Before tonight’s game with the Boston Red Sox, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim paid tribute to their pitcher Nick Adenhart and his friends Courtney Stewart and Henry Nigel Pearson. Their friend Jon Wilhite remains in critical condition at the hospital.
Here is the video of the pregame ceremonies:
[flash http://ianbethune.com/adenhart.FLV w=416 h=279]
video courtesy of NESN
According to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, the Boston Red Sox have signed free agent pitcher Rocky Cherry to a minor league contract.
Cherry was taken by the New York Mets in the Rule 5 Draft from the Baltimore Orioles. Cherry was offered back to the Orioles on March 17th but they didn’t want him so the Mets released him.
Cherry is expected to provide depth for the Red Sox in Pawtucket.
Cherry lands in AL East [Surfing The Mets]
Manny Ramirez: This has to be one of the strangest interviews I’ve ever heard. It’s between Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Vic The Brick from KLAC in Los Angeles. [Sports Radio Interviews]
According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the Boston Red Sox and Jon Lester have agreed to a 5-year, $30 million extension with a team option for 2014. The deal buys out all of Lester’s arbitration years and first two years of free agency.
Next up for Lester is passing a physical on Tuesday to make the deal official. Lester had been the last player that the Red Sox had not signed for 2009.
In 60 games (59 starts), Lester is 27-8 with a 3.81 ERA. In 354 2/3 innings, Lester has 262 strikeouts and has issued 140 walks. In 31 games at Fenway (30 starts), Lester is 16-2 with a 3.30 ERA.
Lester joins teammates Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis who were both signed to long-term extensions by the club.
Baseball America released it’s 20th annual Top 100 Prospects today with Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters leading the way. David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays was second and Colby Rasmus of the St. Louis Cardinals was third.
For the Boston Red Sox, Lars Anderson was listed as the top prospect coming in at No. 17 overall. Also joining Anderson on the list were Michael Bowden (83) and Daniel Bard (98).
Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: 1-20
Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: No. 21-40
Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: No. 41-60
Back in 2007, the Seattle Mariners gave Ken Griffey a framed photo of Safeco Field, which he helped build in a way after spending 11 seasons in Seattle.
Now after being traded away from there in 2000, Griffey is returning home to Seattle making good on a promise of “retiring as Mariner” as it was announced that Griffey had signed a 1-year deal worth $2 million plus incentives. Griffey was also considering playing for the Atlanta Braves but ultimately decided on his former team.
He spent the 2000-2007 seasons in Cincinnati and was traded to the Chicago White Sox during last season.
Griffey ranks 5th on the all-time home run list with 611 home runs and is sure to be a first ballot Hall of Famer whenever he announces his retirement.
Griffey says yes to Mariners [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
Griffey’s best moments as a Mariner [MLB.com]
After watching the Alex Rodriguez press conference at the New York Yankees spring facility, we learned a few things such as how he got the performance-enhancing drugs and who he did them with. But that’s really it.
To me there’s still too many questions that are left unanswered.
Here’s his statement that he read. The questions from the media will be following shortly.
Media questions of the press conference are after the jump
In the wake of the Alex Rodriguez story yesterday, former Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles and current Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada has been charged with lying to Congress about steroids.
Federal prosecutors accused Tejada of making misrepresentations to congressional staffers during an interview in a Baltimore hotel room focusing on the prevalence of steroids in the game.
Prosecutors did not charge Tejada with lying about allegations concerning his own steroids use.
Instead, they accuse Tejada of giving false statements to congressional staffers about his conversations with another player about steroids and human growth hormone.
The charges stem from a conversation Tejada had with former player Adam Piatt about HGH.
It’s being reported that Tejada has accepted a plea deal and will be at the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC tomorrow morning at 11 AM to plead guilty.
Tejada Charged With Lying to Investigators [Washington Post]
According to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, the Boston Red Sox have signed free agent 1B/OF Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal that includes incentives.
MLBTR has learned tonight that the Red Sox have signed outfielder Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal with roster and playing time incentives. Wilkerson, 31, hit .220/.308/.326 in 309 plate appearances for the Mariners and Blue Jays in 2008. The Ms signed Wilkerson last year for $3MM but designated him for assignment before May.
In 8 seasons, Wilkerson has hit .247 with 122 home runs and 399 RBIs with 53 stolen bases. The highest Wilkerson has ever hit in a season was .268 with Montreal back in 2004. He also finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting back in 2002 to then Colorado Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings.
It’s another low-risk, high reward signing for Theo Epstein. My guess is that Wilkerson was signed to provide depth in the outfield in the minors for the Red Sox should an injury occur. Other than that, I just don’t see him making the opening day roster.
Update: Alex Speier of WEEI.com confirms this.
Update 3:30 PM: Alex Speier of WEEI.com has the details.
More on the agreement to terms (pending a physical) between the Red Sox and Brad Wilkerson: it is a minor-league agreement, with Wilkerson making the major-league minimum if called up to the majors. He would, however, receive performance and roster bonuses that could increase the value of the deal to as much as $2.5 million. Wilkerson would get $275,000 for each of the following roster thresholds: 60, 90, 120 and 150 days on the active major-league roster. He could also receive $200,000 bonuses for reaching each of the following numbers of major-league plate appearances: 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500.
According to Jim Reeves of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, the Texas Rangers are willing to trade Jarrod Saltalamacchia straight up for Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz.
The Rangers, according to a team source, would deal Saltalamacchia head up for right-hander Clay Buchholz.
And as Alex Speier of WEEI.com notes, this isn’t exactly breaking news for us Red Sox fans.
I find it hard to believe the Red Sox would ever make this deal even if Jason Varitek doesn’t sign with the club. Something in my gut tells me that they may have more interest in Taylor Teagarden. I’ve said before that I do like what Salty could bring to the club as a switch-hitter but his defense leaves little to be desired right now.