- Shortstop Edward Salcedo, from the Dominican Republic,  is called 'the next Alex Rodriguez' by some people and teams are scrambling to sign him, even though the bill will be salty.  You might have already guessed it...he's a Scott Boras client...

Here's the scouting report from Perfect Game USA, from a 2007 National Showcase:

Edward Salcedo SS  
Height: 6-3 Weight:190

Gun Reading from Position
OF:      IF: 93     1B:      C:    Pop Time:

Fast Ball Velocity:
60 yd: 6.81     40 yd:   Track Conditions: Fast Track

PG Rating: 10

PG Report
Edward Salcedo is a FA SS with a 6'3'', 190 lb. frame from La Vega, Dominican Republic. Big League body, strong and athletic. Smooth, easy defensive actions, easy plus arm, can really play SS. Aggressive swing, power projection, deep load from wide base, good bat speed, geared to drive fastballs, timing will be an issue. All the tools to be a top player. Potential 1st round type if in draft.

The Cleveland Indians have long been rumored to have signed (or verbally agreed to a contract), but John Mirabelli, the club's assistant GM in charge of scouting, told MLB.com that "Edward Salcedo is 100 percent unsigned. We are involved with multiple, high-profile players internationally, and each of those players has numerous teams interested."

In a chat at the beginning of the year, Jim Callis of Baseball America stated the following:

The latest from our international guru, Chris Kline, is that this guy is more fiction that fact. Overhyped and overpriced, and that's why he hasn't signed yet.


- Scott Thorman is out of option in Atlanta and there is no place to put him.  The Canadian slugger never panned out as expected when he took the starting job at first base last year, replacing the streaky Adam Laroche.

While his power potential was never in question, I wonder why people were so high on him, after posting average numbers in the minors and an inability to handle southpaws consistently.  With Mark Teixeira now solidly anchored at the corner position, that leaves him only a corner spot in the outfield to occupy, but even these positions are already planned for: Jeff Francoeur in right field and Matt Diaz in left.

Diaz has seen his number improved for the last three years, finishing with an OPS+ of 124 in 2007 and ranked sixth in the majors in left field with a +10 rating (according to the Fielding Bible data).

Unless the Braves keep him for a bench job or can somehow get an interesting return for the 26-year-old, Thorman is destined for the waivers where he'll be snatch in a second for his power potential.

- The Yankees-Rays game today featured a bench-clearing incident where Shelly Duncan (first baseman, Yankees) slid into second base with his spikes right at Akinori Iwamura's 'prized possession'. (see picture here)

On Sunday, Duncan had dropped a hint that the Yankees might match the Rays' intensity on the basepaths.

"What it does is it opens another chapter of intensity in the spring training ballgames," Duncan said, referring to the home-plate collision. "They showed what is acceptable to them and how they're going to play the game, so we're going to go out there to match their intensity -- or even exceed it."

"There's going to be no malicious evil intent in terms of carryover, but it just adds a different type of fire to your gut when you play that team because you understand how they're playing the game and what their mind-set is," Duncan said Sunday.

But Duncan's slide was the second of two plays suggesting the Yankees were more than a little upset at the Rays.

In the first inning. Yankees pitcher Heath Phillips hit Rays third baseman Longoria on his midsection. Home plate umpire Chad Fairchild ejected Phillips.

- OF Rocco Baldelli suffers from "some type of metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities,'' a condition that leaves him feeling extremely fatigued after just a brief workout.  That makes the rehabilitation after an injury very difficult to deal with by limiting the muscle ability to recover.

While he is not expected to retire, he has the following to say about his future:

"As far as my baseball career I'm not here to stand in front of you telling you I'm retiring,'' Baldelli said. "We're still going pursue any avenue that we can to try to figure out what is going on and have a better understanding of what is going on. But at this time throughout all of the extensive testing that we've  done, we don't have a concrete answer.

The Rays are already rumored to be talking about acquiring Juan Rivera from the Angels, but it seems like he still figures in their plan for 2009-10.

- Found yesterday on MLBtraderumors.com:

The Rangers pushed hard to acquire Andre Ethier from the Dodgers, both in a Mark Teixeira deal and after L.A. signed Andruw Jones.  If I were a Dodger fan, I'd be angry to see the team put its pride ahead of winning by playing Juan Pierre over Ethier.

Could not have said it better.  It's funny to see Torre use the speedster at the top of the lineup this Spring.  If you are gonna use the guy, at least put him in the ninth hole, where he will not hurt the offense with his .330-ish on-base average.

Better still, do as the doctor above prescribed: put Andre Ethier in left!

The 25-year-old has both an ability to make contact and hit for power.  He was put into a platoon following his rookie season (2006) even though his splits were more than favorable to keep him against left-handed pitching.