Here are today’s NL Central notes, including thoughts from three of the division’s GMs on a few starting pitchers…
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington said he’s cautiously optimistic about Erik Bedard this season, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. "Not that long ago, Erik was one of the better pitchers in baseball," Huntington said. "We still see good stuff. The challenge is going to be health.”
- Cubs GM Jed Hoyer joined Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio and said he's hopeful to sign Matt Garza long-term because pitching is such a difficult commodity to obtain.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Bowden that he and owner Mark Attanasio plan to discuss an extension with Zack Greinke this spring (Twitter link). In this case, Melvin and Attanasio will be speaking to Greinke without relying on an intermediary. The right-hander is without an agent, unlike the overwhelming majority of players. Melvin recently cited deals in the $80MM range as possibly comparables for Greinke.
- The Reds are a sleeper team for 2012, one scout told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).
Boy, that’s a bold statement, scout-friend of Jerry Crasnick.
LMAO, that’s what I’m saying…I haven’t seen one “pro” not say the Reds will win the division..
Get the Grienkster locked up.
My scout friend told me that the Astros are the worse team in the league… amazing! :)
I know you are being sarcastic, but I think Seattle might have a worse record in 2012. Their best position player last year was Brendan Ryan, and they traded away their second best starting pitcher. If they avoid 100 losses this year, AND Jack Z is still employed, it will be a Festivus miracle.
idk, i think i have to agree with eyeglass, at least the Mariners have an ace that can shut a team out every night, a ROY candidate DH, a future batting title candidate 2B, & Mike Carp (he doesn’t seem that bad)
I love how everyone forgets about Smoak just because he hurt his hand and his dad passed away…
I don’t see them losing 100 games. I think they’re going to have a better offense with Ackley and Montero in the middle of their line up. Smoak could also develop into the hitter he’s supposed to be.
They might lose 99 though.
The Brewers are dreaming if they think they are going to sign Greinke for around $80MM. He’ll be a FA in 2013 and he only turns 29 in Oct. 2012. He would be absolutely stupid to take anything less than 5 yrs/$18MM per. More likely he should be looking at 6 yrs/$108MM minimum. He should slot in just behind Hamels and Cain if they hit FA next winter.
But this is Zack Greinke….not your typical player. If anyone were to take less money it would be him. Hes been scouting pitchers for Milwaukee, seems a bit like he wants to stay there.
I hope he does. People in KC have this fantasy that Greinke will re-sign with the Royals. As far as I’m concerned he can stay where he is.
He told KC to *(&%-off and sulked until he got traded. I was happy because KC got a huge haul of prospects in return…but he can stay there. The Royals should compete for the division in 2013, and Greinke’s one-and-done with the Brewers is exactly what he deserves.
Good riddance.
Why should you care? Dude already said he doesn’t want NYC.
And your brethren responded by saying he is too “soft” for the Bronx.
I don’t care. And I’m fairly confident the Yankees management have no interest in him at all. I was only voicing my opinion. It’s unfortunate that you seem so intolerant of someone else’s opinion. After all it’s not like Greinke is going to take my advice.
Brewers need Gamel to perform like the stud a lot of us MKE fans think he can be. And staving off ARam’s inevitable decline wouldn’t hurt either.
If Gamel can adjust to the big leagues well, the Crew will be better than most people think
I’m optimistic that the M’s have upgraded their offense this year. But I think I just read that Gutierrez might be out for a while. And they’re talking about Figgins leading off. Always good to give a declining offensive player more AB’s than anyone else.
If Figgins still struggles even @ leadoff (which i’m pretty sure he will) He won’t be in the line up long.
How are the Reds a sleeper team? I still think the cards are favorites, but the Reds are the sexy pick. If you want a sleeper team it’s Milwaukee, that was a really good team last year, and while losing fielder hurts filling the hole they had at 3rd base will help offset it.
Scouts loved the Reds last year too. I remember articles saying the “scouts” weren’t high on the Brewers then too. Do the scouts see Drew Stubbs lowering his K total below 200? Reds can certainly contend but they need Stubbs to make better contact and Bruce to be more consistent. Votto can’t carry them alone.
I believe the Reds are capable of nosing out the Cardinals, biggest match-up problem is the Reds lack of hitting discpline.
The Reds won 79 games last year. To get to the playoffs they’re probably going to need to win at least 90. Latos was good for 3.2 last year. Madson and Marshall were good for 4.5 wins. Assuming those guys are replacing a big 0, they need 3 more. Meanwhile, they’ve got rookies at short and catcher – the two most pivotal position on the field – so who knows what they get from them. Rolen is a back spasm away from the DL (and Miguel Cairo). And, of course, Dusty will want to play Ludwick all the time. Cueto is poised for regression and the rest of the staff is full of question marks. For the Reds to win, a lot of dominoes need to fall in line. To say they are a “sleeper” sounds about right. The Cardinals are clearly the team to beat and why any Reds fan would want to be proclaimed the frontrunner is a mystery to me.
WAR doesnt solve anything. Who was at SS last year? Cozart is an improvement. Mesoraco has potential but he might be worse than hernandez. Arroyo’s year was a fluke and stubbs and bruce can only get better. Chapman is a sleeper. He’ll come up sometime this year and be lights out. While you cant be a favorite over World Champs, the Reds have a good chance.
hey, I hope you’re right. The Cards and the Brewers are still quite formidable, though.