Russ Springer News

Buster Olney reported in his blog today that the Red Sox have inquired on their own former shortstop, Orlando Cabrera.

Five opinions on the Cardinals following Wednesday's 3-2 victory over Brewers: 1. RYAN FRANKLIN HAS SURPRISED: I didn't think he was a closer.

Rookie reliever Jason Motte didn't keep the role he left spring training with a chance to claim, excelling instead in the role suited for him all along.

Maybe the Cardinals should have kept ace reliever Russ Springer after all. Due to various circumstances, this team developed a need on the right side of their bullpen.

We just simply needed the bullpen depth. Granted, that was really a hole created by Mo, all you have to do is look back at the transactions list and see all the departed bullpen arms from last year.

JUPITER, Fla. - Monday won't be Cardinals reliever Josh Kinney's first opening day in St.

What we want to know is who will get the ball in the 9th if Motte doesn't work out? And I think that the ball should go to Josh Kinney , should the situation above present itself.

As of this week, the leading contender for the Cardinals' closing role is Jason Motte.

Russ Springer made his Major League debut with the Yankees in 1992, and over the next 16 years played for the Angels, Phillies, Astros, Braves, Diamondbacks and Cardinals.

JUPITER, FLA. Pitching coach Dave Duncan arrived in Florida almost two weeks before the pitchers' and catchers' official report date, an indication of intense curiosity or a longer than usual to-do list.

Third-year A's manager Bob Geren doesn't know exactly what his bullpen is going to look like when the A's break camp this spring, but that's not stopping him from exuding confidence in it.

After a relatively quiet off-season that involved two major acquisitions, but not much else, the Oakland A's have really picked up the acquisition pace over the past two weeks.

Albert Pujols is encouraging the St. Louis Cardinals to sign Manny Ramirez. The Cardinals slugger, who won his second NL MVP award in November, acknowledged the team might not have enough money to land the ...

The Boston Red Sox and catcher Jason Varitek reached a preliminary agreement Friday on a $5 million, one-year contract, two people familiar with the talks said.

Jon Garland and the Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized a one-year contract that will pay the right-hander at least $7.25 million.

The Oakland Athletics agreed to terms with reliever Russ Springer on a one-year contract Thursday and released pitcher Andrew Brown to make room on the club's roster.

Oakland's likely Opening Day starter is under contract, and the A's have no more arbitration cases remaining after Justin Duchscherer signed a deal worth $3.9 million Saturday.

The Oakland Athletics were close to finalizing a one-year contract with reliever Russ Springer on Monday, with an announcement likely in the coming days.

More bullpen depth could be on the way for the A's. Right-hander Russ Springer, who has appeared in 70 or more games in three straight seasons, is nearing a one-year deal with Oakland, according to ...

Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005. He appears weekly on the FSN Baseball Report and MLB on FOX.