OMG, I am so sorry for A-Rod in more ways than one…
My apologies to anyone that I might have offended with yesterday’s blog! I think I was so stunned that A-Rod would actually participate in that type of pictorial that I wasn’t thinking. He is so incredibly self-absorbed. I am shocked that he actually ever looked away from the mirror to find time to get married. I bet his daughters are jealous of the mirrors in the house.
I also thought that A-Rod left his wife because of Madonna, but I now see that it was strictly because of his love and affection for Alex.
Meanwhile, Derek Jeter continues to use words that are foreign to A-Rod…like “we” and “team”…
AP
JULIA’S GARBAGE CAN
Not that I’d want to be caught rummaging through Julia’s (of Julia’s Rants) trash, but if I were GM Brian Cashman, I’d be all over catcher Josh Bard. Bard was released by the Red Sox today, which apparently gives George Kottaras the backup catching job behind Jason Varitek. From what I understand, Kottaras was out of options plus he is more adept at catching knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
Bard, 30, had a productive spring in Sox camp, going 6-for-14, with one home run and 5 RBI.
Oakland also released their back up catcher and Bard’s former San Diego teammate, Rob Bowen, to give the job to a younger player, Landon Powell, so there’s certainly a few catching options to consider.
MY PRAYERS TO AARON BOONE
I was stunned to hear Aaron Boone’s announcement that he was leaving the Houston Astros to have open heart surgery and will obviously miss the season.
From what I understand, it is a congenital heart defect that Aaron has known about since college, but doctors determined after a routine physical that non-emergency surgery was necessary. This most likely means the end of Aaron’s 12-year major league career.
He wasn’t a Yankee for very long, but it was a memorable stay…
AP
Good luck, Aaron…we wish you a successful and speedy recovery!
OTHER NEWS
After the talk of whether Joba Chamberlain should start or relieve had started to die down, The New York Post ran a story this morning that the Yankees’ back up plan at closer if something were to happen to Mariano Rivera would be to move Joba to the role. Man, the debate will never end…
Speaking of Mo, three up and three down with two strikeouts on Tuesday night. All is good, i.e., keep Joba in the starting rotation!
AP
Chien-Ming Wang got the win in today’s exhibition game against the Houston Astros. He pitched five innings, giving up three hits and one run. He had two strikeouts.
AP
A.J. Burnett will face his old team, the Toronto Blue Jays, on Thursday.
It was a great come-from-behind win over Puerto Rico by Team USA last night, but the euphoria was tempered with news that Kevin Youklis will miss the remainder of the WBC due to a sore ankle. He’s going to have a MRI, but hopefully it isn’t too serious. Good luck to Team USA as they move on!
Rhona Wise/EPA
I'm Not A Headline Guy... 
Scott – You never know what you could find in my trash can – so be forewarned! ;-). While we Red Sox fans don’t have a “love” of Aaron Boone – the news that he needs open heart surgery was shocking to say the least. I will keep he and his family in my thoughts and prayers.
While I am enjoying the WBC – watching it right now! – the number of injuries mounting up is troublesome. I know there is not a “good” time to hold it, but I can’t help but wonder how teams will feel about sending their players three years from now.
And perhaps you might be forgiven for that picture of A-Rod from yesterday’s post. I’ll let you know when I get my vision back!
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
Joba is starting. For sure. How can he not? And that rotation would scare the **** out of anyone and everyone. Oh… and I’m on board with U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
There is a good time for the WBC and it’s not now! It’s after the season – maybe in December or early January – when the fans are starved for baseball and there’s time to prepare for spring training. As for A-Rod and his photo shoot, did you read that the players are collecting copies of the magazine so they can paper his locker with them? LOL.
– http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
Bard’s been knocked around a bit, but he’s a very serviceable offensive catcher. His defense borders on abysmal – he can’t control the running game and has trouble handling some pitches – the biggest reason for his release was probably his inability to catch the knuckler. Better tell Cashman to hurry, though, as I have a strong suspicion the Giants may come a-calling for either Bard or his former Padres teammate, Rob Bowen.
http://houston.mlblogs.com
You can have Josh Bard. The Twins don’t need him, even if Mauer is out the rest of the season. After all we’ve got… Mike Redmond and Drew Butera. World Series here we come!
By the way, I’ll forgive you for the A-Rod pics if you put up some nice ones of Joe Mauer. Or a photoshop of Jay Cutler in a Vikings uniform. That’d be nice.-Erinhttp://plunking-gomez.mlblogs.com