Just two more days. Two days until we are flooded with photos of most teams taking to the Spring Training fields for the first official workouts. Now, plenty of players have already made their way to their respective locations. But, in two more days the off season is officially over.

Music to my ears!

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. While we may be in the calm before the storm this week, there was still some movement among our Around The Horn clubs that we wouldn’t want to leave out.

Angels

This was a strange week of “things-that-didn’t-happen” news for the Halos. First, after avoiding arbitration with Erick Aybar, there were hopes of reaching an agreement on a long-term extension before the regular season starts. But this week, Jerry Dipoto said no dice.

“We’re not particularly waiting until the regular season; I just don’t think it’s likely,” Dipoto said in a phone conversation on Saturday.

He did go on to say the one-year deal was, in his mind, a “formality” on the way to an extension.

Then, the Yankees’ attempts to ship off A.J. Burnett focused on LA. But only for about a minute.

The deal was a proposed trade of Bobby Abreu for Burnett. The Angels have plenty of options at DH, and the Yankees, well, they’re not interested in Burnett anymore. Trouble is, A.J. has a pesky limited no-trade clause that allowed him to veto the deal.

If you’re looking for something a little juicier, look no further than the impending “confrontation” between former teammates Mike Napoli and new Angel C.J. Wilson. In an interview with ESPN Radio, the Texas catcher revealed his game plan against Wilson:

I might give C.J. a head nod, but I’m still going to try and take him deep.

Challenge noted. » Continue reading “Weekly Wrap Up: A.J. Burnett And Everyone Else”