Update: Here's a quote from the translated version, available on ESPN.com:

"The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I'm fine and that there's nothing wrong with my thyroid. The test [taken to follow one conducted during his physical] showed that I'm fine. We just have to wait for the results of the additional test. The [doctors] found inflammation in my throat and no medicine to treat the thyroid or any other condition has been prescribed."

We await some clarification from the team on Wednesday.

10:40 pm: Interesting. According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, Jose Reyes denied reports about his thyroid, stating that he only had inflammation in his throat and did not need drugs for a thyroid condition. Reyes said that he was only told to avoid seafood because of its iodine content and be checked out every three weeks.

Of course, there is a relationship between iodine and the thyroid gland, so perhaps there's some semantics at play here -- or my Google translator is completely wrong. Reyes acknowledged that he is still awaiting results of a second test, so a full course of action hasn't been determined yet.

7:00 pm: According to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, Jose Reyes has been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid. The club would reveal little else this evening, other than to say Reyes will remain in New York for additional tests to determine treatment. Results of the tests are not expected before Thursday.

A well-deserved dark cloud follows nearly every medical situation surrounding the Mets at this point, but this particular thyroid condition is not considered serious and is fully-treatable with medication. There's no word on when Reyes will be able to resume baseball activities, but this figures to be only a minor setback.
 

Cal Ripken tells Bloomberg that the managing itch is getting stronger, and as the years go by he's more and more likely to scratch it.

The Hall of Famer, who retired in 2001 after 21 years with the Orioles, has said before that he was interested in managing, but wanted to wait until his kids had grown up and left home. Well, that time is coming, as his daughter Rachel is in college and his son Ryan is a sophomore in high school.

"I valued that time frame and I wanted to be there, and I'm starting to think about it a little more now," Ripken said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio's "Bloomberg Surveillance." "When my boy goes off to college, if there's a time to come back to the game, maybe that's the time."

I'm not surprised Ripken would like to get back into the game, and it's admirable that he is waiting until his kids are grown. It seems like a lot of ballplayers, after giving the "I want to spend more time with my family" speech, last about a year before going stir crazy.

What I'm worried about, however, is what Cal will do the first time one of his players asks to take a day off.

Are you on Twitter? You can follow Bob here, and get all your HBT updates here.

It's the obvious question following Stephen Strasburg's debut on Tuesday. And, for now, manager Jim Riggleman is sticking pretty close to a "never say never" approach:

"The consensus of this organization, top to bottom, is that the plan is to start him in the minor leagues," said his manager, Jim Riggleman. "But I'm not saying that -- because we might eat those words. So we're leaving that open, in case something unforeseen changes our mind."

The Nationals have been conservative about Strasburg's ETA, but even Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider has picked up on Riggleman's change of tone:

So the question had to be asked again this afternoon: Is Strasburg competing for a spot in the Opening Day rotation. Jim Riggleman's answer was slightly tweaked from previous ones.

"We'll make a decision about whether he's on the ballclub or not," the manager said. "But I think in his mind, he's doing the right thing. He's just competing to get hitters out, and if that puts him on the ballclub, that would be his wish I'm sure. I guess indirectly, he is competing for a spot on the club in his mind. We'll make that call as an organization. But as far as he knows, he's like everybody else trying to make the club."

No talk of "respecting the process." No "unlikely" qualifiers. No firm answer one way or the other.

Maybe it's the increased focus on youth in this game, but with Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman and Jason Heyward, I can't remember a time where we had three more promising young players in spring training with legitimate chances to contribute in the major leagues right away. It's a great time to be a baseball fan, regardless of your rooting interest.
 

While acknowledging that the Orioles are confident Brian Roberts will be ready for the start of the season, team president Andy MacPhail concedes that he is beginning to worry about the pace of his recovery.

"It's getting to be something that's on my radar screen, even though at the present time our athletic staff feels like he's going to be ready by Opening Day. By now we have to start thinking about, 'What if he isn't ready?'"

Roberts was diagnosed with a small herniated disk in his back last month and experienced a setback this week with a reaction to some anti-inflammatory medication. Currently suffering with "flu-like" symptoms, Roberts is expected to be sidelined from baseball activities through at least Thursday. As the regular season looms, MacPhail hasn't ruled out seeking outside help if Roberts continues to face setbacks.

"We will see what's out there," he said. "Obviously, we have weekly calls with our pro scouts, and we have to let them know what's going on in our camp. We might have to shift their focus a little bit from what the initial menu was. And then, obviously, we are going to have to start exploring more internal options as well."

There isn't much left in free agency, but looking at current internal options, Justin Turner could be a decent stopgap in a pinch. Turner, 25, was acquired from the Reds in the Ramon Hernandez trade in 2008. He doesn't project to be a major league regular, however he has a .307/.373/.430 batting line over four seasons in the minors, doesn't strike out often and won't hurt you with the glove. Unfortunately, he's currently nursing a foot contusion.

Of course, the real concern is if Roberts' back problems will be a lingering issue throughout the season.
 

Daisuke Matsuzaka spent seven years playing professional ball in Japan before inking a six-year, $52 million contract with the Red Sox in February of 2007.  He owns a 4.00 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP and a 37-21 record over his first three major league seasons and is apparently loving every minute of his time in the states.

Dice-K told Rob Bradford of Boston-based WEEI.com Tuesday that he wants to stick around for another 10 MLB seasons.

"I think both personally and from a family standpoint we're all enjoying our lives over here in the U.S., and if at all possible I would like to play over here as long as I can," Matsuzaka said through translator Masa Hoshino. "I guess in the very least I hope that I can play for at least another 10 years here in the U.S. Yeah, 10 years is a long time and it's tough to imagine what it's going to be like that far out, but at the same time when I'm 40, or older than 40, I want to still be able to pitch."

Matsuzaka will turn 30 later this season and has already struggled with multiple injuries, but it's not all that uncommon for baseball careers to extend into age 40.  He's under Red Sox control for the next three seasons, so we can say for certain he'll be state-side through at least 2012.

Andrew Blankstein of the Los Angeles Times reports that 69-year-old former Dodgers center fielder Willie Davis was found dead in his apartment this morning:

Davis ... became one of the Dodgers' early stars after the team moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. Known for his offense, Davis played center field for the Dodgers for 13 seasons starting in 1961. He hit in a team record 31 consecutive games in 1969 and batted .305 or above three years straight in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

[...]

After baseball, Davis made headlines in 1996 when he was arrested at his parents' home near Gardena for allegedly threatening to kill them and burn down the house unless they gave him $5,000. Davis was armed with a set of throwing knives and a samurai sword, officials said.

According to the report "authorities said there was nothing to indicate foul play and it appears that Davis died of natural causes."

Jon Weisman of ESPN.com has a nice tribute to the Los Angeles Dodgers' all-time leader in hits and runs.

Hank Blalock's minor-league contract with the Rays includes an opt-out clause that allows him to request his release and become a free agent if not added to the 40-man roster by April 1.

He can also choose to accept an assignment to the minors, which seems like it could be a decent option given that the other 29 big-league also weren't willing to give him a major-league deal. In fact, only the Marlins were really linked to him at all.

Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman used "convoluted" to describe the deal, which would pay $925,000 if Blalock makes the Opening Day roster and includes another $250,000 in playing time-based incentives.

"What I will say is that at the end of spring if there's not a 25-man spot for him and there is somewhere else we're not going to stand in his way," Friedman told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.

When the Yankees got Chan Ho Park they needed roster room, so they DFA'd Edwar Ramirez. Today they unloaded him for cash to Texas.

Ramirez has always struck out a ton of dudes, but he's dinger-prone and walks a lot of guys. Still, he's definitely someone that can help a bullpen -- strikeouts from relievers are super duper important, and he has improved a bit -- but the Yankees just didn't have room for him after the Park signing, and it's not like they were going to eat Chad Gaudin's $2.95 million, for example.

As for Texas' end of the deal (1) where are they getting cash all of a sudden?; and (2) with C.J. Wilson, Neftali Feliz, Darren O'Day, Darren Oliver and several other good relievers in the fold, it's gonna be tough for Ramirez to find a spot.  But hey, when it comes to bullpen arms, the more the merrier.

TMZ had it first and now the Kansas City Star has picked up on Jason Kendall's appearance yesterday in a Los Angeles court, where the Royals catcher tried to get permission to bring his two children with him to Kansas City during the season.

His ex-wife Chantel Kendall tried to block the move while appearing in court alongside her boyfriend Sean Stewart, who happens to be Rod Stewart's son. So yeah, no wonder TMZ is involved.

Anyway, the case has been "continued" until March 18, but court documents show that Kendall's ex-wife has accused him of abusing the prescription medication Adderall, which he apparently takes for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). TMZ also reports that "there have been numerous accusations between Jason and Chantel of physical and emotional abuse."

"I won't dignify the ridiculous accusations that were made," Kendall told Bob Dutton of the Star. "I'm not going to get into a debate in the papers and the media. It's a personal family matter that I would like to keep private."

Yesterday I wrote that most of the reporters covering the Mets "didn't even bother" to go up to the press box to watch the game.  I owe those guys an apology.  I'm informed today -- politely, by a writer who covered the Mets for several years, but who was not at the game Sunday -- that most of the seasoned guys watch from the stands, near the scouts.  This makes perfect sense, really, given that they're (a) better seats; and (b) you can get a lot more good info from hanging around scouts than you can from sitting up in the box.

Anyway, apologies if my ignorance on this point made a bad and misleading impression.  I stand by what I said later in the day:  the beat guys have a hard job and do it well.  Given that they weren't up squinting from where I was, they probably do it better than I even imagined. 

Stephen Strasburg just finished his spring training debut, tossing two scoreless innings against the Tigers.

The immortal Don Kelly produced the first hit against the No. 1 overall pick with a sharp single to left field and Strasburg also gave up a second single that hit the mound before skipping into center field.

He was extremely impressive overall, inducing a whole bunch of ground balls and getting a pair of strikeouts, including blowing a 98-MPH fastball by Miguel Cabrera.

Nick Collias, who covers the Spanish language media for MLB Trade Rumors sent me a story the other day that I haven't seen anyone pick up anywhere.  You can read it in Spanish here.  I couldn't, so Nick was nice enough to translate it for me.

The gist: MLB has a policy of not allowing Haitian players to attend team academies in the Dominican Republic--and, hence, to not get anywhere near the major league prospect system. The reason is ostensibly that the players aren't able to have their backgrounds or papers verified easily, what with Haiti being Haiti and all. But a couple of coaches quoted in the article think it's unfair and discriminatory, because many Venezuelan and Cuban players in the same situation don't get nearly the same level of scrutiny.  Some translated text:

Andres "Chaca" Martinez, Sixto de la Cruz, and Juan Pena Reynoso, three coaches in the Juan Pablo Darte Olympic Center, said recently they were obliged to send away several promising Haitian prospects in excellent condition because no one wanted to evaluate them.

"Last week I had to send away four, due to that when I wanted to introduce them to several scouts, they refused to see them, and when asked for a reason they told me that unfortunately, they were not allowed to see Dominican-Haitian players," revealed Martinez. De La Cruz said he had to dismiss two Haitian pitchers who threw 90 to 91 mph for the same reason.

"They are guys with good physiques, holding passports and Haitian birth certificates, but the scouts told me they don't see them because the investigators from the MLB office here will not allow any Haitian players through," said De La Cruz. He added, "It is unfair that the young men of that neighboring country are denied the opportunity given to Cubans and Venezuelans, who are signed without investigation."

Reynoso considers the treatment of the Haitians discriminatory and unjust, saying they are human beings worthy of better treatment.

I don't know nearly enough about identity documentation issues in Haiti vs. the Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela vs. Cuba to know if these coaches' complaints are legitimate or not. If all things are equal, and if baseball is treating Haitian prospects -- such as they are -- differently, that's a problem.  If, however, there is something inherently less-trustworthy about Haitian documents than there is about, say, Cuban documents, such differences would be understandable.

I'll offer this much though: between the lack of diplomatic ties with Cuba and the Haitain earthquake, one would suspect that checking back with the issuer of the documents would be equally impossible, so there's not a lot of cause, I wouldn't think, for distinguishing between Cuban and Haitian documents.

Either way, this is a story that may be worth looking into more deeply.

Mat Gamel exited yesterday's game with a sore right shoulder, which is the same injury that caused him to sit out the Brewers' first three spring training games last week.

He suffered the initial injury while taking batting practice last Thursday, but was also sidelined by a right shoulder impingement last spring. Gamel insists that his current shoulder problem is unrelated to the issues he had almost exactly one year ago, but as manager Ken Macha put it: "We have to get this nipped in the bud."

Between his defensive shortcomings and Casey McGehee's emergence as a rookie last season Gamel seemed unlikely to make the Opening Day roster to begin with, so the injury just makes those odds even longer. Unless it turns out to be something serious, of course.

Gamel has proven MLB-ready offensively, holding his own in 148 plate appearances with the Brewers after posting an OPS above .800 at every level in the minors, but Prince Fielder blocks his path at first base and the 24-year-old former top prospect will need to either improve his glove or have McGehee falter to take over at third base.

If I just found out that my season is likely over and my career was in jeopardy I'd probably kick the wall and not really want to talk to anyone.  Which is just one of approximately 1,325 reasons I'm not Joe Nathan. 

This morning he was the only one in Gardenhire's office -- media included -- who had a stiff upper lip about the UCL news.  Then, as you can see above, he stood at the clubhouse entrance and signed autographs and stuff for a long, long time, never dropping the smile and returning every "hang in there, Joe" with a "thank you."

I suppose some of you would say that for $11.5 million or whatever it is he's making this year he should be expected to act this way, but I don't buy the money-makes-all-the-difference line. Ballplayers are human and they want to compete. When they can't, the have every right to be bummed about it, and usually are. 

Whatever the case, I'm really impressed with Joe Nathan today, and though I'm not a Twins fan, I really want to see him bounce back from this setback.

Joe Nathan is likely headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery and suddenly the Twins are faced with replacing a closer who's converted 91 percent of his save chances with a 1.87 ERA during six seasons in Minnesota.

Truly replacing Nathan will be impossible, because few closers in baseball history have had a six-year stretch that dominant, but bullpen depth was a strength for the Twins before he went down and they now have a handful of capable in-house options to choose from in the ninth inning ...

• Jose Mijares was often billed as a "future closer" in the minors and had a 2.34 ERA in 62 innings as a rookie, but Ron Gardenhire may be hesitant to trust a second-year southpaw who allowed right-handers to bat .283 with a .791 OPS against him.

• Matt Guerrier has been one of the league's best setup man in six years with the Twins, posting a 3.41 ERA in 401 innings, but his raw stuff isn't overpowering and Gardenhire may not like the idea of yanking him from primary (and often multi-inning) setup duties for a role he's never filled before.

• Jon Rauch looks like a closer at 6-foot-11 with neck tattoos and has the most closing experience in the group, but even that basically amounts to 17 saves with the Nationals in 2008 and his raw stuff is much closer to Guerrier than Nathan.

• Jesse Crain was once thought of as a future closer and has the mid-90s fastball for the job, but struggled his way to a mid-season demotion to Triple-A last year and has never been particularly consistent or reliable even in a setup role.

• Pat Neshek was dominant as a setup man with a 2.91 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 121 innings, but is coming back from Tommy John surgery of his own and just saw his first post-surgery game action last week. As a side-armer his relative susceptibility versus lefties is also a potential issue.

• Francisco Liriano was moved to the bullpen last year after struggling as a starter, but if he looks good enough to be a closer option the Twins will want him back in the rotation and if he doesn't impress enough to win a rotation spot they won't trust him in the ninth inning.

Handicapping the situation is tough, because Gardenhire hasn't given any hints and the most experienced, trustworthy options also have the least impressive raw stuff. I'd likely go with a closer-by-committee approach that used Mijares whenever lefties are due up, but Gardenhire seems likely to prefer one man for the job and it wouldn't be surprising if Rauch's previous closing experience, however brief, gives him the edge initially.