This has not been a good preseason for pitchers. Johan Santana is behind schedule, Justin Duchscherer is out for a month or more, and we’re hearing even more today. Cole Hamels’ elbow isn’t recovering as quickly as they hoped it would, and he officially isn’t in contention to be the opening day starter anymore. His fastball is still only in the 85-88 miles per hour range so he has some work to do, but that’s much better than what it was earlier in the spring. The Angels also got some bad news – John Lackey is out until late April or May. The good news, if there is some, is that the MRI showed that the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The Angels have a lack of depth in their rotation at the best of times, so the sooner they can get their ace back the better.

Tony Bennett left Washington State for Virginia today. I know first hand that Pullman, Washington is not a place you’d want to spend a lot of time, but I’m still surprised by this move. I just don’t see how Virginia is a promotion. There is way more depth in the ACC than the Pac-10, so it is harder for a mid-level team to do anything. Combine that with Bennett’s family ties to Washington State and it doesn’t make much sense. Maybe we will find out more at some point.

John Calipari is reportedly being offered $35 million over eight years at Kentucky – the richest contract in college basketball. I will be shocked if they can’t work this one out soon. As I said yesterday I have little doubt about Calipari’s success in Kentucky, but it will be very interesting to see who comes in next in Memphis. Talking about walking into a no-win situation – if you lose then you are doing something wrong, but if you win you are just riding on Calipari’s legacy.

“Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman was put on the 15-day disabled list Monday, ruling the all-time saves leader out for the start of the season.” I just read that on ESPN.com. That’s just wrong on so many levels. After a guy plays for more than a dozen years on one team he shouldn’t ever be allowed to play on another. You could call it the Jerry Rice rule.