Touch 'Em All: Marlins' Nolasco is a staff ace by default

Ricky Nolasco is the ace of the Miami Marlins, but he didn't do anything to earn the honor; it was dropped in his lap.

The Marlins decided in the offseason that one year of looking as if they were competing was good enough and sent away starting pitchers Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and Anibal Sanchez. (Not to mention shortstop Jose Reyes.)

The purge has moved Nolasco to the top of the pitching heap in Miami, but it's one he'd rather not be perched upon. His $11.5 million salary is about one-quarter of the Marlins' entire payroll, and he requested a trade after the offseason moves.

There could be a market for the 30-year-old righthander before the trade deadline. Though his career won-lost record (76-64) and ERA (4.49) are hardly convincing, the fielding independent pitching metric measured by Fangraphs.com, which attempts to measure a pitcher's effectiveness by removing his team's defense from the equation, says he has been an above-average pitcher for the last five years.

Still, he's no Justin Verlander. Stay or go, Nolasco's status as the Marlins' ace means there's at least one team in the NL East the Phillies will be better than this season. (Oh, and the Mets. Always the Mets.)

To say that Joba Chamberlain and Kevin Youkilis are not BFFs would be putting it mildly.

The hefty, fireballing reliever for the Yankees put more than a few of those fireballs high and tight on (or way over the head of) Youkilis while the infielder was with the Red Sox. So when the Yankees signed Youkilis in December to be their fill-in at third base for the injured Alex Rodriguez, a few questions were raised in the greater New York area.

Specifically, would Youkilis have to duck while batting during an intrasquad game? Could Chamberlain find a way to bean Youk on a pick-off throw to third?

Unfortunately for the scribes of the Big Apple, things are off to a tame start in Tampa, Fla.

"At some time, we'll all sit down and talk, but things all are going to be OK. Don't worry," a freshly shaven Youkilis told reporters.

The Red Sox have billboards up around Boston saying, "What's Broken Can Be Fixed."

The Sox went 69-93 last year. The general contractor may be on this job for a while.

The Cardinals announced a three-year contract extension with general manager John Mozeliak and exercised the 2014 option for manager Mike Matheny, hoping the pair will keep the team contending for the World Series. . . . Athletics closer Grant Balfour was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Thursday afternoon to repair a torn meniscus. The righthander is expected to miss four to six weeks. . . . The Rockies acquired infielder Reid Brignac from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named and cash. . . . Angels slugger Albert Pujols hopes to begin agility drills and light running in a couple of days to test his surgically repaired right knee.