Happy Monday. I once had "March Madness," but now I take an SSRI and it's all gone.
- In the absence of any big story that broke over the weekend, let's start with this ESPN the Magazine profile of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Daniel Norris and why he's the most interesting man in baseball. It just starts with the way he lives in a van in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
- Hall of Famer Jim Palmer wants everyone to remember that he looked really good in his underwear. Along with a few other athletes of the 1970s.
- And Giants manager Bruce Bochy is a lot more sabermetrically-inclined than some of you might think. For example, he knows first-hand what "replacement value" players are like. In fact, the first team he managed was completely made up of "replacement players" during spring training of 1995.
- OK, now for the bad news. As expected, Yu Darvish will have Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2015 season.
- Let's hope it's just one season. As J.J. Cooper writes, success rates for Tommy John surgery have been dropping recently. These days, closer to 60-65% of pitchers return to form after TJ surgery than the old numbers of 80-90%.
- David Schoenfield thinks the Rangers can't compete this season and should trade Adrian Beltre to start the rebuilding process.
- Mets reliever Josh Edgin will also have Tommy John surgery.
- And Mets starter Zach Wheeler is having an MRI on his tender elbow. Uh oh.
- Read an interesting excerpt from an new book about Mets GM Sandy Alderson. (h/t Hardball Talk)
- Now on to the strange injuries stories. What does Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar have in common with Sammy Sosa? They both got injured sneezing.
- And the Brewers are dealing with an outbreak of pink eye. So they've banned giving high-fives for the duration.
- Player and longtime executive Al Rosen has died. Rosen was the 1953 AL MVP and the last living member of the 1948 World Series Champion Cleveland Indians. After his playing career, he became an executive for several teams, perhaps most notably as GM of the San Francisco Giants from 1985 to 1992.
- The father of Rays reliever Grant Balfour died. When Balfour returned from Australia and his father's funeral, the Rays had a tribute to the Australian baseball executive waiting for Balfour.
- The Red Sox new prospect, Yoan Moncada, will start his professional career in low-A and will play second base.
- Meanwhile, the mystery of how Moncada legally left Cuba only grows.
- Fellow Cuban Hector Olivera is weighing several multi-year offers.
- Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart is not going to trade for a catcher and you can't make him.
- Daniel Hudson has been told he will make the Diamondbacks opening day roster.
- Dontrelle Willis has officially retired.
- Tim Healey has a list of veterans looking for work this spring.
- Orioles catcher Matt Wieters can be a free agent at the end of the season and it looks like the Orioles will not be able to sign him before then.
- Tim Brown notes that Alex Rodriguez is having a good spring this far, much to his critics displeasure.
- MLBPA head Tony Clark says that the union has no problem with A-Rod.
- Tim Brown writes that Bryce Harper is miscast as a villain.
- More evidence Harper is a good guy. Harper takes time out to be photographed with an extremely young fan.
- The sale of a minority interest in the Dodgers places the value of the whole team at $3 billion.
- Ichiro Suzuki is having a big impact on Marlins camp.
- And one Japanese fan travelled all the way to Florida to see Ichiro.
- Matthew Trueblood notes that the Twins have finally discovered the lessons of Moneyball just as other teams start moving away from it.
- MLB now requires metal detectors at all stadiums.
- And several thousand people missed the kickoff of the very first NYCFC match at Yankee Stadium thanks, in part, to these security measures. In any case, Yankee Stadium is doing its best to try to make their new tenants welcome, even if they have to use the alternate third dressing room.
- Someone forgot to bring Rajai Davis' uniform on a road game, so he had to wear bench coach Gene Lamont's.
- Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez had a concrete block broken on his chest. This was supposed to motivate the Braves somehow.
- Here's the story of Pete Reiser and the injuries that ruined what would likely have been a Hall of Fame career. If you don't know of Reiser and how good he was, just check out his stat line for 1941.
- Some of you probably follow the Ned Colletti parody Twitter account. That account has been shut down for some reason and apparently Colletti played a hand in that. Just read the whole odd story here. (h/t Hardball Talk)
- And finally, Will Ferrell's major league career may be over, but the record of it will live for eternity. Especially since Ferrell has his own baseball-reference.com page. Go check it out.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.