Chicago Cubs reliever Kyle Farnsworth was placed on the DL with a stress fracture to his right foot. The injury occurred while Farnsworth was warming up in the Cubs' bullpen on Wednesday and will likely sideline him for 4-6 weeks. There was no specific outside catalyst for the injury; Farnsworth was merely going through his normal warm up procedures when he reportedly heard a pop.

Carlos Zambrano will be called up to take Farnsworth's place on the roster while he's on the DL. Considering that the Cubs almost kept Zambrano at the end of Spring Training, Chicago may chose to send one of the other relievers down when Farnsworth returns, leaving Zambrano in the majors.

Zambrano is a hard throwing right-handed pitcher. While his projected role is that of a starter, the Cubs have become quite interested in the idea of easing him into the majors with a year in the bullpen.

Given Farnsworth's injury, Chicago's decision to acquire Antonio Alfonseca to close for the team appears even more sensible, though Manager Don Baylor has not brought Alfonseca into many games. Tom Gordon is still out until at least June with a torn shoulder muscle. Meanwhile, LHP Jeff Fassero, who picked up several saves last season, is off to a bad start. In his first outing of the season, Fassero hit 3 batters and yesterday he allowed back-to-back home runs.

In Florida, where they traded Alfonseca because they thought they had capable relievers available to replace him as the closer, things have not been going well. The Marlins originally tried to use Braden Looper as the closer, but he struggled in his earlier opportunities and the job was handed to Vladimir Nunez. Unfortunately, Nunez hasn't faired much better. We never expected Looper to have any success as a closer this year, but Nunez's struggles have been somewhat surprising.

Blaine Neal is a possibility but pitchers groomed to be closers frequently disappoint. The best closers are often converted starters, which is why I've become very in favor of converting A.J. Burnett into a closer.

He already has good dominance, and if you shorten the length of his outing he should be able to focus his intensity even further. He could likely strike out a batter per inning, at which point he'd still be very impressive even if his walks didn't improve, and his walks are likely to decrease if he's able to concentrate on a reduced number of batters. You'd also think that someone confident enough to wear nipple rings should be mentally capable of closing.

If they are set on using Looper or Nunez, they should stick with Nunez as he has better skills. The only reason to revert to Looper would be if they thought he could pitch well enough in the role for a few months to attract attention on the trade market.

Reportedly Marlins' fans weren't even able to console themselves with food while they watched Nunez blow the save during Wednesday's home opener in Florida, as the stadium evidently ran out before the game ended. The team does not operate the concessions, but the organization doesn't exactly have its act together regarding the products for which they are responsible. Due to the late change in ownership, the team will not be offering programs this season, instead issuing only scorecards and a yearbook that will not be available until the middle of the season.

The debacle of the food and the programs was reported in a Miami Herald article linked to under the Clutch Hits section of Baseball Primer, which features interesting news stories from a variety of sources. Included in the article is the news that the Marlins plan to hire a ballpark consultant to aid with improving fans' stadium experiences. The consultant will be hired sometime in the next six months, meaning this year's crowds are unlikely to benefit from any changes.

Owner Jeffery Loria ran the Expos into the ground and then reportedly took almost everything that wasn't bolted down when he sold the team to Major League Baseball and bought the Marlins. This Florida team has a lot of potential but will need to be kept on track with a steady administrative hand if they're to avoid a messy derailment on their way back to the playoffs. If fans can't even enjoy a comfortable outing to the ballpark with the customary amenities, crowds could easily start to dwindle this season even further as the club goes through growing pains breaking in their new pitching without the benefit of an offense that can provide them extensive support.

Anaheim Closer Troy Percival was injured and placed on the DL shortly after the start of the season. Percival strained his rib cage but is progressing well and expects to return to the team when he is eligible to come of the disabled list on April 18th. Al Levine and Lou Pote have been covering Anaheim's saves while Percival is on the DL.

Kansas City Closer Roberto Hernandez was expected back from the DL on Tuesday but may remain on the disabled list another 3-4 weeks. The inflammation in his strained elbow has not subsided. However when Hernandez was examined on Wednesday, no tear was found in the ligament so he has been cleared for light throwing, which means he could return in 2-3 weeks.

In the meantime the Royals will continue to close with a combination of Jason Grimsley and Cory Bailey, with LHP Brian Shouse and RHP Blake Stein also receiving occasional opportunities. The 34-year-old Grimsley has considerably more major league experience than Bailey. However, the 31-year-old Bailey is somewhat more dominant than Grimsley.

Jeff Austin was sent down in anticipation of Hernandez's return, and as a demoted player must remain in the minors ten days except when replacing a DL'd player, Kansas City had to select someone else and called up Nate Field.

Austin, a 25-year-old right-handed pitcher, was moved to the bullpen last season after he struggled trying to start in AAA. He responded well to the change and spent the later half of the season as a reliever in the Royals' pen.

Field is a 26-year-old right-handed reliever originally signed in 1998 by the Expos. He pitched well enough that they advanced him straight from A to AAA at the end of 1999, but he was then released before the 2000 season. Field signed with an independent team for the 2000 season and had his contract purchased by the Royals mid-year. He spent last season at AA Wichita, where he had a very good year including a 67:18 K:BB ratio in 73 IP while only allowing 61 H.