
Is this next year? (cont.)Posted: Thursday March 13, 2008 3:17PM; Updated: Thursday March 13, 2008 6:29PM Around the Camps
As if the Tigers don't have enough problems in the 'pen, closer Todd Jones seems to have lost it. He says he isn't hurt (well, nothing but his ego, anyway), but his ERA is 24.00. Coco Crisp would aid his chances to be dealt if he could spend more time on the field; he's just 2-for-4 so far. The A's and Cubs appear to be possible landing spots for the Red Sox center fielder. The way Tommy Lasorda is approaching things, I suspect he may be auditioning for another managerial chance. Good guy Edgardo Alfonzo appears to have a shot to make the Rangers. Milton Bradley, who's had his own set of issues, says he is "drawn to'' new Rangers teammate Josh Hamilton, who overcame drug addiction and found God. Hamilton is to be congratulated for turning his life around, and if he can help Bradley quell his temper problem, that would be an added bonus for the Rangers. Rocco Baldelli, sadly enough, looks like someone who may never shake his injury problem. When Tampa signed him to a long-term contract after the 2005 season, it would have seemed unthinkable that they would consider paying the $4-million buyout (due by April 1) rather than pick up his 2009 option for $6 million. But they say they're thinking about it now. There was a deal on the table that would have sent Baldelli and others to the Dodgers for Chad Billingsley and James Loney. The Dodgers wisely decided not to do that one. The Cardinals are interested in free-agent right-hander Kyle Lohse, who split last season between the Reds and Phillies and finished 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA. The Yankees don't help themselves by getting into beefs with the Rays. And it doesn't look good when non-roster pitcher Heath Phillips hits the Rays' most ballyhooed prospect, Evan Longoria. Billy Crystal should stick to song and dance. He never belonged hanging around Joe Torre's office, and he doesn't belong in a spring game. Not to make Crystal jealous, but my money is on Arliss (actor Robert Wuhl) to win Crystal's old role as Torre's celebrity bobo. When Hall of Fame exec Jeff Idelson told Dan Patrick they might "consider'' taking Brian McNamee's steroid tools -- the syringes, vials, gauzes -- for a display to mark the steroid era (if they do it an "educational way,'' Idelson added), it raised the delicious possibility that McNamee could make the Hall, but not Roger Clemens. That is, unless you count the Rocket's DNA.
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