MLB Bullets Plays All Nine Positions

Spring training can be silly and that's OK sometimes.

• I guess everyone knows the big news of the day was Will Ferrell's trip through the Cactus League yesterday. Here's a liveblog of everything that happened.
• And SB Nation has a roundup of everything Ferrell did.
• Will Leitch says being able to do stuff like this is the best reason to be a celebrity.
• Craig Calcaterra reaches for his inner crotchety old man and fails miserably. He's OK with Ferrell's stunt.
• Football coach and video game namesake John Madden finds his crotchety old man and blasts the stunt. They don't call it the "No Fun League" for nothing.
• Here's some video of Ferrell coaching third for the Cubs. If you look around on MLB Video, you can find a lot more of Ferrell's antics.
• David Schoenfield makes a all-time all-star team of celebrities who could actually play ball. Former Cub Chuck Connors (The Rifleman for those of you under 60)  is easily the best of them.
• On to the real players. Yu Darvish got a second opinion and it was the same as the first. He needs Tommy John surgery. He'll now get a third opinion.
• Royals reliever Tim Collins underwent Tommy John surgery. Of course, he is out for the season.
• David Schoenfield asks if pitchers are getting hurt more often. The answer is yes, but there's no easy solution to the problem, as he explains.
• Rob Neyer looks at the issue of catchers getting hurt more often. Some of it is just better awareness of concussions, but the speed of the game plays a role too.
• Jonny Venters has had three Tommy John surgeries in his career. Venters signed a minor league deal with the Rays as he tries to keep his career alive.
• Jon Paul Morosi writes that in light of the injury to Marcus Stroman, the fate of the Blue Jays rests on their ability to find more pitching. Morosi suggest trading Dioner Navarro to the Diamondbacks for some pitching. I also find his comment "the mediocre AL East" to be both accurate and incredibly strange to see.
• The Diamondbacks are singing the praises of their new Cuban signee Yasmany Tomas.
• But the early reports on Tomas' fielding at third base are pretty brutal.
• Jon Heyman reports that the Dodgers and other teams are interested in Cuban Hector Olivera, but there are concerns about the health of his elbow.
• Dave Cameron wonders why the Dodgers want Olivera when they already have one. His name is Justin Turner and he's a heck of a lot cheaper.
• We still have no word on what baseball will decide Josh Hamilton. Russell Carleton is a former mental health professional and he talks about what goes into addiction and that MLB needs to offer Hamilton assistance, not punishment.
• By the way, it appears that Hamilton's wife Katie has quit The Real Housewives of Orange County.
• You'd think with the way the media has covered everything that Alex Rodriguez has done this year, they wouldn't miss anything. But the Yankees official Twitter feed didn't bother to mention that Rodriguez hit a home run. They claim it was just an error.
• A few Yankees players are not  happy that they are sharing their field with NYCFC for the next few seasons. They've got nothing against David Villa, Mix Diskerud and Frank Lampard (if he ever gets there), they just don't like what soccer does to the outfield grass.
• Jon Heyman quotes one unnamed GM saying that the Cardinals' Jason Heyward could sign a $200 million contract as a free agent next winter. Of course, six of the other seven GMs he spoke to said "no way" and the seventh just said that it only takes one idiot to give him that much.
• Jered Weaver is tired of being asked about his dropping velocity. He still gets batters out, he correctly points out.
• Ryne Sandberg wants the Phillies to play more small ball. Normally that's a bad idea, but since the Phillies can't hit anyway, they might as well bunt and hope for an error.
• We often mock it when a player shows up in spring training and announces that he's in "The Best Shape of His Life," because usually they end up having the same lousy season they had the year before. Or do they? Ben Lindbergh looks at players who announce that they are in the "BSOHL" and says it does make a slight difference. Not that they perform any better, but they tend to stay on the field slightly more.
• It looks like Manny Ramirez and Theo Epstein started a trend. The Braves signed Peter Moylan to be a "player/coach" for their rookie league team as he comes back from a second Tommy John surgery. (h/t Hardball Talk)
• Jerry Crasnick looks at the Indians pitching rotation and the Tribes' chances for 2015.
• Retired Giants player Aubrey Huff blasts his former teammate, Pablo Sandoval.
• Corey Kluber came out of nowhere to win the Cy Young Award last year. David Schoenfield lists five candidates to do the same this season.
• Trevor Bauer gave up three monster home runs earlier this week that you may have heard about. Indians manager Terry Francona then played a prank on Bauer, kidding him about the home runs. Bauer seems to have taken it all in good fun.
• Watch Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit balls on the bounce like his dad used to.
• Babe Ruth liked his uniforms with buttons and not zippers.
• Gio Gonzalez gave an interview in which he said "meow" ten times. I don't get the reference (Yes, I read the explanation. I haven't seen the film) but people tell me it's hilarious.
• R.A Dickey stole Daniel Norris' van, which also happens to be his place of residence, and took it for a joyride. Hmmph. Back in the old days, veterans would steal a rookie's car, clothes, wife and opium and no one thought it was in the least bit unusual.
• And finally, Brett Smiley shows us how baseball is dying--and has been for at least the past hundred years. Baseball is taking longer to go than Generalissimo Francisco Franco.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.