Spring Training News & Notes, 3/18: Catching Up With Everyone

Red Sox: The Red Sox received 20 year old Miguel Celestino from the Mariners to complete the Casey Kotchman trade...Scott Atchison, Brian Shouse, and Joe Nelson are all competing for a spot in the back of the bullpen...second lefty option Dustin Richardson was cut from big league camp and optioned to AAA Pawtucket.

Yankees: Derek Jeter jammed his right wrist on Thursday, but it doesn't appear that he'll have to miss any time...Joe Girardi will manage both games of a split-squad Friday. Alfredo Aceves, Chad Gaudin, and Sergio Mitre will all pitch as they fight for jobs.

Blue Jays: The Jays released Casey Fien, who has now departed the Detroit, Boston, and Toronto organizations in the span of a month...the Jays cut five players on Thursday, including Zach Jackson and Brian Dopirak. By cutting Dopirak, the way has been cleared for Randy Ruiz to make the roster...Travis Snider has caught fire, nearly guaranteeing himself a spot on the team.

Rays: The fifth starter competition between Wade Davis and Andy Sonnanstine is currently neck and neck. DRays Bay examines whether this is really true...Carlos Pena went deep Thursday for his first hit of the spring...Project Prospect takes a close look at Rays farmhand Matt Moore, who struck out 176 batters in 123 innings.

Orioles: Koji Uehara left Thursday's game with a hamstring strain...Sidney Ponson is off to the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Atlantic League...Cla Meredith and Matt Albers have emerged as the front-runners for the two remaining presumed open bullpen spots...Chris Tillman, David Hernandez, and Jason Berken continue to compete for the fifth rotation slot.

Marlins: Ricky Nolasco showed signs of returning to ace form today, pitching perfect through four innings with 6 Ks…C John Baker homered in a minor-league exhibition and hopes to return to the lineup Sunday…Cameron Maybin (groin) and Jorge Cantu (flu) returned to the lineup.

Braves: Spring Training stats generally mean nothing, but Nate McLouth is 1-31 so far…Chipper Jones hit a homer, a welcome sight after last year’s power outage.

Mets: Pedro Feliciano left the game after being struck by a linedrive. The team classified it as a bruised knee and said his removal was precautionary…Alex Cora will be the Mets’ starting shortstop if Jose Reyes starts the season on the DL.

Nationals: Matt Chico, Livan Hernandez, J.D. Marton, Sharion Martis, Craig Stammen, and The Stephen Strasburg are all in competition for the last spot in the Nats rotation…The Nationals may or may not trade SS Cristian Guzman before opening day…GM Mike Rizzo is optimistic that he’ll get an extension worked out with Adam Dunn soon…RHP Zech Zincola was sent back to Washington by the Blue Jays, per Rule 5 guidelines.

Phillies: Brad Lidge pitched in a minor league game, but opening day remains a long shot.

 

Twins: Sid Hartman writes that Joe Mauer is taking a gamble by not signing with the Twins JUST RIGHT NOW. Twinkie Town offers a graphical representation of the O-Dog.

White Sox: Freddy Garcia has big dreams, or likes big games, or something along those lines, while Fangraphs rates the White Sox as the 24th best/best positioned organization in baseball, though they don't mean that to sound so negative.

Tigers: Dontrelle Willis has a nice ERA this spring, which may have impacted Armando Galaragga's trip to AAA.

Indians: Fausto Carmona's career is at a crossroads, which may be evidence that it actually committed suicide in medieval Europe. In any event, Lets Go Tribe encourages Cleveland fans to dream small, which also means dreaming big.

Royals: There have been persistent rumors that the Royals and Rockies are close to a trade involving RP Juan Cruz. Look for the Royals to go after Colorado's worst player, especially if he's got a long term deal.

Reds: Widely considered a dark horse team this spring (and the last few springs), Dusty Baker and the Reds like what they’re hearing recently from other teams. Baker told C. Trent Rosecrans that he’s hearing a lot of positive things from opposing managers this spring, and it beats hearing “your team sucks.”

“I’ve heard it, too,” Baker said. “(Not this year) and not last year, either. But I’ve heard that, ‘what kind of team are you running out there?’ I’m not lying. Or, ‘how did you beat us today with that team?’ I don’t want to hear that (expletive).”

The Reds entered play Thursday at 6-6 this spring.

Cardinals: Jaime Garcia has drawn plenty of attention this spring, allowing just one earned run and three hits in 8.2 innings, with 12 strikeouts. He will get an opportunity to perform in the spotlight on Monday, when a split-squad day will allow him to make his first spring start. Unless he makes the team as a starter, Garcia will likely be sent back to AAA to get more innings – he pitched just 37.2 innings in the minors in 2009 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2008.

Cubs: Ted Lilly is back in camp after taking a few days away to be with his wife for the birth of their first child, Theodore Roosevelt Lilly IV. Lilly is still recovering from offseason arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder, and was expected to throw live BP Thursday.

Pirates: Octavio Dotel is one step closer to returning to action from his strained oblique, as he threw 24 pitches in a minor league game Thursday. Assuming he feels ok Friday, he’s expected to pitch in the Pirates’ Grapefruit League game against the Rays Sunday.

Astros: The team is down to six candidates to fill their five outfield slots for Opening Day after releasing Alex Romero Wednesday. Romero hit .348/.416/.462 in Reno (AAA) for the Diamondbacks last season, but hasn’t been able to translate that to major league success, batting .239/.279/.339 in 299 big league PAs.

Brewers: The Brewers remain committed to stretching out all seven candidates for their starting rotation, which has created some schedule gymnastics over the coming days. On Thursday, Dave Bush is starting a B game in the afternoon while Manny Parra will start the team’s evening game. They’ll also need to play a B game on Saturday to get work for both Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson.

Diamondbacks Wednesday gave a possible look at the club’s Opening Day line-up, with all eight of Arizona’s expected starters opening the game against Anaheim. Manager AJ Hinch looks set to use right-handers Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds at #3 and #5, around lefty Adam LaRoche. Conor Jackson seems likely to occupy the two-hole, but said “Kelly (Johnson) and Stephen (Drew) and CY (Chris Young) could all conceivably hit near the top or the bottom of our lineup.”

Dodgers True Blue LA reports that Rule 5 draft pick Carlos Monasterious has been quietly impressive this spring. He has rolled up eight scoreless innings with just two hits and two walks, making him “a guy who is going to be very hard to give back to the Phillies.” It’s been five seasons since a Rule 5 pick stuck with the Dodgers all year: that was DJ Houlton, but he was on a team which lost more than 90 games.

Giants Despite sitting in the middle of the pack for overall offense this spring – their OPS of .775 ranks 15th – San Francisco’s 97 runs trails only one team in the Cactus League. New hitting coach Hensley Meulens has been offering advice to a number of the Giants’ hitters, such as asking Aaron Rowand to adopt a more upright stance. Catcher Eli Whiteside calls Meulens, “One of the best hitting coaches I’ve ever worked with.”

Padres San Diego continue to run wild in the Cactus League. They stole six bags on Tuesday and five the day before, and have piled up 26 stolen-bases in total, easily the most in spring baseball – only one other team, the Brewers, has more than 18. And with a 79% success-rate, they’re not running themselves out of the game much. Said outfielder Will Venable, “It’s something that we’ve really stressed this spring. We need to be aggressive not only stealing bases, but on the bases in general. Going from first to third, stuff like that.”

Rockies The Colorado bullpen is in flux, according to Purple Row, with closer Huston Street’s MRI yesterday just one of a bevy of issues. “It’s time to consider a lost season from [Street] as a strong possibility, if not the most likely outcome at this point,” says our Rockies’ correspondent – a prospect which would certainly hurt their 2010 chances. Franklin Morales is the most likely internal candidate for the closer’s role.

Mariners: According to Ryan Divish, the Mariners have made another three cuts, sending Michael Saunders, Mike Koplove, and Levale Speigner to minor league camp. Saunders, a top prospect, represents the first line of outfield reinforcements...Rule 5 selection Kanekoa Texeira made a strong appearance on Wednesday and appears to be in line to make the team...Milton Bradley was ejected Wednesday night for striking out. Don Wakamatsu took issue with the ejection and intends to have a talk with the league about umpires treating Bradley unfairly...David Aardsma had a rough go of it on Wednesday, and is not yet pitching at full strength.

Angels: Hideki Matsui and his bad knees are on the path towards getting a little action in the outfield. This is all in the name of flexibility, but Matsui cannot be counted on to provide much of anything on defense...a four-person panel has come up with the Angels' All-Decade Team...Matt Palmer had a miserable outing on Wednesday as his roster spot is in jeopardy...the Angels have broken ground on All-Star fields, a project in which they will renovate a couple youth fields and build a new one for special-needs children.

Athletics: Coco Crisp is ready to return from a minor hamstring injury...Justin Duchscherer felt good throwing three innings of an instrasquad game on Wednesday, and has tentatively planned to make his Cactus League debut on Monday against the Mariners...Brett Anderson tossed four shutout innings on Wednesday and looks to be at full speed...Eric Chavez will be in the lineup on Thursday, playing back-to-back games for the first time this spring...Rajai Davis will miss a few days with an abdominal strain...despite the bullpen's current problems with health, reliever Justin Souza was cut from big league camp.

Rangers: The Rangers slugged four home runs on Wednesday night, two by Nelson Cruz. Josh Hamilton also clobbered a mammoth shot after returning from oral surgery...Tim Cowlishaw argues that Ron Washington is on a short leash...Ian Kinsler (ankle) is having trouble swinging, and remains a week away from returning to action...the Rangers made their first cuts on Wednesday, re-assigning seven players, including Omar Beltre and Kasey Kiker...a former Rangers employee attempted to blackmail the team with knowledge of the Ron Washington situation.