Truth & Rumors > MLB

07:14 AM ET 05.22 | Phillies star Cliff Lee is zooming out a bit, putting his future in a larger context. [Lee] said he "hopes" the Phillies turn it around, and it wouldn't do him any good to think about the alternative. But if the alternative does come to pass, and he does go on the trading block, it sounds like Lee can deal with it. There's a list of only nine teams to which Lee can be traded without his consent, but he's been traded before and it doesn't sound like it's something that would faze him -- or, under the right circumstances, especially bother him. "I definitely want to win. I want to be on a winning team," Lee said when asked about the possibility of being traded before the Phillies were to play the Marlins on Tuesday night.

CBS Sports

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07:14 AM ET 05.22 | The signs are there, but they come without promises. There's no guarantee that Jered Weaver will rejoin the Angels' rotation after his appearance in Arizona on Wednesday, but manager Mike Scioscia did not rule it out. "It's possible," Scioscia said. Weaver is scheduled to pitch in extended spring training action on Wednesday. The Angels hope to see him throw about 70 to 80 pitches in approximately five innings of work. The way the right-hander feels after that will determine the next step. "I think if he comes out of this strong and finishes and gets to that level, the next step of six [innings] and 90 [pitches] is something we can consider up here with us," Scioscia said. "But, it's all going to be contingent on how he does in his workout.

MLB.com

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07:13 AM ET 05.22 | On the way to helping Max Scherzer to 6-0 on Tuesday night, Alex Avila has also had his struggles at the plate. Among all of [Avila's] graphic numbers for the Tigers, one, in particular, explains a former All-Star Game starting catcher's baffling issues in 2013. It's his previously faithful on-base percentage. Even a year ago, when he batted a so-so .243, he had a heavy .352 OBP. [Entering Tuesday's game, it was] .256 -- .172 spanning the last two weeks. He is batting .179 on the season. His slugging percentage is .304. ... If he doesn't pull out of this spiral, and in a hurry, the Tigers will be left with no practical choice but to return Avila, 26, to Triple A Toledo for a head-clearing stint that might put him back on track.

The Detroit News

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07:12 AM ET 05.22 | Coming out of a weekend sweep at the hands of the Indians, Seattle remained positive. Alas, the M's lost their fifth straight game on Tuesday night, falling to the Angels, 12-0. They face the Angels again on Wednesday before returning home to face the Rangers, the team with the best record in the majors. Who exactly are the Mariners? We may be about to find out. And if the answer is, "losing club," general manager Jack Zduriencik might not return for a sixth season. Yet, it was interesting that even after the Craziness in Cleveland, several of the team's veteran newcomers spoke with confidence about the direction of the franchise -- even though, as potential free agents, they might not be around for a breakthrough.

FOX Sports

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07:12 AM ET 05.22 | What a difference a year makes in Baltimore. Executive vice president Dan Duquette, who had been out of baseball for a decade, stockpiled pitchers in his first offseason with the Orioles, adding to the group of now-not-so-young arms compiled by his processor, Andy MacPhail, then practically running a shuttle that shuffled players from Norfolk and Bowie to Camden Yards. Those additions helped the Orioles secure an AL wild-card spot. So far this year, Duquette and the Orioles haven't had the same kind of success when reaching up their sleeves in search of pitchers to plug into their struggling rotation, which has a 4.85 ERA.

The Baltimore Sun

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