Mark "The Bird" Fidrych passes away at 54

On the same day that legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas passed away, Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark "The Bird" Fidrych died at 54 yesterday. He was found by a family friend as he was working underneath his truck.

"We were just, in general, getting started for the [road building] season this week and it seems as though his truck was going to be needed. It looked like he was doing some maintenance on it," Amorello said in a telephone interview. "I found him under the truck. There's not much more I can say. I dialed 911 and that's all I could do."

Fidrych, one of the most colorful pitchers on the mound, had his career cut short due to injuries.

Despite his colorful personality on the field, it wasn't an act. He just had a zest for life.

"He was very genuine. It was not an act," Trammell said. "He never changed. He liked to have a good time. You'd go over his house and he'd make dinner. That's the type of guy he was."

He won the A.L. Rookie of the Year award in 1976 and finished that season with a 19-9 record, 2.34 ERA and 24 complete games.

It's been a tragic week in baseball with the passing of Nick Adenhart, Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych. May they all rest in peace.

Did Schoeneweis about steroid tests ahead of time?

Did Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Scott Schoeneweis, former player union rep who took steroids, know when drug tests would be administered?

According to a report in the New York Times, via Arizona Republic, Schoeneweis was quoted as saying "he knew when tests were going to occur."

However, Schoeneweis says he was misquoted and that he meant that he only knew tests were coming in 2003 - not when specific tests would be administered.

The one thing I know is I no longer know what to believe any more about the whole steroids era. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if he abused his powers as player rep considering he cheated the game by using steroids.

Could Peavy end up in Milwaukee?

Per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, he wouldn't be surprised if the Milwaukee Brewers, who traded for C.C. Sabathia last off-season, make a push for Padres ace Jake Peavy.

Peavy has a full no-trade clause in his contract until 2010. After that he'll have the ability to veto trades from certain teams.

Like last year, the Brewers will have a strong offense led by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. However, to compete for the N.L. Central crown, they will most likely need pitching help.

With the exception of 2006, Peavy has had a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the past five seasons.

It's unlikely that Peavy ends up in Milwaukee, but I would be surprised if he's pitching in San Diego in September. Unless he's the road pitcher.

Brandon Webb placed on DL

Arizona Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb was hoping to make his first start of the season last night.

Instead, he landed on the 15-day disabled list. The good news is there is no structural damage.

“No, there’s no concern,” he said. “The MRIs are all good. If there’s no structural damage, there’s nothing to worry about. All that stuff’s good. We’ve got some fluid in there, I think, that Dr. (Michael) Lee said might not be allowing me to have my full range of motion. That might be part of it. We’re looking to get that down and hopefully it will get better quickly.”

The move is retroactive to Tuesday, which means that Webb could make his next start on April 22nd if all goes well.

In his place, Yusmeiro Petit started last night and is expected to remain in the rotation until Webb returns. The D'Backs lost 11-2, but Petit only surrendered three hits and two walks in five innings pitched.

Manager Bob Melvin says it's better to be safe than sorry with their ace this early in the season.

"Early in the season, we can't be too careful with a guy like that," Melvin said.

This is only the second DL stint in Webb's career. The other time was in 2003.

C.C. Sabathia dominant in second outing

New York Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia, who was signed in the off-season to the mega $161 million contract, struggled in his first start on Opening Day in Baltimore.

And before you knew it, everyone forgot that Major League Baseball plays more than a one-game regular season.

Yesterday, Sabathia got his second start of the season and what a difference a start made!

Sabathia, who gave up six runs and struck out as many batters as I did from my living room on Opening Day, pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings and struck out six batters for his first win of the season against the Kansas City Royals yesterday.

“You call for the slider and changeup, but he’s a fastball pitcher,” [catcher Jorge] Posada said. “We need him to establish his fastball in and out, and he did that.”

Granted, it was against the Royals, but Sabathia won't be the bust that all of the naysayers purported he'd be after his first outing.

Geovany Soto could avoid DL

Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, who hurt his shoulder on Tuesday, is feeling better each day and is likely to avoid landing on the disabled list.

''[The team doctor] expects him to be ready in a few days,'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''If it's too long, we can't continue to carry one catcher. So we'll just have to wait and see how he responds to rehab and the medication.''

The soonest (although not likely) return for Soto would be Sunday. However, Soto wouldn't comment on when he might return.

''I don't know. I just play ball. I'm not a doctor,'' Soto said of a timeline for his return. ''I just want to get in there as fast as I can. And I trust my doctors and trainers in the organization.''

In Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues, the Cubs' all-star catcher was (on average) the fourth catcher selected behind Russell Martin, Brian McCann and Joe Mauer with an average draft position of 55.7.

In 2008, Soto hit .285, 23 homeruns and drove in 86 runs.

Ichiro to return soon?

Seattle Mariners rightfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who has started the season on the DL with a bleeding ulcer, went 5-for-10 yesterday in an intra-squad game.

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said that Ichiro might play some outfield on Saturday.

"We're going to see how he feels in the morning," Wakamatsu said prior to Seattle's game against Oakland, "and he might play some outfield tomorrow. We expect him to be on a plane on Sunday going to Seattle and he would join the team for Monday's workout."

The M's have their home opener on Tuesday, but the soonest that Ichiro would be activated is Wednesday.

Endy Chavez has led off with Ichiro on the DL and hit well (9 hits in 22 ABs).

Why D'Backs withdrew offer to Webb

Last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks had offered ace pitcher Brandon Webb a three-year deal worth $54 million. And then the D'Backs withdrew their offer to Webb.

At the time the offer was withdrawn, neither Webb nor the team indicated the reason.

However, the Arizona Republic, via Foxsports.com, is reporting that the team withdrew the offer due to the inability to secure insurance. The insurance company "expressed concerns about the right-hander's arm."

Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes wouldn't discuss the report with the Arizona Republic.

"When it comes to details pertaining to negotiations, it's not something I want to talk about on or off the record."

"In the short term," Byrnes continued, "we will continue to monitor Brandon's (health) status and I believe he will be back on the mound shortly. We'll keep everyone notified of that, but talking about his contract or any negotiations is not something we want to talk about."

Webb, who will miss his Saturday start due to stiffness in his shoulder, is under contract for this year and the team has an option for 2010.

Greg Maddux to have number retired by Braves

Greg Maddux will have his number (31) retired by the Atlanta Braves on July 17th.

From 1992 to 1998, Maddux was a dominant as any pitcher (perhaps ever). His highest ERA during that seven-year span was 2.72. And that season (1996) was significantly higher than the other six seasons. His second-worst ERA during that span was 2.36.

In his career, Maddux won four consecutive Cy Young awards (1992-1995) and eighteen Gold Glove awards.

Maddux, who played with the Cubs, Braves, Dodgers and Padres, finished his career with a 355-227 record, 3,371 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.16.

Could A-Rod be back this month?

Excluding his hip injury, New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez had a horrible off-season. And the superlative "horrible" was probably an understatement.

There was the Yankee Years book by Joe Torre that referred to him as A-Fraud, the leaked report about his steroid usage and then the link to the Manhattan Madame.

After the steroid scandal, which was close to spring training, A-Rod talked about how he was looking forward to the escape and diversion of just playing baseball.

Instead, he injured his hip and underwent surgery on it on March 9th. The initial prognosis was that he would miss six to nine weeks.

A-Rod "feels 70 percent" and there is a chance that he could be back on the field by the end of this month.

"Everything is going well," Cashman said. "He's working extremely hard. Everything is going as planned."

Rodriguez is a career .306 hitter with 553 homeruns, 1606 runs batted in and stole 283 bases.

Rockies name Huston Street as closer

Today the Colorado Rockies named Huston Street as their closer over Manny Corpas.

“This is what I came to camp to accomplish and it’s a role I feel comfortable with. There is a lot of responsibility that goes along with it,” Street said. “My teammates should expect me to not only get the job done but be prepared to get the job done. That’s what I spent the whole offseason doing. I feel like this is just the beginning.”

The Rockies acquired Street in the trade that sent outfielder Matt Holliday to Oakland.

Street has pitched well in his last eight outings (only five hits allowed). However, he has an ERA of 5.23 this spring.

Chris Carpenter scratched from last start

Over the past couple of seasons, St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter has battled serious injuries.

Scheduled to make a start this Friday, Carpenter has been scratched due to soreness in his calf. But it appears to only be a cautionary move.

“He could pitch if it was the regular season,” manager Tony La Russa said. “But we don’t need to push."

Carpenter has pitched extremely well throughout spring training. Through 23 2/3 innings pitched, Carpenter has an ERA of 1.52 and a 2-1 record.

In 2008, Carpenter had an ERA of 1.76, but he made only three starts and pitched only 15 1/3 innings.

Brett Gardner named Yankees starting CF

Bill Madden of the NY Daily News might have wrote about New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter eventually making the transition from shortstop to centerfield to make way for prospect Ramiro Pena. However, 2009 starting centerfielder was named yesterday.

The New York Yankees named Brett Gardner as their starting centerfielder. He beat out Melky Cabrera, who will remain on the regular-season roster in a reserve role.

"Right now I think Gardie has a little bit of the edge," Girardi said after the Yankees beat the Pirates 9-8. "He brings a little more speed to the lineup."

He was hitting .385 this spring with five stolen bases in 22 games. Last year, he was 13 of 14 on his stolen base attempts.

Derek Jeter to move to centerfield?

The New York Yankees are moving Derek Jeter from second to leadoff in the batting order. Per Bill Madden of the Daily News, Jeter may be making another move in the relatively near future.

Jeter, who has decreased range at shortstop, may be moved to centerfield at some point due to the emergence of 23-year-old prospect Ramiro Pena, who's likely to play 3B until A-Rod returns.

"Best looking young shortstop I've seen in a couple of years," said one National League scout.

"When I first saw him three years ago, you could knock the bat out of his hands," said one veteran scout whose primary assignment is in the minor leagues. "But he was a magician with the glove and that made him someone to keep an eye on. Now that he's gained a little weight, put on a little muscle, he's no longer an ‘out.' He can handle the bat. I always felt his glove would get him to the big leagues, but now I can see him as an everyday shortstop."

Madden argues that Pena will likely spend some time in the big leagues and minors in 2009, but could become the everyday shortstop in 2010. At which point, Jeter would move to CF.

Cubs go with Gregg over Marmol

Per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Cubs have named Kevin Gregg as their closer over Carlos Marmol.

During the past two seasons, Gregg was the Marlins closer. He saved 32 games in 2007 and 29 games in 2008. Last year, Gregg also blew nine save opportunities.

As the set-up man to Kerry Wood last season, Marmol saved seven games and was credited with 30 holds.

Marmol is likely the team's closer of the future, but will remain the set-up man for now.