Around the League: March 15, 2008

Today's MLB whatever,

• Ken Rosenthal revisits at the end of his most recent post, 2001, when the Mariners started off 20-4, and had the division locked up before May. Rosenthal talks about how the Angels may want to add another starter to fill a 14-16 start void that will be left by John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar's injuries. The Angels could go in to the scrap heap of free agents left; Horocio Ramirez, David Wells, and Jeff Weaver is all that is left. The Angels have a surplus of outfielder, so they could make a trade. The Brewers Dave Bush and Chris Capuono could get some interest. Or the Angels could jump in to the Joe Blanton sweepstakes. The Angels may decide to go with in house options such as Ercin Santana, Nick Adenhart, and Joe Saunders.
• The Pirates have signed Ian Snell to a three year extension worth $8M with a $600K signing bonus. There are two option years on the deal, totalling around $16M. This looks like a good deal for the Pirates, because the arbitration rate for young pitchers these days are crazy.
• The Marlins are going to sign Jeff Conine to a one day contract so he can retire as a Marlin. Conine, also known as "Mr. Marlin" holds many club records, and was vital in the clubs 1997 and 2003 World Series titles.
• Spring Training action from today. SD 6 LAD 3; ATL 3 STL 2; BOS 3 PIT 6; DET 2 TB 7; FLA 7 LAD 6; NYM 4 HOU 6; PHI 6 CIN 2; TOR 8 MIN 3; WSH 3 BAL 11; DET 4 NYM 7; CLE 6 NYY 7; LAA 1 CHC 4; CWS 5 ARI 4; SD-COL Cancelled; SF 3 KC 13; TEX 7 OAK 9.