February 28, 2013
MLB notes: Robinson Cano gets 'significant offer' from Yankees
By QMI Agency
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday that he has made all-star second baseman Robinson Cano "a significant offer" on a contract extension.
Cano is due to become a free agent after the 2013 season and the Yankees would like to lock him up contractually before that happens. Negotiations have been ongoing in recent weeks, with team owner Hal Steinbrenner revealing last month that the Yanks were "willing to consider a significant long-term contract" to keep Cano around.
Despite Cashman's revelation, the Cano camp was keeping quiet about the status of contract talks.
"Robinson is focused on preparing for and playing the 2013 season," agent Scott Boras told CBS Sports. "By agreement, discussions shall remain confidential. Also by agreement, discussions will cease if they are a distraction to Robinson's performance and leadership of the 2013 Yankees."
Cano could ask for a deal upwards of $20-25 million per season for 8-10 years if he goes to the free-agent market.
The Yankees picked up a $15 million club option on Cano, 30, for this season. Last year he hit .313 with a career-high 33 homers and 94 RBIs.
MISSING SAUSAGE FOUND
Guido, the Milwaukee Brewers' racing Italian sausage, has been returned by its captors.
The missing link was dropped off at a bar in Cedarburg, Wisc., by two men Wednesday night. One of the perps warned staff, "You did not see anything," according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The sausage costume, used in Miller Park's famous sausage races each game before the bottom of the sixth inning, went missing on Feb. 16, lifted from the Milwaukee Curling Club during a beer tasting event.
After that, the 7-foot-long weenie was spotted barhopping, first at a tavern in Cedarburg, 40 kilometres north of Milwaukee, and then at a local bar and grill around midnight.
KEMP WILL PLAY
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp will likely make his spring debut Friday.
Kemp hasn't played yet because he had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder during the off-season. But after starting spring training slowly, he thinks it's time to get back on the field.
"I can swing and miss and I can check-swing, and I don't feel anything," he said on MLB.com. "Last year, I would feel it get tingly down my arm. But that's gone. I think it's time to play a game."
Another rehabbing Dodger, outfielder Carl Crawford, reported stiffness in his left forearm and didn't take part in throwing or hitting drills Thursday. He had Tommy John surgery on the elbow in August.
RANGERS' MR. SENSITIVE
Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus took the day off Thursday after getting a new tattoo on his left arm.
Andrus didn't play in the Rangers' exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians in Surprise, Ariz., because an elaborate tattoo dedicated to his late father -- Emilio Andrus, with the words "In Loving Memory" and "Dad" as well as some baseball-related motifs -- caused "sensitivity" in his left biceps, according to the Dallas Morning News.
It was a heartfelt gesture, sure, but Andrus didn't say why he waited until spring training to get the ink done.
"Doing it in the off-season was probably the best idea," he conceded on MLB.com.
GARZA TAKING IT SLOW
Chicago Cubs righthander Matt Garza could start the season on the disabled list due to a strained lat muscle.
According to CSNChicago.com, Garza isn't going to rush his rehab in the hopes of being ready for opening day. Garza, who threw off flat ground Thursday and expects to do so again Saturday, was hurt on Feb. 17.
"If I try to rush and be ready April 1, I might be re-injured in June, and be out," Garza said. "If I take my time, maybe I'm pitching April 15 through October, maybe November."
Garza missed the final two months of the 2012 season due to a strained elbow and hasn't pitched in a game for seven months.
Boston Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks said Thursday his right wrist feels "fine" and he could be back in the lineup Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Middlebrooks, who had surgery on the wrist after breaking it last season, left Wednesday's game after experiencing pain but doctors cleared him to play ... San Francisco Giants Andres Torres and Jose Mijares won't play in the World Baseball Classic because of injuries. Torres (oblique strain) was set to play for Puerto Rico and Mijares (elbow soreness) for Venezuela ... The Oakland A's have tabbed lefty Brett Anderson as their opening-day starter. Anderson is less than two years removed from having Tommy John surgery on his elbow ... Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer is going to be a father. The team announced that Mauer's wife Maddie is expecting, you guessed it, twins.