Arizona ace Brandon Webb threw off the mound Tuesday for the first time since undergoing right shoulder surgery.

Webb said he was pleased with how he felt after throwing between 20 and 25 pitches in the Chase Field bullpen.

Webb made one start last year, then had surgery Aug. 4. The club exercised an $8.5 million option for 2010 in hopes that the former NL Cy Young Award winner would return to dominance.

"I'm right where I expected to be," Webb said in a statement. "Having not been on the mound in a year, I am pleased with how I felt."

It's not clear when Webb, who turns 31 in May, will throw again. The club has not released a timetable for his return to the rotation.

Until last year, Webb had been a stalwart of the Arizona staff, pitching at least 200 innings every year from 2004-08. He won the 2006 NL Cy Young Award and finished second in '07 and '08.

Webb is 87-62 with a 3.27 ERA in seven seasons.

An Arizona lawmaker has introduced a bill to raise money for a new spring training facility for the Chicago Cubs.

Phoenix Republican Rep. John McComish introduced the measure late Monday. It would increase car-rental taxes and levy a surcharge on all tickets for spring-training baseball games in Arizona.

The bill does not specify an amount for the tax or surcharge. McComish has said those details will be worked out later. McComish says the state needs to raise $59 million of the stadium's $84 million cost.

Owners of other baseball teams that train in Arizona last week said a ticket surcharge would be an unfair expense on their fans. Cubs supporters have said all teams benefit from the Cubs because the Chicago team increases attendance at their away games.

Reliever Brandon Lyon had surgery to drain a small cyst in his pitching shoulder but is expected to be ready for spring training. The team said that Lyon had the cyst drained two weeks ago and has been throwing without discomfort since.

Speedy outfielder Willy Taveras has been released by Oakland, eight days after he was acquired from Cincinnati with infielder Adam Rosales for infielder Aaron Miles and a player to be named.

Left-hander Mark Hendrickson agreed to a one-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles that guarantees him $1.4 million after pitching well out of the Orioles' bullpen last season. ... Jacque Jones has returned to the Minnesota Twins, agreeing to a minor league contract. ... Yorvit Torrealba and the San Diego Padres have finalized a one-year contract that guarantees the catcher $1.25 million.

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