Nails’ post-playing days have been marred by legal issues, and this is just the cherry on top. But hey, at least he has some experience wearing orange as a former Met. And now, of course, he’ll get an entirely new sense of the word “nails” — or at least “nailed.”

Now 42, Rivera remains among the best in the business, so there’s no real reason for him to contemplate hanging ‘em up. But perhaps he’s just had enough.

Will he immediately reassume his role as the team’s ace? That’s hard to say, because pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery generally take 12-to-18 months to fully bounce back, so while Wainwright is on schedule to return this spring, how long will it take him to completely recover his velocity, command and feel of his pitches? That remains an unknown, but it’s obvious the Cardinals are bullish on a full and speedy recover, picking up both his 2012 and 2013 options right after the World Series.

The patchwork rotation that the New York Yankees put together last year somehow was actually more than passable, but there’s no way the team was going to roll the dice again this season.

Francis wasn’t completely awful last season – he did manage to stay healthy and show modest improvement – yet he had to settle for a minor league deal from Cincy. It’s a bit surprising he couldn’t get a major league deal because it seems as if various rumours had him connected to so many different teams.

After all, pitching in hitting-friendly Chase Field he managed to chalk up a career-best 3.69 ERA and get back to double-digit wins for the first time since 2009.