The latest from around MLB...

• Outfielder/DH Bobby Abreu isn't too pleased about the crowded Angels' roster, which figures to squeeze him out of regular playing time this year. The outfield currently goes Vernon Wells, Peter Bourjos and Torii Hunter (with top prospect Mike Trout waiting in the wings), and the DH spot will primarily go to one of Mark Trumbo and Kendrys Morales. From Abreu: "I will not be on the bench knowing that I can play. If the Angels don't have a position for me, then the best thing is to trade me. It would be the correct [thing] to do. I won't be able to do nothing sitting in the bench. I want to play, and I believe I can help this team. But if there is no spot for me, then I would prefer to play somewhere different." The problem for Bobby, though: when, for example, Johnny Damon can't find a job for cheap, there isn't going to be much of a trade market for Abreu. The soon-to-be 38-year-old will make $9 million in 2012, the final year of his deal with the Angels. Getting paid $9 million to not work? Doesn't sound so bad.

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Spring Training has opened up across Major League Baseball, and fans are poised to put too much stock into the .310/.400/.530 line put up by a 34-year-old non-roster invitee over 19 plate appearances. HOW COULD THEY CUT McCLAIN?! I joke, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thrilled by the prospect of baseball - any baseball - around the corner. And if it means irrationally buying into the outlandish performance of a career minor leaguer, well, I'll probably be guilty of it, too.

• At least one pundit (Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times) expects the Seattle Mariners to name Chone Figgins the team's leadoff hitter soon, which makes total sense given Figgins' .241 OBP last year (not a typo). That's probably a modestly unfair criticism, given that Figgins played in just 81 games last year, and, in 2010, he had a slightly more lead-offy .340 OBP. Also, his BABIP in 2011 was a perversely low .215, down from a career .329 mark. Still, he just turned 34, and his numbers are trending in the wrong direction. Whatever rebound in his OBP we can expect, I'm not sure Figgins is the guy I'd want to be giving the most at bats on my team. Figgins would be replacing long-time leadoff man, Ichiro, who's seen his own OBP drop precipitously, from .386 in 2009 to .359 in 2010 to .310 in 2011.

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We all know the biggest - and saddest - news of the day. Hall of Fame catcher, and passionate lover of the game, Gary Carter passed away yesterday at 57. Our sincerest condolences go out to those who loved him.

• Ryan Braun's appeal of a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance was expected to be resolved this week, before the time Braun would report to Brewers' Spring camp. But now, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan, that may not happen. The delay ever-so-slightly suggests a complex appeal extending beyond the normal "I didn't know what I was taking" or "the test was flawed" excuses (the former of which is not a real defense, and the latter of which is exceedingly hard to prove). Further, the Brewers might have to open their camp not knowing whether they're going to have Braun for the first 50 games of the season or not.

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This Sporting News article, one that kind of slipped in under the radar, indicates that Fox and MLB are going to be increasing the number of Saturday night prime-time games this year.

Why is this a bad thing? Read on:

Fox plans to make five or six games available in prime time, instead of the three it usually has in its afternoon slot, USA Today reports. Last season, Fox broadcasted three times on Saturday night during the regular season and saw a big jump in ratings from its Saturday afternoon games.

Notwithstanding the clunky word "broadcasted" ("broadcast" would work just as well), this means that far more people will be blacked out of seeing their favorite team. This 1970s-style regionalization of televised baseball ignores the fact that the modern fan is used to -- most of the time -- being able to see his or her favorite team on TV, on a computer, and on iPads and other mobile devices.

Wait till you see what a Fox executive said about this.

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The latest from around MLB as players shake off the chocolate candy hangover or the pain of Valentine's Day rejection (bah - who's going to reject a pro ballplayer? Even Willie McGee found someone.) ...

• What was supposed to be a nice story about Logan Morrison honoring his father has turned into a big of PR black eye for the Miami Marlins. The outfielder, who sports number 20, requested that he be permitted to wear number 5 in honor of his deceased father (who was a big George Brett fan). The number had previously been retired by the Marlins, as a way of memorializing the team's first president, Carl Barger, who served in that post from July 8, 1991 until his death in December of the following year. The Marlins apparently thought Barger's family was on board with the number un-retirement, but the family says no one ever contacted them about the change. Inadvertently failing to cross all of your T's and dot all of your I's rarely looks quite that ugly. (The Marlins finally reached out yesterday.)

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Thanks again to Al for inviting me to contribute at BCB. I've been a reader and commenter around here for a long time, so I look forward now to contributing in an additional way. As you'll come to see, the MLBullets are a series of bullet-style posts highlighting newsworthy or interesting or funny bits from around MLB (imagine that), with a non-Cubs focus. In other words, hopefully this will be an easy way to keep abreast of the latest going on in the game, in case you're like me, and sometimes have trouble stepping outside the Cubs bubble.

• The Pittsburgh Pirates continue their pursuit of New York Yankees' righty A.J. Burnett, reason and logic notwithstanding. Despite a relatively full rotation of comparable starters - the Pirates currently feature other meh rotation options Charlie Morton, James McDonald, Kevin Correia, Jeff Karstens and Erik Bedard - the Pirates are looking to make a deal, with the Yankees paying the bulk of the $33 million Burnett's owed over the next two seasons. Adding Burnett on the cheap makes some sense, be in the hopes of a bounce-back or in the search for depth. Still, I can't help but wonder: is a 35-year-old Burnett really worth a rotation spot on a team like the Pirates (or any other team for that matter)? His numbers the last two years have been frightful, though Keith Law points out that Burnett remains an above-replacement-level player (barely: FanGraphs has him worth 1.4 and 1.5 WAR the last two seasons). Still, that doesn't mean he's a better option than any of the five existing Pirates rotation candidates.
• Bonus humor from that Burnett-to-Pirates article: a source says the Pirates are "optimistic" that they'll eventually work out a deal because only "the money and players exchanged" are yet to be determined. Oh, that's all? In that case, the Cubs are "optimistic" that they'll eventually work out a trade for the San Francisco Giants' rotation. I mean, all that's left to be settled is the money and the players going the other way, right?
• Jose Canseco is coming back from his come-back in order to come back; that is to say, the 47-year-old baseball player/boxer/book-writer is going to be playing for a AAA Mexican team this year, at least according to Canseco. Do I smell another 40/40 season?
• The St. Louis Cardinals are probably going to be pretty good this year, despite losing both the best player in the game (Albert Pujols) and arguably the best manager (Tony LaRussa). They've added Carlos Beltran, and Adam Wainwright returns. Plus, the Cardinals are blessed by the kind of voodoo magic that turns a rapidly-fading Lance Berkman into an MVP candidate.
• David Ortiz's arbitration hearing is scheduled for today, and, unless a settlement comes at the last minute, the two sides will fight it out in front of a three-person arbitration panel. Ortiz, 36, requested $16.5 million, while the Red Sox offered just $12.65 million, a modest raise over the $12.5 million he made last year. Ortiz's case is an interesting one, as it represents a confluence of competing arguments - he hit well last year, but was trending downward before that; he's already 36 and can only DH; he's hugely popular in Boston and has been a big part of the organization's success (both of which are considered). The specter of a hearing is also of huge importance to the Sawx, whose payroll is already tickling the luxury tax threshold.
• Baseball Nation offers up the Ultimate Guide to Spring Training, with info ranging from report dates to rosters to broadcast information.
• FanGraphs' Dave Cameron asks, and then explores, the question: is it just easier to scout pitchers than hitters? (Spoiler alert: yeah, maybe a little.)

Brett Taylor is a Contributor at Bleed Cubbie Blue, and is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation.

Baseball's Hall of Fame ballot was released yesterday; "approximately 600" voting members of the BBWAA will decide whether any eligible player will be inducted next July.

This is, of course, in addition to the new Veterans Committee vote that will take place early next week at MLB's Winter Meetings in Dallas, at which we hope Ron Santo will at last gain induction.

Beyond that, though, it doesn't appear that this year's ballot has anyone new on it that rates induction. Here's a list of the players appearing for the first time:

Jeromy Burnitz, Vinny Castilla, Brian Jordan, Javy Lopez, Bill Mueller, Terry Mulholland, Phil Nevin, Brad Radke, Tim Salmon, Ruben Sierra, Bernie Williams, Tony Womack, Eric Young

There are a fair number of people on that list who played for the Cubs at one time. Six of them, in fact: Burnitz, Mueller, Mulholland, Nevin, Womack and Young. Not one of those ex-Cubs deserves Hall of Fame consideration. Neither, in my opinion, do any of the other 13 newcomers; as Rob Neyer points out, Williams is probably the best player on that list and he's a prime candidate for the Hall of Very Good.

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Today, SB Nation announces that Matt Kemp of the Dodgers wins the SB Nation NL MVP over the Brewers' Ryan Braun. Either one was, in my opinion, a legitimate choice.

For the second year in a row, no Cubs were harmed in the creation of the BCB ballots, or, for that matter, the final vote. This should come as no surprise to any of you. We voted for the top 10 and points are given on a 14-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

BCB ballots:

Al:

Braun, Kemp, Votto, Fielder, Pujols, Berkman, Halladay, Reyes, Tulowitzki, Morse

Mike:

Braun, Kemp, Fielder, Upton, Halladay, C. Lee, Tulowitzki, Votto, Kershaw, McCutchen

Complete voting after the jump. This concludes our week-long series of SB Nation award balloting.

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