Even wily old vets like Francona still make rookie mistakes

Even after all these years, New Brighton’s Terry Francona gets nervous before delivering the first speech of spring training to his players.

This season, it came with a price for Cleveland’s manager.

Francona broke a tooth while preparing to speak to the Guardians in Goodyear, Ariz. Because he wanted to work on his remarks, Francona skipped dinner with his staff on Monday night to prepare. He made some pasta, but it was undercooked.

“It was frozen at the bottom and I broke part of my tooth,” he said Tuesday. “At first I didn’t think I did. Then I started chewing and said, ‘That tastes awful.’ Not only did I swallow the tooth, I chewed it.”

Was a lost tooth worth it? When he arrived at the Guardians’ facility Tuesday morning, he set his notes down and promptly spilled coffee over them.

Braves

Right- hander Spencer

Strider changed his number to 99 this season, inspired by one of his favorite players. Aaron Judge? Manny Ramirez? Mitch Williams? All wore 99. But no. “Picking your jersey number in baseball to me has always been something of importance and my favorite movie is Major League and I like Rick Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen), so I see some similarities between Wild Thing and myself,” Strider said.

Mets

Phil Regan sued the team and former GM Brodie Van Wagenen, alleging age discrimination and wrongful termination when he was moved out as pitching coach after the 2019 season. Regan, who turns 86 in April, also claimed harassment and hostile work environment.

Brewers

First baseman Luke Voit and outfielder Tyler Naquin agreed to minor league contracts and will report to major league spring training. Voit, 32,hit .226 with 22 homers and 69 RBIs last season.