• Marcus Thames went 3-for-4 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI, and Curtis Granderson and Ryan Rayburn added home runs to lead the Tigers and 8 pitchers to a 14-0, 5-hit, shutout over Florida Southern University.  
• Joe Borchard homered and had 3 RBI, and Miguel Cabrera, and Jeremy Hermida added solo shots as Marlins held off the University of Miami, 12-7.  
• In Milwaukee Brewers intrasquad action, “Team Gold” beat “Team Blue” by a score of 8-4. DH/1B Drew Anderson led the Gold, going 3-for-3 with 3 runs, 2 doubles, a triple and 2 RBI. Leading the Blue was CF Laynce Nix, who went 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and 1 RBI.

• The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Committee for Baseball Veterans announced balloting results Tuesday for its 2007 election of players, managers, executives and umpires. Former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo led all candidates on the Player Ballot with 57 votes, totaling 69.5 percent of all ballots cast. Umpire Doug Harvey led all Composite Ballot nominees with 52 votes, 64.2 percent of the tally. However, neither achieved the minimum 75 percent required for election.
• The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have agreed to terms with righthanded pitcher Jesse Crain on a three-year contract, through the 2009 season. Crain, 25, was 4-5, 3.52 (76.2 ip, 30 er) with one save, allowing 79 hits with 18 walks and 60 strikeouts in 68 appearances with the Twins last season. In his final 22 appearances of 2006, he was 2-0, 0.38 (23.2 ip, 1 er) with one save, allowing just 14 hits with three walks and 15 strikeouts.
• The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on one-year contracts with the following 21 players:
  Pitchers (14) – RHP David Aardsma, RHP Dewon Day, RHP Gavin Floyd, RHP Charlie Haeger, RHP Bobby Jenks, LHP Boone Logan, RHP Nick Masset, RHP Oneli Perez, LHP Heath Phillips, LHP Paulino Reynoso, LHP Andrew Sisco, LHP Matt Thornton, RHP Sean Tracey and LHP Carlos Vasquez
  Infielders (4) – Josh Fields, Andy Gonzalez, Pedro Lopez and Casey Rogowski
  Outfielder (3) – Brian Anderson, Jerry Owens and Ryan Sweeney
• The St. Louis Cardinals today announced that they have agreed to one-year deals with 18 players. Twelve pitchers were signed, including right-handers Andy Cavazos, Dennis Dove, Brian Falkenborg, Blake Hawksworth, Josh Hancock, Josh Kinney, Anthony Reyes, Brad Thompson and Adam Wainwright. Left-handed hurlers Troy Cate, Chris Narveson and Tyler Johnson also agreed to terms. Position players to reach agreement include outfielders Chris Duncan, Cody Haerther, John Rodriguez and Skip Schumaker, catcher Yadier Molina and infielder Brendan Ryan.
• An MRI on Minnesota’s Lew Ford's knee showed some inflammation in the IT band in his right knee, as well as an oversized meniscus with a slight tear. If he requires surgery, Ford will miss 4 to 6 weeks.
• Damian Miller was forced out of the Brewers' intrasquad game on Tuesday with a strained left calf. He's scheduled for an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
• Pittsburgh outfielder Xavier Nady left the team Tuesday afternoon to fly to Pittsburgh for more tests on his inflamed intestine. The tests taken Monday at a Bradenton hospital produced "nothing conclusive.”
• The Cleveland Indians have started talks with the agent for C.C. Sabathia on a contract extension.
• Richie Sexson is looking to draw more walks this year, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.
• Florida Marlins officials were unhappy to hear that their manager last year, Joe Girardi, gave rival pitcher Jon Lieber helpful tips during the season. Lieber said his season with the Philadelphia Phillies turned around shortly after he was roughed up by the Marlins last July 31, and he credits a phone call from Girardi, a former major league catcher.
• According to the Albany Times Union, an Orlando pharmacy was raided for alleged violations of federal and state prescription laws as part of a large New York state grand jury investigation into Internet drug sales that could expose widespread illicit steroid use by professional athletes. Among those cited by anonymous sources include Los Angeles Angels centerfielder Gary Matthews Jr.

Just a reminder that yesterday kicked off "Fantasy Week" here at BDD. Each day or so our writers will analyze a MLB division from a fantasy baseball perspective.

First up...the National League East by Scott Edelman

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Mark Shapiro, General Manager of the Cleveland Indians. Mark was very cordial and forthcoming, but in the interest of time, I decided to summarize some of the more revealing pieces of the interview instead of transcribing the entire dialogue.

1) When I asked about jumping on the trade for Josh Barfield as opposed to feeling out the free agent market and possibly making an attempt to sign Ronnie Belliard, Shapiro expressed a great deal of comfort with his decision. As he put it, “you don’t want to wait for things to come to you and find yourself without any options.” The Indians had Barfield ranked high on their list of potential acquisitions.

2) Shapiro is happy with the addition of experienced arms in the back end of the bullpen although he wouldn’t go so far as to say he was satisfied. He feels that the Indians “are better equipped to handle the season” with this bullpen.

3) Mark was pretty clear when he said “Casey Blake is going to see a lot of time at first base.” He said that the move leaves Ryan Garko competing for an extra spot on the club. Shapiro expects Garko to play against lefthanders at first base and be a bat off the bench.

He also made some very interesting points. Shapiro said it’s not always about one player vs. another. Rather, it’s about what makes up the best overall team. He specifically mentioned that they have to take into account defense, foot speed, and the abilities of players who can’t easily change positions.

4) I brought up the defensive deficiencies of Jhonny Peralta as our own Rob McQuown suggested I do. I asked Shapiro if he publicly critiqued Peralta in an attempt to light a fire under the young shortstop. He said that there was no strategy behind his comments, and that the bottom line was, “He just needs to be better for us to win. We can’t win with a shortstop who played the way he played last year. We can’t be a championship team.”

Sounds like Jhonny will be on a short leash this season! 

Other general notes from the interview with Mark Shapiro

·         Fausto Carmona will be the team’s 6^th starter, and it’s very possible he will have an opportunity to pitch real soon.

·         The organization will let Adam Miller set his time table for progress. If he shows he can attack hitters, develop confidence, and be successful at AAA, he will be starting in Cleveland before long.

• According to manager Mike Scioscia, the Angels are hopeful right-hander Jered Weaver will be ready by opening day while ace Bartolo Colon looks like he will be out until the end of April.
• Minnesota’s Sidney Ponson has yet to obtain a work visa from his native Aruba, and he cannot pitch in a spring training game until he does so.
• Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon rejoined the team Monday after a two-day excused absence to tend to a personal matter. Damon spent the weekend at home with his family in the Orlando area. He didn't discuss specifics, but said the issue has been resolved.
• After watching the first four days of practice, Texas manager Ron Washington said he has "no doubt" that Sammy Sosa will make the team as the designated hitter.
• White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd rolled his ankle during an intrasquad game and will be sidelined a few days, the Chicago Tribune reported.
• Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez arrived at camp on Monday, three days before he had told the club he'd be there.
• Yankees right fielder Bobby Abreu is expected to miss at least two weeks after straining his right oblique during batting practice Monday.
• Orioles pitcher Hayden Penn twisted his left ankle while carrying boxes on stairs after Sunday's workout, a minor injury that could affect his chances of making the Opening Day roster.
• Pirates outfielder Xavier Nady missed today’s workout. He is being sidelined with inflammation of his intestine. Nady underwent a Barium Swallow test this morning with team doctors and those results are expected to be known Tuesday, at which point his condition will be re-evaluated.
• Long Island Ducks team officials today announced they have acquired the rights and agreed to contractual terms with former New York Mets infielder Edgardo Alfonzo for the 2007 season.
• The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will announce the results of the 2007 Veterans Committee election on Tuesday, February 27, at 2 p.m. ET, exclusively at baseballhalloffame.org. Two ballots are being considered. The Players’ Ballot features 27 former players, while the Composite Ballot features 15 former managers, umpires and executives.
• Dodgers manager Grady Little announced Monday that catcher Russell Martin would likely move up to No. 6 in the batting order.

• Sabermetrics hits the mainstream today in an article in The New York Times 
• I love it when stat guys disagree. It opens up so many more discussions. I think this article by Rich Lederer is particularly interesting because it shows that sometimes we can overanalyze things.  
• Beyond the Boxscore takes a look at Hanley Ramirez vs. Jose Reyes and concludes that Ramirez will be the slightly better player in the long run. It’s hard to argue which of these guys will have a better career. I’ve been up close and personal with both of them. The ball might jump off the bat of Ramirez better than Reyes, but nobody runs the way Jose does, including Ramirez. If I had to choose between the two, I’d take Reyes mainly because he’s less of a hot head. 
• Shea Hillenbrand just doesn’t want to go away. For someone who really wasn’t all that good, he sure has a lot of bad things to say about everyone else. 
• I'm starting to get really sick of hearing about Dice-K. I mean, do we really need to know what average minor leaguer players think about his stuff now too? 
• GQ has an article on the 10 most hated athletes today. Three baseball players make the cut including A. J. Pierzynski (#9), Curt Schilling (#4), and you guessed it, Barry Bonds (#2). Bonds narrowly missed out on the top spot. That was reserved for the one and only Terrell Owens. 
• Jeff Francoeur finally admits that he needs to be a little more selective at the plate, even if “walks don’t matter to (him).” Ugh…come on Jeff. Someone needs to tell Francoeur that it's all related! 
• While everyone is excited about seeing Matsuzaka pitch, I’m looking forward to catching Tim Lincecum on the mound. Hopefully I’ll have my chance next week in Scottsdale. 
• Boy has conditioning changed over the last 20 years. It’s pretty funny reading Johnny Gomes talk about doing the “prairie dog!” 

• Carl Pavano was asked to undergo further testing on his left foot Sunday, and the Yankees right-hander didn't need to ask twice for directions. Pavano was hit on the instep of his left foot by a batted ball while pitching in live batting practice on Saturday.
• According to several published reports, David Ortiz arrived at camp in better shape than he was last year after going through an extensive off-season training regiment.
• The Dodgers have signed the following players in Major League camp to one-year contracts: Jonathan Broxton, Jason Repko, Tim Hamulack, Hong-Chih Kuo, Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp, Zach Hammes, Eric Hull and Greg Miller.
• The Brewers today signed the following six players to 1-year contracts…..OF Laynce Nix, RHP Greg Aquino, RHP Dave Bush, LHP Zach Jackson, RHP Dennis Sarfate and RHP Carlos Villanueva.
• Scheduled to start for the Reds in the spring’s first 4 exhibition games are LHP Eric Milton on Thu at Pit, RHP Kyle Lohse on Fri at Min, RHP Aaron Harang on Sat vs Min and RHP Bronson Arroyo on Sun at Pit.
• Oakland’s Bobby Crosby will be able to face live pitching this week for the first time in more than six months.
• Dodgers manager Grady Little suggested to reporters on Sunday that he would like Pierre "to be more patient and get on base more." It’s about time somebody stressed the point to Pierre!
• While working on baserunning during batting practice, Scott Hairston was drilled on his right elbow by a line drive off the bat of Chris Snyder. Hairston says he'll be OK, though it may limit his throwing in the coming days.