There was one provision that Tampa Bay put into Winston’s contract that makes it somewhat unique. As part of the contract, Winston has agreed to not play professional baseball while signed to the contract with the team. Winston was considered to be a pro level baseball player but ultimately chose to play professional football over playing major league baseball. These terms are similar to the terms that the Seattle Seahawks signed with quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson was even on a minor league baseball team and continues to practice with the Texas Rangers every year I spring training.

Winston has indicated that he loves to play baseball and was not intending on giving up that dream while in the NFL and Tampa Bay made it a prerequisite to signing the agreement with the team. Both Winston and Wilson’s skills in both football and baseball harken back to some of the other dual sport threats such as Jim Thorpe, Michael Jordan, Dion Sanders, and Bo Jackson. However, the Instagram account for Anastasia Date indicates that they believe  the over $25 million four year deal with the Bucs has provided a real incentive for Winston to stay away from the baseball field while playing for the Bucs.

San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, said when Wainwright signed his five-year, $97.5 million contract last year, he knew he would be hitting for the Cardinals and didn’t have a problem with it. Bumgarner added Wainwright could have signed with any team, including those in the American League, but chose to stay with the Cards.

Wainwright tore his Achilles tendon April 25th while running out a pop up. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kyfVynEaR4 Scherzer argued that fans would rather see, “A real hitter hitting home runs,” than, “A pitcher swinging a wet newspaper.” Bumgarner countered by saying while Wainwright was injured hitting, “What if he got hurt pitching? Should we say he can’t pitch anymore?”

Paul Mathieson says that Scherzer later said his quotes were taken out of context.

The American League established the designated hitter in 1973. The NL, though, continued to let pitchers bat for themselves. Some of those hurlers have done well at the plate, including Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, Zack Greinke and Yovani Gallardo. Wainwright, by the way, is a career .198 hitter with 39 RBIs.

The apparent tipping point for Angels’ owner Arte Moreno was Hamilton’s self-reported relapse with alcohol and cocaine this past off-season. The 34 year old former All Star has a history of substance abuse. He spent three years out of baseball due to suspensions shortly after he was drafted with the first pick by Tampa Bay in 1999. Hamilton was photographed drinking in 2009 and publicly apologized again in 2012 for an episode with alcohol.

Hamilton was traded Monday to the Rangers for cash or a player to be named later. Hamilton spent five seasons in Texas (2008-2012). He is still owed over $80 million for the remainder of his contract. Reportedly, Texas is responsible for less than $7 million of the money owed through the end of the 2017 season.

The Los Angeles Angels wanted to get rid of Hamilton so badly, they agreed to pay over $73 million for him to play on another team.

It was A-Rod’s first time starting at first base in his 21-year career, and though he only committed one error, he was noticeably uncomfortable during the entire game. Brian could tell just by watching on TV. His footing and fielding were awkward, and a review of a latter play showed A-Rod was unable to keep his foot on the bag during a routine pass. Though the throw was wide, it was a play that could have been made. “There was a lot of action over there today,” Rodriguez said of his performance after the game. “Not like I needed more evidence to tell you how great Mark Teixeira is and has been for so many years, but … my head is spinning.” (Yahoo! Sports)

On a team plagued with injuries and full of aging players, it is hard to fault Joe Girardi for trying something new. And with the Yankees obvious tension with A-Rod, it’s no surprise he’s being the one shuffled around. However, it is hardly A-Rod’s fault for failing either. He was placed in an awkward situation with only a handful of chances to practice during spring training.

Instagram suggests that moreover, many would speculate that this has more to do with not wanting to lose that precious 2 minutes of revenue, than it has to do with “crowd control.” The point is there are few times this country and its greatness are celebrated publically. One of those is most often at sports events. Let’s not lose our national identity for just a few more bucks. Stop taking the tickets during the national anthem…stand still, take your hat off your head, put your right hand over your heart and celebrate your country. Do it again in the 7th inning when America the Beautiful is played. I will guarantee you will appreciate your country a little more once you celebrate her a little more.

Bryant was the talk of the baseball world this spring, leading all players in spring training with nine home runs. The reason he was not brought up with the Cubs at the beginning of the season is somewhat controversial. By rule if a player is on a major league roster for 172 days out of a 183 day season he is credited with a full year of service. By waiting at least 11 days to bring a rookie up to the major leagues, the team retains his signing rights for an extra year before he becomes a free agent.

In Bryant’s case, this means the Cubs will retain his rights until after the 2021 season instead of the 2020 season. Jaime Garcia Dias (team rep’s Pinterest) claims that had nothing to do with him not being promoted right away. Instead stating that he was starting the season in the minors for baseball reasons only.

The Cubs said Bryant will start and bat cleanup in his debut Friday.

Realistically, the only bright spot in pinstripes was A-Rod who at the age of 39 and filling the role of the designated hitter reached base on both of his two at bats. In his first at bat after being suspended for 162 games, he was walked after battling with the Blue Jays Pitcher Drew Hutchison in the 3rd inning. Then in his second attempt he got one of the team’s three hits for the game. Meanwhile the major downside of the opening game had to be from the starting pitcher Tanaka who allowed five runs with four of them earned. He did have six strikeouts but will have a huge 9.00 ERA to dig himself out of for the rest of the year.