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NJ.com | Brandon Kuty: Aaron Hicks was an elite prospect in the Twins' system, but he could never unlock his hitting potential. He's already hard at work with assistant hitting coach and former slugger Marcus Thames identifying flaws in his old swing. So progress could be ahead!
FanGraphs | Matthew Kory: Lonn Trost's idiotic comments were not just poor on the Yankees' behalf, but bad for baseball as a whole. It's just another sign that teams don't care about growing the game through the average fan--they're just out for the coffers of the rich. Such moves present short-term gains but could be badly damaging in the long run.
LA Times | Bill Shaikin: Despite recent suggestions otherwise, Aroldis Chapman's potential suspension will not include spring training games. I'm sure he would have just been absolutely devastated to miss these crucial exhibitions.
Wall Street Journal | Jared Diamond: The Yankees have encouraged their players to sleep later in the day than normal to help get them used to the regular season grind. We'll have more on this subject and the Yankees' other early spring training habits later this morning
Lookout Landing | Matthias Elias: Our Mariners sister site's off-season series "Beyond the Box Office" reviewed one of the truly great baseball movies of all-time: "Pride of the Yankees," starring Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig. This piece also features a fascinating look back at film techniques used back in the early days of Hollywood! Embrace your inner film geek.
Sporting News | Graham Womack: The man behind the famous surgery, Tommy John, continues to wait for a Hall of Fame enshrinement that might sadly never come. Womack also learned the reason why John doesn't go to Yankees Old-Timers' Days anymore, and it's a damn shame.