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O-Dawg in Mini

post from The Baseball Opinion on 09 February 2010 10:04:32 AM. © The Baseball Opinion

The Minnesota Twins recently signed Orlando Hudson to play second base for them in 2010. O-Dawg is essentially a lock for a decent batting average, 30 doubles, 9 home runs, and 7 stolen bases. It's a nice addition to the #2 spot in the order where his[...]

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Cash: No Negotiations For Jeet, Mo, and Joe

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 09 February 2010 10:04:18 AM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

From Ryan Dittmeier:

Despite their iconic status, the Yankees have no plans to discuss new contracts with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera until after the season -- and the same goes for the manager, Joe Girardi, general manager Brian Cashman told the New York Post in a story published Tuesday.

The contracts of all three are entering their final year, meaning the Yankees' all-time career hits leader and the Major Leagues' all-time postseason saves leader can be free agents next offseason. And Girardi, who signed a three-year contract prior to the 2008 season, will face a year in which he will not have a contract beyond the current season.

Nevertheless, the team will not veer from its position not to negotiate contact extensions with impending free agents.

"I don't think you can separate one from the other," Cashman told the Post. "I am not saying they are the same, but the questions will come, 'If you did one, why didn't you do the other?' If this was Kansas City, it would be different -- but it's not."

This has been team policy for some time now so I'm not surprised by this at all. It also doesn't mean that either of the three are likely to go anywhere. I expect these contracts to be taken care of by December.

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Pitchers, Catchers Report in 8 Days, 5 Hours and
25 Minutes

post from Baseball Notebook on 09 February 2010 09:13:00 AM. © Baseball Notebook

It is officially time to panic now for pitchers and catchers without teams with pitchers and catchers reporting in 8 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes according to mlb.com.

MLBTRADERUMORS.com shows these five catchers as the only catchers without a team:

Catchers
Paul Bako (38)
Rod Barajas (34) – Type B, offered arb
Michael Barrett (33)
Jose Molina (35)
Javier Valentin (34)

Most of the remaining free agent starting pitchers are the flotsam and jetsam left over after a long winter of wheeling and dealing. John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez are the two best known pitchers without a team. At their age they need to be signed soon or they may not be able to be ready for opening day.

I can understand not much interest being shown in Smoltz since he compiled a 3-8 and 6.35 ERA record in 2009. However he did strikeout 73 in 78 innings while walking only 18. Smoltz will be 43 on May 15 making it that much harder for him to find a team for 2010.

Smoltz definitely does not need to keep playing for the money since he has earned $135 million during his career so he could probably pitch for next to nothing in 2010 if he wants to play badly enough.

Pedro Martinez who will be 39 all season pitched well last season with a 5-1, 3.63 ERA but for some reason there has not been much talk about any team actually being interested in signing him.

It may be that clubs are waiting for the price to drop on Smoltz and Martinez and then scoop them up at bargain prices as spring training approaches next week.

What Happened With Johnny Damon?

It is a mystery to me why Johnny Damon has not agreed to terms with a major league baseball team on February 9.

He apparently asked for an astronomical amount that no team was interested in paying and now is faced with reducing his asking price or not play baseball in 2010.

Players like Damon who request big money contracts sometimes find themselves on the outside looking in later in the negotiating season. Many teams have already addressed their outfield needs and are through wheeling and dealing this offseason.

Now there are only a hand full of teams still interested in signing Damon. With Scott Boras as his agent Damon may have been hurt by the Boras strategy of waiting the teams out for the best deal. Instead the waiting seems to have backfired for Boras and Damon and they may have to accept a lot less money than they originally asked for.

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Marlins non-roster invitees

post from FishStripes on 09 February 2010 09:05:10 AM. © FishStripes

The Marlins have reported their list of non-roster invitees to Spring Training. In other words, the guys who aren't the 40-man roster who get tryout in the big league camp. Fortunately, they did this via a press release, so I get to steal the whole thing. Here it is:

The Florida Marlins today announced that they have extended Spring Training invitations to 22 non-roster players. The announcement was made by Marlins President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest.
The Marlins have signed the following 13 players to minor league free agent contracts with invitations to Spring Training: Right-handed pitchers Clay Hensley, Seth McClung, Kasey Olenberger, Matt Peterson, Chris Schroder, Scott Strickland, Derrick Turnbow and Jose Veras; catcher Vinny Rottino; infielders Brian Barden, Hector Luna, Donnie Murphy and Danny Richar.
The following nine organizational players were extended Spring Training invitations: Left-handed pitchers Dan Jennings and Jay Voss; catchers Brad Davis and Chris Hatcher; infielders Matt Dominguez, Ozzie Martinez and Logan Morrison; outfielders Bryan Petersen and Michael Stanton.
For the eighth consecutive season, the Marlins' Spring Training headquarters will be based at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. Pitchers and catchers will hold their first workout on Feb. 20, and the first full-squad workout will be Feb. 24.
As of today's announcement, the Marlins will have 61 players in Major League Spring Training camp.

Normally the ones to watch are the minor league free agent who have invitations to Spring Training since they have the better chance of making the club. The organizational players are, typically, there to see how they are fairing against major league talent. The one exception to that rule, but not always, are the catchers. A whole bunch of catchers are needed to make sure that all of the pitchers are able to get their work in.

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http://www.fishstripes.com/2010/2/9/1302169/marlins-non-roster-invitees

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Peer review

post from Philliesflow.com on 09 February 2010 08:56:45 AM. © Philliesflow.com

Last week I wrote that the Phillies allowed about 91.1% of the runs per plate appearance when Carlos Ruiz was catching that they did when some other player was catching. The table below shows how that compares to other teams in the NL for 2009. For each team, the table shows the player [...]

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Braves 2010 Caravan - Publix in Suwanee, GA

post from Talking Chop on 09 February 2010 08:55:00 AM. © Talking Chop

I decided to swing by the Braves Caravan on Monday 2/8 that was taking place at the Publix right down the street from my house in Suwanee, GA. I left work at 4 PM thinking I would get there at 4:30 and that would give me enough time to park and be ready for them to arrive at 5 PM. Well, when I got there I saw a line that went all the way down the strip mall, around the corner and around the back of the building. Oh well, so much for getting an autograph today. I later found out from one of the managers of the Publix that fans started lining up there at 10 AM that morning. That's a full 7 hours before the Braves appearance! So I grabbed my camera and my Flip Video and headed to the front of the store. Here's the view from the entrance of the beginning of the line:

Shortly after I arrived the caravan arrived. Brian McCann pulled up first in his Range Rover (I guess he drove separately since he lives in Suwanee) and parked it right next to the people lined up to get in.

via ten1photography.com

Next, the rest of the players got out of the Caravan Bus

Brian Jordan

via ten1photography.com

Mike Dunn

via ten1photography.com

Jo Jo Reyes

via ten1photography.com

Jordan Schafer

via ten1photography.com

And Don Sutton

via ten1photography.com

Bobby Cox somehow sneaked in the back, and Roger McDowell showed up late. Here are all of the guys sitting at the table signing autographs

via ten1photography.com

Also interesting to note that Jordan Schafer has assumed Kelly Johnson's old #2 jersey. So maybe Heyward will pick #24 now.

via ten1photography.com

Here's a shot of Roger McDowell looking right at me

via ten1photography.com

And a shot of Bobby Cox

via ten1photography.com

You can check out all of the pictures from the first hour of the event (I left after that) and 3 video's at the following gallery: http://ten1photography.com/Sports/Atlanta-Braves/Atlanta-Braves-2010-Caravan/11184321_w4qxm#784136076_wY8mv

I can't wait for the season to start!

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/2/9/1302220/braves-2010-caravan-publix-in

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Im Too Speedy for This Shirt

post from Ducksnorts on 09 February 2010 08:38:07 AM. © Ducksnorts

While we’re all anxiously awaiting the official signing of Yorvit Torrealba, here’s something that caught my eye: Gaslamp Ball informs us that Tony Gwynn’s daughter recently got married to former Padres farmhand Kennard Jones. That got[...]

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Bill Ballew: Braves Prospect List Q&A 2010, Part
2

Here is part-2 of the two-part Atlanta Braves prospect Q&A with Baseball America's Bill Ballew. For part-1 click here.

Q: Which young player package will be better in the long run? Which group would you prefer?
(A) Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore and Santos Rodriguez
(B) Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernandez, and Jeff Locke
(C) Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino

A: Give me the first group, mainly because of Flowers. Lillibridge is a decent role player, but really a 4A guy. Gilmore is not a prospect in my opinion, and Rodriguez throws hard but has not made much progress along the organizational ladder. Flowers is a big-time bat and a likely first baseman who could fill at catcher. The second group is mainly about Morton, who is a decent starter for a non-championship club. Hernandez will hit his ceiling pretty soon, and Locke has not shown enough consistency to be considered a guy to work around. Cabrera is overrated because he was a Yankee, Dunn is decent but not a long-term answer, and Vizcaino is a potential stud but has a long way to go before he reaches the big leagues.

Q: Despite a safe above-slot pick of Mike Minor, how would you rank the Braves 2009 draft when compared against Braves' drafts of previous years? Did they focus too much on college and JuCo players while abandoning their usual draft sytle of selecting a lot of high school talent?

A: I believe they fell in love with the juco approach in 2008, when they did very well, and went a little overboard last year. I don't see a lot of impact potential with the 2009 class, which proved to be Roy Clark's last with the Braves. Clark did an amazing job as scouting director and had several of the best draft classes in Atlanta history. Unfortunately, 2009 does not appear to be one of them. I believe he was limited because of the budget as well as some other things that were taking place behind closed doors that contributed to his departure. Mycal Jones and a few others could prove to be interesting, but I don't see this class as being a big-time contributor to the organization's depth.

Q: How will the new Braves Director of Scouting, Tony DeMacio, affect the team's draft philosophy and style in the coming years?

A: I think it will depend in part of what's available, but I would expect there to be some significant changes. The Braves had several scout teams throughout the country under Roy Clark in order to get a better look at potential draft picks but those have been eliminated since Clark's departure. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Braves draft more players from four-year colleges. With the removal of the draft-and-follow process a few years ago, Clark opted for more junior college players over the past two years. Again, this is all conjecture, but I believe DeMacio will have a somewhat different style than Clark, even though they both are disciples of Paul Snyder.

Q: Does Jo-Jo Reyes still have a future as a major leaguer? Can he bounce back and become a big league starter? Is his future with the Braves, or have they lost confidence in him?

A: It seems to me that the Braves have lost confidence in Reyes. I know I have. His situation reminds me of Horacio Ramirez, who has bounced around as a fringe big leaguer since leaving the Braves. Yes, there is a dearth of pitching at the major leagues, but part of the reason for that is guys like Reyes and Ramirez who fail to live up to expectations. Suffice it to say that if Reyes is going to contribute long-term with the Braves, he has to get started with a strong spring.

Q: What is the biggest strength of the Braves minor league system? The biggest weakness?

A: Without a doubt the strength of the Braves' system is a plethora of left-handed pitchers. I'm suggesting they are all major league pitchers, but Roy Clark used Paul Snyder's tried-and-true approach during his final few drafts of, "when in doubt, take a lefty." The pitching from both a right-handed and left-handed standpoint remains very strong. The weakness is the lack of depth among position players, particularly at shortstop and third base. The latter could prove crucial with Chipper Jones heading toward the finish line.

Many thanks to Bill Ballew for once again giving some great answers to my questions.

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/2/9/1302200/bill-ballew-braves-prospect-list-q

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Omar Vizquel to wear Luis Aparacios number

The Chicago Whie Sox announced yesterday that they would “unretire” number 11, the[...]

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Yanks Sign Thames (Updated)

UPDATED: I neglected to mention this when I originally posted this, but it also turns out that Winn was signed for less than the $2 million being reported when news of the deal first broke. He will actually be getting a $1.1 million base salary with an additional $900K in performance bonuses. It could still end up being $2 million, but at least it's not guaranteed.

The Yankees were pretty busy today as they not only made the Randy Winn signing official, but also snagged themselves another option for left field by adding Marcus Thames on a Minor League deal. If he makes the 25-man roster Thames will make $900K.

Thames has spent the last six seasons in Detroit, but made his MLB debut back in 2002 with the Yanks. You might remember his first career at-bat when he took Randy Johnson deep for a home run.

Last season with the Tigers, Thames hit .252/.323/.453 with 13 HR and 36 RBI in 258 at-bats. I'd be pretty surprised if he did not make the 25-man roster coming out of spring.

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