MLB

According to Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger, the Yankees have released righty Chad Gaudin just two days after they put him on waivers.

With spring training almost over, it’s time to take a look who is tearing up both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues.

Here are the Spring Training All-Stars...

(All stats are through Wednesday, March 24.)

C—Mike Napoli, LAA—.313/5/9/.405

If Mike Scioscia had any faith in Napoli behind the plate, he could hit 40 home runs during the regular season. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that will ever happen.

The Yankees drafted Christian Garcia in 2004 and by the end of that summer the third round pick was already making a name for himself thanks to a mid-90’s fastball and the makings of a nasty curveball.

He started out quickly out of the gate, his stuff was raw, but he showed a lot of promise. In 2004 he was able to harness it while putting up a 2.84 ERA and 47 strikeouts in just 38 innings.

Picking players in the first round is always a hot topic. And while your first round selections WILL NOT make your team, it is those players who are on the cusp of being first rounders that could significantly impact your team’s performance.

J.A. Happ is one of those players.

Last year Happ enjoyed a very promising season going 12-4 for "Dem Phightin Phils" while posting a 2.93 ERA.

Here’s a look at some relief pitchers who could take a step back in 2010.

David Aardsma, Seattle Mariners
Aardsma was brilliant last year, racking up 38 saves with a 2.52 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Seattle was his fifth team in five seasons. He pretty much struggled every other year. I want to see another good year out of him before I’ll say he’s turned the corner.

Joe Blanton had a renaissance of sorts in 2009, though it’s impossible for me to say that he was impressive.

He was solid, but is that enough to make him relevant to fantasy owners?  Before we answer that we have to take a closer look at his results.

It was his first full year in the National League, leading to his third-best ERA of his five-year career. The stats:

• 12 wins
• 195.1 innings
• 4.05 ERA
• 1.32 WHIP
• 163 strikeouts (7.51 Ks/9 IP)
• 59 Walks (2.72 BBs/99 IP)
• .302 BABIP

I grew up and fell in love with a Rangers team that was much different from this one. Back then the outfield was the offensive strength of the team, much like it was for most teams.

I remember watching Juan Gonzalez, Ruben Sierra, and the fan-favorite Rusty Greer. Jose Canseco was also out there for a little while, but we’ll just forget about him.

In recent years, the outfield has been somewhat of a revolving door.

Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett missed his start on March 14 when he came down ill.

He made his scheduled start last Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he pitched in a weakened state and was largely ineffective.

So all eyes were on the big Texan this afternoon in Bradenton—hoping to get some indication as to whether he will be ready to take the ball on Opening Night against the Yankees, just 11 days from now.

The play looked innocent enough when it happened. Last night, Minnesota leadoff hitter Denard Span ripped a one-hopper that seemed destined for right field until Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia made one of his patented diving stops—ranging to his left to snag the ball and then popping up to throw the ball to first base. The fact he threw wide of first for an error was irrelevent…it was a classic defensive effort by the Sox gritty second baseman.

Pedroia played the rest of the frame, but failed to come out of the dugout for the second inning.

I received "Giants Past and Present" in the mail yesterday from MVP Books . In all honesty, I plowed through the book in one night. In many ways, it is not a very dense book. It runs 144 pages long and for the most part, it is very picture-heavy.