MLB Spring Training Thread

[Guest NYankees]

rock star for Willy Mo looks like a steal. Sox will probably get him 400+ ABs, and he'll mash in that park

 

watch, Arroyo win win a Cy Young now...

 

 

Watch him also strike out 200 times too.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Soriano should agree to play the outfield on Opening Day and once a ball is first hit to him pull a Kelly Leak, just hold on to the ball and refuse to throw it back to the infield. Seeing the other Nats players trying get the ball from him while the hitter rounds the bases would be mighty entertaining.

 

Not that it particularly matters, but it wasn't Leak who held on to the ball. It was the opponent's coach's son, the pitcher, who did. Leak just let balls go past him for two straight strikes before Matthau got pissed and yelled at him, before he smacked a long ball.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I just noticed if you pronounce the ch in my name as jsut that, rather than a hard k sound, fellow Cub fan Bruiser Chong and I compose the duo of Chech and Chong, which is appropriate, because you'd have to be baked out of your mind to have any hope for this team.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Lots of televised coverage. ESPN is airing Phillies/Braves right now. The YES Network is carrying Red Sox/Yankees tonight. And ESPN2 is airing Twins/Red Sox tomorrow at 1pm ET.

[geniusMoment 0]

I can't believe the reds lost their big Wily.

 

What I would do is this:

Ryan Freel 2nd base

Felipe Lopez Short

Griffey Center

Dunn 1st

Kearns Right

Encarnacion third

LaRue Catcher

Denorfia left he hit .317, 20 homers, 87 RBI's and 13 stolen bases between AA and AAA last year

 

It improves defense, and adds speed into the offense.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Agreed, except I would move Griffey to a corner and play Denorfia in center field.

[Bored 0]

http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/ml...xt=.jsp&c_id=kc

 

So Bud Selig announced that Kansas City will get the All-Star Game possibly as early as 2010. Hey nice gesture for a struggling franchise and Kauffman Stadium by all accounts is a very nice ballpark. But as always there is a catch when your dealing with Blackmail Bud.

The awarding of the game is contingent on the passage of a sales tax on April 4 to finance Kauffman Stadium improvements.

Oooo Selig, you wascally wabbit!

[The Czech Republic 0]

Agh. It doesn't need a freakin' roof or Family Fun Fair. It's one of the few pure ballparks.

[Cartman 0]

Hee Seop Choi - 1B - Dodgers

 

 

According to ESPNews, the Red Sox have claimed Hee-Seop Choi off waivers from the Dodgers.

It was bound to happen one of these years. Rather than carry Choi initially, the Red Sox will probably option him to Triple-A and wait and see what kind of starts Kevin Youkilis and J.T. Snow get off to. It'll be the same deal as with Roberto Petagine last year, though we hope Terry Francona is a little more open-minded about letting Choi into the lineup. By June or July, maybe the 27-year-old will get a chance to take aim at the Pesky Pole. Since he's making just $750,000, it's a great roll of the dice for the Red Sox. Mar. 24 - 5:02 pm et

 

 

 

Dunno what to think of this. One great positive for me is I get to see a very good team here in Pawtucket this year.

[Guest]

I didn't want the Dodgers to waive Choi. He's good insurance in case, no, not in case, but rather when Nomar gets hurt.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Hee Seop Choi - 1B - Dodgers

 

 

According to ESPNews, the Red Sox have claimed Hee-Seop Choi off waivers from the Dodgers.

It was bound to happen one of these years. Rather than carry Choi initially, the Red Sox will probably option him to Triple-A and wait and see what kind of starts Kevin Youkilis and J.T. Snow get off to. It'll be the same deal as with Roberto Petagine last year, though we hope Terry Francona is a little more open-minded about letting Choi into the lineup. By June or July, maybe the 27-year-old will get a chance to take aim at the Pesky Pole. Since he's making just $750,000, it's a great roll of the dice for the Red Sox. Mar. 24 - 5:02 pm et

 

 

 

Dunno what to think of this. One great positive for me is I get to see a very good team here in Pawtucket this year.

My instinct is to ask how the hell the Red Sox were able to snag Hee Seop Choi off waivers. Beyond the stupidity of the Dodgers for letting him go for free, he shouldn't have gotten this far to the point where the Red Sox could get him.

 

Just to illustrate a point here. The Dodgers signed Nomar Garciaparra to play first base and apparently felt Hee Seop Choi was expendable. Choi outhit Garciaparra the last two seasons. The Dodgers ranked sixth in OPS at first base thanks to Choi and Olmedo Saenz, despite the best efforts of Jason Phillips. Olmedo Saenz also outhit Nomar. And now the Dodgers break up a perfectly acceptable platoon to place an injury prone shortstop at first base, and pay $6 million for the priviledge. But I guess as long as Nomar has "character," that's ok. Sure, Nomar could return to star status, but even that level is much less impressive at first base.

 

As for the Red Sox. Gary Gillette stated that the Red Sox have not been encouraged by Mike Lowell this spring. The Red Sox could easily move Youkilis back to third base and play Choi, or make Choi the left handed platoon partner at first base. Or they could Roberto Petagine him at Pawtucket and bitch about how they desperately need a first baseman. That's all speculation. Properly used, Choi can hit 20 homers in a platoon role.

 

EDIT: I note this has appeared on ESPN.com's transaction page. Still waiting MLB.com to pick it up.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I can't really add much more than Al already did, but this is another tremendous coup by the Red Sox this off-season. They might not win the division this year, but they have been proactive in acquiring young players with upside and little risk involved. Wily Mo, Beckett, Crisp, Choi... all are upgrades over what was there, and still have their best years ahead of them.

 

Choi was a wasted talent in Dodger land. Why you would downgrade to Nomar at $6 mil is beyond me, but these are the idiots that fired DePo for no other reason that the media in LA didn't like "Google Boy." Not only that, they could have optioned him to AAA for $750,000 instead of letting him walk and immediately burn them with another team. Brilliant.

[geniusMoment 0]

Wonderful, so the Reds could have had Choi for nothing, and instead are probably going to start Hatteberg at first.

 

It kind of makes you wonder what's going on.

[Mik 0]

I wouldn't say there is "little risk" involved in Beckett. He's a pretty risky pitcher.

 

They also gave up, in my opinion, two future All-Stars for him.

[sfaJack 0]

Jeff Bagwell is headed for the disabled list to start the season and it's almost certain he won't ever come off of it.

[Mik 0]

That means that the Marlins won't be trading for Tavaras.

 

That's been the hot rumor, lately. But it's all been based on Bagwell being healthy and Willy being expendable.

[jwest27 0]

So apparently Sidney Ponson has secured the 5 spot in the rotation. Being a Cardinals fan, I'm not really sure how to feel about this. I guess I'll go with cautious optimism.

[Bored 0]

I don't care about Spring Training but I was happy to see that the A's had a televised game today. Although of course not locally televised but on WGN against the Cubs as the A's don't have a single true Spring Training game televised. So figures one chance I get see them play and they have been no hit thru nine, game is scoreless so not an official no hitter yet for the Cubs.

 

In other news, Frank Thomas might make his A's debut tommorrow.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

So apparently Sidney Ponson has secured the 5 spot in the rotation. Being a Cardinals fan, I'm not really sure how to feel about this. I guess I'll go with cautious optimism.

He'll turn things around. It's the way of the Cards.

[Vampiro69 0]

With the Cardinals offense it doesn't matter. Look at some of the ERA's they posted last year. Other then Carpenter they were not impressive. Ponson will more then likely go 10-11 with a 4.50 ERA.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

With the Cardinals offense it doesn't matter. Look at some of the ERA's they posted last year. Other then Carpenter they were not impressive. Ponson will more then likely go 10-11 with a 4.50 ERA.

The Cards finished second in runs allowed last season, and first in ERA. Their ERAs as a whole were extremely impressive because they did not have a single pitcher with more than six innings post an ERA higher than 4.13 (Jason Marquis). I would think their team defense is key.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

A couple of moves today. The Tigers released 1B Carlos Pena. Pena is on the same level as Hee Seop Choi, but the difference here is that the Tigers have a clearly superior player available in Chris Shelton. Unfortunately for Pena, there is little value for him at this point. The Reds could use him, but how many weak hitting first basemen do you need to carry? Chris Donorfia could likely outhit Pena and push Adam Dunn to first.

 

Also, the A's traded Juan Cruz to the Diamondbacks for Brad Halsey. This seems like a good trade for the A's. Cruz has great stuff but poor control. Halsey has lesser stuff but great control. With the A's defense, Halsey's a better fit. I doubt Cruz will succeed as a starter.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

-The Royals claimed IF Tony Graffanino and RP Steve Andrade off waivers.

 

-OF Marquis Grissom retired. Cub fans can sleep easy.

 

-The Rockies demoted C J.D. Closser.

[The Man in Blak 0]

There's Allard Baird doing the one thing - perhaps the only thing - that's he's demonstrated an ability to do well: scoop up the best of everybody else's garbage. Steve Andrade could be a very good addition to the Royals bullpen and, even though he'll technically be bumping another reclamation project in Esteban German out of a majority of at bats, Graffanino will be a boon to a Kansas City team that seems to be comprised almost entirely of 1B/DH/COF types.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The key to Graffanino is if he can press Angel Berroa or Mark Teahen for their jobs. He's certainly a useful player to have, even though he's fairly similar to Mark Grudzielanek. On a side note, in order to claim Graffanino the Royals designated Chip Ambres for assignment. Ambres was the player the Royals got for trading away Graffanino in the first place.

 

One more Royals note. MLB.com reports the following transaction.

 

Placed RHP Runelvys Hernandez on the 15-day disabled list due to lack of stamina.

 

Ouch.

[Red Baron 0]

Grissom was still playing? I thought he fell off the earth in like '98 or so.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Grissom was still playing? I thought he fell off the earth in like '98 or so.

He did, but the Cubs have never seen the demise of an old player as a deal breaker.

 

In all seriousness, Grissom remained productive well into this decade. He hit 20 and 22 home runs for the San Francisco Giants in 2003-04.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

It looked like he wasn't going to be getting that final roster spot, but I was still weary of him making the team and somehow landing a platoon situation with Murton.

 

Speaking of the Cubbies, I guess Baker said during a recent telecast the starting SS job is Cedeno's. This either means that Dusty's been in the Arizona sun too long or that the Cubs will trade Todd Walker for a bag of sunflower seeds so Perez can start at second.

[KingPK 0]

If you didn't see it, here's Julian Tavarez doing his best impression of someone who doesn't know how to throw a punch.

 

 

 

Look at that fist. He probably punched the bullpen phone better during the '04 playoffs.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Its the eye of the tiger, its the thrill of the fight...