking for something to do, there is baseball on in a couple of hours.
That's all for today. Drink up.
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