The Miami Marlins finalized their big salary dumping trade that sends All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes to the Toronto Blue Jays with pitchers Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, catcher John Buck and outfielder Emilio Bonifacio for seven relatively low-priced players.
The Miami Marlins' latest payroll purge received final approval Monday from the commissioner's office, and as the team's top baseball executive began to discuss the deal during a conference call, a bad connection generated waves of reverberating noise that filled the phone line.
The sheer magnitude of the trade seemed too ridiculous to be true. The way the names involved trickled out Tuesday evening only added to the drama.
CC Sabathia pitched a three-hitter and struck out 10 leading New York to a 6-3 victory Friday night that stopped Seattle's seven-game winning streak.
Previewing the American League.
A team-by-team look at the American League entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad:
The AL West-chasing Los Angeles Angels have to wait until the final series of the regular season for another head-to-head opportunity against Texas.
Jeff Mathis had a 10-game hitting streak during the first month of last season and was batting .324 heading into April 19.
"Jeff played because he was, at times, the clear-cut choice on the defensive end," Scioscia said, recalling when Mathis shared catching time with Mike Napoli, since traded away. "When you have options on the defensive end at that position and all three are at a proficient level defensively and you're confident with (them), obviously you're going to go with the best offensive option. But that could vary from day to day."
"I've never come in here expecting to be the No. 1 catcher," said Mathis, who turns 28 next month. "There are always going to be guys trying to take your job."
