MLB Baseball News

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez went to Germany for an experimental treatment on his right knee based on the advice of Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, multiple sources tell the New York Post. A-Rod had the treatment within the last month, and had the go-ahead from the Yankees organization and the commissioner’s office.

Kobe first had the German treatment on his knee after the Lakers were bounced from the playoffs last summer, and then went for a treatment on his ankle shortly before the current NBA season began. Tiger Woods and tennis star Rafael Nadal have also gotten the German treatment.

Texas Rangers backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba was spending the offseason playing winter ball in his native Venezuela, but won’t be doing any more of that this winter or next winter. Torrealba was called out on strikes on Friday and responded by getting in the umpire’s face and striking the ump in the face mask with an open hand. Monday, the Venezuelan league suspended him for 66 games.

The suspension covers the remainder of this season and all of the next, but doesn’t carry over into the majors, where Torrealba still has one year left on his contract with the Texas Rangers.  Here’s video of the incident (via USA Today), showing this was no love tap on the mask:

Torrealba has issued a statement apologizing to just about everyone including all the children of the world, and has reportedly personally apologized to the umpire he assaulted.

Albert who? No, I can’t really believe that the St. Louis Cardinals thought that giving 34-year-old outfielder Carlos Beltran a two-year, $26 million contract just before Christmas would make anyone forget that Albert Pujols left for more money in Orange County. Actually, it’s hard to understand why they would give Beltran that much money at all. The Nationals trading for a pitcher makes more sense.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak tried to explain the signing in a team statement. “Beltran is a proven outfielder who obviously has been a tough opponent against the Cardinals for many years,” said Mozeliak. “It is going to be nice to have his bat and competitive nature working for us instead of on the other side of the field for the next couple of years.” Last season with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants, Beltran hit .300 with 22 home runs, 84 RBI and a .385 on-base percentage; but he hasn’t really lived up to his hype since around 2004.

The Cincinnati Reds gave up four players to acquire 24-year-old right-handed starting pitcher Mat Latos from the San Diego Padres. Latos has only played two full Major League seasons, but tied a Major League record in 2010 with 15 straight starts allowing two or fewer earned runs. San Diego’s haul includes starting pitcher Edinson Volquez and two former first-round picks.

“Mat is a big, strong young pitcher with electric stuff,” said Reds general manager Walt Jocketty in a team statement. “We consider him to be a potential number one starter who, contractually, we have under control for four more years. To acquire a pitcher who is ready to fit into the top of a rotation, you have to give up talent.”