Times wires
Saturday, April 2, 2011
NEW YORK — Yankees GM Brian Cashman said injured LH reliever Pedro Feliciano was "abused" by the Mets the past few years.
Feliciano, on the disabled list with a strained left rotator cuff, has made 344 relief appearances since 2007, a major-league record for a four-year stretch. He led the majors in games each of the past three seasons, including a career-high 92 in 2010.
"He was abused," Cashman said. "The use pattern was abusive."
Still, the Yankees signed Feliciano to an $8 million, two-year contract in January that includes a club option for 2013.
"It's a thin market when you're out there looking for lefties, and he's one of the better ones out there," Cashman said. "But yeah, you don't typically run to sign up guys that have been used like that."
Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen seemed surprised by Cashman's remarks.
"I feel badly that someone feels that way," he said. "That was part of the reason we decided to not re-sign him … because we knew we had used him 270-some times in the last three years.
"They didn't know that when they signed him?"
Cashman also said the Yankees are finished flashing hand signals from the stands, at least for now.
He confirmed the team received a call from the commissioner's office inquiring about a club employee relaying information to players after each pitch on opening day.
The Daily News reported that broadcaster Keith Olbermann, a season-ticket holder, put a photo on Twitter of Brett Weber, a Yankees baseball operations coaching assistant, holding up four fingers toward the field during Thursday's game. Weber was sitting behind home plate and wearing a headset.
Major League Baseball rules prohibit club staff from using hand signals to communicate pitch types or speeds to players.
Cashman said the Yankee Stadium scoreboard was on the fritz, so Weber was just providing the sort of post-pitch details that normally appear for all to see, such as "93 mph fastball."
And in other Yankees news, RHP Kevin Millwood made his first start for Triple-A Scranton, throwing 48 pitches against Las Vegas and allowing three runs in two-plus innings.
GOOD NEWS FOR CARDS: The Cardinals decided not to put LF Matt Holliday on the disabled list, opting to wait a few days to see if the slugger can make a speedy return from an appendectomy.
Holliday had the surgery Friday, but the team believes the condition was caught early and he could be back before the end of a 15-day DL stint. Manager Tony La Russa said the team would wait until Monday or Tuesday to make a decision.
FAN INJURY: The companion of a woman who was struck in the face Friday by the shattered bat of the Angels' Torii Hunter said she had to wait about 45 minutes before Royals officials got her into an ambulance.
Mike Sterrett, who shares a home with 64-year-old Sue Cooney in suburban Leawood, Kan., said Cooney will need extensive surgery to repair her cheekbone and eye socket. Royals executive Bob Rice said there was no undue delay, although he would not say how long it took to get her in the ambulance.
ANGELS: RHP Joel Pineiro, on the DL with right shoulder tightness, had a setback and was scratched from a scheduled minor-league outing today.
BRAVES: RHP Jair Jurrjens is expected to go on the DL today with an injury to his right side.
GIANTS: LHP Barry Zito, who walked away from a two-car accident Wednesday, felt fine a day after throwing off flat ground and is expected to start today.
MARLINS: RF Mike Stanton was not in the lineup because of left hamstring tightness.
ROCKIES: RHP Ubaldo Jimenez has a cut cuticle on his right thumb that affected his opening-day outing and could force him to miss his next start.