SB Nation - Dallas McPherson

Interview with Derek Carty from The Hardball Times-Part 4

raygu — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:00:19 -0000

Here is the last part of the 4 part interview with Derek Carty from The Hardball Times. Derek provides some insight into his top 5 rankings and some early sleepers for 2010:

Fake Teams: Are there any statistics that you use to evaluate hitters or pitchers that aren't mainstream yet?

Derek Carty: Absolutely. As I've talked about a little bit already, there are some that aren't even super well-known in the sabermetric community because, well, I invented them myself and they aren't really readily available yet. I absolutely love CAPS, David Gassko's LIPS ERA is great, and True Home Runs for hitters is a favorite of mine as well. Chris Dutton and Peter Bendix's xBABIP is great too. And of course, things like BABIP and HR/FB and LOB% aren't really mainstream, but they are pretty well-known in the sabermetric community and are certainly important to look at.

More after the jump:

Fake Teams: Do you prefer auction leagues or straight draft leagues? Mixed or NL/AL-only leagues?

Derek Carty: Auction, without a doubt. It gives everyone a chance at every player and, I feel, allows you to be more creative with how you construct your team and with how you plan your strategy. I used to be a 100% in favor of mixed leagues over AL/NL-only (in theory), although LABR has swayed my opinion a bit (it was the first AL/NL-only league I ever played in). Still, I would have to lean towards something like a 14 or 15-team mixed league, given my druthers. I just feel that one or two big injuries to an AL or NL-only team can derail any hope of a championship, in some instances, and we really are in the infantile stages of trying to predict injuries, so it's not as if some of us can even gain much of a competitive advantage in the area. I was actually quite lucky in LABR this year when it came to the health of my players, which has surely colored my opinion of this league setup a bit. Aside from losing Ramon Hernandez for most of the year and Raul Ibanez, Rich Harden, and Carlos Ruiz for a few weeks, my team stayed pretty healthy. In other leagues, I wasn't as lucky. In the FSIC, for instance, Jose Reyes killed us (although we did manage to finish in second despite a Reyes/Garrett Atkins combo for our first two picks). I think a 15-team mixed league is a pretty good depth and minimizes the amount of luck involved.

Fake Teams: An early look at 2010-who is your top 5 players in NL-only leagues? AL-only leagues? Mixed?

Derek Carty: This'll have to be very early since I haven't completed my projections yet or really tried to make any 2010 predictions, but here's how I'm currently feeling (completely subjectively and without seeing some of the more in-depth numbers I like to look at).
NL: 1) Albert Pujols, 2) Hanley Ramirez, 3) Chase Utley, 4) Ryan Braun, 5) Matt Kemp
AL: 1) A-Rod, 2) Mark Teixeira, 3) Miguel Cabrera, 4)Evan Longoria, 5) Joe Mauer
Mixed: 1) Albert Pujols, 2) Hanley Ramirez, 3) Chase Utley, 4) A-Rod, 5) Ryan Braun

Fake Teams: If you have done this analysis, who are a few sleepers for 2010?

Derek Carty: I haven't really done this analysis yet, so I'll probably have some very different names when asked in a month or two. For now, let's go with Ian Stewart, Julio Borbon, Eric Young Jr., Dallas McPherson (consider him the next Russell Branyan if he finds playing time), Koji Uehara (potential Baltimore closer, though he could succeed as a SP as well), Brett Andersen, and Jorge de la Rosa. And, of course, whether someone is truly a sleeper or a value pick is entirely dependent on context. He'll only derive value if you take him in a round later than where you believe he truly belongs.

Fake Teams thanks Derek for taking the time to answer these questions for our readers.

Monday's Brief and Late Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:23:57 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Can the Brewers afford to do what it takes to keep Prince Fielder in Milwaukee?

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Ok, this took longer than I expected, so today's Mug is all bullet points, and hopefully you'll get a chance to read it before leaving work:

Jorge Says No! has a look at the Brewers situation with Prince Fielder, and wonders what they can afford to offer him in a long term deal.
The JS has Baseball America's list of Top 30 Brewer prospects (FanShot). Casa de Machado has some reaction, but here's my quick one: This list was compiled by Brian Anderson and Tom Haudricourt, who spent the 2009 season traveling with and covering the Brewers. As such, they had limited or no time to scout any of these players in person. So why are they ranking them?
Elsewhere in the minors, the Appleton Post Crescent has an in-depth look at the renovations at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton.
As noted earlier, the Brewers signed Dominican shortstop Santo Aybar over the weekend. Baseball America has more about him. One salient point: He turns 17 on Saturday, so we can stop calling him a 16-year-old prospect.
Adam McCalvy has a look at the Brewer contributions to Saturday's AFL championship game victory for the Peoria Javelinas. The Javelinas beat the Phoenix Desert Dogs, who were five time defending league champions.
Baseball America has a look at catchers in the AFL, and a note on the somewhat dramatic improvement of Jonathan Lucroy, who might be in the middle of the most meteoric rise in the Brewer organization in quite some time.
McCalvy also wants your questions for an inbox column he's looking to write next week.
Miller Park Drunk took some heat and has reconsidered his decision on the coolness of the newly renamed Molitor parking lot at Miller Park.
MPD also has a look back at 2001.
Two weeks ago, I suggested Yorvit Torrealba as a possible placeholder at catcher until Jonathan Lucroy is ready to take over. With free agency open, several teams have expressed interest, including the Giants.
Omar Vizquel is no longer a candidate to replace Craig Counsell, as he's signed with the White Sox.
Elsewhere in transactions, the Royals signed former Brave Jorge Campillo.
And the A's signed Dallas McPherson.
The Mets might be interested in Ben Sheets.
Further proof that being a dick extends your life expectancy: Gary Sheffield wants to play next season.
The Pirates may be lining their pockets with revenue sharing money.
The Brewers are hiring a part time mailroom/warehouse guy.
Happy birthday to Dale Sveum, who turns 46.

Drink up.

All Assumptions-Are-Dangerous Minor League Free Agent Team

Jeff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:07:19 -0000

Dave at Fangraphs passed along a link to this year's crop of minor league free agents. A popular thing to do with this information is pick out a handful of guys that would make interesting and potentially worthwhile pick-ups. This is not that. This is a full team made up of guys who, years ago, were supposed to go on to do some big big things, only to end up on the fall 2009 list of mlFA's. Consider this just another reminder that you should never ever ever take a prospect's future for granted.*

C: JR House
1B: Ryan Shealy
2B: Josh Barfield
SS: Antonio Perez
3B: Dallas McPherson
LF: Wes Bankston
CF: Joe Borchard
RF: John-Ford Griffin
DH: Josh Phelps

BENCH-C: JD Closser (does Ben Davis still count?)
BENCH-INF: Eric Duncan
BENCH-OF: Dave Krynzel
BENCH-UTIL: Donnie Murphy

SP: Jerome Williams
SP: Greg Miller
SP: Kenny Baugh
SP: Humberto Sanchez
SP: Bobby Brownlie

RP: Jose Capellan
RP: Wes Littleton
RP: Casey Fossum
RP: John Van Benschoten
RP: Chad Orvella
RP: Clint Everts
RP: Andrew Brown

If there were a 26th spot, I'd give it to Dee Brown, but it would just be so damn easy to include him that I had to find an alternative. Also among the free agents are formerly established Major Leaguers like Chris Capuano and Chad Cordero, along with the astonishingly driven Jolbert Cabrera. Jolbert just wants to win. Come on, Yankees. Take the plunge. Win one for Jolbert.

If there were a 27th spot, I'd give it to Mark McGonigle, because, really? McGonigle?

* never take any player's future for granted

Carlos Ramirez: Best Angels Prospect Performance #2

rghan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:14:46 -0000

2) Carlos Ramirez, 21 - C, Advanced Rookie Pioneer League

.389/.514/.695 with 10 HR and 0 SB's. +36 bat, +8 glove

Sammy Swenson. Matt Pali. Josh Gray. Sergio Contreras. Grodon Gronkowski. Those are some other guys who pounded the ball in the Pioneer League over the past decade, but never encored against advanced competition. I mention them only to provide the perspective one has to have when looking at ridiculous Pioneer League stats.

That said, Ramirez' offensive production was better than all of them, and better than the production of more well known Pioneer League mashers Chris Pettit, Roberto Lopez, Dallas McPherson, Howie Kendrick and Sean Rodriguez. He didn't make his debut until July 19th, so only managed 214 PA's, but they were the best PA's Orem has seen in at least a decade. Throw in the fact that he's an above average receiver with excellent intangibles, and we may have a major leaguer on our hands. Behind Conger and Wilson there is little standout catching depth, so Ramirez, who is just a hair younger than Conger, could move very quickly next year.

And if you still need convincing, let me insert a quote from Sean Smith, creator of TotalZone, who was interested in putting Ramirez' college numbers from ASU into context:

Comparing [Ramirez' college] numbers to a pair of Sun Devils, Andre Ethier and Dustin Pedroia, I get:

avg slg

C-Ram 361 635

Ped 384 544

AE 371 559

I only have Carlo's walk numbers for 2009 so I didn't compare OBP, but his walk rate is similar to theirs, though he strikes out more often than they did.

The Halos tried and failed to sign Ramirez after selecting him in the 34th round of the 2007 draft. Makes you wonder why he was still around in the 8th round this year, doesn't it?

Again, remember that this list is based entirely on statistical performance in 2009, and is not a traditional "best prospects" ranking.

2009 Angels Position Prospects, Historically Speaking

rghan — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:53:57 -0000

How good, historically speaking, were our best prospect performances in 2009? The short answer is, pretty good. According to the stat OPS+, Halos position prospects Carlos Ramirez, Dillon Baird, and Alexia Amarista put up some of the best performances of the decade. Not bad for a system widely criticized as having left its best days behind.

OPS+ adjusts offensive contributions to league and competitive context, so it's really the best stat to use when looking at performances across levels. Simply put, OPS+ is the best shorthand I know of making an apples-to-apples comparison of a player hitting .300 in the Midwest League to a player hitting .300 in the Pacific Coast League.

First, let's take a look at the best numbers. Here's a list of decade-best offensive performances over at least 100 PA's by OPS+. 2009 guys are in italics.

OPS+ PLAYER PA's LEVEL AGE YEAR

201 Carlos Ramirez 190 Adv_Rook 21 2009

193 Roberto Lopez 319 Adv_Rook 22 2008

193 Seth Loman 199 ASL_Rook 21 2007

188 Chris Pettit 266 A-Ball 22 2007

181 Dallas McPherson 302 AA 23 2004

180 Sammy Swenson 267 Adv_Rook 23 2001

177 Dallas McPherson 136 Adv_Rook 20 2001

177 Sergio Contreras 201 Adv_Rook 20 2000

176 Matthew Sweeney 202 ASL_Rook 18 2006

173 Howie Kendrick 337 A-Ball 20 2004

Notice any patterns here? Half of the best OPS+'s were put up by college kids in advanced rookie ball, where significant diversity of age and talent makes it relatively easy for older draftees to stand out. Still, Orem catcher Carlos Ramirez performed better than 85 other college kids with over a hundred rookie league PA's, and that demands recognition. He got on base in exactly half of his PA's. Moreover, if you add his numbers from the Pioneer League playoffs, his season line reads even better: a 219 OPS+ with 10 homeruns across 214 rookie ball plate appearances. He's a guy to watch next year.

But we're interested in guys who put up a larger sample size, so let's look at only the best performances of players who got at least 250 PA's and see if any more 2009 draftees float to the top.

OPS+ PLAYER PA's LEVEL AGE YEAR

193 Roberto Lopez 319 Adv_Rook 22 2008

188 Chris Pettit 266 A-Ball 22 2007

181 Dallas McPherson 302 AA 23 2004

180 Sammy Swenson 267 Adv_Rook 23 2001

173 Howie Kendrick 337 A-Ball 20 2004

173 Chris Pettit 272 Adv_Rook 21 2006

171 Howie Kendrick 312 AAA 22 2006

170 Dillon Baird 250 Adv_Rook 21 2009

167 Jose Fernandez 522 AAA 26 2001

167 Dallas McPherson 339 A+ 22 2003

Again, we see one player from 2009, this time Ramirez' Orem teammate, first baseman Dillon Baird. If you're curious, Randall Grichuk's age 17 season in the ASL ranks 25th on this list. Trout didn't have enough PA's to qualify.

Next, let's acknowledge that it's a far more difficult thing to outperform your peers over a full season, rather than just a half season. Here's a list of the decade's best performances by OPS+ over 500 or more PA's.

OPS+ PLAYER PA's LEVEL AGE YEAR

169 Dallas McPherson 573 AA, AAA 23 2004

167 Jose Fernandez 522 AAA 26 2001

163 Sean Rodriguez 724 AAA 23_24 2008+2009

158 Chris Pettit 573 A, A+ 22 2007

156 Brandon Wood 595 A+ 20 2005

153 Mike Campo 569 A+ 25 2002

144 Alexia Amarista 557 A 20 2009

143 Mike O'Keefe 537 AA 24 2002

142 Mike Napoli 584 A+ 22 2004

141 Robb Quinlan 588 AAA 25 2002

Cedar Rapids' second baseman Alexia Amarista is the next '09 name to pop up, which is something of a shock due to his lack of power relative to the other guys on the list. He had a very, very good season in a league that is very, very hard on hitters. I also included split seasons in this list, giving Dallas McPherson credit for his historic 2004 campaign in AA and AAA, and Chris Pettit for his very good season in A and High A. For Sean Rodriguez, I collapsed his '08 and '09 AAA seasons into a single line - he deserves to be remembered for his fine work there.

Sure, 2009 was no banner year for the Halos system, especially at the higher levels, but it did see some very good performances by players new to the organization. Those performances rank right up there with the best of a talent- rich decade, so I think it's fair to say that the pipeline is not running dry.

Angels Minor League Report: (Or, "More Sean Rodriguez News")

rghan — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:36:18 -0000

Has PJ Phillips' strong August punched his ticket to Arkansas in 2010?

View full size photo »

AAA Salt Lake Bees, 65 and 69

Sean Rodriguez, 2B, SS, OF - (27 AB's) .519/.594/1.000 with 2 Dbls, 1 Trpl, 3 HR's and 11 runs scored.

Our PTBNL in the Kazmir trade? Surely the Halos wouldn't send S-Rod to Tampa to become the sunshine state's next Dan Uggla... would they? Last week I mentioned that S-Rod is a difficult guy to value for both scouts and sabermetricians, but no one believes a 24-year-old middle infielder mashing a 1.029 OPS in AAA doesn't deserve a shot. I've never understood why he doesn't get more press, other than general confusion over PCL stat inflation, worrisome clumps of K's, and conflicting reports about his defensive chops. He'll be an allstar in a couple of years, and we'll look back at his minor league numbers and think, "how could anyone not see it coming?" He's collected 93 RBI's in only 101 games, by the way.

Matthew Brown, 3B, 1B - (16 AB's) .438/.500/.750 with 2 Dbls 1 HR, and 6 RBIs

Brown hit .322/.388/.437 this August, somewhat redeeming a disappointing season. Remember when he hit .468/.527/.787 across 47 spring training at-bats? I think that guy's still there, but it may take another organization to find him.

Brandon Wood, SS, 3B - (28 AB's) .321/.406/.643 with 3 Dbls, 2 HRs, and 4 K's/4 BB's

For the first time in recent memory, Wood's showing BOTH patience and power simultaneously; usually it's one or the other. At the end of last year, I was convinced that S-Rod was the more complete hitter. Then, due to Wood's '09 decline in K's and boost in contact rate, I came around to the general consensus that Wood has the most to offer offensively. Now... well, now I'm not so sure. I know the scouting reports say Brandon Wood has the better bat speed, the leverage, etc., but for the second year in a row S-Rod has posted a superior OPS by 70 points and upwards. That's got to count sooner or later.

Brett Salmon, rhsp - (1 start) 1 W, 5.2 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 5 K/5 BB

He tiptoed the baserunner-tightrope all night (is that a mixed metaphor?), but shut out the Colorado Skysox long enough to collect an important win. Despite a losing 2^nd half, the Bees are still in the division race, 4.5 games behind the Skysox but closing rapidly.

Robert Fish, lhrp - (1 appearance) .2 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER's, 0 K/1 BB

Fish has been an absolutely infuriating prospect to follow. He's a big lefty who can touch the mid-90's with his fastball and historically gets a decent number of K's. He also gets absolutely torched more often then he should. Between that and the injury trouble this year, it looks like the Halos are trying him out in the pen. I'm rooting for him.

AA Arkansas 28 and 33 (second half)

Alexander Torres, lhsp - (1 start) 1 W, 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER's, 8 K/2 BB

In his last 3 starts with the Travs, Torres was 2 and 0, allowed only 1 earned run and 12 hits over 17 innings, and had an 18 K/10 BB ratio. That's far better than any other starter in the Angels system has done lately, including Trevor Reckling (though to be fair, the latter guy is 1.5 years younger). We're going to miss you, Alex. Don't come back to haunt us.

Ryan Mount, 2B - (31 AB's) .419/.419/.484 with 2 Dbls

Mount is on a BABIP binge, racking up multiple hits in 6 of his last 8 games and hitting safely in his last 9. However, he walked just once and doubled just twice in that period, while striking out 7 times. Mount had a difficult return in July from a wrist injury - he hit just .179/.289/.205 that month - but his larger issues are three-fold: only warning track power outside of the Cal League, an inability to hit fellow lefties, and mediocre control of the strikezone, as evidenced by his 54 K/16 BBs. He'll likely get another shot at AA next year, and with a tad more strength, a tad more patience, and a tad more luck, could still turn in some monster seasons at the higher levels.

Fernando Rodriguez, rhrp - (3 appearances) 1 Sv, 5.2 IO, 2 hits, 0 ER, 10 K/3 BB

He got knocked around in the majors (2 runs in 2/3's of an inning), shellacked in AAA (.312 BAA), but is flat-out dominant in AA. What do we do with you, Fernando?

High A Rancho Cucamonga, 29 and 33 (second half)

Matthew Sweeney, 3B - (in 22 AB's since coming off the DL) .227/.370/.545 with 1 Dbl, 2 HR's, 8 RBI's, and 5 BB's

Sweeney's career line with the Angels' organization reads .285/.361/.492 over 953 plate appearances. In his allstar 2007 Cedar Rapids season, Matt hit more homeruns than better-known, older sluggers Mark Trumbo and Hank Conger. He made the Allstar Team in 2 of his 3 active seasons, and only missed the 3^rd because of injury. His k-rate has always been outstanding for a young slugger, and was improving year over year; he has solid plate discipline; and his power is already excellent with more projected. He might end up as a plus defender at first base. And, at 21, he's accomplished all that at the same age that Dallas McPherson was when the latter completed his first season in rookie ball. That's a good prospect. You can't root for a guy year after year, following their triumphs and wallowing in their set-backs, without feeling a personal loss when he leaves the organization. Good luck in Tampa, Matt.

PJ Phillips, CF, SS - (26 AB's) .346/.393/.500 with 2 Dbls, 1 Trpl, and 1 SB

Phillips keeps rolling along on a nifty little 7 game hitting streak. He's closing out August with a .321/.376/.464 line. He hit well last August too, but... does that mean he's mastered High A? What do the Halos do with the almost-23-year-old Phillips next year? Do they promote him and hope his hot month carries over? Or do they keep him in High A for the third time?

A Cedar Rapids, 33 and 27 (second half)

Alexi Amarista, 2B - (15 AB's) .467/.500/.667 with 3 Dbls and 2 SB's

Let's clear it up: Amarista WAS NOT removed from Friday's game because he is the PTBNL. Rather, he "tweaked his left leg," and is now listed as day to day (hat tip, futureangels.com). Before the mishap, he was doing as he does, getting on base, hitting for gap power, and swiping bags.

Darwin Perez, SS, 2B - (17 AB's) .529/.600/.647 with 1 Trpl, 3 BB's, 4 runs scored.

I. WILL. BE. IN. HIGH A. NEXT. SEASON. You can almost hear the determination reverberating in Perez' August stat line of .390/.462/.512. He's pushed his season average up to a respectable .256, and his OBP is fine at .350; it's in the power department that 5'10" Perez struggles. He's knocked a season high 7 extra base hits this month, and you can bet he'll be hitting the weight room hard over the offseason, so hopefully he'll show more pop next year.

Chris Scholl, rhrp - (2 appearances) 5.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER's, 10 K/0 BB

Scholl entered the year with more baseball pedigree than anyone else in Kernels bullpen, having been an 8^th round draft pick in '08 and made a successful professional debut, limiting the opposition to a .195 BAA in Orem. He may have been overshadowed for most of '09 by first Mike Kohn and then Andrew Taylor, but was simply awesome this week in the difficult role of long relief. He's posted a 3.68 ERA over 78.1 innings this year, and has 78 K's to 35 BB's with a .226 BAA.

Know Your Foe: Rox head east to the Windy City, NL West "Aces" folding

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:00:14 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

May we not witness this sight for ourselves this week.

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The schedule-makers were not kind to the Rockies in April. Every foe save the Padres are widely considered the top (or second best) team in their division. There's Arizona, the WS Champion Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers, D-backs again, Dodgers again, and finally San Diego.

The difficult month will be a solid measuring stick for the enigmatic club. Like absolutely no one has ever said before, they need to just take it one series at a time. In an effort to represent parallelism, I will be doing the same. From now on, you'll get a KYF twice a week, before every series. It will help keep the preview up-to-date.

First on the docket in 2009's second week - the two-time NL Central Champion Chicago Cubs.

Chicago (4-2, 2nd in NL Central)

Monday, Wednesday : 2-game series at Chicago

It will be deja vu all over again. For the third time in eight days, it will be Opening Day for the Rockies, as Chicago plays their first home game of the 2009 season today. Despite opening on the road, the Cubs have yet to lose a series, having taken two games each at Houston and Milwaukee.

The Cubs lost Mark DeRosa to Cleveland, but Mike Fontenot is doing well in replacing him. Milton Bradley also has joined the cast.

The first game of the series is scheduled for today, with an off day set for tomorrow. This was done for protection from bad weather, and that looks like a good idea. The forecast for today shows cold temperatures and rain. The last and other game of the series is Wednesday.

Probable Pitchers:

Today, 12:20pm MDT

Ubaldo Jimenez will be going for his second win today against a team he has struggled with in his career. If he is successful, he will earn that win 68 days earlier than he did last year. Ted Lilly surrended four home runs last Wednesday, yet he still earned the win.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Ubaldo Jimenez	1-0	0.00	1.00	8	3

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Ted Lilly	1-0	9.00	1.60	3	0

Wednesday, April 15, 12:20pm MDT

Jason Marquis earns a tough draw Wednesday against his former club. It's hard to top Marquis' Rockie debut, but Rich Harden's maiden start of 2009 was dominant. Harden has never faced the Rockies in his career.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Marquis	1-0	2.57	1.00	2	2

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Rich Harden	0-0	1.50	0.83	10	2

Lineup:

Chicago boasts a potent line-up despite the Iannetta-like struggles in the middle of the order.

Player	Avg	HR	RBI
Soriano	.286	4	7
Fukudome	.409	2	4
Lee	.080	0	4
Bradley	.059	1	1
Ramirez	.269	2	6
Fontenot	.333	1	4
Soto	.167	0	0
Theriot	.550	0	3

The top of the line-up is clicking. Alfonso Soriano (.286/.355/.786) leads the NL with 4 home runs and is 4th in RBIs. Kosuke Fukudome (.409/.480/.818) has broken out of the gates strong once again, and Mike Fontenot (.333/.462/.571) and Ryan Theriot (.550/.615/.700) complete the up-the-middle sizzle. Carlos Marmol (0.00 ERA, 4.2 IP, 2 hits, 4K, SV) is pitching like he wants to be the closer.

The middle of the line-up needs a defibrillator. Derrek Lee (.080/.172/.120)and Milton Bradley (.059/.333/.235) have been just brutal as lineup anchors. Kevin Gregg (12.00 ERA, 3 IP, SV, BS) is not doing a great job of staving off Marmol for the closer position.

Catcher Geovany Soto left Tuesday's game with shoulder inflammation, but he should be ready to return to the starting lineup by Wednesday's game, although today is a possibility as well. He struck out in a pinch hit appearance yesterday. Soto's back-up is Koyie Hill...Milton Bradley strained his right groin last night and will be out of the line-up. He will be replaced by Reed Johnson, who flashed some leather last night in robbing a grand slam from the Prince.

NL West Report

Arizona (2-4, t-4th, L2)

Last Week: 1-2 vs Rockies, 1-2 vs. Dodgers. It's not a good sign for a team to lose its first two series, both at home, when six of their first seven are at home. It will be that much harder to make up ground when they hit that long stretch on the road.

This Week: 3 game home series vs. Cardinals, 3 game road series at Giants

News: Pitcher Brandon Webb has been placed on the disabled list, retroactive to his Opening Day start last Monday due to lingering shoulder soreness.

Brandon Webb

#17 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 09, 1979

Webb, who missed a start Monday, will miss one more before being eligible to come off the DL. No one has been announced to take Webb's roster spot yet.

It has been a rough first week for Arizona. They even gave up a bizarre run on a fourth out yesterday.

Arizona great Luis Gonzalez won't retire just yet, but he will retire as a Diamondback, when he will pursue a management role.

Los Angeles (4-3, 2nd, W2)

Last Week: 2-2 at Padres, 2-1 at Diamondbacks.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Giants, 3 game home series vs Rockies

News: Hiroki Kuroda was the first NL West Opening Day starter to land on the DL. Kuroda was placed on the DL Friday with a left oblique strain, and he'll be eligible to return April 22.

Hiroki Kuroda

#18 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Feb 10, 1975

Eric Stults took his place on the roster and filled in nicely for Kuroda on Saturday. Still, the staff loses its senior member...could it be vulnerable?

Joe Torre is messing around with his rotation. James McDonald's start will get pushed back to Sunday vs. Colorado, and he'll work in the bullpen until then. It will be interesting to see what shape that leaves McDonald in for the final game against Colorado.

Outfielder Delwyn Young, who is currently on the DL, is out of options and probably out of a job. Many teams are interested in Young, all of them near Lake Erie.

MLBTradeRumors Tim Dierkes evaluates the Dodgers offseason.

San Diego (5-2, 1st, W4)

This Week: 2-2 vs. Dodgers, 3-0 vs. Giants. Easily the surprise of the division, the Padres have made use of the friendly confines of Petco Park to storm out to the division's best record. Expect them to come back to earth after traveling to the east coast this week.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Mets, 4 game road series @ Phillies.

News: Signed RHP Chad Gaudin to a minor league contract. San Diego is only required to pay $400k of his $2mil salary.

Chad Gaudin

#57 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 5-10

Weight: 190

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Mar 24, 1983

He will report to AAA but will likely be wearing San Diego sand soon enough.

The Padres also claimed reliever Luis Perdomo off of waivers from the Giants Friday. Perdomo was a Rule 5draft choice from the Cardinals, and he will have a solid shot to contribute out of Bud Black's bullpen.

San Francisco (2-4, t-4th, L3)

Last Week: 2-1 vs. Brewers, 0-3 at Padres. The Giants gave up at least six runs in all three games vs. the anemic Padre offense in pitcher-frindly Petco.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Dodgers, 3 game home series vs Arizona.

News: He might not be injured (yet), but Giants ace Tim Lincecum is legitimately struggling to start the 2009 campaign.

Television cameras caught him muttering to himself and grimacing in disgust on the mound.

"I was all over the place," Lincecum said. "It got frustrating at times. I don't know if you guys could see it on my face, but I was trying to keep my poise out there. It was a rough game and it just got rougher."

Tim Lincecum

#55 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 5-11

Weight: 170

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Jun 15, 1984

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Tim Lincecum	0-1	7.56	2.47	10	6

Might it be because Bruce Bochy so ridiculously abused Timmy's golden arm last year?

Pablo Sandoval and Travis Ishikawa combined to go just 2-for-22 in the sweep at Petco. To add depth, GM Brian Sabean inked a guy who jacked 42 home runs in AAA last year: Dallas McPherson. The former Angel will report to extended spring training and then join AAA Fresno initially as a back-up.

Former Giant Dave Roberts has joined the broadcast team for Comcast despite having yet to announce his retirement.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:55:06 -0000

Some things to read while eliminating public transportation.

As you can probably imagine, a fair amount of today's notes are about Jeff Suppan:

Two-Fisted Slopper has renamed Sunday "Tough Day for Suppan #2."
Suppan and Jorge Julio combined to make the Brewers just the ninth team in the modern era to walk in four runs in an inning.
Brew City Sports thinks there's a 75% chance Suppan will be cut by the end of the season.
As of this writing, about 89% of voters at this FanPost think Suppan should be out of the rotation.
The Wall Street Journal discusses the significance of an ace getting shelled early.
The Official Site has more quotes from Doug Melvin defending Suppan. They were from before last night's disaster, though.
CZweif.com thinks the Brewers need to give Suppan at least a month before making a move.

Fresh off last night's disaster, the Brewers welcome the Reds to town tonight for a matchup of two of baseball's best young pitchers, Yovani Gallardo and Edinson Volquez. Once this home series is over, the Brewers head to New York to face the Mets and Philadelphia to face the Phillies.

What do you think of the first week of new manager Ken Macha? PocketDoppler thinks Macha will be publicly viewed as a better manager than Ned Yost, but his record may be worse. Yost posted a .477 winning percentage as manager of the Brewers. If Macha manages a team with this much talent to a sub-.500 record, he'll be lucky to be seen as better than Davey Lopes.

If it looks like my pockets are bulging today, it's because they're stuffed full of minor league notes:

Brett Lawrie was pulled from a game over the weekend for failing to run out a ground ball. Good to see the team working to keep attitudes in check.
39 on the line is reporting that Taylor Green is healing faster than expected and could return as soon as the end of the month.
Mark Rogers pitched three scoreless innings over the weekend in his first game action in 32 months.
In light of the recent tragedy involving Nick Adenhart, The Tifton Gazette has a profile of Nick Green, Adenhart's former roommate in the minors. Green is no stranger to tragedy.

There's one ranking to pass along today: The Honolulu Advertiser dropped the Brewers from sixth to eighteenth in their power rankings.

But, the Brewers do give you a significant bang for your buck: A recent study ranked them as fifth most affordable.

Elsewhere around baseball:

Astros: Doug Brocail has been placed on the DL with a rotator cuff strain.
Braves: Tom Glavine left a minor league rehab appearance early with discomfort in his shoulder.
D-Backs: Placed Brandon Webb on the DL with a shoulder issue.
Dodgers: Delwyn Young, currently in AAA, is drawing interest from at least three teams and could be traded by the end of the week. They also placed Hiroki Kuroda on the DL with a strained oblique.
Giants: Joe Martinez remains in intensive care with three hairline fractures in his skull and subdural hematoma. He is expected to be removed from the ICU within the next few days, but won't be able to pitch until at least late May. The team also signed Dallas McPherson to a minor league deal.
Indians: Pitcher Scott Lewis has been placed on the DL with a left forearm strain.
Mets: Designated Marlon Anderson for assignment.
Nationals: Signed Ron Villone to a minor league deal.
Padres: Claimed reliever Luis Perdomo off waivers. Perdomo was the Giants' Rule 5 pick from the Cardinals. They also signed Chad Gaudin to a minor league deal.
Phillies: Placed catcher Carlos Ruiz on the DL with an oblique strain.
Reds: Chris Dickerson needed a bandage on his head after being assaulted by a revolving door.
Rockies: Designated pitcher Juan Morillo for assignment.
Royals: Placed Jose Guillen on the DL with a right groin tear.

If the recession is doing one positive thing, it's forcing teams to reevaluate the prices they charge for concessions and the rules keeping fans from bringing things in: the Dodgers are lowering prices and the Nationals are allowing fans to bring food in.

Oh, and you should keep Denny Neagle away from your girlfriend.

Drink up.

More Marlins camp moves

craig — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:10:03 -0000

The Marlins made even more adjustments to the camp roster.

The Marlins continued to pare down their roster after Tuesday night’s game, releasing infielder Dallas McPherson and reassigning outfielders Michael Ryan and Alejandro De Aza, and left-hander John Koronka to minor league camp.

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The moves bode well for Brett Carroll, who is the only reserve outfielder remaining in camp.

I am a fan of Carroll, let's face it, he plays the game all out. He has also been very good at every level in the minors when he is getting consistent AB but I'm not sure his situation is anywhere near set as the fourth outfielder. Oh sure, he is the only one left in camp but that doesn't mean anything. (Sadly)

The Marlins don’t have a left-handed backup outfielder in camp but Gonzalez also hinted the team might find someone from outside the organization in the coming days…

Now while it may be better for Brett to play everyday in New Orleans than ride the pine in Miami Gardens, it is kinda odd how spring training matters for some and not for others.

In case you are wondering who the Marlins are considering bringing in.

The Marlins, who are sniffing around for a lefty bat off the bench might have some interest in Geoff Jenkins, who was released Tuesday by the Phillies.

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From the Marlins' perspective, he could be this year's version of Luis Gonzalez -- only seven years younger. Gonzalez, who is still floating out there as a free agent, has been linked again to the Marlins. But I'm told the interest in him is "minimal" and that Jenkins would be a more intriguing option.

I am a proponent of veterans make better pinch hitters than the younger guys, though I can't back this up with stats. However, it just seems to make sense: the younger guys have only played full time and the older ones are more experienced at coming in off the bench cold.

That said, there does become a time when youth should be served.

Should any of these scraps interest the Braves?

gondeee — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:23:26 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Browse more photos »

There have been a lot of unconditional releases of players with some degree of past talent this spring. Should the Braves pursue any of these guys to bolster their left field ranks or their bench?

Gary Sheffield: He's familiar to the Braves and their fans, after spending one good and another really good year in Atlanta. At 40-years old is he still the power threat he used to be, and is he still a guy who can play without the use of the DH? He was pretty pitiful last year, as all his averages were down, and his strikeouts were up. He hit a weak .178 this spring, but with three homeruns and a lot of walks, while keeping his strikeouts under control.
Geoff Jenkins: Like Sheffield, Jenkins' spring has been pretty anemic, but he has shown some power and ability to hit. Jenkins has never been a prodigious power bat, and he likes the DL as much as anyone, but if we're looking for power he may at least provide more than Garret Anderson.
Dallas McPherson: His major league numbers are pretty awful, but it's hard to ignore two seasons in the minors where he's collected 40 or more homeruns, including last year. It's been suggested that he could backup Chipper and play some outfield, but is he anything more than a Russel Branyan, Mike Hessman, or Wes Helms -type player?
Mike Lamb: If we're considering backup third-baseman who have been recently released, then we have to consider Lamb, who just got dumped by the Brewers. He's a perrinnial backup, but he's shown in the past he can hit for some power and get on base at a decent rate.
Wily Mo Pena: If Jim Bowden were our GM, he's be on our team (but thank God he's not our GM). Pena's got power, but not much plate discipline. He's probably more of a project than we need.

It's my assertion that we don't really need any of these guys, as our bench is pretty solid and salary is already being taken up by exisiting left fielders and backups. What do you guys think?

Poll

Should the Braves pursue any of these recently released players?

Gary Sheffield

390 votes

Geoff Jenkins

29 votes

Dallas McPherson

187 votes

Mike Lamb

82 votes

Wily Mo Pena

45 votes

None, we're set with the guys we have

764 votes

1497 votes | Poll has closed