SB Nation - Tony Armas

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 6/17 (The Return of Jason Heyward)

yondaime4 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:34:06 -0000

Gwinnett 2, Indianapolis 3 - Game 1 - 7 Innings

B. Barton 2-3 2 2B
J. Halama 5.2IP 5H 0R 0BB 2K

A rare implosion by Luis Valdez in the bottom of the 7th inning cost John Halama his first win as a member of the Braves organization. John Halama is OLD. He made the PCL All Star game in 1998.

Gwinnett 4, Indianapolis 3 - Game 2 - 7 Innings

R. Gorecki 1-4 2B, 2K
B. Conrad 2-3 RBI, BB
B. Canizares 0-0 RBI, 3BB

It must have been retread day for the Braves as Tony Armas came out for the second game of the rainout doubleheader and pitched alright, this time the bullpen was solid for him though. Canizares got the good hat trick in his first game back with Gwinnett and I think we should assign him to be FYF's personal tutor. What do you guys think? Hah, I'm just kidding, FYF is a lost cause.

Mississippi 3, Chattanooga 13

M. Young 2-5 3B, HR(2), K
W. Cabrera 2-3 BB

I hate when these two teams play. There are waaaaay too many double letter up there. Also, my boy, Willie Cabrera has started to hit this month. He is sporting a .396 BA in June with an OPS over 1.000 (which isn't hard when you hit .400). His walks are up and his power has spiked a little, though not back to where it was last season. Again, he is only 22 years old in AA, so even though no one ever talks about him I think he has value. His biggest weakness is he is a tweener, but if he can tap into that power he had in Myrtle Beach last year we could see him rise up some prospect charts.

Lynchuburg 5, Myrtle Beach 3

J. Heyward 0-3 BB
F. Freeman 3-4 2B, K
C. Johnson 1-2 RBI

Yes, Jason Heyward was back in this game, finally after missing almost a month with an oblique/hip flexor/small pox issue. He walked in the 4th inning and ground out to the right side three times, so I would guess his swing isn't quite back on track, but he is a professional hitter. I am guessing Frederick Freeman was dancing a jig when he saw Heyward's name on the lineup card as he has continued to tear up the Carolina league this month. He has hits in 9 of his last 10 games and is hitting .352 for June. It would be something special if both of these guys panned out.

Savannah 3, Rome 2

C. Shehan 2-3 3B, K
C. Fuller 3-4 2B, RBI
R. Delgado 6IP 3H 2R 0BB 7K

Both of the runs that Randall Delgado allowed were unearned and came in the 6th on a fielding error that plated both guys on what I can only assume was an errant throw into the crowd or dugout. Delgado induced a double play to the next batter to end the inning. Either way I going to go ahead and crown this his best start of the season. He didn't allow many hits, struck out some men and most importantly didn't walk anyone. It is amazing he is only 19. Heck half this rotation is only 19.

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 5/12

yondaime4 — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:47:10 -0000

Gwinnett 3, Buffalo 4 - Final 11 Innings

B. Canizares 2-5 RBI, K
T. Armas 5IP 3H 0R 0BB 5K

Nothing hugely exciting going on in this game. Our recent pickup Tony Armas, Jr. pitched his first game for Gwinnett and he looked pretty strong. He hasn't given up any runs in either game he has pitched (one in Mississippi as well). Luis Valdez had a meltdown in the 11th after the Braves had scored two in the top of the inning to take the lead.

Mississippi 3, Jacksonville 2

G. Hernandez 2-4 2 2B
J.C. Boscan 2-3 3 RBI
E. Campbell 2-4 2B
J. Venters 6.1IP 3H 0R 2BB 4K

Gorkys Hernandez is hitting .331 on the year and has an .812 OPS so far. I'd like to see him stealing a little more and maybe with slightly more pop in his bat, but you can't really fault anything else. Jonny Venters has an ERA around 1.56 right now. His walks are a little high (18 in 34 innings) and his Ks are low (23 in the same) but his GB rate is solid. So lets see where this goes. We really need some pitching depth right now.

Myrtle Beach 0, Frederick 1 - Game 1 - 7 Innings

F. Freeman 2-2 BB
E. Osuna 6IP 1H 1H 1BB 8K

Damn if I were Edgar Osuna I would be mad. Freddie Freeman had the only hits for the Birds in this one.

Myrtle Beach 4, Frederick 5 - Game 2 - 7 Innings

D. Linares 1-4 2B
C. Johnson 1-3 HR(12)
J. Locke 3IP 3H 2R 3BB 4K

I'm not really sure why Locke left this game after the 3rd other than he was pitching poorly. And even then it wasn't really really bad. Either way, Cody Johnson must have a personal vendetta against baseballs. He is currently slugging .673.Jason Heyward's AVG is down to .242. Slump much? He did this last year also and went on a tear right afterward. Last year's slump had a ton of Ks but right now he's just getting hit unlucky I guess.

Rom 3, Asheville 5

G. Rodriguez 1-4 HR(8), 2 RBI, 2K
S. Sime 2-3 BB, CS, PO

If Rodriguez could just learn to take a walk. 7 in 117 ABs just is not going to cut it. I like the .607 SLG though. Jake Thompson gave up 5 runs in 6 innings. He has been pretty hittable so far this season though he has only walked 4 batters. He has also given up 5 homers this season. So far I'm not a huge fan.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:48:11 -0000

Some things to read while trying to figure out what you'd do with two toasters.

The Brewers, along with 21 other MLB teams, were off yesterday, but this site was not. Thanks to a link from Big League Stew that ended up on the front page at Yahoo, over 57,000 readers stopped by yesterday, far and away the biggest day in BCB history. Thanks to BLS for the link, and if you're one of our new readers, welcome. Please consider taking a look at the Posting Guide and Game Thread Guidelines.

The off day also gave Ryan Braun plenty of time to go pick up an award. Braun was named NL Player of the Week after hitting .458/.567/.958 over the Brewers' last six games, with three home runs and 12 RBI. This is the first time Braun has won the award. (Also noted in FanShot)

Yovani Gallardo may not have been at his best over the weekend, but there's a lot to be optimistic about. Over at The Hardball Times, Harry Pavlidis has a Pitchf/x profile of Gallardo that's well worth a read.

Manny Parra takes the mound tonight for the Brewers. He's 1-4 in six starts, and hasn't really looked sharp all season. Looking for a reason for optimism? Fish Chunks says the Brewers are 8-2 on May 12 since moving to the National League.

A couple of minor notes:

The Official Site takes a look at Brett Lawrie, two months into his professional career. Pretty much everyone who sees the guy seems to like him. On his blog, though, McCalvy mentions Lawrie having a weird stance. Does anyone have pictures/video of it?
Mat Gamel's defense is still questionable, but his bat continues to propel him toward the big leagues: He's currently fourth in the PCL with a 1.105 OPS.

Gamel was one of dozens of topics covered in Tom H.'s chat over at the JS site yesterday. It was a pretty good chat, all told. Some questions that should have been ignored were bludgeoned instead, but there was also conversation regarding Jason Kendall, Alcides Escobar, Brad Nelson, Mike Jones, Mark Rogers, Chris Capuano, Jake Odorizzi, Erik Komatsu and others.

The Brewers continue to move up in power rankings:

Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star, who had the Brewers at #25 two weeks ago, has moved them all the way up to #8.
WhatifSports has the Brewers at #10.

The transaction wire was pretty quiet yesterday, but I did notice these moves in Baseball America's Minor League Transactions:

Tony Armas Jr. signed a minor league deal with the Braves.
Former Brewer minor leaguer Nic Ungs has signed with the Marlins.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, the Pirates have signed 17-year-old Dutch outfielder Daan Cornelissen. With the move, the Pirates have now signed players from each of six continents over the last 12 months. The BBTF thread is worth reading, just for the first few comments.

Former Brewer and current Astros hitting coach Sean Berry has been released from the hospital following surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his kidney. He's expected to rejoin the team in a couple of weeks.

Oh, and Nick Punto needs to be more careful about letting his hand linger.

Drink up.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:44:59 -0000

Some things to read while acknowledging that the world would be better off without some people.

Another sigh of relief is in order this morning, as X-rays on Ryan Braun's thumb came back negative. Braun lost a fly ball in the lights in last night's 6-4 loss to the Padres and, as a baseball tends to do, it found a delicate place to hit him. He suffered a contusion and will likely be off today, but could play again as soon as tomorrow.

Braden Looper continues to work to catch up with his teammates in his preparations for the season. Looper gave up two earned runs (four total) in four innings last night, but gave up two home runs and was hit hard in general. He'll get one more minor league start before the home opener.

Tony Gwynn Jr. was given another opportunity to prove he belongs in the field last night, and was not impressive. In fact, "not impressive" might be understating it a bit, so Chuckie Hacks took it to the next level. Tuesday's JS Camp Report had this to say about Gwynn's chances of making the team:

Asked if Brad Nelson (.370, 3 HRs, 15 RBI) and Chris Duffy (.313, 8 doubles, 11 RBI) deserved to claim the reserve outfield jobs over Tony Gwynn Jr. (.167) for the same reason, Macha said, "I'd probably say that's the case but they're not on yet. We'll have to see. You'll have to ask me that question in a couple of days."

Brewed Sports has a familiar name in mind to fill Gwynn's roster spot. Geoff Jenkins was cut loose by the Phillies yesterday, and could be available for next to nothing. It's important to remember, though, that the Brewers would likely have to DFA Brad Nelson to make room for him. Nelson will likely produce at a similar level for the Brewers this season, and when he's done he'll still be under team control for five more years.

A side note on Jenkins: Gary Sheffield was also let go yesterday, but FanGraphs compared the two former Brewers and thinks Jenkins has more to offer a team at this point.

While nothing is official yet, it appears Casey McGehee has made the team, as Mike Lamb will not. Lamb has until 11 am today to decide if he would like to become a free agent or go to the minors. If he decides to stay with the Brewer organization, he'll have to clear waivers to be sent down. He'll make $3 million (from the Twins) to be a below average corner infielder this season anyway, so it's hard to feel too bad for him.

Ken Macha tried out a new lineup wrinkle yesterday, batting Corey Hart second and J.J. Hardy fifth. It's an interesting concept: putting Hart in front of Braun and Fielder could force pitchers to throw him more strikes. It will only work, though, if Hart learns to take a pitch from time to time. If pitchers know they can get him out with junk out of the zone, there's no reason to change their approach to him at all.

Barring something unforeseen, Mark DiFelice will be on an Opening Day roster for the first time in his 12 year professional career. Tom H. has a profile that talks about DiFelice's long road to the majors.

By the way, if you're headed out to Miller Park to catch DiFelice and the rest of the Brewers on Opening Day, Miller Park Drunk wants you to dress for success.

If you've already purchased tickets for a Brewer game this season, you're one of 1.75 million fans who have done so, which means you'll also probably be one of 1.75 million fans waiting in line at the new discount concession stand.

You probably won't see these guys, though: The Brewers are suing another suite holder for failure to pay. This time, it's Big League Promotions and Marketing of Waukesha. Apparently they weren't Big League enough.

Brian Anderson posted a new blog before last night's FS Wisconsin telecast and has a preview of some of the upcoming interviews Brewer fans can expect to see as part of the telecasts.

Peter Gammons says 2009 is the year for Rickie Weeks, but if you don't believe him, The Grand National Championships is making a case for it too.

On Rankings/Previews/Predictions and whatnot:

Bucs Dugout has the Brewers finishing second in the Central.
Sports Illustrated also has the Brewers second in the division, but says they could make a run at the Cubs by trading Prince Fielder for pitching and replacing him with Mat Gamel, who still has not played one inning at first base.
Lukekohler.com also has the Brewers finishing second.
Desipio.com predicts the Brewers will win 81 games and tie with the Reds for third place.
Sharapova's Thigh thinks the Brewers will finish right around .500.
Wheelhouse Radio has the Brewers finishing fifth.
Canada Free Press also has the Brewers fifth, along with a bandwidth-sucking website that made this morning's Mug five minutes later all by itself.
Sixty Feet, Six Inches has the Brewers fourth in the Central.
C70 at the Bat also has the Brewers fourth.
MLB Playoff Odds simulated the season 10,000 times using CHONE projections and predicts the Brewers will win about 79.8 games.
Stan Musial's Stance has the Brewers fourth in the division.
The Replacement Level Yankees Weblog simulated the season 6000 times, with 1000 simulations each for six projection systems. The Brewers averaged 81.9 wins and finished in second more often than any other position.
Vigilante Sports has the Brewers finishing second.
The Sports Guys rank the Brewers 26th in their preseason power rankings. I've started a petition to get them to become "The Fashion Guys."

Around the minors today, there are a couple of stories of note: Vinny Rottino is headed to Huntsville to play every day at third base. Also, Keith Law watched a Brewer minor league game this week and was impressed by the velocity of Brewer farmhand Pedro Lambertus, who could spend 2009 in Brevard County or Huntsville.

Meanwhile, in other camps:

Astros: Acquired Jeff Keppinger from the Reds for a player to be named later.
Braves: Signed Chipper Jones to a three year extension, keeping him in Atlanta through 2012.
Giants: Jonathan Sanchez will miss his final Cactus League start and could miss his first start of the regular season after burning his right index finger "cooking."
Marlins: Released Dallas McPherson.
Mets: Released Jose Valentin, Tony Armas Jr. and Junior Spivey.
Nationals: Released Wily Mo Pena.
Padres: The team is still looking to add relievers and could make a move for a player who's out of options.
Rays: Jason Isringhausen may not make the team and is not willing to accept a minor league assignment.
Tigers: Jeremy Bonderman will open the season on the DL with tightness in his shoulder.

Another day, another economic story: An AP poll showed 45% of baseball fans think baseball's biggest problem is its price tag. To a point they're right. Take another look at the note above about the Brewers reducing concession prices: the reduced price for soft serve ice cream is $3.50. That's after you spend $10 to park your car and pay "convenience fees" for the right to pay $30-$100 to watch a game.

With that said, the wording of the poll is problematic for me. The poll asked baseball fans for their opinion on the biggest problem facing the game, and they named a problem. If I handed you a $100 bill and asked you to name the biggest problem with it, you'd probably be able to find one. But all the game's problems put together weren't enough to keep participants from telling a pollster they were "interested" or "very interested" in baseball.

Of course, cool giveaways can help raise fan morale too. Giving a cardboard model of your team's new stadium to season ticket holders, however, may be too small of a gesture.

Are the rules somehow different in spring training? Dusty Baker was ejected from yesterday's Reds game, but instead of leaving the field, he remained in the dugout.

Statheads rejoice, you're about to have another new toy: two sources are going to start measuring the hang time of fly balls.

Oh, and if you'd like to make the trip to Davenport, Iowa this season, you could watch the Timber Rattlers play the Quad Cities River Bandits from a van down by the river.

Drink up.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:02:06 -0000

Some things to read while learning that your breast implants will keep you from boxing. (h/t Grand National Championships)

It's been noted ad nauseum this offseason that Doug Melvin has not been involved in an arbitration hearing since joining the Brewers, but the team is coming down to the wire with Corey Hart. Hart's arbitration hearing is scheduled for tomorrow and the two sides do not sound close to resolving their $1.1 million difference.

$1.1 million may not sound like a lot, but you can use it to sign all kinds of retreads and reclamation projects. As noted in this FanShot, the Brewers have expressed interest in a minor league contract for Jason Isringhausen. They're also still monitoring Chad Cordero's rehab process.

Maybe signing a multi-year deal had an impact after all: Prince Fielder has reportedly slimmed down and his improved physique is drawing notice in camp. Hopefully Fielder can keep his weight in check from here on out...having weight and conditioning issues before your 25th birthday doesn't exactly bode well for a long major league career.

On the other side of the coin, Jason Kendall appears to want to catch every day until he's 50. As noted in this FanShot, Ken Macha is hoping to get Kendall a little more rest in 2009, but recognizes it will be a struggle at times.

On prospects:

Dugout Central has Hernan Iribarren, Vinny Rottino and Eduardo Morlan as the Brewer rookies to watch in 2009. With the possible exception of Morlan, it's hard to imagine a scenario where any of these guys make the roster.
Adam McCalvy notes that Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel are two of just three Brewer camp invitees that haven't reported yet (Mike Cameron is the other). Gamel recently became a father for the first time, and Escobar apparently missed his flight out of Venezuela. McCalvy also notes that Escobar was not actually kicked off his winter league team, as had been previously reported.
Baseball America's minor league transactions shows the Brewers signed minor league journeyman John Raburn to a deal. Raburn has played 954 games as part of four organizations in nine minor league seasons, but just 45 games above AA.

Behold a momentus day, Brewer fans, because today is the first time I'm linking to 2009 Playoff Odds. MLB Playoff Odds projects the Brewers for 82.5 wins, giving them a 21.7% chance at winning the Central and a 27.8% chance at the playoffs overall.

On the transaction wire:

Braves: Ken Griffey is expected to decide today if he wants to play for Atlanta or Seattle in 2009.
Mariners: Signed Jason Phillips to a minor league deal.
Nationals: Odalis Perez has reportedly changed his mind about his minor league deal with the Nationals, and is now waiting at home, although he was gone for three days before the Nationals figured out why. (h/t FanShot)
Red Sox: Signed Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal.
Twins: Corey Koskie has not signed a contract with the team, but he is working out in camp with the Twins and hopes to sign a contract after playing for Team Canada in the WBC.

Speaking of the WBC, there are a handful of stories every day about this or that player deciding to play or not play, and I usually scroll past most of them, because I don't think they're that interesting. This one, though, is new: Byung-Hyun Kim will miss the WBC because he lost his passport.

Yesterday I mentioned visa issues as a staple of spring training reporting. Today, visa issues are making Tony Armas, Jr. late to Mets camp for the second straight season. Enjoy AAA, Tony.

Last year I reported on every spring training bump and bruise I heard about, and it may have been overkill. This year, I'll try to limit it to injuries that may impact a player's readiness for Opening Day. Pedro Feliz, for example, is experiencing delays in his recovery from offseason back surgery, and his ability to be ready in April is in doubt.

Oh, and what would you do with a painting of you slaying a dragon? I've got a blank wall in my office where it would fit nicely.

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:53:46 -0000

Some things to read while waiting to see if it's a good mail day.

Is the Brewer front office the only group of people in baseball who don't realize their starting rotation has a depth problem? The team has stated for weeks now that they're not looking to spend big money on a starter, and that's fine, but now Ken Rosenthal reports they're also not interested in offering minor league deals to veteran starters like Mark Redman and Victor Zambrano or reclamation projects like Kris Benson and Jason Jennings. (h/t Al) Their interest in Mark Mulder is described as "lukewarm."

Since 2000, the Brewers have used 8, 13, 13, 12, 12, 8, 12, 8 and 8 starting pitchers, respectively. That's an average of about 10 and a half starting pitchers per season for the past nine seasons. Here's the current depth chart for starting pitchers, as I see it:

1. Yovani Gallardo
2. Manny Parra
3. Dave Bush
4. Jeff Suppan
5. Seth McClung
6. Chris Capuano (after May or so, if all goes well)
7. Mark DiFelice
8. Carlos Villanueva

After eight, it becomes anyone's guess, with names like Tim Dillard, Chris Narveson and Lindsay Gulin coming into play. I'm not sure why the front office seems to be in no hurry to add pitchers to this list.

The Brewers agreed to terms yesterday with seven players on their 40-man roster: Dillard, Mitch Stetter, Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel, Casey McGehee, Brad Nelson and Angel Salome. In a related note, the Brewers recently sent Salome to the 2009 Rookie Career Development Program, and while he was there he was interviewed for MLB.com.

Speaking of interviews, The Sporting News took a few minutes to catch up with Mark Attanasio for a Q and A. They asked him about (what else?) the salary cap (three times), then they had a brief conversation about the Brewers. (h/t BBTF)

I guess there is one advantage to having a fair number of free swingers on your team: The Brewers were below league average in strikeouts looking in 2008.

On the hot stove:

A's: Signed Russ Springer to a deal reported to be worth more than $3 million.
Braves: The team has reportedly stopped pursuing Adam Dunn and will not offer more than a minor league deal to Andruw Jones.
Cubs: will reportedly trade Rich Hill to the Orioles once Baltimore has cleared some space on their 40-man roster to take him.
Dodgers: Spoke to the agents for both Braden Looper and Randy Wolf yesterday.
Giants: Signed Juan Uribe to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.
Mariners: Signed Mike Sweeney to a minor league deal. They may also be considering an 11-man pitching staff.
Marlins: Signed Kiko Calero and Jason Standridge to minor league deals.
Mets: Signed Bobby Kielty, Tony Armas Jr., Matt DeSalvo and Valerio de los Santos to minor league deals.
Orioles: Will not retain Kevin Millar.
Pirates: Signed Paul Maholm to a three-year deal, buying out his three arbitration seasons. The deal also has an option for a fourth year. They're also reportedly ready to sign Eric Hinske.
Red Sox: Jason Varitek, apparently unhappy with the offers he's received as a free agent, is threatening to sit out the 2009 season. (see update)
Reds: May sign Luis Gonzalez to help fill out their bench.
Yankees: We've had several conversations about how this works, but apparently we were all wrong and the Yankees have filled their quota of Type A/B free agents. (see update 2)

UPDATE: ESPN is reporting Varitek has accepted a one-year deal from the Red Sox.

UPDATE 2: Or not. The Yankees can still sign more free agents.

Do you have MLB Network? (I don't.) Are you losing your mind waiting for the first televised spring training games? (I am.) If so, perhaps Caribbean World Series games can help tide you over. The network will have 12 games between February 2 and 7. Odds are my cable company will continue to hold out and I won't see any of them.

Oh, and it appears Rays reliever J.P. Howell can't draw straight lines.

Drink up.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:43:11 -0000

Some things to read while acknowledging that these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies may be the greatest ever.

Today's collection of links is actually the largest since the end of the season, so let's get right to it.

If you've been reading the site over the weekend you likely know all of this news, but in case you've been away all weekend, here's what you missed:

Dale Sveum will be back for 2009 after all, as hitting coach. (as noted in this FanShot)
Craig Counsell's option for 2009 was declined. He could still return as a free agent, of course.
Mike Maddux won't be back either, after being "overwhelmed by a huge deal" to take over as pitching coach in Texas. The Brewers reportedly offered him a multi-year deal. (Noted in this FanShot) The Newberg Report has a story from the Rangers' side.
Joe Dillon also won't be back. The A's claimed him off waivers after the Brewers DFA'd him last week.
Ken Rosenthal is reporting the Brewers' offer to CC Sabathia was in fact for $100 million, but the contract was for five years, not four. For me, this removes any possibility Sabathia will return. (noted in this FanShot)
The Brewers have until tomorrow to decide if Mike Cameron will return in 2009.

Now, other stuff. The Fall GM meetings begin today, giving Doug Melvin the first chance to sit across the table from new Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik. Murray Chass seems to think hiring Zduriencik was the wrong decision, mainly because he had a profile of Kim Ng all ready to go. Of course, everyone expects most of the conversation at the meetings to be about Jake Peavy, but it sounds like Hank Blalock's name will come up as well.

One would assume Doug Melvin is at least listening to offers for J.J. Hardy. The Junkball Blues, meanwhile, crunched the numbers to figure out what kind of production would be needed from Hardy and Alcides Escobar to justify moving Hardy to third and Bill Hall out of the lineup.

Planning on making a trip to Vegas? Current odds have the Brewers at 15-to-1 to win the 2009 World Series. The odds would have to get a lot better before I'd be interested. Right now, 15-to-1 is a better shot than 19 other teams have, and tied with the Dodgers and Twins. (h/t Redleg Nation)

Tim Kurkijian says the Sabathia Sweepstakes is the third most interesting story of the offseason. With Sabathia the Brewers had the sixth best starting rotation in all of baseball, according to Beyond the Box Score.

Sabathia, Ray Durham and Russell Branyan all filed for free agency over the weekend, joining these players:

Angels Darren Oliver, Juan Rivera
Athletic Alan Embree
Cub Kerry Wood and also Henry Blanco,
Mariners Raul Ibanez, Willie Bloomquist, Miguel Cairo
Marlins Mark Hendrickson, Arthur Rhodes
Mets Pedro Martinez, Luis Ayala, Tony Armas, Moises Alou, Ricardo Rincon, Ramon Martinez and also Orlando Hernandez
Phillies So Taguchi, Tom Gordon
Pirates Doug Mientkiewicz, Chris Gomez, Jason Michaels, Luis Rivas
Rockies Brian Fuentes, Matt Herges, Livan Hernandez, Adam Melhuse, Scott Podsednik

At this point I feel obligated to remind you that Orlando Hernandez is free to throw the banana for other teams.

FanGraphs has built the All Free Agent Bargain Team. There are some decent players on there, but that team would lose most of the time.

As we look into the future, few things are abolutely certain, but we can say this: despite boatloads of other teams making the exodus from spring training sites in Florida to Arizona, the Red Sox are committed to training in Florida through 2038.

It's a good thing we'll probably have some time to learn to say his name: The Pirates have signed an 18-year-old shortstop from South Africa named Mpho Ngoepe. There has never been a South African player in the major leagues. Have there been any from anywhere in Africa? I do not know.

Indians minor leaguer Randy Newsom's blogs from Venezuela are really making me want to go see a game there.

Finally, let's say you're the Washington Nationals. You lost 102 games in 2008, the franchise's first 100 loss season since 1976. You set a modern era single season record for lowest attendance in a new ballpark. You could count the number of fans listening to your games on the radio or watching them on TV on your fingers and toes. Do you honestly believe people are going to come out in hordes to buy your new jerseys? You're invited to join them at the unveiling Thursday. Bring a friend, otherwise you might be there all alone.

Drink up.