Indians fans, correct me if I'm wrong here, but is the appropriate reaction "aw geez"?

As seen on ESPN's spring training blog for the 18th:

Reliever Adam Miller is facing career-threatening reconstructive finger surgery if he is unable to find a new way to pitch effectively. Indians trainer Lonnie Soloff said Miller, who underwent surgery on his right middle finger last year, will spend the next seven to 10 days throwing to see if he can command his pitches without pain. If Miller can't, he will have a procedure where a tendon will be taken from his wrist to reattach the tendon in his finger. Soloff said the operation would cost Miller this season and perhaps end his career. Soloff said a buildup of scar tissue could make it impossible to pitch. The hard-throwing 24-year-old Miller came to training camp with a chance to win a job in Cleveland's bullpen.

Maybe he could borrow one of Antonio Alfonseca's? I'm sure he could spare a digit or two.

So says his former girlfriend, in a lawsuit...

In papers filed in state and federal court, Dall said Alomar finally got tested in January 2006 while suffering from a cough, fatigue and shingles.

"The test results of him being HIV-positive was given to him and the plaintiff on or about Feb.6, 2006," the $15 million negligence suit says.

Nine days later, the couple went to see a disease specialist who discovered a mass in the retired second baseman's chest, the court papers say.

Alomar's skin had turned purple, he was foaming at the mouth and a spinal tap "showed he had full-blown AIDS," the suit says.

Alomar couldn't be reached for comment, according to the NY Post, but some of the further details seem to be more damning and, well, less batshit insane, such as a physical taken at the behest of Tampa Bay revealing thrombocytopenia purpura, which could be related to AIDS.

I... er, really have no clue what to say about this, to be honest, especially if it's true.

Remember how we were wondering why Chicago wanted Garrett Olson for Felix Pie? (Of course you do.)

Well, the Cubs have shipped Olson and Ronny Cedeno to Seattle for The Immortal Aaron Heilman. Yes, really.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, who was returning from a trip to Italy on Wednesday, couldn't be reached for comment. But one baseball person said Hendry has been an admirer of Heilman's "since he pitched at Notre Dame.''

Olson had been mentioned as a potential trade chip if the Cubs decided to make another run at San Diego's Jake Peavy. The Cubs' deal with Seattle could put an end to speculation about the team trying to acquire Peavy.

As per the article, Heilman and Sean Marshall are going to compete for the fifth starter spot, while Olson is one of (roughly) eight trillion rotation candidates for Seattle, behind Felix Hernandez, Erik Bedard, Carlos Silva, Brandon Morrow, Jarrod Washburn, Ryan Rowland-Smith and... well, you.

ESPN reported on their transaction wire that the Tigers inked Fu-Te Ni to a minor-league deal. 'Kay.

Okay, seriously. As per The Detroit Tigers Weblog, Ni's expected to start the year in AAA and work out of the bullpen. He's a lefty, and... well...

Ni is 26 and from the above video his fastball appears to top out at 87 mph. It looks like he has a breaking ball that sits in the mid 70’s. It appears that he had garnered some interest from the Mariners as well. Ni is billed as The Taiwanese Okajima.

That video, seen here, shows some highlights of Ni starting in the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament against Canada, and he makes a few Canuckistani hitters look foolish. (He'd get a no-decision after Taiwan blew a 5-4 lead in the ninth when Mike Saunders drove in The Immortal Stubby Clapp.)

He's the first CPBL player to sign with an MLB team, although a few players out of that league have done well in Japan. Another take from Taiwan Baseball:

In 2008 CPBL play, the two-year pro had 5 wins and 12 losses to go with a 3.34 ERA over 145.1 IP. He led the league in K's with 132 and allowed 35 BB's. Ni throws comfortably in the mid to upper 80's (he's topped out at 93 mph) and throws a slider, curve, changeup, and forkball.

So what're your hopes for the guy? Bullpen arm? Possible starter? Okajima (pre-2007 All-Star break) or Okajima (post-2007 All-Star break)?

An AP story just came across the wire about the Pirates signing Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel. Who are these guys, you're asking? Good question...

The two 20-year-old pitchers, neither of whom had picked up a baseball until earlier this year, signed free-agent contracts Monday with the Pirates. They are believed to be the first athletes from India to sign professional sports contracts outside their country.

Singh and Patel came to the United States six months ago after being the top finishers in an Indian reality TV show called the "Million Dollar Arm" that drew about 30,000 contestants. The show sought to find athletes who could throw strikes at 85 miles per hour or faster.

While neither pitcher threw hard enough to earn the $1 million prize, Singh made $100,000 from the contest and Patel made $2,500, plus his trip to the United States.

The show was sponsored by a sports management agency, under the principle that someone in a country of India's size has to have an MLB-caliber arm. No word yet on if Patel (5-11, 185 lbs, RHP) or Singh (6-2, 195, LHP) are those players, but Patel hit 90 MPH in tryouts, while Singh topped out at 84. Neither of them have been in game situations, but they've scrimmaged against juco teams. Holy untapped markets, John.

source: ESPN

Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen are, according to Peter Gammons, headed to the Washington Nationals for Emilio Bonifacio, P.J. Dean and Jake Smolinski.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3694827

In three full seasons, as well as bits of two others, Willingham's a career .266/.361/.472 hitter, but he hasn't quite matched his 2006 season (.852 OPS, near-.500 SLG, 26 HR). Meanwhile, Olsen's had a rocky tenure with the Marlins, but still had a 4.20 ERA in 33 starts.

Bonifacio's arrival more'n likely means Uggla's FINALLY moving off 2B, but is that all there is to this deal?

Just came across on ESPN's transaction wire that the Marlins claimed Dan Meyer off waivers from Oakland. Being one of the centerpieces of the Tim Hudson deal, one would think they would've made more of a move to keep him, buuuuut... apparently not. Did he just stall out at AAA? Certainly didn't look like he did much to distinguish himself in the majors, going off the numbers (those being an 0-4 record in 11 appearances, four starts, 7.48 ERA, 1.77 WHIP).

Whoever he is, he just took Mike Lowell's place on the Red Sox playoff roster. All I gather is he's spent 10 years in the minors, and made his major-league debut in late September, getting a whole eight regular-season AB's. Oh, and the player tag says he's a SS. So what'll he be? Defensive replacement if Jedediah Springfield Lowrie has to play 2B/3B? Emergency bullpen arm? 25th man?

Perusing the recap of tonight's Red Sox/Rays game (ef a dumb Tampa), a couple names jumped out to me: Dan Johnson, who had the game-winning hit off the bench, and Irvin Vigo Joel Guzman, who got D'edFA by Tampa Bay.

Which begs the question: what went wrong with those two guys?

A quick search through the archives turns up the Carlos Quentin/Joel Guzman Smackdown where Guzman was noted to have Miguel Cabrera-type ability "if he can gain sufficient command of the strike zone" but a comment in 2006 compared him to (ack) Richie Sexson (admittedly, in the Richie Sexson prospect retro). I'm assuming he just hasn't gotten that command, but has he been THAT bad that he couldn't get a chance to prove himself at the major-league level? Coming into the year, he'd only had 56 AB's between LA and Tampa Bay and put together a sparkling .232/.306/.321 line, but he's also only 23. Is there any hope for him (not like they're moving him back to SS, ha ha)?

Which brings us to Daniel Ryan Johnson. He was ready to come up in 2005, did so, and this here review points out that his power and patience were expected to be useful (he did kinda go .275/.355/.451 in 109 games for the A's). Aaaaaaaaand so far, in 1000+ AB's, he's gone .249/.344/.419. Matter of fact, tonight's pinch-hit appearance was his first at-bat since April 2. He was hurt in 2006, stunk out loud in 2007... just a question of old player skills?

Lay off of me, it's production day and I wish I could put a headline like that in the paper. ;)

As per ESPN, Charlie Zink's getting the call-up to take Tim Wakefield's place in the rotation. He's 13-4, 2.89 ERA at Pawtucket.

"Charlie has been throwing real good," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said before Monday night's game against the Chicago White Sox. "I think that everybody felt like it was a breakout year for him."

It might only be a spot start situation (Boston's off the 21st and 25th, and Wakefield's only expected to miss two starts) but it's good to see him finally get the chance.

Source: ESPN