McCann Ccores $27.8 Million Contract Extension

Brian McCann agreed to the terms of a six-year $27.8 million contract late Thursday morning. With this contract, McCann will be playing for the Atlanta Braves through the year 2012 with the option of playing through 2013. B.B. Abbott, McCann's agent, said there were escalators that could not take the value of the contract to $29.8 million. With that, the Braves presented the 23-year-old catcher the most money ever included in a contract extention given to a player with less then two years of service.

Lee Starts Season of DL

Left-hander, Cliff Lee, will begin the '07 season on the Indians Disabled List. Head athletic trainer Lonnie Soloff said it should take four to six weeks for Lee to be able to get back on the mound. The strained right abdominal muscle that has kept Lee off the mound the past week and a half has not eased up enough for him to resume throwing. Right-handers Fausto Carmona, Adam Miller and Brian Slocum will be evaluated as potential fifth starters for the remainder of camp.

On to lighter things, Spring training is JUST around the corner! Make sure you get your tickets fast!

Daisuke Matsuzaka's first pitch for the Red Sox

Tonight, around 6:05pm ET, Matsuzaka will make the first pitch for the Boston Red Sox. The game between the Sox and Boston College will take place at City of Palms Park. Even thought the pitch is an unofficial pitch and the game doesn't even count in the Grapefruit League standings, it has seemed to get many people hyped up.

There has been so much talk since December of '06 about how good Matsuzaka really is and tonight everyone will get to see a glimpse into what he holds for the Red Sox's future.

1931 Homestead Greys are Number 1

The first impressionable thing about the '31 Greys is the roster itself.
Oscar Charleston ... Hall of Famer
Jud "Boojum" Wilson ... Hall of Famer
Smokey Joe Williams ... Hall of Famer
Willie Foster ... Hall of Famer
Josh Gibson ... Hall of Famer

Every single one of them, a Hall of Famer. Cumberland Posey knew he was going to have to spend if he wanted to get America on his side. With America deep into a Depression, the baseball market was filled with players to be bought or sold. Posey needed to keep up with Gus Greenlee who had also had some amazing talent on the Crawfords at the time.

"Playing an independent schedule, the Grays took on all opponents. They barnstormed against independent white teams, semipro black teams, coalminer teams, steelworker teams and Negro League teams. No team matched Posey's Greys.

Those men were playing for their livelihoods. Their play brought them greatness along with their paycheck." - MLB.com

1935 Crawfords Rank #2

People thought the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords might have been the best team money could buy. Gus Greenlee, who owned the team, did not spend lavishly to place the best ballplayers in a Crawfords uniform. With Hall of Famers all over the roster, people still debate whether they are worthy on the #1 position.

The Crawfords dominated. According to league stats originally published by the historian John Holway, Bell batted .341, Bill Perkins hit .337, Sam Bankhead .336, Charleston .309 and Gibson .304 while leading the league in home runs and steals.

1942 Kansas City Named 3rd Best

In 1942, just before World War II and integration would suffocate the talent in the Negro Leagues, J.L. Wilkinson assembled the best Kansas City Monarchs team in the history of the franchise. The '42 Monarchs had three future Hall of Famers and six All-Stars.

That same year the Negro Leagues World Series returned after a 15-year absence, which gave the leagues their first true champion since 1927. Wilkinson's Monarchs played Cum Posey's Homestead Grays in a best-of-seven series.

The Monarchs won, 9-5, and swept a Series in which they were only supposed to win "a game or so."

ABC's named 4th Best in History

With the start off of this years Black History Month, MLB is naming the best Negro League Baseball teams in history. Ranking in at #4 is the 1916 Indianapolis ABCs. Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants dominated the Western Black Baseball Division from 1910-15, but the team met its definately met its match in the year, 1916. That was when the Indianapolis ABCs defeated the Giants in five games to win the division title. Indianapolis outscored Chicago, 33-15, in the series. It was a complete turn-around for the ABC's who lost to the Giants the year before. Managed by C.I. Taylor, Foster's equal during the era, the ABCs were 43-23-2 in 1916. They were said to be the most fundamentally sound team in baseball history. Instead of relying on the long ball, they preferred small ball to win games.


Ranking in at #5 would be the 1943 Homestead Grays.

More information coming on the top 5 teams.

Diversity in MLB remains priority

Commissioner Bud Selig has worked 14 years to better integrate and diversify MLB.
Black History month is kicking off this year, and it is clear that baseball has made several advances in diversity. MLB has many inroads, some of which will be on display this season, including the one-year anniversary of the opening of MLB's first baseball academy in inner-city Los Angeles, the first Civil Rights Game this March 31 in Memphis, and the 60th anniversary celebration on April 15, the day Jackie Robinson broke the Major League color barrier.
While Black History Month is celebrated only in February, baseball's efforts to diversify are year-round. On March 31, the Civil Rights Game will be played in Memphis, the city in which Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. That exhibition game will be played by the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians.

Yankee Stadium to host 2008 All-Star game

Yankee Stadium will be closed at the conclusion of the 2008 season, but not before it's given a fitting send-off. The 2008 Midsummer Classic will be the second All-Star Game played at the 85-year-old facility since it was renovated, as the 1977 game was also played there. The 1939 game and one of the two played in 1960 were held in the original edifice.
The original stadium was torn down, rebuilt on the same frame and reopened in 1976. The new Yankee Stadium, to be built across the street, is slated to open in 2009.

Many old memories, and hopefully some new ones to come when the new stadium opens.

Weaver signs new deal

Jeff Weaver, who helped the St. Louis Cardinals win a world series last season, is starting off fresh with the Mariners this year. The 30-year-old signed a one-year contract worth $8.325 million with an additional $1 million in incentives on Monday.
The Cardinals did offer Weaver a new two-year contract but he refused to take it. He will earn more in Seattle then he will in St. Louis.

Schilling Chooses To Pitch for '08

It was rumored last week that the right-handed ace was to be a U.S. Senate candidate in Massachusetts.
On the Boston-based WEEI-AM radio station he stated he planed on pitching for the '08 season. Schilling also stated that he hopes his deal with the Red Sox can be sorted out before Spring training starts for '07.

I guess American politics are just doing to have to wait.

MLB Releases Master 2007 Schedule

The first game of the 2007 regular season will be on April 1. It will be a rematch at Busch Stadium between the Cardinals and Mets, who gave fans a postseason classic when they last met for Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.
The last game of the 2007 regular season will be between the Giants and the Dodgers on September 30th.
There at 2,430 games lined up for this year. Get ready for spring training, its definitely on its way soon!

Who will make a comeback?

Will it be Sosa, Gagne, or Gonzo?


The Rangers are hoping to get lucky, because they believe Sammy Sosa is hungry and eager to prove himself this year. The Rangers made a year-long deal earlier this month with Sosa and are hoping many great things will come from him this year.


Texas believes that closer, Eric Gagne, is healthy and over the back and elbow problems that limited him to just 16 games and nine saves over the past two seasons with the Dodgers. They are hoping he is ready to play for gold this year.


Now Los Angeles is hoping that Luis Gonzalez will give the Dodgers a similar boost. He had elbow surgery in 2004 and hasn't been the same run producer since then, driving in 79 runs in 2005 and 73 in 2006. The Dodgers still think that there's something left in Gonzo's bat.

Surgery takes Podsednik out 6-8 Weeks

Scott Podsednik underwent sports hernia surgery Tuesday to repair an injury originally suffered four years ago when he was with Milwaukee and will be out of action for approximately six to eight weeks. The injury resurfaced recently when Podsednik put his workouts into high gear as most players do with Spring Training moving closer.

Podsednik is a left fielder and leadoff hitter for the White Sox. In order to help compensate for Podsednik's loss and add another productive bat to the outfield mix, Darin Erstad will be joining the White Sox on a one-year deal with an option for the 2008 season.

Utley receives $85M Extension

A day after saying "I do" to his new wife, Chase Utley agrees to a seven-year $85M dollar(wow) contract to stay with the Phillies until 2013. Specifics on the contract have yet to be announced but the deal is supposed to average around $12.14 million each season.

D-Backs and Davis make a deal.

The Arizona Diamondbacks came to a deal on Thursday night with southpaw, Doug Davis. Davis, along with pitcher Dana Eveland and outfielder Dave Krynzel, was part of a six-player deal with Brewers in November in exchange for catcher Johnny Estrada, pitcher Claudio Vargas and reliever Greg Aquino. He asked for $7.5 million from the D-Backs but they only offered him $5.25 million in return, which is still a great increase from what he made the previous year, $3.6 million. Davis will fill the No. 4 spot in the rotation behind 2006 National League Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb, Randy Johnson and Livan Hernandez.

Sosa and Rangers make agreement.

Its official, Sammy Sosa is coming back to the Rangers. The two sides reached an agreement earlier this week. Jon Daniels and agent Adam Katz are still trying to work out the final details. There should be a formal announcement within the next couple of days. Sosa is expected to come in to camp on a $500,000 incentive-laden Minor League contract in an attempt to show the Rangers he can be their full-time designated hitter and occasional outfielder.

Rangers offer contract to Sosa

Sammy Sosa was offered a Minor League contract by the Rangers for a one-year, $500,000 dollar offer that includes significant incentives. The Rangers are waiting on a response from Sosa's agent, Adam Katz, and are hoping to have a deal by the end of this week. Sosa, who has worked out for the Rangers both in the Dominican Republic and Arlington, did not play in 2006. Texas is looking at him as a possible right-handed designated hitter/outfielder.

Bonds Fails Drug Test

Barry Bonds, of the Giants, failed a drug test under Major League Baseball's amphetamine policy last season. The Daily News, quoting several sources, said that Bonds tested positive and then initially blamed the results on a substance he used that he found in the locker of teammate Mark Sweeney. In a statement released on Thursday night, Bonds said he did not receive amphetamines from Sweeney. Bonds, who with 734 career home runs is just 21 shy of Hank Aaron's Major League record of 755, is still under investigation for allegedly committing perjury before a grand jury in 2003 that was investigating a federal break-in at the headquarters of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). During the hearing, Bonds reportedly told the grand jury that he had never knowingly used steroids.

I think he is trying to hide something...

D-Backs come to Agreement

The D-backs have reached agreement on a two-year contract with Randy Johnson, leaving only a physical and a review of his medical records standing in the way of him officially rejoining the team.
According to The Associated Press, the two-year deal is worth $26 million.
Johnson's new deal calls for a $12 million signing bonus, of which $3.5 million is payable this year, $500,000 in 2008 and $4 million each in 2009 and 2010, a baseball official with knowledge of the negotiations told The AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the terms weren't disclosed in Sunday's announcement. Johnson gets salaries of $4 million this year and $10 million in 2008. As part of the trade, the Yankees would pay $2 million of Johnson's salary this year. That means Arizona would be responsible for $24 million: $5.5 million this year, $10.5 million in 2008 and $4 million each in 2009 and 2010.
On Thursday, the D-backs and Yankees agreed on a trade that would send Johnson and $2 million to Arizona in exchange for reliever Luis Vizcaino and Minor Leaguers Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson and Alberto Gonzalez.
Johnson was owed $16 million this year in the final season of his January 2005 contract with the Yankees, a deal that called for $1.5 million to be deferred without interest until 2010.
Because of the cash involved(insane amount if you ask me), Commissioner Bud Selig must approve the trade.

Johnson going back to Arizona?

The D-backs and Yankees have agreed on a deal that would send Randy Johnson back to Arizona.
The D-backs are likely to be granted a 72-hour window today to begin negotiations with Johnson on an extension that would keep him in Arizona through the 2008 season because he has expressed a desire to pitch closer to his Phoenix-area home, and indications are that the two sides would be able to reach an agreement on an extension.
Once that happens, Johnson, who underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back following the 2006 season, would have to undergo a physical and the D-backs would review his medical file.
The D-backs will send veteran reliever Luis Vizcaino and a pitching prospect in exchange for Johnson. It's believed that the Yankees will include some money in the deal to help Arizona defray the cost of Johnson's $16 million salary for 2007.
The D-backs would rather part with Vizcaino than young reliever Brandon Medders because the 32-year-old Vizcaino is set for a raise from the $1.7 million he made last year and he is one year away from becoming a free agent.
The Yankees, who have not commented on the potential deal, are willing to trade Johnson because they have a surplus of starting pitchers and would like to continue to restock their farm system with pitching prospects.
Johnson was originally dealt to the Yankees from the D-backs after the 2004 season. In two years with the Yankees, he is 34-19 with a 4.37 ERA.