Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training on February 20th. Position players are expected to report to Port St. Lucie by the end of today, February 25th.

Ruben Tejada is due to arrive in Miami at 3 p.m. today; I’m not sure how long it will take for him to clear customs and travel to Port St. Lucie but I’m guessing that once he gets there, he won’t have time to do anything other than show up and be scolded by Collins.

This is what Collins said publicly when he found out Tejada would not be arriving early:

A few days ago we asked “Where is Jason Isringhausen?”

Well, he found a job a few days ago — with the Angels.

Izzy signed a minor-league deal but is expected to have a significant role with the Major League club. Per manager Mike Scioscia:

“Jason is going to slot in with LaTroy Hawkins and Scott Downs [in a setup role],” Scioscia said. “We talk about that pyramid of guys getting to the closer [Jordan Walden]. It’s a little broader right now.”

After signing C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols, the Angels didn’t have much payroll flexibility to fortify the back end of the bullpen. But, that became an opportunity for Jason Isringhausen, who perhaps because of his advanced age and injury history wasn’t getting much attention from other clubs this winter.

Good luck, Izzy!

By now you probably know that Ryan Braun will not be serving a 50-game suspension that was originally issued because his urine tested positive test for PEDs last fall. According to Braun, he was exonerated because “The truth is on my side.” That’s incorrect; he avoided suspension because his legal team poked a hole in the process of collecting his urine sample and sending it to the lab. In other words, Braun was not suspended because of a technicality that may or may not have had anything to do with the test itself.