Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus joins the show to talk about all things baseball. And sadly, to start this season, one of the baseball things we have to talk about is loss. Not loss on the field, but in the clubhouse, the team bus and the press box.

We start with some memories of Harry Kalas, and I ask Will what other people around the country -- and in the baseball community -- are feeling about the passing of Harry. I’ve gotten a lot of emails from people in baseball cities all over the place telling me that Harry’s death reminds them of their favorite commentator, be it Jack Buck or Harry Caray or Ernie Harwell or whoever. We discuss the colloquial nature of baseball and how someone other cities may only know by name (or voice) can be a legend in his town. Harry seemed to transcend that, and we talk about how the addition of MLB Extra Innings and satellite radio has allowed out-of-market listeners to get a better appreciation for some of the game’s great voices.

We also talk about the loss of Angels’ pitcher Nick Adenhart. Do you throw your hands up and ask the baseball Gods why they started this season with so much sadness? Carroll has some good perspective on the matter, saying that you have to separate baseball from life. They are two different things.

As a guy who covers injuries for a living, Carroll was faced with ‘moving on’ to talk about the Angels pitching situation. With the loss of Adenhart came a loss to the starting rotation of the Angels. When is the appropriate time to make a human story a baseball story once again. Games are being played and rosters spots and pitching slots need to be filled. What’s the balance when covering a sport?

Last note on the sadness: we discuss how teams react to situations like this. There’s no way to statistically predict how a player, or team, will react when something happens to them like the loss of a teammate or member of their baseball family. Does something like the loss of a teammate galvanize teams?

We move on to actual baseball. A week into the season, does Carroll have a different opinion of any of the division races? Is there any prediction he’d already like to change, or is it just too soon to tell? And does the Phillies’ pitching staff looking like a fourth-place staff worry him as much as it worries me?

We talk A-Rod. Are players coming back from surgeries sooner than ever? Chase Utley seemed to be several months ahead of schedule. Doctors are simply being cautious with the timetables by not factoring in these are professional athletes (Carroll mentions that the majority of hip surgeries are done senior citizens, not robot-like ballplayers. So estimates are difficult to predict.) And yes, these athletes are robots. Their bodies aren’t constructed like normal humans.

Why did A-Rod get the surgery when he did? He had the entire off-season. Was it to avoid the WBC blood test? Was it a ‘Jordan Suspension’ from the league? Maybe they thought rest was the way to go and when that didn’t work they were forced to put him under the knife, but with A-Rod the whole thing seems pretty suspicious. Speculation Station indeed.

A-Rod’s situation also brings up the question of when doctors find these injuries. For example, Aaron Boone needed open heart surgery a few weeks ago. It was something that doctors found during his Spring Training physical. Open heart surgery. That’s pretty damn serious stuff.

So how did the Astros learn this weeks AFTER signing him to a $750,000 contract? How do you give a man nearly a million dollars without a proper physical? And will Boone’s situation change the way teams ‘inspect’ players before trading for them and signing them as free agents?

Last, a quick fantasy question regarding the Yankees, Mets and cats running around the field. Seriously, how did a cat get on the field in the new Mets ballpark? How does that happen? But seriously, we talk about how new stadiums can impact fantasy numbers. Nobody knew Philly was going to be a launching pad when CBP was opened. How do we know how players will perform in new stadiums, and is it smart to stay away from those players until we get a better read on their home park?

Thanks to Will Carroll for juggling his schedule and helping us refocus our attention on the field of play. And thank you once again for coming along with us.

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