With today being the beginning of Spring Training workouts, stories are flying around the internet left and right. What does this mean for you? Clearly, a double dose of links to quell your baseball fever.
Tigers links:
With Miguel Cabrera at 3B, Nick Castellanos' future with Tigers unclear - Detroit Free Press, John Lowe
"He's stronger already. Castellanos has become noticeably bigger in the upper body than he was last year. 'I did a lot of work this winter,' he said. 'I put on roughly 13 pounds.'" Music to our ears.
The Battle for the Final Bullpen Spot - Walkoff Woodward, Erin Saelzler
You may know her better as SabreRoseTiger, but Erin makes her debut at WoW (I have a feeling that's not going to catch on) talking about the unclaimed spots in the bullpen.
Justin Verlander has fast-food fraternity among Tigers - Detroit News, Tom Gage
Gage asks the hard-hitting questions that fans and bloggers want to hear... like what each player ordered on their last trip to a fast food joint. Many fans will be happy to see that Austin Jackson has discovered the beacon of fast food glory that is In-N-Out.
Detroit Tigers over-under: How many games will Prince Fielder DH this year? - MLive, James Schmehl
Schmehl sets his over/under at 25 games. What do you think, BYB? I'm fine with whatever, as long as that "total games played" stat hovers between 150-160.
Ask Alex: Can Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera combine for 80 homers? - Big League Stew, Alex Remington
Big League Stew questions whether Prince and Cabrera can combine for 80 homers. However, they might want to look up the dimensions of Comerica Park before making any further generalizations about Prince's homer totals this season.
Elsewhere in Baseball:
Sam Fuld on the Tampa Bay Rays' win over the New York Yankees in Game 162 of the 2011 regular season - Grantland, Sam Fuld
You know it's going to be a good story when an athlete of Fuld's caliber starts the story with "I like to consider myself a coordinated person," then discusses whether he could hold his own on a Japanese game show.
And so it begins - Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke, Pat Lackey
Short but sweet: the Pittsburgh Pirates have put Rule 5 draft pick Gustavo Nunez on the 60-day disabled list. Nunez was plucked from the Tigers' organization this offseason, so it will be interesting to see if he stays in Pittsburgh or not. (Also, what a great blog name.)
Raul Ibanez Signs With Yankees, According To Report - Baseball Nation, Al Yellon
For those looking to offload Delmon Young, the Yankees are showing us that the possibilities in left field (or DH, hopefully) could be much worse.
San Francisco Giants direct Buster Posey to no longer block plate - ESPN
With the Giants instructing Posey to get out of the way of hard-charging runners, it will be interesting to see what other teams with young, All-Star caliber catchers (oh hi there, Alex Avila) have to say about this matter.