Here's a wrap-up of news from around baseball as we head into Tuesday….
- A number of teams have asked the Padres about their bench players, but the Friars are "inclined" to keep them, reports Dan Hayes of the North County Times (Twitter link). Everth Cabrera is one of the players who has been asked about, and Hayes presumes Jesus Guzman is another.
- Tsuyoshi Nishioka's demotion to Triple-A has Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities radio pointing the finger at both Nishioka and at Twins management for signing the Japanese shortstop and letting J.J. Hardy leave.
- The Giants' rise to prominence has been fueled by their homegrown stars, writes Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the team could be a couple of years away from having almost an entire roster comprised of players drafted and developed internally.
- Gregor Blanco is a virtual "stone-cold lock" to make the Giants' Opening Day roster, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Signed to a minor league deal in November, Blanco has had a huge Spring Training and seemingly has a backup outfield spot sewn up.
- Cubs utilityman Blake DeWitt's name "has come up in recent trade rumors," according to Doug Padilla of ESPN Chicago. DeWitt has played mostly second and third in his career, though he appeared in 23 games in left field for the Cubs last season. DeWitt could be a possibility for teams looing for infield depth like the Phillies, Athletics or Twins.
- With the Madoff trustee lawsuit now settled, Andrew Keh of the New York Times wonders if the Mets might now be able to explore keeping David Wright with the team long-term and notes that such a move would help sooth the team's disillusioned fanbase.
I don’t think that “leave” is the correct term for what happened with Hardy. To leave would imply that the Twins got nothing in retur….. never mind.
The way Blanco has been playing this Spring, he may even deserve to start over Angel Pagan in center.
To soon to tell right now. Great springs usually equate to nothing. But I’m liking the cary over from winter ball. I think he’s a diamond in the rough. Late bloomers happen in baseball and he might be it. His approach at the plate after watching him in a few games seems sustainable and rarely does he swing at bad pitches plus the duder is fast!
Agreed. You can’t read too much into spring training games and stats. I’m just making the point that if I were Bochy, I’d be really tempted to let the guy have a shot being a starter on opening day. Two weeks after opening day would he still be starting? Who knows.
But right now, you got a guy just named the MVP of the Venezuelan league who’s tearing it up in the Cactus league. He’s batting well north of .400 and seemingly routinely getting two bases when many other players might not even get one. Give the guy a real shot and see what he does sounds like a reasonable plan to me. If it doesn’t carry through to the regular season, knock him back down to 4th outfielder status.
He is incredibly smart on the bases as well. Going from first to third on a ground ball to second. Tagging up from 2nd to third on a fly ball to center. Good stuff.
He is incredibly smart on the bases as well. Going from first to third on a ground ball to second. Tagging up from 2nd to third on a fly ball to center. Good stuff.
Considering the options on hand, moving Jesus Guzman should be considered. Personally I believe James Darnell can do the exact same thing while having a good deal more upside, after ending the season without a strikeout in his last 30 PA’s, he should be graduating already. If they could get a semi-interesting SS at AA or higher for Guzman…
On that same note, no way they entertain moving Everth Cabrera. He’s healthy, impressing this spring, he might never hit near the top of the lineup but he’d be better then several #8 type hitters while giving the team a rangy ss with a cannon and enough speed to steal 40 bases. Him joining Maybin & Venable in the lineup would make the team even more fleeter. He’s my bet to be the teams starting shortstop come August. With Jason Bartlett being moved to whatever contender loses their SS during the first half or to a team like Boston looking for a solid placeholder if the internal options don’t produce.
Tend to agree with most of what you said. Especially about Guzman. I don’t see them moving him now, especially with Quentin down though. Even if it may only be for a few weeks. I’d like to see Blanks get that shot everyday in LF while C-Q is down, but I’m sure we will see both Guzman and Kyle.
As for Cabrera, I tend to agree. Padres are already short (no pun) at the position. He’s looked much better lately. having said that, were only a couple days removed from hitting only .227/.227/.227 in ST. Before spring, I thought he would also take over at short at some point, or possibly even second if someone gets very desperate for a second baseman.
At this point the padres should not be loking to trade any middle infielders that make less than $7m a season, just not enough depth to justify it. It is hard to say who the padres will ultimately move…. blanks or guzman.
I hope the rumor of Dewitt is just a rumor.
I hope the rumor of Dewitt is just a rumor.
I hope the rumor of Dewitt is just a rumor.
I’d like to see the Braves show interest in Everth, he was a quality SS not very long ago and has a good eye.
In hindsight, it couldn’t have turned out any worse, but I believe letting Hardy and Hudson walk was more of a financial move than anything, despite the organization’s claims that they wanted more speed and durability.
Their projected 2011 payroll without these two was already more than $20MM higher than the previous year, Target Field’s inaugural season. This was due in large part to Mauer’s raise and guys like Cuddy, Nathan, and Kubel being in the last year of their contracts. That’s why Pohlad and Co. called the 2011 payroll an “anomaly” when explaining why the 2012 payroll was going to be cut despite selling more than 3,000,000 tickets to miserable, upset fans in 2011.