Category: Uncategorized

A lot of talented players out there are having trouble finding the incentive to show up and play today.  Alfonso Soriano comes to mind but he finally accepted his fate by moving to left field.  Quoth the reluctant outfielder:

“I have 10 days to get ready for the season, and I want to play the best I can,” Soriano said. “I want to practice every day in left field and try to get comfortable.”

He would have had a lot more time to “get comfortable” (and if Soriano’s play at second is any indication, he’ll need it) if he’d heeded his manager’s direction in the first place.

On the other hand, there’s one MLB player who might want to consider that his playing days are behind him.  From all reports I’ve seen, Jeff Bagwell’s shoulder is not in any condition for him to contribute to the team.  Even die-hard Astros fans think so.  Lisa Gray from The Dugout, says:

Jeff Bagwell had to remove himself from the game because of pain in his shoulder. Again. I’ve watched him “throw” – and to be honest, I throw a LOT better than he does right now. Heck, my KIDS throw a lot better than he does right now. He’s not hitting well or hitting for power and it looks to me like he’s barely following through with his right arm when he does swing. He hit a ball to the warning track the other day and it looked to me like the shock and pain went clear down to his feet.

The man gave it his best shot, but sometimes trying your best just don’t do the job. I gotta take my hat off to Drayton McLane for being man enough to give Baggy his last shot, in spite of the fact that it might could cost him with the insurance company. And now I wanna take my hat off to Baggy for being a man and thanking Drayton for giving him a chance and then going out on top.

I have nothing but respect for Bags.  But maybe this is the time to move on.

Update: Bagwell is going to have surgery as a “last resort” before calling it quits.

Jeff Bagwell will announce Saturday that he’s going on the disabled list and will have surgery to remove bone spurs from his shoulder as “a last resort” to see if he can play again, his agent, Barry Axelrod, told ESPN.com Saturday morning.

Bagwell won’t use the word, “retire,” at his press conference Saturday afternoon. But if it turns out he can’t play anymore, he”s “OK with that,” Axelrod said.

Alfonso Soriano had better be careful. 

Despite the fact that he is a four-time all-star second baseman (certainly not because of his defense), he is still employed by the Washington Nationals and MLB and (more importantly, in my opinion) he is not the manager of the team.  He doesn’t call the shots.  If he is told by his manager to play outfield, by god man, do it.  I don’t care if in the infinite wisdom of Frank Robinson and general manager Jim Bowden, they see fit to make him the backup catcher.  You just say “Yes, sir.  Anything to help the team.” 

But I guess that kind of thinking is old fashioned.  At this point, Soriano has been scheduled to play outfield for the Nats and Soriano is balking.  And he is in serious jeopardy of being disqualified by the team.

Not the way you want to start the last year before free agency.  Teams frown on that kind of attitude.

On a side note, the Nats had Soriano scheduled to lead off.  That had me puzzled.  Soriano has a lifetime .320 OBP and isn’t getting better.  Last year, it was .309.

 

Looks like I made the right choice when I picked Huston Street with my first pick in the Illowa APBA League rookie draft. 

Luis Ayala, setup man for the Nationals (and core reliever for my Thunderchickens in the IAL) is scheduled to have reconstructive surgery and will miss the whole 2006 season. 

Despite some claims that Ayala’s pitching in the WBC was the cause of all this, Federal Baseball makes the case that his over-pitching in the years previous may have more to do with this.

 

For those not familiar with Batgirl, she a blogger devoted (and I don’t use that term loosely) to the Minnesota Twins.  Her blog stretches the bounds of what a baseball blog is.  I guess that’s why she (and her blog) is so popular.

So when she wrote a tribute to Kirby Puckett, I actually read it.  I’m not saying that all the others weren’t sincere.  Just that they were crafted from pretty much the same template with the names changed. 

But not Batgirl’s.  I can tell she wrote it from the heart. 

 

Yeah, I know… my title needs work.  But this web page almost makes working with baseball players’ multi-million dollar salaries fun.  Almost.

It’s basically an interactive, graphical representation of the MLB salary structure. 

When you get to the page, just start clicking around and you’ll get the idea. 

 

Just got back from watching some spring training baseball on the west coast of Florida. The first team I saw was the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater. It was the first day Jimmy Rollins showed up for work. While I didn’t see JRoll in action, I did see why he’s so popular. Jimmy signed autographs from home plate all the way to the leftfield foul pole. The BIG MAN Ryan Howard did the same thing. It’s nice to see Ryan still has his feet on the ground after winning the ROY award last year. The next camp I saw was the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin. Got a chance to see the pitchers, including newcomer AJ Burnett going through their drills. Also said hello to Frank Catalanatto, he looks to be in mid-seaseon form both with the bat and with a positive attitude. Next I visited St. Pete to see the Devil Rays. I was particularly interested in seeing Scott Kazmir, BJ Upton, Delmon Young, & Rocco Baldelli. Kazmir looked like a veteran out on the mound, very smooth. Upton looked shakey in the field, but was ripping shots through the infield when at the dish. I couldn’t see the outfielders who must’ve been working out elsewhere on the complex, when I decided to use the facilities. Just as I was about to step to the plate, so to speak, I heard the urgent steps of cleats entering the john, I quickly stepped aside to let Delmon in ahead of me. Young said, “Thanks man! I’ve had to go for the last 1/2 hour out there.” Baldelli looked as fresh as ever, despite missing all of last year, he was banging balls all over the yard. Before returning to Chicago I got to Clearwater again to see the Phils. Ryan Howard was recovering from the flu and looked it as his bat had no life in it (note: he’s recovered nicely, already hitting three spring homers thus far). Rollins was driving balls through the infield, getting ready to resume his hitting streak, as he goes after Joe D’s mark. On the day I was flying to Chicago I asked my limo driver to drop me off at Knology Field in Dunedin to see the Jays host the Rays. Roy Halladay was roughed up and the Jays looked sloppy in the field as the Rays clobbered Toronto. Two players looked smooth trying out new positions for their repective ballclubs, Eric Hinske in RF & Aubrey Huff at 3B. Also it was good to see Russell Branyan out there raking for the Rays. One week from today I head out to Arizona to catch a little Cactus League action.

I’m probably not paying as much attention to the World Baseball Classic as I probably should but this article caught my eye.  It’s detailing the list of sponsors of the event both on a global and regional basis. 

For those interested, here are the corporate sponsors and the territories delegated to them:

1. Konami – Global
2. MasterCard International – Global
3. Verizon Wireless – Dominican Republic
4. Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana (Presidente) – Dominican Republic
5. Asahi – Japan
6. TV MAX – Panama
7. Cable & Wireless – Panama
8. Puerto Rico Tourism – Puerto Rico
9. Banco Popular – Puerto Rico
10. Chrysler/ Dodge – Puerto Rico
11. Rums of Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico
12. SunCom – Puerto Rico
13. MCS – Puerto Rico
14. Liberty – Puerto Rico
15. Burger King – Puerto Rico
16. Café Akona – Puerto Rico
17. Kellogg – Puerto Rico
18. City of San Juan – Puerto Rico
19. MBNA– USA
20. Anheuser-Busch – USA & Puerto Rico
21. Gatorade – USA & Puerto Rico
22. Citgo – USA, Puerto Rico & Venezuela
23. Maltin Polar – Venezuela
24. Banco Mercantil – Venezuela
25. CanTV – Venezuela
26. Pepsi – Venezuela

It’s all over the news so no doubt you’ve heard… Kirby Puckett died from complications of the stroke he suffered yesterday. 

He was only 44.

Update:  I stand corrected… he was 45.  The Twins admitted that his bio was incorrect.

 

Add Pokey Reese to my list of players who just up and leave their teams. 

I don’t think he’ll be coming back.  The Florida Marlins terminated Reese’s contract.  Taking his place at second base is Dan Uggla. 

 

Rick Ankiel will probably be known as one of the best baseball players that never was.  In his attempt to come back as an outfileder this year, he has injured his left knee in an intrasquad game and will be out for 10-14 days. 

Last year in A-ball, Ankiel hit a combined .259 with 21 homers and 75 rbis in 85 games.