Friday Links (30 Mar 07)
Fri, Mar 30, 2007
by Geoff Young
Are we there yet? Almost…
- Clubhouse chemistry winning formula? (San Diego Union-Tribune). More Brian Giles wackiness. I never get tired of grown men telling stupid kids jokes.
- 2007 San Diego Padres Season Preview (Baseball Savant). He likes what he sees and predicts 89 wins and another NL West title for the Friars.
- ‘Healthy’ Peavy eager for Opening Day start (San Diego Union-Tribune). Quoth Jake Peavy: “I feel as healthy as I ever have entering a season.” A city keeps its collective fingers crossed.
- Aging Maddux still a pretty pitcher (Dallas Morning News, via Nick G. in the comments). Writer Kevin Sherrington asks some interesting rhetorical questions:
How many pitchers watch other teams take batting practice, looking for weaknesses?
How many guys shout an expletive when the count goes 2-1 in a meaningless spring training game?
I also like the fact that Greg Maddux sticks up for his former teammate, Kevin Millwood. That doesn’t mean a thing in any box score, but it’s a classy move.
- Thompson, McAnulty, Kevin Cameron appear set (San Diego Union-Tribune). You cannot stop P-Mac; you can only hope to contain him. Seriously, this is great news for Paul McAnulty if it happens.
- Padres building strong foundation (Minor League Baseball). Grady Fuson on right-hander Cesar Carrillo:
We have a rotation in the big leagues that’s a solid five. So from a health standpoint, let’s hope we don’t need him [Carrillo] in ‘07. It will do him good to break camp and get six or seven starts in Triple-A…to make sure he rebounds well, that his sides are crisp and there are no lingering effects. We want to take away the rush and move slowly. If we err, we want it to be on the side of caution, and hopefully we can have this guy back in the mix by midseason.
- Savvy, big hitters to surround Bush at Elsinore (San Diego Union-Tribune). The Padres aren’t giving up on Matt Bush just yet. Also, it looks like last year’s first-round pick, Matt Antonelli, is shifting from third to second base sooner rather than later. Let’s hope it works out better than Jake Gautreau’s move did a few years ago.
- Velocity helps, but location is important, too (ESPN, via Didi in the comments). Jerry Crasnick’s article is about New York Mets closer Billy Wagner, who pays Trevor Hoffman a fine compliment:
…the guy I follow as a role model is Trevor Hoffman, because he’s a true pitcher. He goes out there and gets a lot of swings and misses on his changeup. He gets a lot of quick outs and he’s quick with his job.
- 2007 THT Staff Predictions (Hardball Times). I must be mellowing in my old age. The only places where I’m contrarian are in my picks for AL Central title (Tigers), AL (Joe Mauer) and NL (Miguel Cabrera) MVP awards, and World Series champ (Angels). Yes, I picked the Padres to finish second in the NL West. The division is going to be unbelievably tight this year. In my Baseball Think Factory piece, which should be appearing shortly, I’ve pegged the Padres at 85 wins. What do I know? I’m just making a quasi-educated guess.
More links throughout the day, week, etc. at del.icio.us. Hang tight, folks; this is our final weekend without real baseball games for a very long time. 
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March 30, 2007 at 7:46 am
Jeff Passan and Mark Pesavento over at Yahoo Sports give Peavy and Chris Young some CY Young pre-season prediction love. Wouldn’t it be nice of both of those guys actually were in contention? It could be possible.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....;type=lgns
March 30, 2007 at 7:49 am
Oh, and how could I miss it, in the same article, Tim Brown predicts Kouz for ROY and AGon as NL breakout hitter (not really a true award, but it’s cool).
March 30, 2007 at 10:53 am
Best quote:
Hey, Greg (Maddux): What’s your pitching philosophy?
“Up and in, down and away,” he says, shrugging. “Locate your fastball and change speeds.
“What everybody else does.”
March 30, 2007 at 5:45 pm
re: Matt Bush … I just heard on the radio that Joe Nathan started out as a SS also … hmmm …
March 30, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Why does CYoung only throw 32 pitches today?
March 30, 2007 at 6:32 pm
A roto newsletter I get finally had some good advice in it …
Be safe this weekend. Don’t drink and draft.
March 30, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Rotoworld is reporting this …
Athletics signed second baseman Todd Walker to a minor league contract.
No word yet, but the A’s could decide to go with Walker over Erubiel Durazo as their first baseman against right-handers. It’d likely be an upgrade defensively, even though Walker doesn’t have a lot of experience at first. On offense, the A’s would be losing quite a bit of upside, though since they don’t really know what they’d get out of Durazo, they could try it anyway. There probably won’t be room for both on the roster.
March 30, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Similarly …
Mets optioned RHP Chan Ho Park to Triple-A New Orleans.
Park could have chosen his release instead. We’re guessing he was told he’d be used as a starter in Triple-A, because as upset as he was about getting moved to the pen last week, it’s hard to believe he’d accept the assignment to work in relief.
March 30, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Even more similarly …
Mets sent RHP Jon Adkins outright to Triple-A New Orleans.
With a 10.38 ERA in 13 innings, Adkins was bad enough to clear waivers. He’ll likely see time in the majors with the Mets or another team this year, but he’s not a great option as far as 12th pitchers go.
March 30, 2007 at 7:02 pm
mlb.com has video of an interview with KT …
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....;fext=.jsp
… you can find it in a box on the left part of the web page titled “2007 Spring Training” … the link is titled “Towers on his close call, club” … and the first question is about his brush with a foul ball last Saturday at Maryvale … he looks fine … bizarre …
March 30, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Dang it, Gwynn sold us out again. On the Yahoo sports predictions thing he picked the Dodgers. I remember last year he picked the Giants. Buh! We’ll show him!
March 30, 2007 at 9:18 pm
FYI, I need to do some software upgrades tonight from 10 to 11 p.m. PT. Site may be down during that time. I’ll try to keep disruptions to a minimum. Thanks!
March 30, 2007 at 11:11 pm
And we’re back. With any luck, nothing too important broke in the process.
March 31, 2007 at 4:05 am
Looks like Cassidy is heading to the DL. Robles, Brown, Germano and Hampson are going to AAA. McAnulty, Thompson and Cameron take the last open spots on the 25 man.
I believe that makes Daniel Conroy the roster contest winner as the only person with 23 correct.
March 31, 2007 at 11:38 am
What’s La Forest’s status? He keeps getting PT but is technically not on the 25 man roster, right? He is 29, his major numbers are horrid (have not looked at his minor numbers) but very scant, but if his hitting is no illusion, it might be nice to have a power RH bench player that can also sub AGon.
Can either McNulty or Branyan play 2B at all? The thing I miss with Walker is having a LH 2B option. I have not studied it thoroughly, but I have a bias that catchers, SS and CF earn their position with the glove. Everyone else has to earn it with the bat and thus I would like to see viable platoon options floating around for non-studs.
On our team, only AGon makes me feel really confident that I know he will hit. OG’s splits got horrible last year: 624 OPS vs. LHP; unless he bounces back from that, I would love to see a decent RH player floating around.
In summary, by positions:
Defense First (cannot really swap out): Bard, Bowen, Greene, Cameron
Going to Rake against all comers: AGon
OK
3B: Kouz/Branyan
LF: Sledge/Cruz with PMac floating if Sledge falters
Makes me nervous:
2B: MGiles/???: sure, if he rebounds, awesome. But if not, what is our plan?
RF: BGiles/???: counting on him being a true everyday player, which of course he has always been, but unless those splits tighten (or the floor on the LHP goes up over 750), that could be a hole.
March 31, 2007 at 1:07 pm
15 … well said, jay …
Also, good news re: McAnulty …
McAnulty went for 2-for-6 and legged out a triple in a Minor League game on Friday, and he should be good to go.
“He looked good, was swinging the bat well and was running the bases well,” said Towers. “He felt fine.”
March 31, 2007 at 1:25 pm
15:
LaForest is a lefty.
Neither PMAC nor Branyan play 2B at all.
March 31, 2007 at 1:29 pm
16: I just was going to post that really good news. As the days went by I was worrying more about the operation.
March 31, 2007 at 2:17 pm
I’ll be honest I’ve paid about as much attention to spring training games as much as the NBA Regular season so that’s low. Is there a reason Clay Hensley and Chris Young have exited early in consecutive days?
March 31, 2007 at 2:50 pm
19 - I’m a bit confused by the early exists also … but if it’s just to keep ‘em a bit fresher for the regular season, then I’m all for it …
Marcus with an HR today … http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxsco.....b_arimlb_1
March 31, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Peavy left early the other day as well, so it must be planned.
March 31, 2007 at 3:29 pm
The next “fountain of youth” … http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03.....xprod=digg … you’ve been warned!
March 31, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Anyone watching McAnulty’s AB today?
March 31, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Hi, I am a long time lurker and once in a blue moon poster… I hate to seem like I am spamming, but I need 1 and possibly 3 more people for my fantasy league, asap. It’s a league ideal for people that aren’t fantasy nazis… as a lot of people are new to fantasy baseball.
If interested, drop me an email at Astral_Frost@yahoo.com
Thanks!
March 31, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Here’s a blurb from rotoworld.com about Hensley’s early exit today …
Clay Hensley was limited to 1 2/3 innings Saturday by a blister on his middle finger.
Hensley said he’d be ready to make his scheduled start Thursday. “He’s had a little bit of that same type of problem before and it hasn’t really inhibited him in future starts,” manager Bud Black said. “I suspect he’ll be fine.”
… blah, blah, blah … I don’t like this!
April 1, 2007 at 1:17 am
I took a look at OG’s splits against lefties over the past five years and he’s up and down. 830 in 2002, 876 in 2003, 637 in 2004, 843 in 2005, and 624 last year. I still expect a good rebound from Brian (and Marcus, too, for that matter). I don’t think he’ll ever hit even 20 HR’s in a season again playing in Petco half the time, but he’ll still get close to 40 2B, 100 BB, and his BA will likely bounce back up 20 points or so.
April 1, 2007 at 9:37 am
And ducksnorts gets a little love and four out of five mouses (not easy from Marc Figueroa) from the North County Times. Congrats, Geoff!
http://www.nctimes.com/article....._31_07.txt
April 1, 2007 at 11:34 am
P Mac makes the roster for 2007!!! Awesome!