On this day in 2005, Rick Ankiel of the Cardinals collected a base hit in his first Grapefruit League game as a position player after beginning his career as a pitcher. He'd later make it back to the Majors in 2007. On with a few links from MLB's Central divisions …
- Carlos Beltran drew interest from several teams this offseason but ultimately signed with the Cardinals because he wanted to play for a winning team with a grass home ballpark, and because the Redbirds offered him a no-trade clause, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Beltran was conflicted as to which team to sign with, writes Goold, but he ultimately settled on the Cards when his wife urged him to go wherever he'd be happy.
- Indians utility man Jose Lopez is impressing so far in camp and likes his odds of making the big league roster out of Spring Training, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Lopez signed a minor league deal with the Tribe this offseason and had offers from other teams: "A couple teams asked me to sign with them," Lopez said. "Cleveland had more opportunity. … They're giving me a chance, and now I'm fighting for a spot."
- The Astros have two players in camp under the scrutiny of being a Rule 5 picks in Marwin Gonzalez and Rhiner Cruz, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The chances of both players lasting on Houston's 25-man roster all season is pretty slim, something GM Jeff Luhnow touched on: "You lose a lot of flexibility by keeping the Rule 5 guys and that's something you have to put into the equation. … To keep two is something very few teams are able to do."
Why not keep both all year? What are the Astros going to this year anyway?
Win.
Really nice story on Beltran. Can’t wait to seem him in action!
i thought Marwin was a SS/IF in the cubs system before he was Rule 5’d?
mustve been a mistake, because bb-ref lists him as a batter.
It is looking more and more that Lopez came to Indians camp in great shape and more than prepared to win a job.
With Chisenhall out playing Hannahan at every level so far this spring this could mean that the indians could trade Hannahan with Lopez being able to back up at 3rd if for some reason they would need a back up.
Well, I do not think the Indians can get that much for Hannahan. I would prefer to keep him in the bench. In any case, Lopez seems to be in great shape, if someone gets hurts at 2nd, 1st or 3rd base, he could join the lineup in a regular basis. I just hope the keep him in the mlb roster after ST.
interesting how players take their wives’ instructions… Pujols’s wife told him take the money so he did, Beltran’s told him to “play where you’d be happy” so he did… shows that some wives are wiser than others and some players are wiser than others in trusting their wives. Beltran’s going to have a comeback year here much like Berkman did last year and Berkman is going to be just as good if not better than he was last year.
ok so maybe it wasn’t as simple as pujols’s wife telling him to take the money but her comments that she made indicated that she strongly didn’t want him to be a Cardinal after that so I think she had some strong influence over him but ultimately he had the final decision to make and he chose the money.