My 2011 Yankees bullpen projection

post from lenNY's Yankees - A Bronx Bombers Blog on 24 March 2011 11:04:42 PM. © lenNY's Yankees - A Bronx Bombers Blog

You?ve seen my lineup projection. You?ve seen my rotation projection. Tomorrow you?ll find my projection for the bench. Now here?s my projected bullpen for the 2011 Yankees. Most AL teams will use a 12-man pitching staff, which leaves room for[...]

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Nationals Werth hits first HR of spring (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 24 March 2011 10:19:29 PM. © MLB News Blog

Jayson Werth hit his first home run of the spring and Michael Morse hit his seventh to lead the Washington Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night. Werth, who signed a seven-year, $126 million contract in December, hit his first homer for the Nationals on his 42nd at-bat of the [...]

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Pirates Prospects Breaks Down Tim Alderson's
Delivery

post from Beyond the Box Score on 24 March 2011 10:04:23 PM. © Beyond the Box Score

Pirates Prospects Breaks Down Tim Alderson's DeliverySeems as though mechanical problems and not stuff have been the bigger issues for Tim Alderson of late.[...]

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Os Showalter criticizes Jeter, Epstein (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 24 March 2011 09:49:21 PM. © MLB News Blog

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter is critical of Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein in a magazine interview. In the April edition of Men’s Journal, Showalter recalls the Yankees being surprised that he yelled at Jeter. He says it bothers him that Jeter often jumps away from pitches just [...]

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Can You Buy Wins In Baseball

post from Bronx Baseball Daily on 24 March 2011 09:23:02 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily

[...]

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Kaztastrophe: Brewers 11, Angels 8

post from 6-4-2 ? an Angels/Dodgers double play blog on 24 March 2011 09:04:24 PM. © 6-4-2 ? an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Scott Kazmir is owed $12M over the course of the remaining year of his contract, plus a $2.5M buyout for his 2012 season the Angels would be fools not to exercise. Fools, that is, unless Kazmir can turn himself around in a big hurry. As it was, Carlos Gomez crushed the first offering from Kazmir in the game for a double, a troubling sign of things to come for the erstwhile Rays ace. Giving up ten of the eleven runs scored, the bulk of the damage came in the first two frames, where he surrendered four runs in each, letting the Brewers bat around in the second. The Angels traded for him, taking a big-market risk on a pitcher who's had multiple injuries in the past; now, it appears all those cumulative ailments are badly sapping his effectiveness. Whatever the Angels may need in the rotation, an automatic gascan is not one of those things, and an attempt to salvage some utility from him in the bullpen now seems inevitable.

This really is too bad, because the Angels offense put up some nice numbers after getting befuddled by Randy Wolf early. Brandon Wood even drove in four, two of them on a long home run to left. Wood's .268/.317/.589 (presumably, prior to today's game) this spring is a bit ominous on the OBP side, but today's performance was much needed by a player who is frankly on the hairy edge of ejection from the majors.

So much the good news; the rest of the offense was fairly tepid, with only Maicer Izturis picking up hits in crooked numbers. The Angels also managed three walks off Milwaukee pitching — Alberto Callaspo, unexpectedly, Peter Bourjos, and Jeff Mathis each greeted first base in this way, and Bourjos further reached on a hit-by-pitch in the sixth. Bourjos may or may not be a major leaguer; it's something only time can tell, but this spring, he's doing an awful good impression of one.

Angels recap

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Extensive Feature on the Royals Minor Leaguers to
Appear in ESPN The Magazine

post from Royals Review on 24 March 2011 09:01:58 PM. © Royals Review

The Baseball Preview issue of ESPN The Magazine hits newsstands tomorrow and the Royals farm system receives generous attention.

The story by Tim Keown, titled, "Get Your Jokes In Now" discusses the rise of the franchise, raises the question of whether or not Moore can finish the job, and touches on the fan perspective. I'm actually quoted, as if Clark from Royals Authority. It's a good read, though obviously, if you are here, you already probably know about the farm system.

So there's a heads up.

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Ross and Wilson Both Headed For DL

post from The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website on 24 March 2011 09:01:57 PM. © The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website

The Giants are getting a better idea on what they're dealing with in their two injured players, Cody Ross and Brian Wilson, and it appears both will be in tennis shoes for the March 31st opener.

The Giants made it pretty clear Thursday that they expect both Ross and Wilson to start the season on the DL, which comes to a surprise to very few. Neither are dealing with serious injuries, but both are nagging issues that if not taken care of early, could hamper them all year long, so if it's a matter or losing them for the first few weeks of the year vs. having them try to play opening day in pain, I take option A. Ross will be sidelined for at least 3 weeks which means the earliest he returns would be mid-April. Since that seems to be the case, it looks like it will open up a roster spot for Brandon Belt to make this team, and quite possibly be in the opening day lineup. It's a matter of who Boch will feel comfortable with out in right field in place of Ross. Offensively, it would be best to place Huff in RF and move Belt into his place at 1B, but if they want defense, it will be Nate Schierholtz starting in right field. No matter what, I hope it doesn't end up with Aaron Rowand in the starting lineup and Brandon Belt down in Fresno. Another option could also be to use Mark DeRosa out in RF, a guy who went down in May last year but has looked 100% this spring. Sure, they'd rather have Ross out there, but this team is good enough and deep enough to overcome that loss for a few weeks.

The decision on Ross is more clear than the one with Wilson, who is still holding out some hope to pitch on opening day, but I don't expect it and I actually hope it doesn't happen. Wilson is so key to this team's success that they cannot toy with his health. He had the similar injury during his rookie year with the Giants, tried pitching around it and ended up costing him a month of the season. Not too mention, limited his ability when he actually did return. So Sabean and Bochy cannot take any chances and should let Guillermo Mota or Felix Romero start the year in the bullpen until B-Willy is 100%.

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Rockies Defeat Dodgers 5-0 In a Scrub-Shortened
Match

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin throws during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, March 24, 2011, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The Colorado Rockies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an 8-inning shutout today in a promising game for the Maligned Rockies pitching staff.

After the game was finished, the Dodgers felt like sticking around for some extra BP, and some local kids playing stickball in a nearby vacant lot were invited in to play the Dodgers for an inning or so.

Scottsdale Pizza Delivery boy Michael Marbry was able to get a single out off of Dodgers RF Blake Smith, and then proceeded to let 3 runs cross the plate. Karl Malone, former Utah Jazz Elbow Forward allowed 2 more runs before giving up a 3-run homer to AJ Ellis.

The real story is that Johnny Herrera got more hits, Seth Smith got some hits, Matt Pagnozzi inexplicably also had 2 hits.

Jhoulys Chacin didn't have his best stuff today, but he managed to hold the Dodgers scoreless for his 4 innings, which was continued by Matt Reynolds, Rex Brothers, and Eric Stults - amusingly enough, the 3 lefties with the best shot of making the team.

Hurray for Baseball.

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2011 NL West Preview

post from The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website on 24 March 2011 09:01:57 PM. © The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website

We're a week away from opening day, and we've finally reached the last installment of the divisional previews. The West looks to be really a two-horse race between the Giants and Rockies, but the Dodgers could creep into the picture as well. Plus, with so much going on, we have installed another "double-post" today, so scroll on down for the Giants News portion!
______________________________________
1st Place - San Francisco Giants

Lineup:
CF Andres Torres
2B Freddy Sanchez
1B Aubrey Huff
C Buster Posey
RF Cody Ross*
LF Pat Burrell
3B Pablo Sandoval
SS Miguel Tejada

Rotation/Set-up/Closer
RHP Tim Lincecum
RHP Matt Cain
LHP Jonathan Sanchez
LHP Madison Bumgarner
LHP Barry Zito
SU: Javier Lopez
CL: Brian Wilson*

* Will start year on DL

Whether or not they hit that hot streak at the end of the year again remains to be seen, but the Giants have a better team entering 2011 than the team they won the World Series with last fall. They have more depth with a healthy Mark DeRosa ready to actually contribute, and rookie phenom Brandon Belt knocking the door down. If Ross is on the DL to start the year, Belt needs to make the team out of the gate and start at first with Huff moving to RF. Their rotation is one of the best in baseball and 4 of the 5 starters are 28 years-old or younger, so they're just entering their prime. Even Barry Zito looks like he's ready to contribute with the way he's throwing this spring. They're going to score runs, they have a deep bullpen, and we know about the rotation, the only part I'm somewhat worried about is their infield defense. Miguel Tejada and Pablo Sandoval hold down the left side and neither of those guys have great range. As long as they don't run into any serious health problems though, they're the clear cut favorites in this division, and anything short of another playoff appearance would be considered a failure.

______________________________________
2nd Place - Colorado Rockies

Lineup:
CF Dexter Fowler
RF Seth Smith
SS Troy Tulowitzki
LF Carlos Gonzalez
1B Todd Helton
3B Ian Stewart
C Chris Ianetta
2B Jose Lopez

Rotation/Closer:
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez
LHP Jorge De La Rosa
RHP Jhoulys Chacin
RHP Jason Hammel
RHP Esmil Rogers
SU: Rafael Betancourt
CL: Huston Street

The Rockies have a few nice young chips in their lineup and a nice 1-2 punch at the front of their rotation. They just aren't as deep as the Giants, pitching wise or offensively. Their pitching fell off a bit towards the end of the year last season and need to last the whole 6 months if they're going to stick in the race. They have some healthy question's in the bullpen too, where closer Huston Street seems to have a glass arm. The Rockies could have added more this winter, but they didn't do much to improve their squad from last year, and even though they'll get improvement from some of their own players, they don't have enough to make the playoffs with this current roster.

______________________________________
3rd Place - Los Angeles Dodgers

Lineup:
SS Rafael Furcal
RF Andre Eithier
CF Matt Kemp
1B James Looney
3B Casey Blake
2B Juan Uribe
LF Jay Gibbons
C Rod Barajas

Rotation/Closer:
RHP Chad Billingsley
LHP Clayton Kershaw
RHP Hiroki Kuroda
LHP Ted Lilly
RHP Jon Garland
SU: Hong-Chih Kuo
CL: Jonathan Broxton

The Dodgers are another team that lost a lot over the winter. No more Manny Ramirez or Russell Martin and even though they didn't have great years in 2010, they both were centerpieces of that ballclub, and weren't adequately replaced. The pitching staff isn't particularly impressive. Kershaw is going to be great, but Billingsley has flaws and the rest of the rotation is very hittable. The bullpen is very much the same, where they are pretty thin outside of closer Jonathan Broxton.

______________________________________
4th Place - San Diego Padres

Lineup:
LF Will Venable
SS Jason Bartlett
1B Brad Hawpe
RF Ryan Ludwick
3B Chase Headley
2B Orlando Hudson
CF Cameron Maybin
C Nick Hundley

Rotation/Closer:
RHP Mat Latos
LHP Clayton Richard
RHP Tim Stauffer
RHP Aaron Harang
LHP Wade LeBlanc
SU: Mike Adams
CL: Heath Bell

I think the Padres will be a little bit better than people are anticipating. Although they lost their big slugger Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, they are developing some young players who should help cushion that loss. They have really built the team around pitching, defense and speed, and they have plenty of all three. Even their bench looks pretty solid. Mat Latos is a true ace, and Clay Richard and Tim Stauffer both came into their own last year. Their bullpen is their real strength, led by Adams and Bell but surrounded with many quality arms. They won't battle the Giants like they did last year, but they aren't that much different than the team that took the World Champion Giants all the way to the final day of the season to knock off. It wouldn't surprise me to see them finish as high as 2nd place like it would a lot of baseball people, but they will need some of their veterans to bounce back (Ludwick & Hudson) and a few youngsters to take flight (Maybin, Headley & Kyle Blanks)

______________________________________
5th Place - Arizona Diamondbacks

Lineup:
SS Stephen Drew
2B Kelly Johnson
CF Chris Young
RF Justin Upton
1B Russell Branyan
3B Melvin Mora
C Miguel Montero
LF Gerrardo Parra

Rotation/Closer:
LHP Joe Saunders
RHP Ian Kennedy
RHP Daniel Hudson
RHP Barry Enright
RHP Armando Gallaragha
SU: Juan Gutierrez
CL: J.J. Putz

The D-Backs had a nice young core going as recently as 2009, but they haven't been able to keep it together. They lost the heart and sole of their pitching rotation in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren last winter and have yet to make up for the loss. Their rotation is led by a guy who sported a 9-17 record last season and their bullpen is being anchored down by a rejected closer and a bunch of live, un-proven arms. The front four of their lineup is nice, but then it falls off mighty quickly after Justin Upton in the cleanup spot. Upton is their franchise player though, and whatever they do, they must hang onto him if they want a base to build around.

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