Let's check out the latest from the NL West…
- The Diamondbacks are putting some serious money into upgrading their player development system, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. "We spend more now on scouting and player development than we ever have," said Jerry Dipoto, Arizona's senior VP of scouting & player development. "We made that an internal focus, that these are areas where we can create an advantage in the industry. I don't think it's short-term. I think it's something we're going to do over and over for many years."
- In another piece, Piecoro looks at "the interconnectedness" of the Snakes' coaching and development process throughout the organization, using 2009 third-round draft pick Keon Broxton as an example.
- Guillermo Mota tells Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that the Giants' World Series victory last year was a major reason he chose to re-sign with San Francisco rather than accept one of the other four offers he received in the winter.
- In his latest mailbag for CSNBayArea.com, Mychael Urban looks at such Giants-related topics as how the team will shuffle its roster when Cody Ross is healthy. Urban shot down a reader suggestion that San Francisco could release Mark DeRosa to make room.
- Anthony Rizzo, Casey Kelly and Reymond Fuentes (the three prospects the Padres acquired from the Red Sox in the Adrian Gonzalez trade) are off to good starts in the minors, reports Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com. Rizzo is at Triple-A, Kelly at Double-A and Fuentes is at Class A Lake Elsinore.
Jerry DiPoto? Isn’t he the guy who traded Dan Haren on a very affordable contract for 2 C prospects, a #4/5 starter, and a B prospect? Well, i guess they can always go up………………………………….
its actually a rule and you have to say, ‘a winning #4/5 starter’.
Tyler Skaggs, the PTBNL in the trade, is going to be the real centerpiece of that deal. Watch out for him.
Cody Ross is still a week away and now Torres is on the DL. DeRosa’s not going anywhere.
I can’t wait until they are all healthy!!
Huff / Torres / Ross OF and Burrell to the bench to be PH.
DeRosa doesn’t seem to have a place on the team. He’s the last guy off the bench (other than backup catcher Eli Whiteside), and he’s only the 2nd man on the depth chart at one position, which is 3b and Pablo Sandoval is not going to need many off days. His defense isn’t great, though he makes routine plays. He still has a balky wrist. Of course, if Belt doesn’t start hitting the ball hard, he’ll get sent down by the time Torres gets off the DL, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see DeRosa go on the DL to keep Belt on the roster (if the hitting picks up) and delay the inevitable tough roster decision. The Giants have a history of using the DL to avoid releasing players who are out of options.