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Good morning.
We're taking a brief hiatus from score recaps until Opening Day hits on Sunday. That's so soon!
On to the newsy stuff:
The Big Three
1. Kyle Lohse has finally found a home... and holy heck is it way nicer than I ever thought it'd be. Somehow, some way, Scott Boras was able to get the Milwaukee Brewers to agree to a three-year, $33 million deal for Lohse, when, by all appearances, it seemed that no one else was willing to give him much of anything. I suppose I should have known better than to doubt Boras and claim that he was BS-ing everyone about Lohse's market, but I just did not see how anyone could be convinced to spend that kind of money AND forfeit a high draft pick. Enter Doug Melvin, apparently. Maybe it was one of those logical fallacies where he thought "Well, if I'm going to give up this draft pick, I may as well make it worth my while and sign him for multiple years...", thinking that somehow made it better? No idea, but I stand by my belief that Scott Boras is a wizard. What do you think his Patronus is?
2. Man, the Yankees' Opening Day lineup is going to get A LOT of double takes, spit takes, and whatever other kind of takes you can think of. No Granderson, no Teixeira, no A-Rod, and now likely no Derek Jeter as well. The Captain is still being bothered by his ankle and is a prime candidate to join the rest of the team on the disabled list when Opening Day rolls around next week. He's targeting an April 6 return date, so he shouldn't be out long, but you never really know with ankle injuries. Those things tend to linger for a long time, and Jeter's no spring chicken anymore. I'm not really even sure what a spring chicken is, but it's not Jeter.
3. The Milwaukee Brewers weren't the only team to start the week by bolstering their rotation. The Colorado Rockies signed Jon Garland to an incentive-laden $500k deal and have pegged him as their No. 5 starter, leaving youngster Drew Pomeranz to head back to Triple-A. Not bad for a guy who's coming off of shoulder surgery and was just released from a minor-league contract. With the addition of Jon, the Rockies now have a rotation full of "J" names, which is just kind of weird. Jhoulys, Jeff, Jorge, Juan and Jon have the unfortunate task of trying to maintain their sanity while pitching in Coors Field.
In Other News...
1. Everyone needs to start wrapping their third basemen in bubble wrap and hiding them in panic rooms or something. Alex Rodriguez, Chase Headley, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, David Wright, David Freese and Brett Lawrie are all nursing injuries of some severity. Freese's status is still up in the air, while A-Rod, Headley, Hanley, and now Lawrie are all sure bets to start the season on the disabled list.
2. The Marlins have picked up some Yankees leftovers, signing outfielder Matt Diaz to a minor-league deal. It's not the Astros, so there's a chance he won't be in the lineup come Opening Day.
3. The Phillies are reportedly looking to add an outfield bench bat, and could do what the Yankees should have done... go after the other Wells. That'd be Mariners outfielder Casper Wells, who is younger and infinitely cheaper than his Bronx-bound namesake.