Vladimir Guerrero

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By Darragh McDonald | February 9, 2023 at 7:30pm CDT

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

The Mark Grace Decade Award

By TC Zencka | April 25, 2020 at 9:58am CDT

For many years, my go-to baseball trivia question was this: who led the 1990s in hits?

I won’t bury the lede any further: The answer is Mark Grace. Grace never hit 20 home runs in a season despite being a middle-of-the-order bat, and he spent most of his career on lackluster Cubs teams. He was a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner who never finished higher than thirteenth in MVP voting. He was a very good baseball player. But I think it’s safe to say that he’s not the first name that comes to mind when looking for the decade-leader in hits.

Growing up, Grace was my favorite player, but that’s only part of why I loved this trivia question. In my mind, Grace epitomized something special about the game. He played smart and with obvious boyhood joy. He could hit .300 falling asleep, and though he wasn’t known for his power, he held his own – in his words – by “turning triples into doubles” (he also led the nineties in doubles). #17 wasn’t a superstar to the world (he didn’t hit home runs, he didn’t run well, and he played for the lovable loser version of the Cubs), but Grace made the most of his physical abilities and let his personality shine through. And ah yes, he had more hits in the nineties than Tony Gwynn, Robby Alomar, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, Cal Ripken Jr.…or anyone else.

That he accomplished this feat speaks to the randomness and the breadth of the game of baseball. Only a player who played in every season of the decade is likely to lead all major leaguers in hits (see the exception to this rule later). And yet, what a tremendous accomplishment! The juxtaposition of those two thoughts encapsulates so much of what makes baseball unique. Timing is a huge factor in determining what becomes part of the baseball zeitgeist, and yet, there’s an ocean of information beneath the surface of any given statistical achievement.

Not to date myself, but there’s been two full decades since Grace led the nineties in hits! Granted, hits are no longer the be all and end all of offensive production. Not anywhere close. But they’re still important. Leading the league in hits over a decade is more trivia than player analysis, but it’s still an accomplishment that shines a light on a particular style of hitter. So without further ado, I thought it would be a fun exercise to see who wins the Mark Grace Award for leading a decade in hits.

2010-2019

Robinson Cano (1,695)
Nick Markakis (1,651)
Adam Jones (1,647)
Starlin Castro (1,617)
Miguel Cabrera (1,595)
Elvis Andrus (1,595)

Kicking it off, this is not the list I expected for our most recent decade. Cano taking the title is impressive, if not surprising for the career .302 hitter, because he only appeared in 107 games this last season and only 80 games the year before that. Taking the crown regardless speaks to how difficult it is in this day and age to stay in the game. Kudos to the the rest of the list as well, which provides a real working class crew (Miggy aside). Cano is also, for what it’s worth, the least productive hits king in any decade since the war-torn forties when the Indians’ Lou Boudreau took home the title with 1,578 hits.

2000-2009

Ichiro Suzuki (2,030)
Derek Jeter (1,940)
Miguel Tejada (1,860)
Todd Helton (1,756)
Vladimir Guerrero (1,751)

Tejada is the only name on this list that might take more than a couple of guesses. Of course, the most impressive feat here is that Ichiro managed to chalk up more than 2,000 hits in only 9 seasons.

1990-1999

Mark Grace (1,754)
Rafael Palmiero (1,747)
Craig Biggio (1,728)
Tony Gwynn (1,713)
Roberto Alomar (1,678)

Biggio or Gwynn probably would have been my guess had I not known the answer beforehand. Biggio led the league in plate appearances in 5 seasons (’92, ’95, ’97,’98,’99), but he hit “only” .297 for the decade (versus .310 for Grace). Gwynn hit .344 in the nineties, but only managed to appear in more than 140 games twice.

1980-1989

Robin Yount (1,731)
Eddie Murray (1,642)
Willie Wilson (1,639)
Wade Boggs (1,597)
Dale Murphy (1,553)

Willie Wilson gave himself a good head start with 230 hits in 1980, but Yount and Murray managed to make up the difference before the end of the eighties. The Royals’ great did crush the competition for most triples in the decade, however, with 115 (Yount was second with 83).

1970-1979

Pete Rose (2,045)
Rod Carew (1,787)
Al Oliver (1,686)
Lou Brock (1,617)
Bobby Bonds (1,565)

No surprises here, with Rose and Carew atop the list.

1960-1969

Roberto Clemente (1,877)
Hank Aaron (1,819)
Vada Pinson (1,776)
Maury Wills (1,744)
Brooks Robinson (1,692)

For the decade, Clemente hit .328/.375/.501. He took the batting crown four times and hit over .350 twice (1961: .351 BA, 1967: .357 BA).

1950-1959

Richie Ashburn (1,875)
Nellie Fox (1,837)
Stan Musial (1,771)
Alvin Dark (1,675)
Duke Snider (1,605)

Integration wasn’t exactly a comprehensive process from the jump when Jackie Robinson first appeared for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, so we’ll make the fifties the last decade. All in all, Pete Rose unsurprisingly was the most prolific hits leader in any decade with 2,045 knocks in the 70s, but I’m not sure there’s a more impressive name on there than Ichiro, whose wizardy with the bat came up just 15 hits shy of Rose in just 9 seasons from 2001 to 2010.

Otherwise, definitely some names you might have expected (Rose, Young, Clemente), but it’s not as if a 3,000 hit king rules every decade. Ashburn, like Grace, hit the league at the perfect time to snag this award, as his career spanned from 1948 to 1962. He joins Grace and Cano as the non-3000 hit players to lead a decade in hits (though Cano still has an outside shot to get there). For their careers, Grace takes the distinction as the player with the least career hits to lead a decade in the category.

Who else on these list surprises you? Al Dark? Elvis Andrus? Who did you expect? Let’s hear your takes in the comments!

Blue Jays Notes: Roster Moves, Pitching Health, Prospects

By Jeff Todd | April 4, 2019 at 5:42pm CDT

While there’s not much hope of the Blue Jays contending in 2019, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a quiet season. There has been some early-season roster maneuvering already in Toronto and more could ensue in the course of the campaign.

The latest:

With Alen Hanson and Socrates Brito reporting for duty, the Jays have a pair of new position players to work into the mix. Whether either or both have staying power remains to be seen, but the out-of-options players would need to be exposed to waivers if they’re not held on the active roster. To create space, the Jays optioned back outfielder Anthony Alford (who’s evidently not yet in line for a real look at the majors) and hurler Sean Reid-Foley. Lefty Thomas Pannone is jumping into the rotation vacancy, though he may ultimately just be keeping that spot warm.
The Toronto pitching staff will at some point feature bounceback candidate Clay Buchholz. As MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm reports (links to Twitter), he’s one of several hurlers on the mend. Buchholz has already built up to sixty pitches and may be ready for the majors in the next ten days or so. Relievers Ryan Tepera and Ryan Borucki are also working back from injuries; the former seems to be on Buchholz’s timeline while the latter could return by the end of April. Meanwhile, David Phelps has resumed throwing as he tries to work back from Tommy John surgery. His timeline is not apparent at present.
Much of the intrigue this year will come from the young talent trying to force its way onto the MLB roster. No player has more hype than Vladimir Guerrero Jr., though he’s only one of several top prospects with obvious ability and intriguing MLB bloodlines. Vladito is also still working back from an oblique injury. He’s set to launch a rehab assignment this evening, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets, with a Class A stop to open the season.
The possibility of an early (even pre-MLB) extension for Guerrero or other top Jays prospects seems interesting. GM Ross Atkins discussed that possibility recently, as Emily Sadler of Sportsnet.ca writes, though he didn’t really tip his hand on the likelihood of such a deal. If anything, he seemed to downplay such a scenario (at least in the immediate term). “It happens with a lot of discussion, a lot of interaction, a lot of back-and-forth,” said Atkins of extensions for younger players, “and what’s important to a player and what’s important to an organization has to line up and those risks are very different.” Regardless of contract possibilities, the Jays are still preparing to face multiple near-term promotion questions. On that issue, Atkins struck much the same tone he has previously, saying: “We want to have the most well-rounded and complete player as possible, but we’re not going to wait for that. We’re going to do the best of our ability to balance that.”

AL East Notes: Drury, Bird, Vlad Jr., Pearson, Mujica

By Jeff Todd | May 8, 2018 at 11:46am CDT

The Yankees may soon have a welcome problem on their hands with multiple infield options, with youngsters Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres performing well as Brandon Drury has tried to sort out a long-standing migraine problem. (Neil Walker and Ronald Torreyes are also on the MLB roster, along with everyday shortstop Didi Gregorius.) As MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch discusses in response to a reader inquiry, there continues to be progress in Drury’s health issue and he could soon be ready to return. While he could be optioned, Hoch suggests the organization could consider moving him around as well, possibly giving Drury time at second, third, and the corner outfield. Hoch also checks in briefly on injured first bagger Greg Bird, explaining that he’s on track to return later this month. Barring further injuries, there’ll certainly be some interesting decisions to be made for a ballclub that has been on a tear.

Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman Elected To Hall Of Fame

By Steve Adams | January 24, 2018 at 5:24pm CDT

The Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday elected Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Jones (who appeared on 97.2 percent of ballots) and Thome (89.8 percent) will go into Cooperstown as first-ballot Hall of Famers. Guerrero (92.9 percent) will be enshrined in his second year of eligibility. Hoffman (79.9 percent) was on the ballot for the third time.

Edgar Martinez fell shy of the 75 percent mark needed for enshrinement, receiving a votes on 70.4 percent of ballots Others coming within 20 percent of induction include Mike Mussina (63.5 percent), Roger Clemens (57.4 percent) and Barry Bonds (56.4 percent). Full voting is available at the BBWAA’s website.

There was never much doubt that Jones, 45, would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The former No. 1 overall draft pick and 1999 National League MVP was an eight-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger and won a World Series title with the 1995 Braves. One of the best switch-hitters in the history of the sport, Jones hit .303/.401/.529 with 468 home runs, 150 stolen bases, 1619 runs scored and 1623 runs batter in over the life of a brilliant career that spanned nearly two decades.

Remarkably, Jones batted better than .300 and posted on OBP north of .390 from both sides of the plate over the course of his illustrious career. In addition to the extraordinary work he did in the regular season, Jones was an accomplished postseason bat as well, hitting a combined .287/.409/.456 with 13 homers in 417 trips to the plate in the postseason. Both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs peg Jones’ amazing career at more than 85 wins above replacement.

Thome, 47, heads into Cooperstown as one of the most accomplished sluggers in Major League history. The longtime Indians star retired with 612 homers — then the seventh-most home runs in big league history (though he’s since been passed by another Cooperstown-bound slugger, Albert Pujols, in that regard). Thome never won a league MVP but did make five All-Star teams and take home a Silver Slugger.

An on-base machine, Thome hit .276/.402/.554 and scored 1583 runs against 1699 runs batted in over the course of a career that spanned parts of 22 Major League seasons. He belted another 17 homers and knocked in 37 runs over the course of 267 postseason plate appearances. His career 147 OPS+ ties him with Hall of Famers Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Mike Schmidt and the aforementioned Edgar Martinez for the 47th-best mark in MLB history. B-Ref pegged Thome’s career at 72.9 WAR, while Fangraphs credited him with a similarly excellent 69 WAR.

Guerrero, 43 next month, spent parts of 16 seasons in the Majors and batted .318/.379/.553 with 449 home runs, 1328 runs scored, 1496 runs batted in and 181 stolen bases. Guerrero earned American League MVP honors in a 2004 campaign that saw him bat .337/.391/.598 with 39 homers in 680 plate appearances, and he finished third on the AL MVP ballot on two other occasions. Guerrero was named to nine All-Star teams and took home eight Silver Slugger Awards in his career.

Guerrero was uncannily consistent, hitting .300 or better in 13 of his 15 full seasons in the Majors (and batting .290 and .295 in the two in which he came up short). Both OPS+ and wRC+ feel that the only full season he had in the Majors in which his bat was below the league average was his final season in 2011, when he batted .290/.317/.416 as a 36-year-old. He joins Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez as the third Dominican-born player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Hoffman’s appointment to Cooperstown will be the most polarizing among today’s honorees. The 50-year-old is, of course, one of just two players in Major League history to record more than 600 career saves, joining future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera in that regard. Hoffman’s career came to a close with a 2.87 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 as well as 601 saves and a 61-75 record through 1089 1/3 innings.

Hoffman’s supporters point to that vaunted save total, his seven All-Star nods and exceptional consistency. Hoffman posted a sub-3.00 ERA in 12 of 14 seasons from 1994-2007, averaging 37 saves per year along the way. His detractors note that he logged nearly 200 fewer innings than Rivera, the man to whom he is most often compared (based on their incredible saves totals) and also pitched 128 fewer postseason innings than Rivera.

There is, of course, no denying that Hoffman had a remarkable career; he averaged better than a strikeout per inning and finished with an ERA+ of 147, turning in an ERA worse than the league average just once in his career — in his 18th and final MLB season. Whether that places him among the all-time greats can be debated ad nauseam, but those whose voices matter most in that discussion (the BBWAA) clearly are of the mind that Hoffman is indeed worthy of being placed in such rarefied air.

AL West Notes: Scheppers, Nuno, Guerrero

By charliewilmoth | February 20, 2016 at 12:16pm CDT

Rangers reliever Tanner Scheppers will have surgery on his left knee to repair torn articular cartilage, and he will be unavailable for the first half of the season, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. Scheppers suffered a bone bruise in his left knee last year, but the Rangers don’t think his current injury is related. “He woke up a few days ago and the knee was a little puffy,” says GM Jon Daniels. “He can’t think of a moment where he tweaked it.” Scheppers, 29, pitched 38 1/3 innings last season, posting a 5.63 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9. Here’s more from the AL West.

Mariners manager Scott Servais says lefty Vidal Nuno will pitch only in relief this Spring, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets. (Servais also notes that the same is true of Danny Hultzen, although that had previously been reported.) Nuno arrived from Arizona in the Mark Trumbo / Welington Castillo deal last June and posted a 4.10 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in four months in Seattle. The 28-year-old was far more successful (1.91 ERA) in 37 2/3 innings in relief than he was in 51 1/3 innings as a starter (5.08 ERA), and he had a large platoon split, so he might ultimately prove most useful to the Mariners coming out of the bullpen.
Longtime Expos and Angels star Vladimir Guerrero will return to the Halos this spring as a guest instructor, Guerrero himself tweets. The 41-year-old Guerrero has been out of affiliated baseball since playing briefly in the Blue Jays’ minor league system in 2012. He signed, but never played, with the independent Long Island Ducks in 2013 before officially retiring with the Angels in 2014. He has, however, remained on the periphery of the game, with his son Vladimir Jr. now a top Jays prospect.

Quick Hits: Vlad, Olivera, Hudson, Soria

By Jeff Todd | March 18, 2015 at 11:10pm CDT

Matthew Marrota of Baseball Essential conducted an interesting interview with big league great Vladimir Guerrero and his prospect son, Vlad Jr. If you don’t believe Marrota’s description of the younger Guerrero as being the spitting image of his father in virtually all respects, the video included in the post ought to convince you. The one difference, according to Vlad Sr.? “He has more power, a lot,” says Guerrero. “I was very thin. Other than that we are the same player. We both played like men since we were very young.”

Ben Badler of Baseball America tweets that he continues to hear positive reviews on infielder Hector Olivera from scouts. The latest word, per Badler, is that the Dodgers and Padres are the most likely teams to add the veteran Cuban free agent.
Diamondbacks righty Daniel Hudson says his arm feels good after throwing two clean frames today, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports. Hudson remains on track to contribute at the big league level this year after coming back from a second Tommy John surgery, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll work from the rotation or the pen.
The Tigers have not made any attempt to work out a longer-term arrangement with reliever Joakim Soria, Tony Paul of the Detroit Free Press tweets. As he notes, that is not really surprising: Soria struggled upon being dealt to Detroit at the deadline last year, and Paul says there is “some skepticism” within the organization as to how he’ll perform this year. Assuming that nothing changes between now and the fall, the 30-year-old righty will hit the open market.

Vladimir Guerrero Announces Retirement

By Jeff Todd | September 13, 2013 at 10:24pm CDT

All-time great slugger Vladimir Guerrero has decided to officially retire from the game, Hector Gomez of Dominican outlet Listin Diario recently reported (Spanish-language link). "I decided to announce my retirement due to my desire to spend more time with my family," said Guerrero (in Spanish), "as well as because of the two operations that I've had on my right knee."

Though we had heard recently that Guerrero would play independent league ball with the hope of returning to the bigs at age 38 and making a run at 500 career home runs, it appears he will settle for the 449 long balls he's already bagged. On the milestone, Guerrero said: "Lamentably, I couldn't do it. That was one of my principal goals." He last appeared in the majors with the Orioles in 2011. Then 36, Guerrero hit .290/.317/.416 in 590 plate appearances for the O's in what was his worst season as a regular.

Of course, Guerrero's career is not diminished because he fell short of his home run goal. His career triple-slash line stands at a remarkable .318/.379/.553 over 9,059 plate appearances. He swatted over 25 home runs twelve times, and hit over 30 in eight seasons. And he consistently hit for average as well, posting a batting average over .300 in thirteen of his fifteen full-time campaigns. Guerrero struck fear in baserunners and third-base coaches alike, ranging right field with a powerful right arm and recording double-digit assists for eight straight years in his prime. It is easy to forget, too, that a more youthful Guerrero notched 37 and 40 stolen bases in the 2001-2002 seasons, even if he was not terribly efficient in doing so. He was voted the American League MVP in 2004 — it was probably not even his best season — and finished amongst the top five three other times.

The long-time Expo and Angel great still stands atop the Montreal/Washington franchise's career list in total home runs. He also holds that franchise's record for OPS with a seemingly insurmountable .978 mark. What is most unforgettable, of course, was Vlad's uncanny ability to hit even the worst pitches for incredible power.

L.I. Ducks President On Willis, Guerrero, Castro

By Zachary Links | May 4, 2013 at 3:04pm CDT

Since their inaugural season in 2000, the Long Island Ducks have had a knack for luring notable former major leaguers looking to continue their professional careers and get back to MLB. Earlier this year, the Atlantic League club signed Dontrelle Willis, Vladimir Guerrero, and Ramon Castro all inside of one week. I spoke with club President/General Manager Michael Pfaff about the team's operations and the latest on their current big names.

Vladimir Guerrero is still in the Dominican Republic, will he be joining the team this year?

We've been told that he's dealing with some family issues at this time. He was going to be here from the start of spring training, we signed him, we started the process of getting him here and his representative called and said that he had some family issues to take care of before he left for the summer. He didn't want to leave a situation that he didn't feel was buttoned up open for the summer. He wouldn't have felt comfortable here if he didn't have it all taken care of. We respect that. Family comes first. When Vlad gets here we have a spot for him and he's certainly entitled to do that.

Is there a chance that he might not join the team this year?

I really don't know. I can't speak for him, you'd have to ask him. I've only been told what I've been told by his agent. We've put him on the inactive list and we told his agent that when he arrives he'll have a spot waiting for him.

Why are you able to draw in so many big names to your team?

I think the [Atlantic League] in general has proven of the course over its 15-year history that it is the league of choice for players that are interested in continuing their professional careers at a high level and getting back to major league organizations. They've had the most success here, baseball is a small world, and players discuss amongst each other. Obviously, the players are teammates at some juncture in their careers and they talk about good places to play and the places that help their careers. Usually the Atlantic League is the choice for those guys.

It seems like the Ducks have had more success with signing those types of players though. Is that the case?

We've taken as many chances as any team in the league, I'll put it that way. We've provided opportunities for more than our share of big name major leaguers. I think if you look at the rosters of other teams in the league and compare them to the Ducks, you'll see roughly the same amount of former major leaguers over the past five years and 15 years as well, but yes,we've had more than our fair share of the bigger names. Whether it was guys in our past like Carlos Baerga, Edgardo Alfonzo, Carl Everett, Juan Gonzalez, Danny Graves, John Rocker…those experiences are part of our history and more recently we've had guys like Dontrelle Willis and people like him are utilizing this league as a platform. I think its been a win win for everyone really, the fans get get a great product at an affordable price and they can continue to do what they love.

What do you do to help draw MLB attention to the players that you have on your roster?

We have open lines of communication with major league ballclubs, the way that player purchases in this league work are that clubs call the league office and I think that is part of what separates us from other leagues that look to sign players that are free agents. In the Atlantic League, no one from the Yankees is going to call me and say we want your first baseman. They're going to call [Atlantic League Executive Director and former MLB GM] Joe Klein, they're going to call somebody that has no stake in it – not that the Ducks would stand in the way of it – but there's probably a team or two in another league that might. If a team has a vested interest in winning for their own organization, it might be different. In other leagues, teams kind of control the destination of the player.

In the Atlantic League, they call the league office, they call [Klein], he completes the purchase transaction of the contract and sometimes I'm the last to find out. They'll say "go find a new pitcher, or a first baseman, whatever the case may be, so and so got signed." I think that's probably the biggest challenge from a player personnel perspective, you lose your best players and have to fill them in with free agents; we don't have a feeder system in this league.

I think in terms of drawing scouts, the scouts watch this league via the internet as much as anything. When they see teams that are winning and having success, when they're in need of player and over the course of a few weeks they see him having success, they do come out and I think that all of the teams are conveniently located and compared to large major markets, Long Island is as large as it gets. Being part of the New York metropolitan market doesn't hurt us, we're conveniently located, we have a great facility, big league coaching staff, and over the course of 15 years we've shown that we're a great destination.

What are the advantages of signing with an independent ballclub rather than an affiliated one?

We're very very forthright with everyone who is interested in signing here. We have two goals from a player personnel perspective. Number one, we want to win. This is not a developmental league. We're not going to let someone throw 100 pitches because they need to get the work in. If you don't produce, you don't play. Our manager's job is to win with the best nine names in the lineup. Number two, we want to help players with their careers, help them continue their careers, and help them get back to the major leagues and want to help them accomplish their goals and objectives as individuals, but it's team first. We want to win and we also want to make sure that the individuals have success when they perform here.

It's really simple for us and I think that a lot of players have responded to that in a positive fashion because that's refreshing to a lot of guys. A lot of guys have been in minor league organizations, Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A, where it is a developmental league and developing talent for the big league teams, its not all about winning…We wont stand in anyone's way, we'll always promote the player and help them achieve their individual goals and objectives too.

When did the Ducks first get into the business of luring in big names?

The team started in 2000, I think there were major leaguers on that very first team, Chuck Carr was there, he was the center fielder from the Marlins. In 2001, Carlos Baerga came and he went back to the majors after playing here and was the perfect example. It was the Ducks' second year, he hit .315 with the Ducks and he was back at the big league level with the Boston Red Sox a year later. He would have been out of baseball without the Ducks and has always spoken highly of the Atlantic League. He was one of those guys who utilized the league and we've had those big league names continue to come here throughout our history.

Has the Ducks' reputation gotten to the point where the club doesn't have to recruit and big names just sort of gravitate to the team?

Its a lot different than it was ten years ago. There's no question In 2013, agents, players, and managers that are with or work with major league organizations know about the Atlantic League at this point. We've had more than 600 players signed to major league deals.

Let's look at it from the perspective of a major league organization. If you're running player development for a big league club, and you have a player that makes, say, 10K a month, and you want to give a younger guy an opportunity to see if he can perform at that level, you would have to keep that guy at 10K a month in Triple-A or spring training or extending spring to give your young guy a shot. Now, if he goes to an Atlantic League club, we really only have major league clubs to purchase our contract to repay the integrity of our contact. It's not to profit from it, its not a big revenue source for us, we make our money from ticket sales and such.

If you're a major league organization, and you go and you spend 4K to purchase that player, two months into the season, you would have paid that player 20K to have him. Not only did you give your younger payer an opportunity to prove himself, you've got 16K to spend elsewhere..Economically, we've benefited major league organizations, they see that using the Atlantic League as a place where they can pluck talent from.

Did you anticipate signing Dontrelle Willis, Ramon Castro, and Vladimir Guerrero in the same week?

Well we signed the nucleus of our ballclub and as we were getting closer to spring training, we were waiting on the catching position. In fact, I got quite a few tweets and emails and inquires like "Hey, are you going to sign a catcher?"…That was by design, we anticipated that a number of very talented catchers would be available late in spring training. Ralph Henriquez is a perfect example, he became available three or four days before we starting spring training and [Castro] was hot on his heels. IT happened quickly but its something we anticipated happening. We know that major league teams were carrying a lot of catchers in spring training and we knew that there would be highly talented catchers out there. Luckily, our patience paid off and Ramon and Ralph both become available late.

Castro obviously has a reputation as a very good player, especially in this market thanks to his time with the Mets. He handles a staff well and is a solid veteran leader but he also can take opposing pitchers deep, which is something that not a lot of catchers do often. So we were excited that he was available and it came together rather quickly once we talked to his representatives.

Dontrelle, I didn't anticipate [signing him]. His agent reached out to me and we discussed where he was and what he was trying to do. While that came together quickly, I was surprised that he didn't stick with a big league club. He's 31, a left-handed pitcher, he's had a tremendous about of success at the major league level. I didn't see him becoming available, but when he did become available, we jumped on it.

As far as [Vladimir Guerrero] goes, that's a situation that I monitored for a couple of months wondering what we he was going to do. If his desire to play was gone or not, his representatives indicated that it was not so I stayed in touch with them. The opportunity came to sign him and that's what we did…the timing of it all was a coincidence.

What players are drawing big league attention right now?

I think that Dontrelle has been an excellent teammate and has been vocal in the clubhouse in a big way…Ramon has done very well with the bat and at the plate. I think any team in need of catching would benefit from either one of our catchers. Ralph Henriquez, I know I mentioned him, he's a young switch-hitting catcher. It's very surprising to me that a team doesn't have room for him in their organization.

Our first baseman, Ryan Strieby, he's a 27-year-old with Triple-A experience…he has hit for power at all stops in his career and I'm surprised that he too doesn't have a spot in an organization. I also think that Dan Lyons is an excellent fielder, has proven himself as a clutch hitter, has a great attitude, and he's guy that goes out there every night and proves himself…I think that all the guys on our club are capable of playing at a high level and playing in affiliated baseball. Otherwise we wouldn't have signed them.

Quick Hits: Vlad, Murphy, Ryan, Lester

By Steve Adams | April 5, 2013 at 10:31am CDT

On this date in 2002, the Mets claimed a 26-year-old shortstop off waivers from the Brewers. He had just posted a .295/.382/.432 batting line in Triple-A Indianapolis a year prior, and would go on to make his Major League debut for the Mets that season. The infielder would bat just .216/.299/.351 in 129 plate appearances for the Mets over the next two years before being plucked off waivers again — this time by the A's. Marco Scutaro would eventually cement himself as a late bloomer and ultimately help the Giants to a World Series title before inking a three-year, $20MM contract this offseason. Here are some links from around the league as we enter the season's first full weekend…

Vladimir Guerrero turned down offers to play in Taiwan and in Quebec to sign with the Long Island Ducks, writes ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Crasnick goes on to explain that Guerrero's goal is to get back into Major League Baseball and chase the 500-homer plateau. He's currently 51 long balls shy with 449 in his career.
There have been no serious extension talks between David Murphy and the Rangers, tweets Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest. Murphy plans to play out the season and think about his next deal in the offseason.
Nolan Ryan will be at the Rangers home opener today, and he's taking a "wait-and-see" approach as he decides his future with the team, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that a rebound campaign from Red Sox lefty Jon Lester will likely result in a mega-deal that's comparable to some of the "silly money" deals doled out to starting pitchers around the game recently. Cafardo breaks down the track records of pitchers like Zack Greinke, Matt Cain, Cole Hamels and others and compares them to Lester.

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