SB Nation - Gustavo Chacin

Astros show interest in Kelly Johnson, Gustavo Chacin and Jason Michaels sign on the dotted line

HighLeveragePerformer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:29 -0000

How does "Kelly Johnson, Houston Astro" sound?

After second baseman Kelly Johnson was non-tendered by the Atlanta Braves, a number of teams have expressed interest in him. That link notes that the D-Backs are on record that their hat has been thrown in the KJ ring, but Tim Dierkes said Monday on his site that three NL Central clubs: the Pirates, Cardinals and Astros desire his services to various extents.

Johnson's non-tendering came as a surprise to many, including clack, and his bat would be welcome in Houston, assuming he returns to his normal self after a down 2009. Take Bill James' optimistic projection and the fan's projections off FanGraphs, and you can get a pretty good idea of what is expected out of the middle infielder in 2010.

This wouldn't be an offseason-defining signing by Ed Wade, but if the Astros could get Johnson, the team would be much improved. The Diamondacks are in a position where they would trade another one of their backup infielders in order to create space for Johnson. Neither the Cards or Buccos have the greatest infields in the world, and while Pittsburgh signed Bobby Crosby to bolster theirs, it's not as if Kelly Johnson wouldn't be able to get significant playing time in Pittsburgh. St. Louis may not get Troy Glaus back, which leaves them with Skip Schumaker, David Freese, and Joe Thurston at 2B/3B entering spring training. Not exactly household names.

Pedro Feliz is an upgrade for Houston over Geoff Blum, but it's no guarantee that Feliz will be even a win better than Blummers. Kaz Matsui is injury-prone at second, is coming off a disappointing season and his backup, Edwin Maysonet, does not project to be anything special. Cost is something to focus on, as KJ made $2.8 million in 2009 and should demand a contract worth more than that in 2010. A deal in the mid-3 millions for one season maybe a gamble worth taking, especially if Wade cannot sign a starting pitcher or convert Jason Bourgeois to a second baseman as some have hypothesized.

Just when we thought we were getting rid of him...he pulls us back in. Or rather, we pull him back in. That's right: Jason Michaels has been re-signed to an $800,000 contract. Again, not a disaster, but the money could have been better allocated elsewhere. I would still like to see the team make a move for Ryan Church, if their budget allows for it. Bottom line, as with most of the Astros' moves, this won't be the difference between a postseason berth and another Astro-less October. Michaels wasn't near as bad as I thought he was in 2009, but I would have liked to have seen Wade think a little more out of the box. Reggie Abercrombie, and the aforementioned Bourgeois and Church could be in the running for the fifth and assumedly final outfield reserve spot.

Alyson Footer also tweets that Gustavo Chacin has been signed to a minor league deal and given an invite to Spring Training. Chacin hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007 and hasn't pitched a full season since 2005, so let's not hold our breath on anything happening for him with the Astros. His experience working with pitching coach Brad Arnsberg in Toronto most likely has a lot to do with his being given a shot. Think of him as Russ Ortiz with perhaps a bit more upside.

Breaking Down Arnsberg: What Are the Astros Getting?

davoag — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

Is the criticism of Brad Arnsberg justified?

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In case you missed the FanShot from last Friday, the Astros hired a new pitching coach. Brad Arnsberg comes with a reputation as a young pitcher-killer, but was loved by all his staffs and seemed to be able to work some magic with 'reclamation projects.' The World Wide Web was abuzz with articles about his abundance, or lack thereof, of talent. A fine hat-tip to clack and AstroAndy for linking to them.

What I wanted to do, though, is to see if it was warranted. What we're really worried about here are young pitchers, right? Guys 24 years old and younger are in the prime area for suffering from over-use. There are two different models out there currently used to predict injuries to young pitchers. Both were researched pretty thoroughly, but it's hard to tell if they're good predictors of injury potential or just good at explaining what happened in the past.

When I went back to research Arnsberg, I looked at every staff he had from 2000 in Montreal to 2002 with the Marlins and through his five-year tenure in Toronto. I focused on all the pitchers he had that were 24 or younger. This is a bit of a departure from the model, since they stop at 25, but since two-thirds of his stops were of the one-year variety, I downgraded the age a year. The two methods I mentioned were Tom Verducci's theory on an increase in innings from year to year, most recently laid out here. The other was Pitching Abuse Points (PAP), first published back in 1998 by Rany Jazayerli here. I believe it's been tweaked a bit here and there since then, but it's a good starting place for the discussion. My results after the jump...

Arnsberg oversaw 28 different pitchers in their Age 24 season or younger. His biggest year for this was in 2000 in Montreal, when 10 different young pitchers got into games. The 2000 season also seemed to be a learning year for Arnsberg as to how best to utilize pitchers. Of the 10, only one threw more innings than the previous season (Javier Vasquez, +63 IP) and only one had more than 10 PAP per start (Vasquez, 16 PAP). Carl Pavano pitched seven fewer innings than in 1999, but had a PAP/Start of 4.8 and then suffered an injury the following season. The rest all had significant drops in innings pitched and none had more than 2 PAP/start. None of the relievers in his bullpen threw three straight days and only Pavano suffered an injury the following season. Knowing what we do now about Carl, it's easy to see it probably wasn't Arnsberg's fault.

The next year he surfaced was in 2002 with the Marlins. Five guys played at 24 or younger and two of the five had jumps higher than 30 innings. Both Justin Wayne and Nate Robertson pitched over 40 innings more than the previous season, but each threw the majority of their innings in the minors, not the majors. It's hard for me to pin these jumps on Arnsberg for that reason, since their workload was controlled by the minor league pitching coordinator, not the big league pitching coach. As for the other three, Josh Beckett threw 47 less innings than the previous season and averaged 2.1 PAP per start. Pretty reasonable for a 22-year old. Brad Penny had a 69 inning drop in his workload and had 0.8 PAP/start. The other guy in this group was Blaine Neal, a reliever who saw his workload go up by six innings and was used three straight days twice that season. One of those times, though was on both ends of a double-header, when he faced just one batter in the first game. No real injury trouble here, at least not by Arnsberg's work. Beckett had the blister problems, but that's not related to overuse and Penny did have arm trouble, but much later than this.

On to the Toronto years, where Arnsberg saw an impressive group of young pitchers hit the big leagues. In his first season, he had five pitchers in the age range we are looking at. Two drastically increased their inning total (Dustin McGowan, +70, Chad Gaudin +74) while one starter also saw an uptick into the danger zone (Gustavo Chacin +36). The other two guys, Brandon League and Shaun Marcum had smaller increases or decreases, but only Chacin had any PAP to speak of. Chacin's total of 3.7 PAP/start is high, but not distressingly so and his innings increase was slight in comparison to McGowan's. Still, Chacin did suffer a major drop-off in performance and had an injury or two thrown in for good measure. Of course, his delivery is a bit quirky and he came out of nowhere to begin with, so it's hard to say whether Arnsberg led to this flameout. Certainly, the other guys on this list went on to have solid years after 2005, so we may just be dealing with a small sample size.

In 2006, Arnsberg oversaw seven young pitchers, including newcomers Casey Janssen, Ty Taubenheim, Jeremy Accardo and Davis Romero. Accardo, Romero and Dustin McGowan all had inning increases but the rest saw their totals drop. Janssen was the only pitchers with more than 1 PAP/start and his was exactly one. Marcum saw his total drop by 35 innings and had a PAP of 0.8 while League had a slight drop in innings, but was used twice three games in a row. Taubenheim moved from a starter's role in the minors to the bullpen in the majors, which explains his 60-inning drop. None of the evidence here supports the conclusion that misuse led to any injuries.

In 2007, there were only four pitchers in our age-range, including two holdovers, League and Taubenheim. Newcomers Jesse Litsch and Josh Banks both saw increases, though Litsch saw his total rise by 29 innings, just underneath the magic threshold. Litsch also had just 0.7 PAP/start, meaning he wasn't throwing a ton of pitches. League saw his total drop by 59 innings, in part due to injury (I think, though I can't find it anywhere). Taubenheim had his total rise by 15, but was not used in more than two straight games, so he didn't really get overworked.

Litsch was the only pitcher considered young in 2008 and he saw his total innings drop by 11, but his PAP jumped up to 4.2 per start. More distressingly, though was how he was used down the stretch. From August 21 to September 29, Litsch started nine games and threw 61 innings and 980 pitches. He totaled 88 PAP for an average of 9.7 per start, a huge jump over the beginning of the season. He went 5-4 over this stretch and had an average game score of 62.4. Those were both reasons why he pitched so much, I'm sure. He was doing so well that the Jays wanted to keep him pitching to keep them in the race, as the team got to 12 games over .500 on Sept. 12. However, Litsch was pretty much abused during this stretch. He was used once on two days' rest, throwing 49 pitches over three innings and was used once on three days' rest in the back half of a doubleheader. Litsch threw 110 pitches over 5 1/3 innings.

In 2009, Litsch was shut down in April and finally had Tommy John surgery in June. I think it's safe to say that his usage pattern at the end of 2008 may have led to this, but we can't be certain. Arnsberg's last year with Toronto saw five pitchers in our age-group, including Litsch. Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil, Mark Rzepczynski and Brad Mills made major-league debuts and all but Mills saw increases in their inning totals. None saw jumps of over 30, though they all had more PAP than in Arnsberg's past. Romero tallied 6.3 PAP/start and saw his innings jump 14, while Brett Cecil had a jump of 24 innings and 2.1 PAP/start. Rzepczynski made the jump straight from Double-A and saw an increase in 28 innings while having a PAP of 3.8 per start.

What does this mean? Arnsberg gets blamed for the injuries to Marcum and McGowan, but in their formative years with the club, you can see he really didn't do much to hurt them. Only in 2008 did his usage patterns significantly change, and that also coincided with a new manager, Mr. Old School Cito Gaston. This is a classic example of a guy from a bygone era trying to throw pitchers out there like they did in the '70's and hoping it will work. In 2008, for example, Gaston used pitchers on short rest six times, while the American League average was just 3.7. In 2009, he was right in line with the league average of 3, but it still shows that he used his pitchers differently than most of the league. Arnsberg didn't like it, and clashed with his manager as was chronicled here and here. I'm not sure you can blame Arnsberg for what happened to Litsch but you definitely can't blame him for Marcum and McGowan. B.J. Ryan also can't be blamed on him, nor can A.J. Burnett, as both guys had either a history of injuries or a jump in innings before coming to Toronto.

At least one place is mad Arnsberg left Toronto, while there are a couple other places that still levy criticism. I'm not sure how Arnsberg will do with Houston, but I do know he's got a pretty good track record of keeping the young guys healthy. He'll have a tough time on his hands next season, though, as Bud Norris saw a 95 inning jump in his workload, though his PAP/start was just 0.5. Yorman Bazardo was also in the danger zone with a 34 inning jump, and his performance doesn't need any regression. The only worrying part of the bullpen was Sammy Gervacio being used three straight days three different times and once for four straight games. Of course, the 24-year old only threw more than 20 pitches in a game twice, so it's not as worrisome as it appears.

To review, Arnsberg coached for four different managers and only under Gaston did his track record go astray. Out of all his young pitchers, just three were inordinately abused: Chacin, Litsch and Vasquez. Now, we can see that Vasquez was just built to hold up to a higher workload, similar to Roy Halladay. Still, it doesn't excuse the abuse in the first place. Is Gaston more to blame for the last couple of seasons in Toronto? We can't REALLY tell, but after reviewing all this, I certainly feel better about the Astros' new pitching coach.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:09:44 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Todd Coffey: Unsung Hero.

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Some things to read while watching Seinfeld with Coco Crisp.

Yovani Gallardo's performance from last night is drawing a fair amount of attention around the web this morning. A small sampling:

Tom H. notes that Gallardo's home run was the first ever hit off of Randy Johnson by a pitcher.
Circling the Bases notes that Gallardo has a .726 career OPS, fourth best among all active pitchers with at least 50 at bats.
Quevedo at the Buffet compares Gallardo's at bat to what one would have expected from Ben Sheets under the same circumstances.

However, all of Gallardo's heroics may have been for naught if not for Todd Coffey, who got the Brewers out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh and pitched a perfect eighth. Coffey's efforts did not go unnoticed, as Ken Macha said the Brewers had two saves last night.

Carlos Villanueva was also perfect in the ninth last night, picking up his first save. If last night is any indication, a Brewer bullpen that goes 7-8-9 with Coffey, Villanueva and Trevor Hoffman might be ok after all. Hoffman's rehab continues apace, and he'll begin playing catch more seriously today.

Will Hoffman's rehab lead him to Appleton? At the Timber Rattlers' Lead Off Experience yesterday, Gord Ash said it will depend on the weather. Hoffman could pitch in Arizona or Brevard County if the team is concerned about conditions in Appleton.

Mike Cameron continued his hot start last night, hitting a home run off of Randy Johnson that accounted for the only Brewer run not driven in by Gallardo. Cameron has yet to strike out in the Brewers first two games. Some fans are praising Cameron's increased plate discipline, but Jack Moore of Right Field Bleachers refutes the notion, pointing out that Cameron has always been patient.

Cameron was also a key part of a Brewer offense that stole four bases on Opening Day. The Official Site says not to get too excited: the Brewers plan to jump on opportunities to run when they arise this season, but don't plan on running that much everyday.

Sometimes a milestone just slips by: Prince Fielder's eighth inning single off of Jeremy Affeldt on Tuesday was the 500th hit of his career, but no one in the dugout knew about it. I'm guessing Fielder would have traded it for a win anyway. He's the third youngest Brewer to reach 500 hits.

Some Brewers would settle for 500 plate appearances: Fresh off a spring that saw them play every day, Tom H. caught up with Casey McGehee, Chris Duffy and Brad Nelson, who have some time on their hands these days.

Some minor league notes to pass along:

The Appleton Post-Crescent has a nice profile of Appleton native and former Brewer Matt Erickson, the hitting coach for the Timber Rattlers.
Beyond the Box Score has a look at the defensive skills of Angel Salome and Jonathan Lucroy, along with some of baseball's other catching prospects.

The Brewers have played about 1.2% of their schedule, so I guess it's time to update the rankings: MLB FanHouse downgraded the Brewers from 12th to 21st in their power rankings, and MLB Playoff Odds gives the Brewers a 26.8% chance at making the postseason.

Are you in the Milwaukee area and looking for something to do after tonight's game? Fox 6 will be airing their Brewer preview show live at 9:30.

In another TV note, as mentioned in Tuesday's Game Thread, Tuesday's game broadcast started without a graphic to show baserunners, but that was a technical issue that has been resolved.

These guys will also show up on your screen a fair amount this season: Mental Floss takes a look at seven stadium icons, including "The Doorman" at Miller Park.

Elsewhere around the league:

A's: Claimed reliever Dan Giese off waivers from the Yankees.
Cubs: Ted Lilly allowed four solo home runs in last night's win over the Astros. He also allowed five in 11 spring innings.
D-Backs: Brandon Webb will miss his next start with shoulder stiffness. Ken Rosenthal is reporting that concerns with Webb's arm ended talks of a new contract last season.
Nationals: Released pitcher Gustavo Chacin, who then signed with the Phillies.
Pirates: Third baseman Andy LaRoche, who made three errors in the team's first two games, has been benched.
Royals: Claimed third baseman Travis Metcalf off waivers from the Rangers.

Every year about this time we get a story like this one, but I don't think anyone expected the Pirates to be the story: At 2-1, playing the Cardinals this afternoon and with the Cubs having an off day, the Pirates could move into sole possession of first place in the NL Central with a win.

And another thing I never expected to see in print: Peter Angelos may not be involved enough in the operation of the Orioles.

Here's some sabermetric work we don't normally do in this space: Gaslamp Ball used the Golden Ratio to give Brian Giles a 76.8% attractiveness rating.

Look forward to some extra split-squad games and a day off or two next spring: Twins Now takes a look at the scheduling issues that will come up when the Cactus League and Grapefruit League each have 15 teams next season.

Oh, and Snuggies are coming to get our children.

Drink up.

Bits on a Thursday Afternoon

Tom Dakers — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:45:17 -0000

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

8 months ago: Detroit Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco, left, misses the tag on Toronto Blue Jays' Vernon Wells, right, after Wells hit a double during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Tuesday April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Nathan Denette)

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You would think a couple of wins to start the season would, you know, be something to celebrate. But not if you read the Toronto newspapers. Yes, I get it, you newspaper guys think we are going to lose 120 games this year but maybe, enjoy a win. I know it's tough to pull away from the JP bashing but two wins is good, enjoy them.

For example, Jeff Blair in the Globe, is talking about how a win in a game that Doc doesn't start will be a rare thing. This is the bit that caught my attention though:

But it's more complicated than that, because Romero is on a 175- to 180-inning limit this season. Purcey's at 200 — maybe — while minor-league prospects Brad Mills and Brett Cecil are at 175 and 145-150, respectively. The Blue Jays are being conservative with Janssen: They have him down for 125 innings, maximum.

You think 200 innings is a limit for Purcey? Yeah right, we are going to have to sit him for the second half of the season because he's already thrown 200 inning. Yep. Jeff you do realize that only 15 pitchers threw 200 innings in the AL last year right? I mean I'm hoping for good things from Purcey but I'm thinking 170-180 innings tops. You figure Romero is going have to be held back from pitching more than 180 innings? You find me anyone that thinks he might get 150 innings this year. Same for Mills and Cecil, if Cecil gets up to 175 innings this year it will be a heck of a surprise. Oh well.

Over in the Star, Richard Griffin is telling us not to get too excited about a couple of wins as well. Instead of talking about how well Purcey pitched last night he spends 300 words on the bad throw on the intentional walk, tell us:

last night's 5-4 walk-off victory over the same Tigers featured an example of the ridiculous that might be expected when Doc's not on the hill.

No Richard, it was a mistake....we don't have to 'expect' that sort of thing whenever Doc isn't on the hill. Hate to tell you this, Richard, but Sainted Doc has made the odd mistake in his career too. Also from Griffin...

For seven innings it had been a losing effort, a dose of what fans should expect on those nights when Doc isn't on the hill.

So with Doc pitching we should expect the team to score lots of runs but when he isn't out there we should expect us to get just 1 hit in 7 innings. Not only is Doc a great pitcher, he can will his team into scoring. Hey Richard, did you notice that Purcey gave up fewer runs than Halladay did the night before? Or would it destroy your world view to give credit to someone that JP drafted?

Yesterday at the Tao of Stieb (an excellent, interesting blog, that just about always says things I wish I had said first) talked about something I had been avoiding like the plague since opening day, the idiocy of people throwing baseballs and other thing at players.

There's nothing wrong with enthusiasm, and there's nothing wrong with having a bit of drunken debaucherous superfan fun at the game. But there is one - AND ONLY ONE - legitimate reason to throw something on the field at a baseball game, and there is only one reason to cheer on someone who throws shit on the field at a baseball game.

If the other team hits a home run and you catch or pick up the ball after it has ricocheted off of someone's melon, then - AND ONLY THEN - can you take the home run ball and toss it back on the field of play.

I agree with it all, but the problem is, you are preaching to the choir. Let's face it guys, your readers, our readers, they aren't the mush for brains that are throwing things at players. Those guys don't read your blog, don't read our blog, they aren't baseball fans. They go there to get drunk on over priced beer (something I've never understood, I can't afford to get drunk on $7 plus beers and I'm a light-weight) and to make an ass of themselves. They don't read us because likely they can't read and they don't care about baseball.

The thing I would say though is, if you are at a game and you see one of these brain dead people throw something on the field, get an usher, point them out. Assault is assault even if it is attempted on people wearing the other team's uniform.

And over at MLB Trade Rumors, they mention that former Jay pitcher and Hugo's favorite cologne seller Gustavo Chacin was released by the Washington Nationals. So what happens when you can't make the worst team in baseball's Triple-A rotation? Well the World Series champion Phillies sign you, of course.

Just a reminder, tonight's game is on Sportsnet, all across the country by the looks of things. Jesse Litsch starts for us and Zack Minor goes for the Tigers. Join us in the Game Thread today, we've had lots of fun and have had lots of new members join in. So if you have the game on anyway, nothing better than to watch it with friends.

Spring Training: - Game Thread: Washington Nationals at Detroit Tigers

Ed Chigliak — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:54:42 -0000

The Washington Nationals Do Not Want Adam Dunn Playing First In The WBC?

Washington Post writer Amy Shipley described Adam Dunn's error-filled attempt to play first base for the United States in place of an injured Kevin Youkilis in the WBC the other night in an article Thursday entitled, "Venezuela Races Past Strapped Team USA", where Ms. Shipley wrote that Dunn:

"'...incomprehensibly fielded a ground ball and threw so far out of the reach of catcher Chris Iannetta...that Iannetta didn't even extend his glove for it..." (and on), “...Dunn’s second error -- he threw the ball into center field trying to prevent a stolen base -- [which] did not cost the U.S. team any runs, but it was almost as ugly. His third error came when he mishandled a routine ground ball in the eighth."

Ms. Shipley quoted USA Baseball Executive Director Paul Seiler who admitted that playing Dunn at first, "...is not something the Nationals want me to do with him," but Mr. Seiler says he's sure, "...if we reached out to the Nationals...it wouldn't be an issue."

New York Times' writer Jack Curry, however, in an article about Rays' third baseman Evan Longoria joining the US Team entitled, "Longoria Joins United States for World Baseball Classic", reports that US Manager Davey Johnson, "...was hoping the United States would add a first baseman because, he said, the Washington Nationals do not want Adam Dunn...playing that position."

"That position"? Does the Nationals' decision that they don't want Dunn, "playing that position" extend beyond the WBC? That would be good news for Nick Johnson, bad news for Josh Willingham, as all three are still under consideration for just two spots in the Nationals' starting lineup...

...The Nationals cut six more players from their roster yesterday, Roger Bernadina, Ryan Langerhans, Pete Orr, Brad Eldred, Luke Montz and pitcher Gustavo Chacin.

Chacin, Eldred, Langerhans and Orr were sent to Minor League camp according MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article entitled, "Nationals make third round of cuts", while Bernadina and Montz were shipped off to Triple-A Syracuse...where Bernadina will join Justin Maxwell and Leonard Davis in the Chiefs' outfield and Montz will be the starting catcher.

Recent reports are that Collin Balester, Jordan Zimmermann and Shairon Martis are battling it out for the final two spots in the Nationals' starting rotation. Collin Balester gets another chance to turn his Spring around today when he starts against the Detroit Tigers and Nate Robertson who is listed as Friday's TIgers' starter for the game in Lakeland, Florida's Joker Marchant Stadium, in MLB.com's Mark Bowman's article, "Bonderman strong as Tigers silenced." Balester's (1-0) with a 6.55 ERA in 3 starts, 1 relief appearances and 11.0 total IP this Spring, in which he's allowed 11 hits, 8 ER, 4 HR and 6 walks. Balester's fighting an uphill battle with the way Zimmermann and Martis have been pitching...

STRASBURG FILES...

(4-0), 1.98 ERA, 59 K's in 27.1 IP, 5 walks and only 19 hits surrendered to the 99 batters he's faced...(K'd 59 of 99?)...it's Stephen Strasburg against BYU, who beat Strasburg's San Diego State Aztecs last night, and are in town at Tony Gwynn Stadium to face SDSU two more times today and tomorrow. The game gets underway at 6:00 pm pacific time, with Strasburg's undefeated record on the line...How many will Strasburg K today?

Who's Following Strasburg? Who's Watching The Nationals?

DC and Detroit get underway at 1:05 pm EST...looks like it's scoreboards only...

Spring Training: Game 3 Game Report: Houston Astros 0 Washington Nationals 2. (w/ Comments)

Ed Chigliak — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:30:07 -0000

Washington vs Houston live from Space Coast....Game Three Game Thread...Game Notes and Comments...

-- Shawn Hill on the mound for the Washington Nationals, who are throwing out what looks to be a Nick Johnson-less version of their starting lineup...notably, Adam Dunn at first, Lastings Milledge in center, with Josh Willingham in left and Elijah Dukes in right....Hill completes a scoreless first frame...

Comments:

"i like today's lineup...could see NJ at first w the hammer moving between first and left..." - natslove

"I'm not crazy about Dunn at first...but sounds like he made a nice play on a wide throw already, so, I'll give him a chance..." - e chigliak

-- Aaron Boone starting at first for the Nationals Astros. Wandy Rodriguez on the mound for Houston. Ryan Zimmerman singles up the middle with two down, Dunn walks, but Elijah Dukes gets jammed first pitch swinging to end a scoreless first...

Comments:

"Gustavo Chacin replaced Hill in 2nd, and is back again...I like(d) Chacin in Toronto…think he’s got any shot of catching on here?" - e chigliak

"good numbers 4 chacin b4 he got hurt in toronto...might stick...looks good today vs houston's speed lineup no boppers..." - natslove

"Astros' lineups not quite the same w/out El Caballo or the Big Puma...(Big Puma = worst nickname in baseball)…Hunter Pence’s close to bopper status, but that’s it…(uh, oh yeah, you too Aaron Boone, yeah we all remember the HR against Boston…)" - e chigliak

"When you make up your own nickname...it’s not as good...Puma and Macho Harris should be ashamed." - ROSCOEtheNATSfan

-- Jesus Flores hits a two-out double to score Josh Willingham after DY and Belliard failed to bring him in...Cristian Guzman doubles, Flores scores. #85, Lastings Milledge up next, flies out to end it...2-0 Nationals.

-- Alberto Gonzalez is the name that keeps coming through the radio, as he’s made several outstanding defensive plays, and just started the fifth with a single. Lastings Milledge grounds into a DP to erase Gonzalez.

Comments: (after Nick Johnson enters game for Dunn at first...)

"that's the full clip...just hernandez and we have seen them all..." - natslove

"Haven't heard (Anderson) Hernandez's name much yet? Hear anything about him?(ed. note - "Ref: MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article, "Hernandez getting rest early in Spring.")...the name I keeeep hearing, and just did a minute ago, is Alberto “The General” Gonzalez, who just got another rise out of the crowd with his defense…" - e chigliak

"just the long offseason in carib...had great winter season disappeared in post season...that's all." - natslove

-- Nick Johnson at first or Dunn? Both made nice plays defensively today to bring in wide throws? But Johnson’s better defensively? Dunn’s more durable? Nick’s got OBP? So does Dunn? Dunn’s got more power? What will Manny Acta do?

-- The Nationals have allowed just 2 hits through eight, with Gustavo Chacin (W, 2.0IP, 1 H), Jason Bergmann (2.0IP, 1H), Saul Rivera (1.0IP, 0 H) and Joel Hanrahan (S, 1.0IP, 0 H), with the starter, Shawn Hill (1.0IP, 1 BB) combining on the shutout so far...

-- “WIld” Joel Hanrahan gets his first work of the Spring...gets his first 2 K's, and gets his first save...Nationals win. 2-0 final.

Comments:

Went with the slow stuff to get the K to end it!!!...1,2,3 the Nationals win!! Combined 2-hit shutout!!! 2-0 final. Nationals 2-1 on the Spring...Do you believe in miracles???" - e chigliak

The Last of Barrett's Privateers: Michael Barrett a Jay

hugo — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:05:58 -0000

Thanks to Stan Rogers, Maritime Provinces singer of sea shanties and folk songs, for today's title. We used to sing his songs all the time when I worked on a lobster boat in Maine.

The Jays wasted no time in responding to the Yankees $186 million dollar signing of Mark Teixiera with a blockbuster signing of their own, catcher Michael Barrett.

Seriously, though, I like the signing of Barrett. When healthy, he has been an above average offensive catcher and is coming in on a minor-league deal, which won't wed the Jays to him should Arencibia develop quickly, Barrett falter, or Thigpen show more than expected. Barrett had three excellent offensive seasons (for a catcher) in a row between 2004 and 2006 so there's certainly some upside. And he has 31 points of career OBP, and 12 points of OPS+, on Rod Barajas, so that's good. All in all, a decent if underwhelming piece of business. We're still waiting for the Jays to guarantee someone some major-league money.

In other news, the Red Sox appear to have reached an agreement with Brad Penny. We liked Penny on this site and the Sox will be paying him $5 million with a potential additional $3 million based on his performance. I'm sure many teams were in on Penny for $ 5 million / 1 year, so he had his choice of teams.

The very slightly less terrible half of one of the worst platoons in baseball history, Kevin Mench, signed for $1.8 million with the Hanshin Tigers. Of the Japanese League.

Finally, the Nationals signed our old friend Gustavo Chacin to a minor league deal. I know I wasn't the biggest fan of Chacin's pitching abilities (though I did stick up for the guy when he was inexplicably compared to Benito Mussolini) but best of luck, Gus. If you start for the Nats at home, I will go watch you pitch.

Washington Nationals In The Winter Leagues, Dominican League Playoffs Begin With A Tigres del Licey Win.

Ed Chigliak — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:00:06 -0000

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE...

After finishing third in the Dominican Winter League Regular Season standings with a 26-24 record, the Tigres del Licey began the DWL Playoffs with a win in the first of five games they'll play against Aguilas Cibaenas(4), Azucareros del Este(2), and today's opponent in the Tigres(3) 14-4 victory, the Dominican League's Regular Season winners, the Gigantes del Cibao(1).

Anderson Hernandez, DC's prospective starting second baseman, was in the lineup at second for the Tigres del Licey and Hernandez picked up right where he left off in the Regular Season, going 2 for 5 with a double, a walk, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. Ronnie Belliard, starting at third for the Tigres, was 1 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI, and one of the newest Nationals, Jorge Sosa, who signed along with four other free agents right before the holidays, earned the win with 5.0 innings of 5-hit, 1-run work on the mound, during which he walked 3 and collected 6 K's.

Anderson Hernandez ended the DWL Regular Second with the second highest average in the league at .365 after 50 games and 211 AB's, leading the league in Runs with 41, Hits, with 77, Doubles, with 20, and Triples, with 6, and Hernandez finished in the Top 10 in the Dominican Winter League in OBP, (.406), SLG, (.531) and OPS, (.937). Acquired from New York in the deal that sent Luis Ayala to the Mets, Hernandez has yet to really translate his Winter League success to the Major Leagues, however, where he's hit just .232 in 63 games and 168 at bats so far in his MLB career...

So it's probably a good sign that the 33-year-old Ronnie Belliard will be around to challenge Hernandez at second, or at least back him up and support him should the 26-year-old infielder fail to live up to what he's done in his last 292 AB's (with Washington/Licey combined), in which Hernandez has hit for a .356 AVG. with 24 doubles, 6 triples, 1 HR and 46 RBI's. Ronnie Belliard had 22 hits in 66 AB's for a .333 AVG with 3 doubles, 4 HR's, 16 RBI's, a .405 OBP, .561 SLG, and .966 OBP in 18 Regular Season games with Licey this Winter.

Jorge Sosa, 31, finished the DWL season with with a (6-2) record in 10 starts and 1 relief appearance, allowing 51 hits, 16 ER's and 16 walks in 57.0 IP, over which he struck out just 24 and allowed opponents to hit for a .242 AVG. The former Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Braves, Cardinals and Mets' pitcher, signed with DC last week, along with LHP Gustavo Chacin, 27, formerly of the Blue Jays, C Gustavo Molina, 26, (who's played a total of 19 MLB games with the White Sox, Orioles and Mets), infielder Jose Castillo, 27, who split '08 with the Giants and Astros after having spent 4 years in the Pirates' infield, and outfielder Corey Patterson, 28, who broke into the big leagues with Cubs and has since played for the Orioles and Reds over 9 MLB seasons.

UP NEXT...

Saturday night, the 27th of December, the Tigres del Licey take to the road to take on Azucareros del Este.

PUERTO RICAN WINTER LEAGUE...

The Criollos de Caguas welcomed the Leones de Ponce into Parque Yidefonso Sola Morales Friday night, and needed only the two runs they scored in the second to take a 2-1 lead in what would eventually be an 8-1 Caguas' win. DC prospects Justin Maxwell, who was the DH, and Garrett Guzman, who started in left, were a combined 0 for 7, with a run scored, an RBI, 2 walks and 3 K's between them, but the one run scored, (by Guzman, after he walked and crossed second on a two-RBI triple by Minor League free agent, Rob Cosby, which gave Caguas the 2-1 lead), turned out to be the Criollos' winning run.