• Dodgers rookie Blake DeWitt started at 3rd today, batting 8th. The team has not acquired another third baseman to fill in for the injured Nomar Garciaparra and Andy LaRoche, so DeWitt has become the default option.
• Hiroki Kuroda and Clayton Kershaw each pitched 4 innings and struck out 6, Kershaw giving up the only hit between them, in an 8-0 rout of the Red Sox on Sunday. Kuroda stands as the Dodgers’ 4th starter, and it’s only a matter of time before Kershaw is up with the big league club.

• Despite an impressive Cactus League performance, the A’s Carlos Gonzalez was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento when Oakland’s 25-man roster was set on Sunday. Oakland GM Billy Beane expects Gonzalez’s time in the minors to be short, and says that he just needs to get some at-bats and play every day. This seems reasonable, considering that he has only 42 career at-bats in Triple-A. This appears to have been the A’s thinking all along this spring with Gonzalez.
• Rookie Daric Barton missed the game on Saturday, citing hand soreness. This is the same injury he was bothered by earlier this spring, so fantasy owners might want to be wary. He expects to play in the A’s home opener on Tuesday.

Orioles manager Dave Trembly made a last minute decision to cut Jay Gibbons in favor of placing prospect Scott Moore on the roster. The Orioles are still responsible for two seasons and close to $12 million for Gibbons. Moore batted .333 this spring in 39 at-bats with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. Moore is listed as a backup 1B but can also play at 3B.

Add another chapter to the strange story of Edward Salcedo’s journey to the MLB.  First came news that Salcedo turned down a $2.5 million offer from the San Francisco Giants.  It has long been rumored that Salcedo had signed with the Cleveland Indians for $2.9 million.  A page on a Dominican social networking site claiming to be owned by Salcedo made news when a large Cleveland Indians logo appeared in the images section.  Despite all this, the Indians organization remains stout in it’s claims that it has not signed Salcedo.

Now comes word from BaseballAmerica’s Ben Badler that the MLB might be investigating whether or not Salcedo is older than 16.  Furthering speculation is news that three MLB investigators in the Dominican have been fired, including one who was working on Salcedo’s case.  The MLB officials have declined to comment, stating that they must complete their investigation before any findings are revealed.  Salcedo’s agent, Scott Boras, has stated emphatically that all of Salcedo’s documents are in order and prove that he is 16-years-old.  We’ll continue to follow this very interesting story as more news comes out.

Kind of a funny piece today from Reds beat writer John Fay.  He shows his projected lineup and rotation from two months ago, on February 5th.  He had 1B Joey Votto batting lead off, and starting CF Jay Bruce batting in the 7 spot.  Of course we know now that Bruce has been optioned to Triple-A and Cincinnati’s new CF is Corey Patterson, who wasn’t even on the Reds on February 5th.  Fay is still projecting Votto in the starting lineup, but batting 8th in the lineup instead of lead off.

Fay didn’t fair quite as well with his projected starting rotation.  After the obvious first two in Harang and Arroyo, he had Matt Belisle, Jeremy Affeldt, and Homer Bailey.  Fay missed on all three.  Today the 3-5 spots in the rotation are expected to be occupied by Johnny Cueto, Josh Fogg, and Edinson Volquez.  All of the Reds top prospects are definite fantasy sleepers this year.

• Rookie pitcher Jair Jurrjens found out that he will start Wednesday, game 3 of the regular season.  He’s stoked.  So might fantasy owners be if this kid can turn a great spring into a solid rookie season.
• 18-year-old Jason Heyward dressed for the Braves’ final Grapefruit League game against the Mets, and replaced Jeff Francoeur in left field in the 4th. He struck out in a 6th inning at-bat. The 14th pick in the 2007 draft, the Braves have high hopes for this young talent. Keep an eye out for him in the next couple years.

According to Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, Franklin Morales was named the fifth starter by manager Clint Hurdle. Jeff Francis will start the season opener against St. Louis and Morales will make his first appearance on April 6th against Arizona. Morales was 1-2 this spring with a 6.65 ERA.

Angels pitching prospect Nick Adenhart got knocked around for 7 runs in 4 innings on Tuesday, raising his spring ERA from 2.93 to 5.16. This doesn’t help his bid to replace John Lackey as the 5th starter until Lackey returns in April from a right triceps strain. Still, manager Mike Sciocia has not ruled out Adenhart, who is competing with Dustin Moseley for the job. Sciocia likes Adenhart’s stuff, and mentioned that these types of outings will happen and chalked it up to a learning experience.

Dodgers pitching phenom Clayton Kershaw has done everything possible to prove that he is a major league caliber pitcher this spring. On Tuesday he threw 3 scoreless innings against the Brewers’ starting lineup, striking out 6, including a guy by the name of Prince Fielder. However, the Dodgers are being cautious with the 20-year-old and will have him start the year in Double-A Jacksonville, and will likely bring him up to the big league club later in the season. Manager Joe Torre likes what he sees, but says he wants Kershaw to fine-tune his pitches while not taxing his arm so he can be fresh for the summer. Until then, it looks like Esteban Loaiza or Chan Ho Park will occupy the 5th starter spot.

News comes out today that the Reds have decided to round out their rotation with Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez and Josh Fogg.  This leaves Homer Bailey as the odd man out.  The Reds today optioned Bailey to Triple-A Louisville.  The company line appears to be that Bailey needs to work on his control and mechanics at Louisville, but there have been reports that they are hoping he’ll adjust his attitude as well.  Bailey had a 5.21 ERA in 19 IP, and most scouting reports had him unable to hit the strike zone.  Hopefully Bailey can turn things around in the Minors and finally realize the immense potential most scouts think he has.