Morning Roundup

Are you expressing shock that AJ Burnett is the first Jay to suffer an injury this year? If so, why?

Burnett tore the nail on his right index finger while "closing" (hrm, euphemism for "slamming during a temper tantrum"?) a car door prior to his arrival at Dunedin. Well, at least he didn't get his junk caught in his zipper, because that's really, really painful. I know because I did it once when I was 4.

This little incident means no curve balls for two weeks, when the nail is expected to have grown back. This shouldn't be a big deal, and if anything, it'll give him time to work on his change, which he might want to work in more often this year (to keep his arm from exploding as it has the last two seasons). Moving along...

I don't know if any of you have heard, but David Eckstein is a scrappy little player with a big heart. Shhhhhsh! Don't tell anybody!

Wilner notes that AJ is a bit testy about the car door thing, Reed is running as well as we was in '06, Overbay's been scorching the ball like it's '06, and he'll be live blogging today's game with the Tribe. Cheers, biggie!

ELSEWHERE:

Reds 1B Joey Votto has nothing but a 38-year-old Scott "homerun" Hatterberg standing between him and everyday duties in Cincy. The Etobicoke native had a blistering September callup last year (.321/.260/548 in 84 ABs) and projects to be a .270+, 25 HR hitter who swipes the odd bag.

Hatterberg is a former Bosox catcher, as if you needed any further reason to cheer against him.

Young stars Cole Hamels and Prince Fielder are both unhappy with what arbitration has yielded for them. Sorry, fellas, but the six years of indentured servitude at the beginning of a player's ML career are all that keeps the sport from going off the rails like a crazy train.

Part of the problem is no doubt the system where massive, multi-million dollar draft bonuses (such as $2 million in Hamels' case) are handed out to first round picks, followed by a less than $400,000 in salary for their first full year in the majors. They're bound to get discombobulated with the massive sum followed by a relative pittance. Onwards and upwards, right? Well, not so fast. Still, it seems like kids these days have all the patience of a 6-year-old.

Fielder (who got a $2.4 million bonus) really does come off as a petulant little brat, though. And how could you feud with a loveable face like this?

-- Johnny Was