Some links for St. Patrick's Day as players don green uniforms in Arizona and Florida…
- Chase Utley has made "minimal" improvement since taking a shot for his injured knee, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Though Utley can hit and field, he can't run, so Wilson Valdez will play second base for the time being.
- Adam Wainwright told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he's anticipating a high-stakes rehab, since the Cardinals may not exercise his $21MM option for 2012-13 if he struggles. "There's a lot of money resting on me coming back healthy next year," he said.
- Willie Harris can opt out of his contract with the Mets on March 27th, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). There seems to be a good chance that Harris will make the team and the opt-out won't be an issue.
- Michael Young told Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he has found it tough to develop a rhythm this spring, partly because he has been bouncing from one position to another.
- Not surprisingly, Ben Sheets isn't negotiating with any teams, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Sheets' 2010 season ended early when he needed flexor tendon surgery.
Don’t worry about the money, Adam. Worry about getting 100% as soon as you can.
I don’t blame Young for being annoyed and upset, but one more reference to his boo-hoo-hoo treatment from Texas, I swear…
If I was being paid 16 million or so a year my company could move me around as much as they wanted to.
well, it seems like cliff lee’s new, younger, and full of life team is breaking down sooner than i thought. well, that’s something new. Lol god know i shouldn’t make fun of this but i just can’t help it
Yeah the Phils will now only win 95 games instead of 100. Sucks for us.
don’t count your chickens before they hatch
unless you’re trying to estimate how many chicks you’ll have.
No Werth
If Utley misses major time…thats 2 huge bats in ur lineup missing…
id say closer to 90 games…and the division is up in the air if ATL or NYM step up
id say florida has a better chance of stepping up than the mets
We had bats missing all last year, and now our pitching is way better.
Minus Uggla the Fish look better on paper than the Mets. rotation wise it ain’t even close the Fish are so much better.
Its the bullpen that is scary, who cares about the lineup. This team is not an offensive juggernaut anymore with or without Utley or Werth. Frankly, I thought the lineup last year was stagnant and they played their best offense when they had the scrubs in. I’m confident the replacements (Francisco,Barfield or Young) will provide adequate production. That being said if the offensive isn’t going to produce like it did in previous years the shaky bullpen is going to be exposed even more. Its going to suck watching their starters pitch gems, only to watch the BP squander it.
Bullpen is absolutely fine. Best setup man in the game.