And MLB is looking to increase minor-league pay across the league."

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 LB RoundupMLB Roundup 3/19: Yankees sign Gio GonzalezNew http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey ,23commentsAnd MLB is looking to increase minor-league pay across the league.EDTShareTweetShareShareMLB Roundup 3/19: Yankees sign Gio GonzalezRichard Mackson-USA TODAY SportsGio Gonzalez signs with YankeesThe Yankees have seen their starting pitching depth tested before the regular season’s even started, with Luis Severino and CC Sabathia both set to miss the start of the year. As a result, they have added a little more depth to the roster, signing former Nationals and Brewers lefty Gio Gonzalez to a minor-league deal. Clearly, after signing so late, Gonzalez is not going to be ready for the Opening Day roster, which is likely why he gets the minor-league deal. He’ll get a base pay of $3 million if/when he does make the majors, which still seems low. Gonzalez can opt-out towards the end of April if he has not yet been called up to the majors. With Severino out until at least May 1, chances are the Yankees will be able to find use for Gonzalez before his opt-out as long as he’s performing reasonably well in the minors. Health is going to be the biggest question in that Yankees rotation all year, so them adding someone like Gonzalez who has been at least average (by ERA+) in eight of the last nine years is a big help for them.MLB to suggests an increase in minor-league salaryJust yesterday we talked about the Blue Jays boosting the pay to their minor leaguers, the first team to do so. Obviously, MLB has been battling PR issues with their low pay to minor leaguers for years now while also fighting multiple lawsuits. Clearly, they’ve felt it’s worth it as they’ve spent money lobbying Congress and local legislative bodies to maintain these rules. It seems the bad PR is becoming too much, though, and MLB is suggesting an increase in minor-league salary across the league. This comes according to a report from Jeff Passan. Nothing is official yet, but it’s good to finally see things heading in the right direction here. It’s been a long Juan Lagares Jersey , long time coming.Indians and Padres still talking tradeOne of the weirdest themes of the winter was Cleveland shopping their two best starting pitchers — Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer — hoping to find a deal for one of them. The Padres have long been connected as the most logical landing spot, as they have a ton of young position player talent that needs to be supplemented with pitching. Cleveland, meanwhile, has one of the best rotation’s in baseball but a complete dearth of talent in the outfield. Ken Rosenthal reported on Monday that these two sides are still talking, but no deal is close. A deal here would make sense, though I still don’t think it’s going to happen. Either way, it’s totally bizarre that Cleveland didn’t address this outfield issue without trading a legitimate Cy Young candidate. They are World Series contenders, but they aren’t acting like it. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Before Ila Borders became the first female pitcher to start a college baseball game or pitch professionally in an independent league in the 1990s, the lefty felt almost like she was in a fight just to be on the field.“When I was playing, they tried to do everything possible to not let me play, or they didn’t want the media attention, and it was an uphill battle,” Borders said Friday. “Now I feel like people are searching and looking and trying to develop that talent. For me, that’s an awesome feeling and it’s great to see.”Borders is one of the coaches this weekend for MLB Grit, an inaugural high school invitational baseball tournament for 64 teenage girls from the United States Travis d'Arnaud Jersey , Canada and Puerto Rico that were split into four teams to play four games each.On Friday, which was International Women’s Day, each team got to play a game in a big league ballpark — Globe Life Park, the home of the Texas Rangers. The rest of the games will be at the Rangers MLB Youth Academy in Dallas.Ashton Lansdell, an 18-year-old pitcher/shortstop who was on Team USA in the Women’s Baseball Cup last summer, hopes to play college baseball next season.Lansdell has been playing baseball since she was 4 years old — “I’ve been told since when I was like really young to go play softball, I just straight-up said ‘No’,” she said — and started pitching when she was about 10.“My travel team needed some pitching, and they just put me on the mound,” she said. “They just threw me on there and I had good mechanics from watching people and being on the field so much. Ever since then, I’ve upped my game, my mechanics and velocity.”The right-handed senior for the varsity team at Wheeler High in Marietta, Georgia, now throws four-seam and two-seam fastballs, with a velocity of just more than 80 mph, plus has two different changeups Noah Syndergaard Jersey , a slider and a curveball.Delaney Dunham, a 15-year-old freshman left-handed pitcher/outfielder from Dayton, Texas, switched from softball to baseball when she was 12 years old and her goal is to play one day for Team USA. She missed a tournament with her Barbers High baseball team this weekend.Along with the four games each team will play, the girls at MLB Grit will go through special developmental presentations this weekend, including tips on the collegiate recruiting process and information about careers within baseball.MLB is going into its third year of the Trailblazer Series for girls at its Compton Youth Academy in California, and last summer had its first Breakthrough Series for high school girls at the Dodgertown spring training complex in Vero Beach, Florida.What made MLB Grit different from those events was having more game competition for the girls.“Most of them are the only girls on their teams,” said Kim Ng, MLB’s senior vice president for baseball and softball development. “This is one of the few opportunities they actually get to compete against other girls, which is also why is fairly unique. “Ng said youth participation is one of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s most important agenda and platform items.“The first thing is No. 1, just to provide opportunity. No. 2, we need to shed light on these kids, on these young women and girls,” Ng said. “We think this is the best game in the world, and we don’t want to discourage anybody from playing it.”Allison Schroder is a 16-year-old junior from Fruitvale http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , British Columbia who played for Team Canada last summer and is on her high school team that competes in the state of Washington.“I’d love to play baseball at a college level,” said Schroder, a pitcher and shortstop. “Just to be able to play the game while getting an education has always been a good goal of mine.”Borders is among nine former and current players and staff from the USA Baseball Women’s National team instructing the girls. The other coaches are former MLB pitcher Marvin Freeman, infielder Homer Bush who was a member of the 1998 World Series champion New York Yankees and Morehouse College coach Antonio Grissom.Grissom, the brother of former big leaguer Marquis Grissom, was also part of the Breakthrough Series last summer and has been impressed by what he’s seen.“These girls are fundamentally sound,” he said. “In terms of the velocity and the strength, there’s a separation there. But in terms of the technique and fundamentals, they’re pretty sound. They’re going to make the routine plays, they’re going to throw strikes. Some of their secondary stuff is above average for their age, so that gives them a chance.”