New York Yankees Scouting Carlos Silva Must Be A
Joke Not A Rumor

post from Lady Loves Pinstripes on 13 March 2011 11:36:18 PM. © Lady Loves Pinstripes

The latest report from MLB Trade Rumors is that a few ball-clubs, one of which is the New York Yankees, are showing interest in Chicago Cubs Carlos Silva. This didn?t register to me considering the Yankees already have a better version of Silva in[...]

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RR Bracket Contest

post from Royals Review on 13 March 2011 11:01:45 PM. © Royals Review

It's on Yahoo.

Group ID# 96512

Password: royals

The scoring system is Yahoo Default, so later rounds are weighted more. We've done it a few different ways, and I'm not sure any one is any better than the other, so... why not.

The winner gets nothing, unless we can come up with a suitable prize.

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Giants beat Rangers 11-8

post from 22gigantes on 13 March 2011 09:04:24 PM. © 22gigantes

Nate Schierholtz went 2-for-3 with a home run to lead a 14-hit attack and the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers 11-8 on Sunday in front of a record crowd of 12,014 people at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona.

The Giants improved their major league-best record to 14-4 with their fifth straight win, despite the fact that Rangers manager Ron Washington elected to leave some of his starting position players in the game long after San Francisco pulled its starters. It's the second time in a week that the World Champs have beaten the team they ousted in the Fall Classic.

The Giants, who have scored four or more runs in an inning in nine of their 18 games this spring, broke things open in a five-run fourth inning.

Pablo Sandoval (who went 2-for-3 to raise his spring batting average to .325) singled to open up the fourth. After Sandoval stole his second base of the spring, Brandon Belt roped a double into right field to score him. Schierholtz, Chris Stewart, and Andres Torres all followed with singles to load the bases before Rangers center fielder Julio Borbon misplayed a fly ball to center and all three runners came in to score.

Vogelsong is trying to make it on as a long reliever or spot starter.The Giants scored two runs in the first inning after Sandoval tripled in a run and Cody Ross drove him in with a single. They picked up two more runs in the sixth and ninth innings, too.

Ryan Vogelsong made his fourth Cactus League appearance (and third start). He went four innings, allowing four hits, a walk and two earned runs. What was most remarkable about Vogelsong today was the way he got out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth inning. After allowing a two-out double to Yorvit Torrealba, he struck out Mitch Moreland to escape a potentially big inning.

Both teams pulled off double steals in this game.

In the fifth inning, Ian Kinsler and Borbon stole second and third base, respectively, off Stewart and Alex Hinshaw. Giants manager Bruce Bochy, never one to be shown up in a game, countered with a double steal of his own in the ninth. With Brandon Belt at third, Ryan Rohlinger took off for second base. Belt scampered home and both men were safe.

In the bottom of the ninth, Rangers starting right fielder David Murphy hit a home run off Giants' minor leaguer Wilmin Rodriguez.

Safe to say, these two teams aren't real fond of one another.
Other notes:

Now that daylight savings is in effect, Arizona's and California's time zones are the same again.
Matt Cain will pitch for the first time in over a week. He'll be on the bump tomorrow against Randy Wolf and the Milwaukee Brewers. Game time 1:05 p.m.
Sandoval, who has lost over 40 pounds since the 2010 season ended, continues to show off his improved speed this spring. He tripled in the first inning and stole his second base of the spring in the fourth inning.
Stewart raised his batting average to .316 with a couple of hits today. The backup catcher has looked very impressive filling in for the healing Eli Whiteside (sore elbow).
The Giants are 11-1 when hitting at least one home run this spring. The team was 67-31 when homering in 2010.

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GAME SUMMARY
Final score:SF 11, TEX 8 [view box score]Winning pitcher: Vogelsong (2-1) Losing pitcher: Hunter (1-2) Save: Loux (1)Game ball: Schierholtz (2-for-3, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI) Top play: Rohliner and Belt's double steal of second and home in the 8thGiant homers: Schierholtz (1)Giants' record: 14-4Streak: Won 5Next up: MIL at SF, Monday, 1:05 p.m. PST [download press pass]TV/Radio: noneStarters: Randy Wolf (0-0, 30.00) vs. Matt Cain (0-0, 0.00)Venue: Scottsdale Stadium

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Brewers Saito gets good news on family (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 13 March 2011 08:58:26 PM. © MLB News Blog

Takashi Saito stood on the mound at Maryvale Baseball Park on Sunday and thought of his family in Japan. Saito pitched the first inning of the Milwaukee Brewers’ 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out two. He said it was difficult to get into a [...]

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Its only Spring Training

post from Zell's Pinstripe Blog on 13 March 2011 08:53:05 PM. © Zell's Pinstripe Blog

I’ve been hearing a lot of rumbling from some folks about the lack of offense during Spring Training. Folks, it’s only Spring Training. What’s more, it’s early in Spring Training. If you’re thinking you’ll be seeing this much of Ramiro Pena come the regular season, then you are probably a lost cause. Of course, if [...]

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The 11 Braves Hitting

post from Capitol Avenue Club on 13 March 2011 08:10:23 PM. © Capitol Avenue Club

Yes. This is the offensive team Atlanta fans have been wishing for. The Braves have done it right this time. There are basically three reasons Atlanta will be fielding a very good hitting team in 2011. Reason one is the people in charge have figured out that Jeff Francoeur is an awful player and that [...]

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Should the Giants be worried about their defense

post from 22gigantes on 13 March 2011 08:03:41 PM. © 22gigantes

Ask anyone who knows, and they'll tell you that a pitching staff is only as good as the defense behind it. And the exalted San Francisco Giants' staff is no different.

The World Series champion Giants led the NL last year with a 3.36 ERA, and their defense was equally as impressive. San Francisco committed just 73 errors last season, second-lowest in baseball. The team's .987 fielding percentage ranked third only behind San Diego (.988) and Cincinnati (.988).

The Padres parlayed their great defense and pitching into an NL West showdown with the Giants last season, while the Reds' defense, coupled with their top-ranked offense, helped them win the NL Central.

Bottom line: As long as you have a great defense (to go along with a great pitching staff or offense), you're going to contend.

That's why I'm concerned about the 2011 Giants.

There's no question that San Francisco's pitching is still top-notch. And, while their offense certainly appears to be much improved, it's not going to be confused with Murderer's Row anytime soon.

As far as their glove work? So far this spring, the Giants' defense looks absolutely hideous.

The team has committed 24 errors in its first 18 spring games this year, third-most in the Cactus League. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval is the worst offender, with five miscues. If this sounds familiar, it's because he led the team in the doink department last year, too, when he erred once every 10 games. If this keeps up, he'll shatter his own personal record.

If you think "it's only spring training, the games don't count," you're right about that. But, remember: Managerial decisions are made during the spring. And if the Giants' brass continues to doubt Sandoval's worth on the field, that could mean the difference between keeping an extra pitcher on the team or an extra infielder who can spell Sandoval in the late innings of close games (of which the Giants were involved in plenty of last season, when they went 28-24 in one-run games).

The Giants need to pitch well and avoid giving away runs if they want to win. They were 22-58 in games where they scored less than four runs. So good pitching and good defense matters.

Need more proof? When the Giants played error-free ball last season, they were 72-37 (.661). When they committed at least one error? 20-33 (.377). Their midseason meltdown last summer was largely because of their sloppy defense.

A lot has been said of the Panda's off-season conditioning program. He reportedly lost 38 pounds during the winter (when most bears are bulking up for the hibernation season). He looks great. When I was down in Scottsdale two weeks ago, I swear I almost did not recognize him. I kept thinking it was his brother Michael or something.

To be sure, Sandoval's weight loss has helped him on the base paths. He has beaten out double play grounders, gone first to third like never before, and even has a couple of stolen bases to his credit.

But let's get one thing clear. Better speed does not necessarily equate to better defense. Sure, Sandoval's range will improve, but fielding and throwing errors have more to do with a player's mental well-being than his physical well-being. And I'm not sure if Sandoval has worked out the mental issues that plagued him all of last year and into the post season. In today's exhibition game against the Texas Rangers, for instance, Sandoval opted to let a bunt go foul. Only it never did. The Rangers ended up scoring a run because of that play.

Sure, it didn't help that he was swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, but one of the main reasons Giants manager Bruce Bochy sat Sandoval during the World Series was because of his abhorrent glove work and questionable decisions in the field. Remember the play in Game 5 of the NLCS in which Sandoval tried to make a force play by stepping on third and missed the bag with by a couple of feet?

For the 2011 Giants to defend their title, they'll need solid defense by everyone, including and especially Sandoval. No matter how well he hits this year, Pablo must improve his defense or he'll find himself watching the game from the bench in late inning situations.

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Former Athletics OF Page dies at 59 (AP)

Mitchell Page, who had a fantastic rookie season and played eight years in the major leagues before becoming a hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, has died. He was 59. The Cardinals say Page died Saturday. Team spokesman Brian Bartow said Sunday that the team was informed of Page’s death by his agent.

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