Baseball Beat: Friday, February 8th

Here is the rundown for the Friday, February 8th edition of Baseball Beat. Chuck Wilson is hosting today as Charley Steiner is on vacation. All times Eastern.

1:05 p.m.
Guest: John Rawlings, Editorial Director, The Sporting News
1:25 p.m.
Guest: Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News (Rangers Beat)
1:45 p.m.
Guest: Art Thiel, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2:05 p.m.
Guest: Tony Massarotti, Boston Herald
2:25 p.m.
Guest: Doug Padilla, Los Angeles Daily News (Angels Beat)
2:45 p.m.
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Guest Summaries:
Rawlings discussed national headlines including being tired of the steroids story, folly of thinking the Mitchell Report would put this story to bed, and his belief that Boston has the right to guide Curt Schilling’s care. Grant discussed the Texas Rangers including naming Nolan Ryan President, how Ryan will impact the organization, Jon Daniels excitement of having Ryan re-join the organization, Daniel’s success rebuilding the Rangers farm system, and how Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton will improve the club’s offense. Thiel discussed the Seattle Mariners including his piece comparing Erik Bedard to Eli Manning, Bedard’s imminent arrival today via trade today, how the acquisition hurts the farm system, and how making the move is essentially the Mariners making a move like the big teams (New York, Boston). Massarotti discussed the Boston Red Sox, breaking the story yesterday about Curt Schilling’s shoulder problems, Schilling out half the year, how Schilling and the Red Sox differ on how to proceed on his health, third opinion suggested rest, how his contract has and is affected, and the odd reasoning behind the Red Sox hiding the injury. Padilla discussed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Kelvim Escobar’s shoulder, how the youth maturing will improve the offense, Jon Garland helping the rotation, and the Angels as the favorite in the American League West.