Spring Training 2008

[CanadianChris]

Toronto signed Armando Benitez's rotting corpse to a minor-league deal today.

[CanadianChris]

And, as if my expectations for this season couldn't get any lower, the Jays lose Casey Janssen for the season with a torn labrum:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2008/n...tory?id=3289372

[Cheech Tremendous]

There are a couple of replacement options out there. Kyle Lohse, David Wells and Jeff Weaver are still available as free agents, and both Chis Capuano and Jason Marquis are on the trading block. Yeah, none of those guys strike fear in the hearts of men, but they could hold down a 5th starter slot until better options become available.

[AnnieEclectic]

And, as if my expectations for this season couldn't get any lower, the Jays lose Casey Janssen for the season with a torn labrum:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2008/n...tory?id=3289372

 

this is why my Jays cap stays pretty much on my wall looking pretty. If we surpass either the sox or yanks this year I'll be shocked.

 

Although the yanks look crappier than they have in years, maybe they're ready for the pickin's. Maybe a wild card berth if BJ Ryan's actually as healthy as reported.

 

-Annie

 

[Cheech Tremendous]

WFAN is reporting a Coco Crisp for Angel Pagan trade. I can't see this being true. Let me rephrase... please don't let this be true.

[CanadianChris]

That can't be right. The Mets would have to be giving up someone besides Pagan. Crisp has more value than your garden-variety backup outfielder.

[Cheech Tremendous]

That can't be right. The Mets would have to be giving up someone besides Pagan. Crisp has more value than your garden-variety backup outfielder.

 

I was thinking something more along the lines of Crisp for Heilman, if they want to go that route. I guess WFAN is now saying that it's a rumor, and not the done deal they indicated earlier.

 

I also can't see the logic in turning down Matt Murton, then going out and getting Pagan later in the week. Pagan sucks.

[CanadianChris]

That can't be right. The Mets would have to be giving up someone besides Pagan. Crisp has more value than your garden-variety backup outfielder.

 

I was thinking something more along the lines of Crisp for Heilman, if they want to go that route. I guess WFAN is now saying that it's a rumor, and not the done deal they indicated earlier.

Crisp for Heilman would make a lot more sense. Theo's not going to trade Crisp for another guy who plays his position, only worse.

 

I read someone on SOSH saying that if this was the deal to get rid of Crisp, he would've rather had Ellsbury be dealt to Minnesota to get Santana.

[Cheech Tremendous]

I read someone on SOSH saying that if this was the deal to get rid of Crisp, he would've rather Ellsbury have been dealt to Minnesota to get Santana.

 

So would I. I'm still of the opinion that Ellsbury is being overvalued relative to Coco Crisp. Ellsbury is not in the same class defensively and his offensive upside is probably less than what Crisp was in 2004-05 (although that hitter might never come back).

[Cheech Tremendous]

Theo Epstein says false on Angel Pagan rumors. Thank god.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

I caught the last inning of the Twins' broadcast today. Is it just me or is John Gordon one of the underrated radio guys in the business today? He's consistently good every time I tune in.

[Cheech Tremendous]

The Red Sox released back-up cacher Doug Mirabelli today. For the time being that leaves Kevin Cash as the back-up. Cash is, unequivocally and without exaggeration, the worst hitter in all of major league baseball. He might be the worst in the last decade.

 

His OPS+ last year was 4! 4! Think the sample size is too small? He has a career OPS+ of 26! He hit .176 in the minors last year.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe]

That's phenominal. What is Theo's rationale here? No way this guy sticks as the Sawx #2 backstop, unless he can really handle a knuckleball.

[Cheech Tremendous]

That's phenominal. What is Theo's rationale here? No way this guy sticks as the Sawx #2 backstop, unless he can really handle a knuckleball.

 

 

He's good with the knuckleballl and is a minor defensive upgrade overall. He's decent on the basepaths (when he gets there) and he costs a little bit less money. So vis a vis Mirabelli, he's not much of a drop-off (which is more on an indication of how far Dougie has fallen off than anything else). There's no way that he sticks there long-term. Either they think Dusty Brown or George Kottaras (their two guys set for AAA) are ready, or they have a trade waiting in the wings.

[HarleyQuinn]

I'd like to see Kottaras get a shot but the fact that he's hit .210 and .241 in 413 AB at AAA fills me with dread. The fact he went from an .800+ OPS at each level to .647 and .724 at AAA is worrisome given that he's only 24.

 

The one upside is that he in his 413 AB he had 32 doubles, 11 HR, and 44 BB vs. 101 K. 450 AB = 35 doubles, 12 HR, 48 BB vs. 110 K.

 

Equally disconcerting is that Pawtucket is primarily a hitter's park (1.20 HR and 0.99 H despite a 1.00 R). Portland is more of a pitcher's park (0.96 H and 0.95 R) but it also is slightly favorable to home runs at 1.03.

[treble]

Chad Gaudin for Kevin Cash would have been a great trade if the Jays hadn't turned around and given Gaudin up for nothing themselves.

[Cheech Tremendous]

Kyle Lohse signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals for $4-5 million. That's a good, low-cost acquisition for a team that has a questionable rotation heading into the season. I was really surprised that it took him this long to catch on somewhere. Unfortunately for Lohse, he caught this offseason's backlash from the ridiculous free agent market the previous winter (seriously if this guy was on the market last offseason wouldn't he have gotten $30-$40 mil?).

[CanadianChris]

Well, he'll eat up innings, if nothing else. The Cardinals aren't going anywhere anyway, so he'll keep the front office from having to rush along some of their pitching prospects.

[Smartly Pretty]

John Maine has really been great this spring. 4 innings of no hit ball his last time out, 5 innings so far, no runs three hits, (6k's today, I think 3 last time).

 

I'll never understand why I like guys like John Maine so much. I imagine it's the same reason Mike York used to be my favorite New York Ranger. Kind of bizarre, really.

[geniusMoment]

Rocco Baldelli may be done forever.

 

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/13/sp...co/?sports-rays

[Guest Beastalentier]

I don't fully understand. How could something like a mitochondrial disorder go undiagnosed for so long? Did it just have a late onset? It seems like that sort of disorder would be something that arises considerably earlier than age 26. Is this the sort of thing that steroid use or other drug abuse can cause? The body's inability to manufacture ATP because the mitochondria have been overextended due to drugs? Very strange.

[MarvinisaLunatic]

Im going to predict the future!

 

Markakis, Guthrie or Loewen will be injured and out for the year.

 

Markakis, who barely spoke in the clubhouse two years ago as a rookie, has started a new craze among his teammates with his purchase of Heelys, athletic shoes that have wheels on the bottom. The shoes are usually worn by children, but that matters little to Markakis, who sports them to and from the stadium and rolls around on them in the clubhouse and in the players' parking lot.

 

"We visited him [last week] and we were walking next to him and all of a sudden, he goes gliding by us on the sidewalk," said Dennis Markakis, Nick's father. "We didn't even know he was wearing them. He's like a little kid, always having a good time."

 

Loewen and Jeremy Guthrie have bought Heelys, and Burres says he wants to as well. On a recent off day, Markakis spent much of the afternoon rolling through a local mall. He also enjoys doing it at the grocery store but recently was scolded while he was wheeling in and out of aisles at a local Wal-Mart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

For as fun as the offseason was with trades, this Spring Training has been equally boring. It's sad when the highlights include Jim Bowden on a Segway and the Orioles on heelys. Someone really needs to do something interesting.

[Guest Beastalentier]

So I hear the Angels are going to lose Lackey and Escobar for two months? I wonder what the Cubs could get for Marquis, Marshall, or Gallagher in Los Angeles's time of need.

 

EDIT: Probably nothing, I mean fucking damn, they're the Angels, as if Bill Stoneman wasn't smart enough to have a contingency plan in the farm system for something like this, damn it, we'll never get rid of Marquis without paying 75% of his salary, man, he should be our GM now, he grew up in Oak Park, just like the Fiery Furnaces and Bob Newhart

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Marquis has beaten the league average ERA three of the last four years, and he's made 32+ starts a year every year in that span. There are much worse problems to be saddled with (like Adam Eaton).

[Bruiser Chong]

I've got more of an issue with Ryan Dempster having a spot in the starting rotation to lose. He's not the best guy to close, but I can't be the only one who remembers how he fell into the closer's spot in the first place, can I?

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

The Cardinals sent Colby Rasmus to minor league camp, it looks like he will start in AAA rather than with the big club.

[geniusMoment]

Add Jim Leyland to the growing list of people sucking up to Johnny Cueto. In Cincy multiple other scouts from other teams have called him the best they've seen this spring since I posted the last Cueto love fest. Here is what Leyland said:

 

Baker tipped his hand a bit before his team’s 5-3 win over the Tigers by asking Detroit manager Jim Leyland about bringing in young and inexperienced pitchers from the minors to the majors, the way the Tigers did with Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander.

 

Leyland smiled and said, “If you don’t want Cueto, we’ll take him off your hands.” And that was before he saw him pitch. Afterward, Leyland said, “Some of the best crude stuff I’ve seen. Good velocity, good breaking ball. One of the best-looking young pitchers I’ve seen. Very impressive.”

 

 

Oh, and Homer Bailey is probably on his way for another season in AAA. Hopefully, he works on something other than being an ass and throwing a million straight fastballs. Last year, Baileys first taste of the majors, David Ross went to the mound to calm Bailey down, Bailey told him, "Get your ass back behind the plate and out of my face." A vet may get away with that, but Bailey doesn't know shit and thinks he knows everything. Even though I'm a reds fan I have a hard time cheering for an ass like Bailey.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Edison Volquez is having an impressive spring as well for the Reds.

[geniusMoment]

Baker has not completely committed to this, but the Reds rotation is probably going to be:

Harang

Arroyo

Cueto

Volquez

Fogg

 

 

Yeah, Volquez has been very good this spring. The thing that worries me, is he has had control problems in the past. What happens when the bell rings for real, and the pressure is real? Who knows, I guess that's why they play the games.