Truth & Rumors > MLB

07:05 AM ET 05.17 | While the Red Sox earned a much-needed win Wednesday night in Florida, the club learned of more dispiriting news from 1,500 miles away. Pitching for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, [Daniel Bard] produced his worst minor league outing of 2013 yet. In one-plus innings, the former all-world set-up man walked five, threw two wild pitches and allowed two runs. He threw just eight of his 30 pitches for strikes, and was particularly brutal after coming back out for the seventh -- walking the bases loaded and throwing a wild pitch before being lifted. ... Pitchers have come back from devastating losses of command before, but Bard appears to be nearing a precipice.

Boston Herald

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07:05 AM ET 05.17 | A new day is dawning in baseball, if slowly, that may change the game for its players. One of the game's rising young stars recently told me he was concerned about the flurry of contract extensions in baseball. ... [His] thoughts intrigued me, in no small part because he is a candidate for an extension himself. The player's point was this: Free agency helped make the players union into a powerhouse. But now, with fewer top players reaching free agency, who is going to drive the top of the market? Shouldn't players feel a sense of responsibility to those who came before them and those who will follow? Fair questions, particularly if you look at the next two free-agent classes, which are almost devoid of stars.

FOX Sports

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07:04 AM ET 05.17 | On the surface, Jose Valverde's return to the Tigers bullpen, which has spanned seven innings that have included only one hit, solves a problem, right? Not necessarily. The Tigers remain concerned enough about their late-inning relief that they're still "looking hard" for help on the trade market, according to a source who speaks regularly with Tigers management. The bullpen has remained a constant issue for the Tigers, even though it has yet to cost them many games and hasn't kept them from spending the last two weeks in first place in the American League Central. The Tigers made another bullpen move Thursday, demoting middle reliever Al Alburquerque a day after he had trouble throwing strikes in a 7-5 loss to the Astros.

CBS Sports

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10:10 AM ET 05.16 | The Pittsburgh Pirates released pitcher Jonathan Sanchez after his struggles on the mound that included an 11.85 ERA, but it hasn't taken long for him to find a new home. Sanchez will be making the journey to the West Coast where he will join the Los Angeles Dodgers pending a physical. Sanchez is expected to be sent to the team's Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque. He will have until July 1 to be promoted to the Dodgers big league roster or an opt-out clause will be activated that allows him to be released.

FanSided.com

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07:10 AM ET 05.16 | What a difference a year makes for David Price, who by this time last year was 6-2. The potty-mouthed, Price-baiting umpire was one thing. The allergies (allergies?), rash and blurred vision are another. But [Price's] nightmare Cy Young follow-up has a new twist: a pitch, a grimace, then Price strolling from the mound Wednesday in the third inning of a game he was already losing to the Red Sox, 2-0, and the Rays would drop, like a rock, 9-2. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse ... This time, it was left triceps tightness. That's in the arm. The left-hander didn't bother trying to throw a practice pitch. He knew. How can this be good?

The Tampa Tribune

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