New Cardinals prospect Aledmys Diaz participated in team drills with the club on Monday but will return to Mexico next week to receive a work visa that will allow him to compete in Spring Training games, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. GM John Mozeliak said the club will have Diaz focus on shortstop rather than trying to carve out a utility role. However, asked about the overlap between Diaz's contract and that of fellow offseason signee Jhonny Peralta, Mozeliak simply said, "Jhonny Peralta is our shortstop. We think he's really good."
Here's more from baseball's Central divisions…
- The Post-Dispatch's Rick Hummel writes that the Cardinals were Missouri native Max Scherzer's dream team growing up. Scherzer told Hummel he always envisioned playing for the Cards as a kid, and he had the chance to do so when St. Louis drafted him in the 43rd round out of high school. However, Scherzer honored his commitment to Mizzou and now doesn't think about his old Cardinals aspirations: "The thing is that now I’ve gotten to the big leagues and I’m in this position, it’s really hard to still dream about that when you’ve got this clubhouse and you look around and see Miguel Cabrera. You see the talent here. This clubhouse can win and it’s so much fun. This is my dream now, playing with the Tigers."
- Left-hander Chris Capuano told Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the Twins showed some early interest in him, but that interest seemed to dry up after the team re-signed Mike Pelfrey in December (Twitter link).
- Indians manager Terry Francona spoke with reporters, including Zack Meisel of the Northeat Ohio Media Group, and said that he would be lying if he knew what the team's third base plans were this coming season. Reports have pegged Carlos Santana as uncomfortable at the position to date. Francona also said he thinks David Murphy will be an excellent addition to the team, adding that Cleveland was able to get him due to a down year in 2013: "If he would've had his normal year, he probably wouldn't have been as available."
- Phil Coke has struggled this spring, and this could be a big week for him, writes MLB.com's Jason Beck. The Tigers can cut ties with Coke this week and only owe him $316K of the $1.9MM the two sides agreed to in arbitration. However, Beck expects Coke to hang around at least until the end of Spring Training; Detroit would only owe him $475K were they to cut him at that point. Detroit made a similar move with Brennan Boesch last spring, and Casey Crosby's return from injury gives the team another left-handed option out of the bullpen. MLive.com's Chris Iott also expects Coke to hang around beyond Wednesday's deadline.
Please, let Coke go. Please.
It was telling this spring when Coke admitted that alot of his problems last year were mental. Seems he had concentration and focus issues. Those are very hard,if not impossible,to identify as a coach or decision maker to evaluate a player.I like Coke and he could be a valuable asset for the Tigers if he could get his act together. They should keep him in camp till the end of Spring Training to have these extra weeks to evaluate his progress. I feel that what may be best for Coke is a change of scenery and if he does well these last 2+weeks, maybe we can use him as a trade chip to bolster our Left-field/back-up shortstop issues.
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So the Twins interest in Capuano waned when they signed an inferior pitcher for twice as much money and years? Shrewd move, Minnesota.
No Coke. Pepsi!
I get uncomfortable just watching Santana play 3B. He’s definitely no ballerina over there. Kind of like when he plays 1B.
Well if Scherzer grew up a Cards fan, I guess it kills my hopes of him becoming a Cub next winter. A man can dream, right?
As much as I’d love to lock up Max… It probably isn’t wise to tie up so much money in 3 pitchers. A team needs some younger, cheaper, players to fill out the team… Issue is, Detroit destroyed it’s farm over the past few years making trades.. It’s now one of the worst in the game.
All that said, Detroit does have a small window left to win a WS… I’m afraid it may be a rough rebuild after that window is gone, unless DD has some real magic up his sleeve.
Also, Coke has looked horrible this spring yet again. That trade is still a major success even with Schlereth bombing and if Coke does. Scherzer and AJax for Granderson and Edwin Jackson… Do that trade everytime.
This is why I think the plan is to let Max go, sign Rick for a more reasonable contract, then rely on Smyly and Ray in years ahead. That money will be used to lock up Cabrera and fill the voids left by Hunter and Victor as their contracts expire.
What am I missing here? The post is tagged with “Boston Red Sox” but I don’t see any mention of them or any player they have been linked to.
You’re not, the tag was probably left over from a previous column they wrote, and they forgot to remove it when writing this one.
Why would Santana suddenly be ‘comfortable’ when he hasn’t played the position in 7 years? Barring a miracle, he’ll get comfortable enough.