Aaron Boone never has been short on heart as a baseball player, but sadly, his career might be coming to an end as a result of a faulty aortic valve. Boone has left Astros camp and will undergo open heart surgery to repair a condition he has been aware of since his playing days at USC in the early 1990s.
It's not an emergency situation, but as Boone announced Wednesday, "I'll need surgery to correct the problem. Initially, my doctors thought I could delay corrective surgery for some time. But because of some variations in my condition, they are now advising me to deal with the problem sooner rather than later."
"If we think there's a need at the end [of camp], there's going to be guys available," Wade said. "I got a call today from a club that's got a guy that they want to make available if we have the need."
However, that's an issue for later on. For now, all are wishing Boone a speedy recovery. Although doctors speculate that after this season-ending surgery, he will be able to play baseball again sometime down the line, since he is 36, this might well be the end of his career. "Am I going to recover well enough to play baseball again? Probably. Will I play baseball again? I don't know at this time. We'll cross that bridge when I get there," he said.
• Hanley Ramirez, the current No. 1 overall pick in ESPN live drafts, still is suffering from some rotator cuff tendinitis and has not played since Saturday. Ramirez had spent much of the spring at the World Baseball Classic playing for the Dominican Republic team, which was eliminated by the Netherlands last week. Whether or not Ramirez overdid it during the intense competition is unclear, but for now, the team is convinced this is not something that will linger. "He'll be fine. He should be good to go in a couple of days," Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told the Palm Beach Post.
• The Red Sox might be rethinking this whole World Baseball Classic concept. First, Dustin Pedroia suffered a minor strain in an abdominal muscle, and now, Kevin Youkilis is on the shelf for Team USA. Youkilis returned to Red Sox camp with an injury to his left ankle. The Boston Globe reports he was checked out by the medical staff and diagnosed with a mild ankle sprain and mild Achilles tendinitis. The infielder had two MRIs on Wednesday, both of which were negative, according to the team. Youkilis hit three home runs in the first two rounds for the United States but now will be a spectator for the remainder of the tournament.
• Mets fans, are you prepared for Livan Hernandez? With Tim Redding expected to begin the season on the disabled list because of a weakened shoulder, it appears Hernandez is leaving the competition for the fifth starter's job in the dust. He pitched five strong innings against the Braves on Wednesday, allowing only one run and lowering his spring ERA to 3.07. Compare that to Freddy Garcia, who was tattooed for five runs in two innings in relief of Hernandez. There still is time until a decision needs to be made, but manager Jerry Manuel certainly has noticed what Hernandez has done so far.
"Well, I tell you what, he was pretty good," Manuel told Newsday. "He has a good presence about him on the mound, in the dugout, and it's like he brings a little different energy for us. So I would have to say that he's put himself in a real good position."
"I don't want to just get him out there and start pushing him on a daily basis,'' Maddon said. "If we were to get hot and then you've got 3-4 wins in a row that are close situations, that would be counterproductive to get him out there that many days in a row."
So who does Maddon intend to be Percival's understudy? None other than Jason Isringhausen, himself coming off elbow surgery. "If we were able to figure out how to get [Isringhausen] within the mix, then of course you'd be able to bounce it back and forth, and obviously that's been in the back of my mind," Maddon said. Perhaps there's more life left for baseball's Izzie than Izzie on "Grey's Anatomy."
• Nix Jayson Nix from the White Sox's second-base competition. The Chicago Tribune reports Nix re-aggravated his right quad, the same injury that caused him to miss 10 days of action earlier this month. As a result, the White Sox don't think Nix will be ready for Opening Day. That probably seals the deal for Chris Getz to be the starting second baseman and leadoff hitter for the White Sox when the games start to count. Getz is hitting .364 this spring, and Ozzie Guillen told the paper he's impressed with the youngster. "He's swinging the bat good against good pitchers. That's what I need from him, give me good at-bats and the rest of it will take care of itself," Guillen said.
Brent Lillibridge also is in the mix, but his versatility makes him far more valuable as a utility man. The other option is Gordon Beckham, whose chances of making the roster have improved greatly with Nix's injury and the demotion of Dayan Viciedo to Triple-A. Although Beckham probably needs a bit more time in the minors, Guillen has ruled nothing out, since there are several weeks of spring training left. A lot can happen in that time.
• The Washington Post reports former Dodger Joe Beimel has signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Nationals. In 2008, the left-hander went 5-1 with a 2.02 ERA in 71 relief appearances for Los Angeles. And although the team says the timing was coincidental, it also cut Shawn Hill. By severing ties with the pitcher now, the team won't have to pay him all the $775,000 he was set to earn. For the past three seasons, Hill was besieged by injury, missing close to 100 days of action with right elbow soreness in 2006, dealing with a strained left elbow in 2007 and undergoing reconstructive right elbow surgery in 2008. Hill looked healthy so far this spring, but you can't blame the Nationals for this move.
As acting general manager Mike Rizzo put it, "We thought the uncertainty of what he's going to bring to us on a daily basis was really the factor behind us releasing him. He's healthy for now, yes, but we don't know how long that is going to be for." It looks like top prospect Jordan Zimmermann now is a lock for the rotation, which most likely also will include John Lannan, Scott Olsen and Daniel Cabrera.
• Tom Gorzelanny won't be doing much for fantasy owners this season. In 2007, he went 14-10, and many thought that would be a launching point for the pitcher. He was a hot sleeper pick before the 2008 season but simply didn't pan out, and now the lefty has been sent to Triple-A by the Pirates. His spring work in 2009 has been disappointing to say the least, with a 7.00 ERA in nine innings of work. Still, the move comes as a bit of a surprise, as the candidates for the final spot in the Pirates' rotation now are Jeff Karstens and Virgil Vasquez, neither of whom is the slightest bit appealing fantasy-wise. As Pirates GM Neal Huntington told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "No one really took the [final] two starting jobs and put the stranglehold on them, so we had to make an interpretation according to what we saw."
