Spring Training Capsules: Greenberg says Rangers sale on track for opener
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Chuck Greenberg visited the Texas Rangers spring training complex for the first time Wednesday, and expressed confidence that the complex deal for his investment group's purchase of the team will be completed before the season opens next month.
"Everything is going smoothly," said Greenberg, who will become the CEO and managing general partner when the deal is completed. "There are always complexities and matters that have to be solved right up to the moment of being done. So far, nothing remarkable has happened or failed to happen. Everything is right on course and I feel great about it."
Greenberg's one-day visit was a brief reprieve from his work back in Texas trying to complete the transfer of the team from owner Tom Hicks and his financially strapped Hicks Sports Group.
"It's a question of when and not if," said Greenberg, sporting a red Rangers jacket over his blue Rangers shirt. "We think the when will be April 1."
Texas opens April 5 at home against Toronto.
"We continue to work to getting the deal closed and would like to have it done by opening day, as well," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said in New York. "We're making some progress."
The deal is complicated by debt owed by Hicks Sports Group, which early last year defaulted on $525 million in loans tied to the Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars. Hicks said that was a deliberate move to force lenders to renegotiate terms of the deals. Hicks also is exploring a sale of the Stars, which he has owned since 1996. He bought the Rangers in 1998.
The SportsBusiness Journal reported, citing unnamed sources, the sale of the Rangers stalled after Major League Baseball last week informed the team's creditors that there would be delays in responding to the lenders' concerns about the deal.
"What's interesting is it said that the sale is delayed again which suggests that it has already been delayed once and that just hasn't happened," Greenberg said. "There are some folks out there that have a little bit of self-interest in portraying gloom and doom, none of whom are principals in the deal."
Greenberg's group includes Rangers president and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan among a group of about a dozen mostly local investors. An agreement in principle to buy the team from Hicks was announced Jan. 23.
Greenberg was joined by Ray Davis of Dallas, one of the lead investors in the group, for the visit to the Arizona complex the Rangers share with the Kansas City Royals. Ryan was already at the camp.
As owner of two minor league teams, Greenberg has been a regular visitor to spring training the past 10 years in Florida. He had never been to spring training in Arizona before Wednesday.
"I love the Rangers. I'm totally emotionally invested even if I'm not yet financially invested. Nolan and I speak every day," Greenberg said. "I love spring training, it would be kind of ironic if the first spring training in many, many years I missed would be the spring training which we were on the verge of doing this."
After taking in the Rangers' game against AL West rival Seattle, Greenberg was returning to Texas.
"There's been a lot of grinding over the last eight or nine months, and the finish line is just ahead," he said. "I'm just going to keep grinding until we cross it."
Greenberg said there is work to be done by all parties to complete the deal, but that negotiations are on the right pace to be completed and "typical" for this stage in the process.
"Is everything done today where we can close tomorrow? No. But is everything moving on a pace that needs to in order to close on April 1? Yes," Greenberg said. "We think we will get there. If for some reason we don't, it doesn't mean there are problems. ... It's no reason for alarm on anyone's part."
Cliff Lee makes striking debut for Mariners
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Cliff Lee accomplished his primary objective in his delayed spring debut, then began to work on the rest of his repertoire.
The Seattle Mariners' prized offseason acquisition threw 36 of 46 pitches for strikes over three solid innings in a 6-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
"I want to locate fastballs, that's the No. 1 thing for me right now. So I tried to do that more than anything," Lee said. "I was pleased with where that was at, so I was able to use more pitches than I anticipated."
Lee gave up a run and five singles, struck out one and walked one. The left-hander benefited from two double plays.
"I'm glad he's on our team," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "It's nice to have a guy that understands how to pitch out of some jams a little bit, a guy that doesn't lose his composure, that's been to the World Series, won a Cy Young. ... We're hoping the influence is even more for these other guys to learn from."
So intent on locating his fastball, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner needed 12 pitches to finally retire leadoff hitter Pedro Borbon on a fly ball to start his outing.
"I felt like I probably could have thrown some off-speed and gotten him earlier," Lee said.
When the 31-year-old Lee reported to Mariners camp three weeks ago, his left foot was bandaged following surgery to remove a bone spur. Even though he said he was ready to pitch then, the Mariners were cautious with the ace they acquired from Philadelphia in the offseason.
"It's a non-issue. It's been a non-issue for a few weeks now," Lee said. "That's behind me."
Mike Sweeney, a 15-year veteran who signed a minor league deal with the Mariners right before camp, went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles, one of them driving in three runs to put Seattle up 6-1 in the fifth. Sweeney is 10 for 13 (.769) in his four spring games with three doubles, a home run and six RBIs.
Milton Bradley had an RBI groundout in the first and was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth before Sweeney's bases-clearing double.
C.J. Wilson, getting a chance to move from the bullpen to the Texas rotation, allowed a leadoff single to Ichiro Suzuki and a leadoff walk to Josh Wilson in the third. Both scored. Wilson struck out two, walked one and yielded one hit in his three innings.
"I ended up throwing my full allotment of pitches which is good," Wilson said. "The thing they have been stressing with me a lot is minimizing big innings and just going out there and challenging guys to hit the ball and put it in play."
Hard-throwing Neftali Feliz, who also could transition into the rotation, gave up four runs and four hits over two innings. All three of his strikeouts came in the fourth, and all the runs came in the fifth.
NOTES: Texas stars 3B Michael Young, 2B Ian Kinsler and CF Josh Hamilton got the day off. They are scheduled to make the two-hour trip to Tucson for Thursday's game against Colorado. ... Wakamatsu said LHP Erik Bedard, recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, is long-tossing with no problems. "He is still a ways away from getting on the mound, but everything right now is extremely good," Wakamatsu said. Bedard might be sidelined until June.
-- Stephen Hawkins
Uggla, Stanton homer as Marlins rout Astros 16-4
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Hayden Penn made a case for himself in the competition for one of the Marlins' three remaining rotation spots, while another hopeful arm wasn't quite as sharp.
Penn, a 25-year-old right-hander, started and retired nine straight batters during three perfect innings of work, and the Marlins got back-to-back home runs from outfield prospect Mike Stanton and Dan Uggla in a 16-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
Penn struck out Pedro Feliz to end the second inning and didn't walk anyone during a tidy 31-pitch outing. He is integrating a sinker into his repertoire and was very pleased with the results. He threw almost as many sinkers as fastballs and ended up getting the groundballs he needed.
"It's something I'm trying to incorporate more into my game," Penn said of the sinker. "I figure it's a pretty good sign to be getting ground balls, especially when I'm behind in the count. As long as I stay committed to it, I think its going to help me down the road."
Penn is one of six pitchers competing for the final three spots in Florida's rotation behind ace Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco. Chris Volstad, who also pitched three innings Wednesday, Rick VandenHurk, Anibal Sanchez, Andrew Miller and Sean West are also in contention.
Penn is in a make-or-break situation this season. He's out of team options for the second straight year after being traded from Baltimore last spring. If he doesn't make the team, he'll likely be traded again.
Penn was 1-0 with a 7.77 ERA while striking out 27 in 22 innings at the big league level. He was more effective at Triple-A New Orleans, where he went 2-4 with a 4.11 ERA in 13 starts.
"I know what the process is like," Penn said. "Last year, I was wondering day-in and day-out. It's so hard to get guys out the way it is. To worry about everything just makes it impossible on yourself. All I worry about is what I do when I get out there and get in between the lines and they hand me the ball."
Volstad was not nearly as effective for the Marlins. The 6-foot-8 right-hander surrendered four runs on six hits over three innings after coming on in relief during the fourth. He gave up a two-run home run to minor leaguer Chris Johnson in the fifth.
Volstad has added a slider to his arsenal this spring and is trying to throw it as much as possible to get a feel for it.
"I wanted to throw a couple more sliders this time out but it wasn't as good as I've thrown it," Volstad said. "You got to figure for inconsistencies this early. But the majority of the hits I gave up were on the slider. I had a good changeup. The fastball, I wasn't really getting through it a whole lot."
Reigning rookie of the year Chris Coghlan had two hits, including a fifth-inning triple, and four RBI for the Marlins. Outfielder Brett Carroll had three hits, scored four runs and drove in another two. Emilio Bonafacio, Brian Barden, Uggla, Wes Helms and Gaby Sanchez all added two hits each for the Marlins.
Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez was ineffective for the second consecutive start this spring. After allowing three runs in two innings against Detroit on March 5, Rodriguez allowed six runs, four earned, on six hits over three innings.
"Right now wherever I'm trying to throw the ball I'm missing," Rodriguez said. "I wanted to throw the ball down and looking towards the corners. I try to go fastball inside and I miss in the middle. I try my breaking ball down, I miss up or in the middle."
Rodriguez set career highs and led the team in wins (14), starts (33), ERA (3.02) and strikeouts (193) last season. Rodriguez signed a one-year, $5 million deal a few weeks ago and is slotted to be the No. 2 starter in between ace Roy Oswalt and Brett Myers.
Hunter Pence, Lance Berkman and Pedro Feliz each had one hit for the Astros, who totaled just eight hits. Feliz and Berkman each scored a run.
Yankees 9, Tigers 8
LAKELAND, Fla. — Curtis Granderson, playing against Detroit for the first time since being traded to New York, had two hits and made a spectacular one-handed catch against the center-field wall to help the Yankees.
Johnny Damon, who signed with Detroit after four seasons with the Yankees, did not play because of a sore big toe on his right foot.
Gerald Laird hit a grand slam off starter Joba Chamberlain to give Detroit a 6-3 lead in the third inning. Mark Teixeira hit his first homer of the spring off former Yankees reliever Phil Coke in the same inning.
Chamberlain gave up six runs and five hits, walked three and struck out one in 2 1-3 innings.
Detroit starter Armando Galarraga gave up two runs in two innings.
| Cardinals 6, Nationals 4 |
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JUPITER, Fla. — Brad Penny threw four shutout innings and St. Louis beat winless Washington.
The Cardinals were without sluggers Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, who were scratched after batting practice. Pujols was supposed to be back in the lineup after being sidelined by back soreness but the problem resurfaced. Holliday had some soreness in his rib cage.
Penny allowed one hit, struck out two and walked none in a much sharper effort than his spring debut. He agreed to a $7.5 million, one-year contract with St. Louis in the offseason.
Garrett Mock allowed two runs and five hits in three innings for the Nationals (0-8).
| Braves 7, Mets 6, 10 innings |
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KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Right-hander Derek Lowe was hampered by a blister on his right foot, forcing him out of Atlanta's win after just one inning.
Lowe said the recurring blister on his push-off foot popped with Daniel Murphy at the plate, after he had faced two batters. He tried to hang in there but he told manager Bobby Cox he couldn't go another inning after yielding three runs and five hits in the first.
Lowe, already selected to pitch on opening day, might have to miss his next scheduled spring start.
Jesus Sucre's RBI single in the 10th inning gave Atlanta the win. Chipper Jones also had a two-run double in the fourth for the Braves.
Chris Carter homered and drove in four runs for the Mets.
| Rays 8, Red Sox 6 |
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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Left-hander David Price, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, left Tampa Bay's win in the bottom of the second inning after being hit on the right hand by the barrel of a shattered bat.
According to Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn, Price had an abrasion on his right thumb and will not need stitches. Manager Joe Maddon said the team will evaluate Price on Thursday and "take it from there."
In his second start of the spring, Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester pitched 2 2-3 innings, giving up one unearned run and two hits. Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury homered twice and drove in three runs.
The Rays announced that highly touted outfield prospect Desmond Jennings has a sprained left wrist and will be out of action for the next five to seven days.
Nomar Garciaparra signed a ceremonial one-day contract with the Red Sox for the purpose of retiring in the uniform of his original team, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
| Royals 5, Rockies 0 |
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TUCSON, Ariz. — Kansas City's Zack Greinke threw three innings to extend his spring scoreless streak to six.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner allowed one hit, walked one and struck out two. He remains on schedule to start opening day April 5 against the Detroit Tigers.
Jeff Francis made his second start for Colorado after missing the 2009 season following shoulder surgery. He yielded two hits in three shutout innings.
| White Sox 9, Athletics 5 |
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PHOENIX — Ben Sheets still looks like a pitcher who hasn't worked in nearly a year and a half.
His command isn't quite there and his fastball velocity is slightly down. Oakland's new $10 million ace still considered his short outing in a loss to Chicago a step in the right direction.
The right-hander, who missed all of 2009 recovering from elbow surgery, allowed six runs, five earned, and five hits over 2 2-3 innings in his second spring start.
The Athletics got a big lift from Eric Chavez, who hit his first two homers of the spring.
Andruw Jones, Brent Morel and A.J. Pierzynski each drove in two runs for Chicago.
| Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 4 |
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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Don Mattingly's first day as Dodgers interim manager featured a humorous gaffe.
Los Angeles batted out of order but Andre Ethier took advantage of the mix-up, leading off the fourth inning with his first spring homer.
Ethier came to the plate twice in a span of three Dodgers batters. Crew chief Mike Winters wanted Ethier to hit behind Matt Kemp to adhere to the lineup card the Dodgers submitted to the umpires before the game.
Ethier went deep during the second of those at-bats.
Dodgers bench coach Bob Schaefer filled out the lineup cards, but the one posted in the dugout listed Ethier batting before Kemp.
Mattingly is running the team while manager Joe Torre is with a split squad for three exhibition games in Taiwan.
Diamondbacks starter Dan Haren pitched into the third inning for the first time this spring, allowing four hits over 2 2-3 scoreless innings.
| Phillies 4, Blue Jays 2 |
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DUNEDIN, Fla. — Kyle Drabek, acquired from Philadelphia in the Roy Halladay trade, pitched two shutout innings in Toronto's loss to the Phillies.
Greg Dobbs and John Mayberry each hit a pair of doubles, and Cody Ransom homered for Philadelphia.
Phillies starter Cole Hamels, after three perfect innings, gave up a first-pitch home run to Jose Bautista in the bottom of the fourth.
| Indians 10, Padres (ss) 5 |
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GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Grady Sizemore hit a grand slam in a nine-run fourth inning to help Cleveland remain unbeaten.
Wade LeBlanc yielded one run over three innings but Cleveland (5-0) put 10 men on base before making an out against Aaron Poreda and Jackson Quezada in the fourth.
David Huff, trying to win spot in Cleveland's rotation, gave up one run and three hits over three innings. The left-hander led the Indians with 11 wins as a rookie in 2009.
| Padres (ss) 5, Brewers 4 |
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PEORIA, Ariz. — Sean Gallagher and Mat Latos each allowed a run over three innings, and Will Venable hit a three-run homer for San Diego.
Yovani Gallardo allowed three runs over three innings for Milwaukee, yielding the first-inning homer to Venable.
Mike Adams pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his first spring training outing since 2006 to earn the save.
| Giants 5, Cubs 1 |
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MESA, Ariz. — Pablo Sandoval hit a grand slam off Carlos Zambrano and Jonathan Sanchez pitched three scoreless innings, leading San Francisco to the victory.
Zambrano had given up only one hit in four spring innings before the Giants scored five times in the third. After allowing three soft singles, he hit Eugenio Velez with a pitch and yielded Sandoval's line drive over the right-field wall.
Sanchez allowed three singles, walked none and struck out five while running his shutout streak to five innings.
| Reds 6, Angels 0 |
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TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Leake threw two crisp innings and Todd Frazier had two RBIs for Cincinnati.
Leake, the eighth overall pick in last year's draft, allowed one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Trevor Reckling, one of Los Angeles' top pitching prospects, gave up a run and a hit in two innings.
The Angels finished with just three hits.
| Orioles 3, Pirates 2 |
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BRADENTON, Fla. — Luke Scott hit a two-run single off Zach Duke in the first inning, helping Baltimore get the win.
Duke allowed three runs and four hits in 2 2-3 innings. Ty Wigginton also had an RBI single for Baltimore in the first.
Top prospect Pedro Alvarez and Ramon Vazquez each singled in a run in the second for Pittsburgh. Vazquez went 2 for 2.
Brad Bergesen yielded two runs and three hits in 1 1-3 innings for the Orioles.
