In the wake of the Phillies' bullpen giving us all Mitch Williams flashbacks, here are a few pieces of news….
- Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post reports that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria thought about replacing manager Fredi Gonzalez with Bobby Valentine as far back as June.
- Loria, Gonzalez and other members of the Florida front office were in Paris for a short working vacation earlier in the week, writes Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
- Spencer also notes that Florida left-hander Andrew Miller (the No. 6 overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft), is pitching for Mesa of the Arizona Fall League to both get some extra work and to straighten out the kinks in his throwing motion.
- In other AFL news, MLB.com's Jason Beck thinks that Tigers prospect Scott Sizemore's performance in Arizona this winter might help him win a job in Detroit in 2010.
- Atlanta's Brian McCann underwent his second bout of Lazik eye surgery today to try and solve his nagging vision problems, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier says Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie met with doctors on Friday and was told his surgically-repaired wrist should be in top shape for spring training after an off-season conditioning program.