As spring baseball continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today.
1. WBC Update
The World Baseball Classic continues today, and really kicks into gear throughout the weekend. Pools C and D will begin play tomorrow, highlighted by Julio Urias starting for Mexico against Colombia at 1:30pm CT, Sandy Alcantara taking the mound for Dominican Republic against Venezuela at 6pm CT, and the vaunted Team USA lineup making its debut against Great Britain at 8pm CT. In addition, Pools A and B will have their first round complete over the weekend, deciding which two teams from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals. The final game of Pool A, the Netherlands vs. Italy, will happen at 6am CT Sunday morning, while the final game of Pool B, China vs. Korea, will occur at 5am CT Monday morning.
2. Could recent deals spur more FA movement?
Yesterday, the Marlins agreed to minor league deals with two of the better remaining free agent position players: first baseman Yuli Gurriel and middle infielder Jose Iglesias. With the free agent market growing ever thinner, it’s reasonable to wonder when the rest of the remaining players will sign with a club. Left fielder Jurickson Profar remains the top player still available on the market, with catcher Gary Sanchez, first baseman Miguel Sano, middle infielders Jonathan Villar and Andrelton Simmons, and outfielder Albert Almora Jr. among the notable position players who’ve yet to sign a contract this offseason.
3. Brewers Chat Today
As we continue our Offseason In Review series, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be hosting a Brewers-centric live chat with readers at 10am CT. You can click here to leave a question in advance, and that same link will take you to the live chat when it begins or allow you to read the transcript after the chat is completed. If you missed yesterday’s Brewers Offseason In Review, you can find it here.
I think Sano is toast but I could see Simmons or Villar signing with the Braves as a fallback incase Grissom regresses. Maybe the Nationals also.
They have Arcia, who was an adequate spot starter, backup SS, and bench bat last season in case anything happens to Vaughn Grissom.
Now, if something were to happen to Arcia, I definitely would be quite a bit less comfortable having to rely on Adrianza or Hechavarria, but honestly Shewmake might get the call-up if he can continue building off his hot spring and get off to a good start at AAA…
Shewmake has had his fair share of struggles and doubters, especially as of late, but he just continues to grind, put in his extra work in the cage, and it looks like all his hard work might be finally paying off…
The 2 minor league signings are greater than profar signing. Nice job miami !
Japan is really firing on all cylinders right now. Unfortunate start for Darvish, though.
Profar and Sanchez are surprising. They should find some place to land. Profar a decent bench piece at this point… Sanchez can catch, but his bat really hasn’t been that terrible.
The Astros should sign Gary Sanchez to a minor league contract for catching depth should Maldonado be injured.
Teams that value defense out of th C position, like Houston, are not going to sign Sanchez.
How is it possible that a guy who was born in Cuba and lives in the USA is on the Mexican WBC team?