Lots of rainouts in Florida, so here are some links to get you through the day…
- Jayson Stark takes a look at pitching phenoms not named Stephen Strasburg. Also featured: Strasburg.
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert looks back at the trade that sent Jose Valverde to Houston and says the D'Backs now look like winners for obtaining Chad Qualls, Juan Gutierrez and Chris Burke.
- Rickie Weeks told Colin Fly of the AP that he'll miss former teammate J.J. Hardy, who was traded for Carlos Gomez this winter (link via the Miami Herald).
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo profiles highly-touted high schooler Jameson Taillon, from his academic background to his hobbies, to his upper-90s fastball. Taillon will likely be a top pick in this year's draft.
- Top Cubs prospect Starlin Castro will start the season in Triple A no matter how good he looks in Spring Training, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
- Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail repeated to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun that the Orioles will consider other options in case Brian Roberts isn't going to be ready on Opening Day.
- In case you're wondering, Jermaine Dye is the only remaining free agent who qualified for the batting title last year.
- Cubs manager Lou Piniella feels healthy going into the last year of his contract, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Team president Crane Kenney expects to have an "interesting conversation" with Piniella after the season.
- The Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League signed Toshihisa Nishi, according to this Sanspo report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (via Twitter).
- Jason Bay says he feels more comfortable than before, now that he has a no-trade clause in his contract, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.
- Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times can't think of a Dodger to successfully make a comeback like the one Eric Gagne is attempting.
- A former GM tells Baseball America that teams didn't worry about losing players out of minor league options in the past. Check out MLBTR's list of players out of minor league options here and go to the Baseball America article for Matt Eddy's explanation of options and why they matter.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post suspects that the Nationals may not draft Bryce Harper with the first overall pick in this year's draft.
Harper is the real deal. If the Nats pass on him they will regret it. The kid is playing college ball right now, having just turned 17. After a slow start he is hitting over 400 and slugging over 800. All with a Wood bat against competition that is years older than him. Even if he doesn’t stick at C, he can play CF (and presumably the other OF positions). The guy can throw 90MPH from the catcher position. He would have a cannon at CF.
Did I mention, he just turned 17.
No doubt about it Harper will indeed go number 1.
Harper Nationals
Taillon Pirates
Christian Colon Orioles
A.J. Cole Royals
Deck McGuire Indians
Delino DeShields Jr. Diamondbacks
Anthony Ranaudo Mets
Drew Pomeranz Astros
Bryce Brentz Padres
Alex Wimmers A’s
ranaudo seems pretty far down..i think we can all agree he will go top 4 unless an injury befalls him.
Lately he’s been having elbow problems. If he didn’t, I’d put him at 3 with Christian Colon at 4. The Royals and Orioles could both use a long term young Shortstop.
Harper won’t be playing center field for any big league clubs. Right Field? I can see that. 3rd base, too. But he ain’t playing center.
It isn’t out of the question, but he would eventually grow out of it.
MacPhail says the Orioles will “consider other options if Brian Roberts isn’t going to be ready on Opening Day.” As opposed to not considering another option and choosing to play without a second baseman? Nitpicky I know, but not worded properly.
Tim, yesterday in the chat you mentioned something about Heyward, from Atlanta, starting the year at AAA and staying there for two weeks. I have a few questions. A) What is the exact rule and benifit regarding the two week stay, and B) If Castro continues to have a strong spring could you see the Cubs doing the same thing? By the way, I got to see him a week ago today. The guy carries himself like a veteran during warmups, in the on deck circle, taking groundballs between sides of the inning. Everyone talks about it, but he has “it”.
It has nothing to do with a two week stay, it has to do with his service time. If they cut down on Heyward’s service time in MLB, then they gain another year of team control.
“Starlin Castro will start the season in Triple A now matter how good he looks” What?
I know it’s very early in Spring Training, but the kid is hitting close to .600 What does he have to do to make the team?
Piniella recently said ” these young players will let you know when they’re ready”
Lou, let’s consider that maybe he’s ready. Last year, the Rangers moved Young over to 3rd to accomodate a 20 year old shortstop who was ready.
Jim Hendry must know he’s gone if the Cubs miss the playoffs again this year. Why not put your best team on the field Opening Day?
Agreed. I saw Castro in one of his spring training games about a week ago, and he looked really good. Hit a double, and made some good plays in the field also.
I’m impressed with Castro’s approach. He works the count more than I thought he would. He gets himself into good hitting situations.
Gagne looked like crap. He has no chance on making the team, then again we had Mota last year.
I think once Rickie sees Carlos Gomez make crazy plays in the outfield and once he sees Alcides Escobar have a spectacular rookie season, he’ll feel a bit better about J.J. Hardy being traded.
From my post detailing why Ed Wade did not deserve an extension, I said:
[Ed Wade] traded Juan Gutierrez, Chad Qualls and Chris Burke to the Dbacks for Jose Valverde. It is important to note that RPs are traditionally overvalued. They get a very limited innings load, limiting their value, and its hard to judge their true talent level. No reliever was worth +3 WAR last season and only ten were worth even +2 WAR. Qualls has been worth +3.3 WAR since the trade, has a year left under team control, and has been paid less than $4 million over the past two seasons (he will make ~$4.2 million in 2010). Gutierrez made his team debut last season and was worth +1.5 WAR. He’s is not arbitration eligible until 2011. No one cares about Chris Burke. On the other hand, Valverde was not worth even +1 WAR in either 2008 or 2009. He was cumulatively worth +1.5 WAR for the Astros, or what Juan Gutierrez did last season. On the other hand, whereas Juan Gutierrez was paid something in the ballpark of $400,000 in 2009, Jose Valverde was paid $12.7 million during his stay in Houston.
I stand behind that statement.
Valverde gave the Astros one great season and a second above average season, and now we have 2 1st rounder because of him. Qualls is a very, very good reliever but Valverde was a step above him for two seasons, and the draft picks are HUGE for the long term. I’m not going to shed any tears over losing Gutierrez.
I’d say that both teams benefited from that trade.
I’m sorry Hpence9, but you are simply wrong. Let’s look at WAR contributions by player.
Chad Qualls: +2.1 in 2008, +1.2 in 2009. Total? +3.3
Juan Gutierrez: +1.5 WAR in 2009
That’s a total of 4.8 wins.
Jose Valverde on the other hand posted WARs of +0.8 and +0.7. His value contribution to the ‘Stros was the equivalent of Gutierrez’s 2009 value. Sure, the 2 draft picks are nice, but that assumes first that you trust Wade’s drafting talents and then risk whether or not the players will pan out. He’s not exactly Billy Beane
Ed Wade isn’t doing the drafting. Bobby Heck, who as good of a scout as there is in the MLB, runs the draft. The guy has been applauded universally for his drafts in 2008 and 2009 for the Astros. He’s the same guy who brought in the Milwaukee Brewers core; Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, and Rickie Weeks are all Milwaukee Brewers right now thanks to the work done by Bobby Heck.
If you’re going to criticize Ed Wade for trading away Juan Gutierrez then you have to congratulate him for picking up Jeff Fulchino; they’re both about as likely to repeat their 2009 success.
Bobby Heck has had 3 high draft picks with the Astros – those turned into Jason Castro, Jordan Lyles and Jiovanni Mier. I absolutely trust him to do something nice with the 19th and 33rd picks in the draft. There’s no guarantee that those guys will even be major league regulars, but every single one of them has had nothing but success since being drafted.
Anyone have any projections on Weeks for the season?