The St. Louis Cardinals reportedly are considering inviting Juan Gonzalez to spring training. Yes, that Juan Gonzalez.
Dan at Baseball Think Factory sums it up pretty nicely. Two open questions:

How is Gonzalez only 38 years old?
What is Danny Tartabull doing these days?

Completing his descent from once-great heights, Chicago Cubs right-hander Mark Prior will begin the season at Triple-A Iowa. We knew he was struggling earlier in spring training, but this is unimaginable. Prior should be a perennial Cy Young Award candidate by now; instead, he’s being demoted in favor of perennial disabled list candidate Wade Miller.
Prior is still just 26 years old, so it’s not like time is running out for him. Still, he’s seriously moving in the wrong direction.

I say this is a non-item, but I love the Baltimore Sun’s headline: Overcoming hype, O’s top Matsuzaka, Red Sox. Um, did I miss the start of the season? No offense, but I don’t think the Orioles have overcome anything just yet. They won a spring training game; good for them.
The other interesting thing here is Matsuzaka’s mythical “gyroball” pitch that may or may not exist. Actually, it doesn’t matter if the pitch exists; it’s in people’s heads, so the effect is the same. The Orioles seem to think it might be a changeup, splitter, or even screwball.
Hype? I don’t …read more