BD Hot Stove: Grapefruit or Cactus? | Baseball Digest

BD Hot Stove: Grapefruit or Cactus? | Baseball Digest

With snowfall blanketing much of the country, it’s good to know that spring training is within reach. A mere 33 days until pitchers and catcher report to sites in Arizona and Florida. With that in mind it’s never too early to present a guide to the individual spring training sites for each team (maps courtesy of mlb.com).

Florida

Dunedin – Toronto Blue Jays

Clearwater – Philadelphia Phillies

Port Charlotte – Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa – New York Yankees

Bradenton – Pittsburgh Pirates

Sarasota – Baltimore Orioles

Ft. Myers – Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox

Lakeland – Detroit Tigers

Lake Buena Vista – Atlanta Braves

Kissimmee – Houston Astros

Viera – Washington Nationals

Port St. Lucie – New York Mets

Jupiter – St. Louis Cardinals, Florida Marlins

Arizona

Surprise – KC Royals, Texas Rangers

Peoria – San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners

Goodyear – Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians

Phoenix – Chicago White Sox, LA Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A’s

Scottsdale – Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants

Mesa – Chicago Cubs

Tempe – LA Angels

If you get the chance to go to spring training some time, do so. The players are more accessible, the ballparks are quaint, and the atmosphere is similar to minor league baseball.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

The all time leader in saves (601), Trevor Hoffman, decided to call it a career on Tuesday after 18 seasons in the bigs. His saves mark is likely to stand a year at the most with Mariano Rivera just 42 saves behind him. Hoffman spent 16 years with the San Diego Padres before pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers the last two seasons. He finished his career with a 61-75, 2.87 mark in 1035 games, all relief appearances, and averaged 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Rays certainly don’t expect him to replicate the nearly unhittable season Joaquin Benoit had in 2010, but the team has added Kyle Farnsworth to their bullpen. The deal is worth $3.25M with an option for 2012.

The Cubs have added Reed Johnson to their outfield mix with a minor league contract and invite to spring training. They also avoided arbitration with Koyie Hill, agreeing on a one year deal worth $850K.

The Tigers and Ryan Rayburn agreed on a two year deal to avoid arbitration.

The Mets signed pitcher Taylor Tankersley to a minor league deal. Now if they could only acquire Taylor Teagarden to catch him.