Major League Baseball News

Minnesota Twins starting lefty Fransisco Liriano has been given the green light to return to the United States and report to spring training, sources confirmed on Monday. Liriano was held up and had to pass an alcohol assessment before entering the country again.

“I obtained the visa, and I will go away tomorrow for training,” Liriano said in an interview with the AP. Liriano went 12-3 in 2006 for the Twins with a 2.16 ERA before a season-ending elbow injury that forced Liriano out of the ‘07 season.

Fantasy Spin: Before today, Liriano wasn’t even at spring. Now, you can count on Liriano being ready to test out his arm in the regular season. Put Fransisco Liriano high on your sleeper list and make sure to include him in the top 100.

Ryan Howard isn’t the only Ryan trying to cash in on his early MLB success for the first time. With arbitration hearings ruling in favor of Howard for $10 million just this week, the Brewers are aware that California born Ryan Braun could be eligible for the same treatment in 2009.

When asked about a potential long term deal similar to the NL’s Tulowitzki, Braun appeared very interested. “It’s certainly something I am open to, but I honestly haven’t thought about it too much yet,” Braun replied. “I’m definitely not opposed to considering whatever they have to say.”

Tulowitzki and the Colorado Rockies agreed just recently to a 6-year, $31 million deal with a potential $15 million option for the 7th year. Many consider this deal to be a preview of the type of deal Braun and agent Nez Balelo might be able to negotiate with the Brewers. Braun will start in the outfield this year, a move prompted by a series of errors at 3B last year. Braun set an MLB record for rookies with a .634 slugging percentage, while batting .324 with 34 HRs, 97 RBIs and 15 SBs in only 113 games.

On Thursday, tickets for the season opener in the Tokyo Dome in Japan have sold out. The World Series Champion Boston Red Sox host the Oakland Athletics, but the game will have most American fans waking up around 6 AM.55,000 seats for this game began going on sale Feb. 9 and were gone in under two weeks!

Fans in Japan disappointed of the news can still catch the pre-season Red Sox games versus the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers, as tickets for those games still remain available.

As Aramis Ramirez reported to camp this week, the focus went from his slump in the playoffs to his involvement with cockfighting, a native ritual of the Dominican Republic. When asked about his picture on a cockfighting magazine, he declined to comment.

“I’m not going to talk about that. That’s personal, that’s a different culture down there,” Ramirez explains. Just last month Juan Marichal  and Pedro Martinez received similar criticism when spotted on a cockfighting video together.

Sources confirmed Tuesday that second baseman Ian Kinsler and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a 5 year deal worth $22 million, with a one year extension that could be worth $10 million for a deal that could be worth $32 million max. At age 25 last year, Kinsler joined a rare group of second basemen to hit 20 HR and steal 20 bases. The epic milestone is the 40/40 club, whose members include Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, and Alex Rodriguez.

Andy Pettitte took the floor today to the media and got brutalized by the questions about steroids, HGH, and cheating. While Andy admits to using HGH to recover from an injury, he swears up and down with all his heart that he took it because he was told it will help him recover. As a reminder to the public, HGH is regularly prescribed to patients across the US with injuries. It is believed to help the stabilizer muscles, which in turn prevents from re-aggravating the injured tendon or ligament that is strained. HGH was also not illegal in baseball when Pettitte took it.

“Was it stupid? Yeah, it was stupid!” Pettitte explains. “Did I do it to gain an advantage? No. Am I a cheater? I know in my heart that I did not cheat. The only two people who know my heart are myself and God. But if I would have used HGH for an edge, then you could call me a cheater.”

After passing a physical to complete the deal, the New York Mets officially have signed LHP Johan Santana to an MLB record setting contract for a pitcher. The terms of the agreement include a 6-year, $137.5 million contract with an option in 2014 and a $5.5 million buy out. This deal eclipses the previous record setting pitcher contract set by Barry Zito in 2006 when the Giants inked him for a 7-year, $126 million deal with an $18 million option in 2014 and a buy out at $7 million.

“It was unbelievable the work that went into this,” Mets GM Omar Minaya exhuberated. “It’s a historic day.” The Mets will begin the 2008 season with Santana the ace and opening day hurler, followed by #2 Pedro Martinez.

The St. Louis Cardinals and manager Tony La Russa are forced to keep an eye on Albert Pujols‘ bum right elbow in 2008. Pujols will test out his elbow that began giving him problems in 2003. The complications with his right elbow involve strained and re-strained ligaments due to playing through the injury most of the ‘07 season. This came after deciding not to have season-ending surgery on his elbow.

When asked about his elbow affecting his 2008 performance, Pujols was not fazed. “If it blows out, it blows out…You can’t control that.” Pitchers and catchers report to spring training this week in West Palm Beach, Florida. Pujols should be arriving shortly.