Urtext: Deutsche Rohfassung » A look at what’s happening around the maj

ors today:KEEP IT COOLRoyals right-hander Glenn Sparkman pitches against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium — in his last outing Albert Pujols Jersey , he was ejected for hitting Chicago sparkplug Tim Anderson in the helmet with a pitch.Sparkman was tossed in the second inning on May 29 in Chicago. The Royals have mixed it up with the bat-flipping Anderson a few times.RIVALRY NIGHTIt’s Cardinals-Cubs under the lights at Wrigley Field when Adam Wainwright (5-5, 4.34 ERA) faces Kyle Hendricks (6-4, 3.16) in the series finale. Wainwright tossed eight shutout innings in a 2-1 win over the Cubs at St. Louis last Sunday when he allowed two hits but walked a career-high seven. Hendricks has won five straight decisions over his last seven starts with a 2.09 ERA during that span.OUCH!Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner will see how he’s feeling, a day after his hard hit — but not the kind he hoped for.Fuming after his bid for extra bases was caught Saturday, Gardner fired his batting helmet against a dugout wall in Cleveland— only to have the protective gear ricochet back and smack him in the face.The result: A bloody lower lip that took six stitches to close. He said getting the stitches hurt more than being hit with the helmet.“It was just frustration building up, we gave up the lead,” Gardner said. “You hit a ball like that that’s an out http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , it’s just frustrating.”Gardner was 0 for 4 in the 8-4 loss to Cleveland. He’s hitless in his last 22 at-bats, dropping his batting average to .217.CHECK THEMRed Sox slugger J.D. Martinez has missed three straight games after being removed Thursday with back tightness. “We’ll try for Sunday,” manager Alex Cora said after a doubleheader split with Tampa Bay at Fenway Park. … Diamondbacks outfielder Adam Jones was held out of the starting lineup in Toronto for a third straight game because of a hamstring problem.STILL WAITINGDallas Keuchel’s first start in the minors for the Atlanta Braves was rained out, meaning he’ll need to wait another day or two before taking the mound.The newly signed former Cy Young Award winner was supposed to pitch Saturday for Triple-A Gwinnett, but the game never began. More rain is in the forecast, so Keuchel is likely to pitch Monday for Class A Rome in the South Atlantic League. The 31-year-old lefty is expected to throw 75 to 90 pitches. Finally, a team steps up at least somewhat."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Red Sox StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Red Sox NewsYahoo Red Sox Team PageYahoo Red Sox ReportYahoo Red Sox Depth ChartYahoo Red Sox TransactionsYahoo Red Sox PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁昅LB RoundupMLB Roundup 3/18: Blue Jays to increase minor-league pay scaleFinally Roger Maris Jersey , a team steps up at least somewhat.EDTShareTweetShareShareMLB Roundup 3/18: Blue Jays to increase minor-league pay scaleBob DeChiara-USA TODAY SportsBlue Jays increase minor-league payAmong all of the frustrations with the CBA, the slow winter and the general attitude towards winning (or lack thereof) being shown from many clubs around the majors, still the biggest knock against them has been the way they pay minor leaguers. This is a true injustice in baseball, with the league spending absurd amounts of money to lobby Congress and local legislatures in order to protect their right to pay these players less than a living wage. Many will point to the biggest names who receive huge signing bonuses, which fine. Someone who gets a couple million dollars out of college can probably afford to live for less than minimum wage. That being said, A) they still shouldn’t have to, as teams should be required to pay the minimum wage. That seems straightforward. More importantly Matt Carpenter Jersey , a lot more players make significantly less than that on their signing bonus, with a good number of them making around $10,000. Trying to live on less than the minimum wage for a four-year minor-league career simply isn’t possible for some of these guys. Even putting aside the moral need to increase the pay (which shouldn’t need to be done, of course), it makes sense from a business perspective to increase pay. Better compensated minor leaguers lead to healthier and happier minor leaguers, and in turn it means players more likely to make it to the big leagues.The issue has been that no team has been willing to step out of line with the rest of the league. There’s nothing in the rules stating that teams have to pay their minor leaguers so poorly, but nobody has bucked the trend. On Sunday http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , the Blue Jays announced they are taking a small step in the right direction. Ben Cherington’s new team has announced they’ll increase pay for all minor leaguers by 50 percent. Now, this is not a huge jump and a lot of players will still be making less than a living wage. More needs to be done. Still, this is an unprecedented step, and hopefully it will be the decision that needed to be made before the floodgates open. Something tells me the league office will fight teams trying to do more than this, but all it takes is one team realizing what needs to be done. Good on the Blue Jays for at least getting the movement started in the right direction.