Minors & Majors - March 29th
March 29th, 2008
Today on my nationally-broadcasted radio show on XM Satellite Radio, Minors and Majors, I made my predictions for the 2008 season. I also caught up with a couple of friends of the show, Jim Molony and Jim Callis.
Molony, a writer for MLB.COM, broke down each of baseball’s six divisions, and predicted that Chase Utley and Alex Rodriguez would win the NL and AL MVP awards respectively. Callis, an editor and a writer at Baseball America, talked about a handful of the prospects who impressed him most this spring. Read the rest »
Guthrie Gets Final Tune-Up
March 26th, 2008
The 2008 Baltimore Orioles are nothing like the 2007 version of the team. Perhaps the most obvious example of the team’s transformation over the past year comes in the form of the Baltimore’s rotation, which will be led this spring by Jeremy Guthrie.
A year ago at this time Guthrie was battling for one of the final bullpen jobs on the Orioles’ pitching staff. He was a handful of months removed from having been cut by the Cleveland Indians, who once drafted him in the first-round, and he was trying to stay afloat as a major-leaguer. Read the rest »
2008 National League Predictions
March 26th, 2008
NL East: New York Mets
If not for the addition of Johan Santana, I wouldn’t have predicted the Mets to win this division. But Santana (who has posted a 3.22 career ERA in the American League) should win no less than 20-games as the ace for the Mets this year. His insertion into the rotation takes pressure off of John Maine and Oliver Perez (who combined to win 30-games last year), who were asked to pitch like front-line starters last year. I love the addition of Luis Castillo to upgrade the second-base spot and I think that Ryan Church will post numbers comprable to what he compiled last year (15hr, 70rbi, .272). I worry about Carlos Delgado’s durability and competence at first-base though. Read the rest »
2008 American League Predictions
March 25th, 2008
AL East: Boston Redsox
The defending champions will have the same daily lineup that they had during their world series run last year, and I’d expect both Manny Ramirez (20/88/.296) and David Ortiz (35/117/.332) to have more prolific offensive seasons than they did in 2007. Josh Beckett’s health is a concern, but I don’t think he’ll miss more than a week or two. Clay Bucholz will be a fine replacement for Curt Schilling in the rotation, and I love the bullpen. The Yankees don’t have enough pitching to overtake Boston, and Toronto is deep enough to give them trouble, but I don’t think the Blue Jays are in the same class as the Redsox just yet.
AL Central: Detroit Tigers
Detroit’s lineup could bash with anybody last year, and the Tigers upgraded at third-base and left-field with the additions of Miguel Cabrera and Jacque Jones. I think Cabrera could be a legit MVP candidate, with 40-plus homers and 130-some RBI in the middle of this amazing order. The Tigers’ rotation might be the deepest one-through-five in baseball, and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Justin Verlander wins 20-games en route to the Cy Young award. Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson will combine for 25-wins but this team’s success could come down to how successful Dontrelle Willis is in the five-spot. Read the rest »
Spring un-kind to a few O’s Pitchers
March 24th, 2008
Take a look at the box score from today’s Orioles-Mets exhibition game. The numbers in the ERA column amongst the pitchers Baltimore used today aren’t pretty.
Adam Loewen worked five strong-innings of two-hit, one-run baseball. The outing lowered his spring ERA to 8.03. That’s a disconcerting number for Loewen, who is coming off of elbow surgery that limited him to less than a month of action in 2007. Read the rest »
Minors & Majors - March 22nd
March 23rd, 2008
Today on Minors and Majors, my nationally broadcasted baseball show on XM Satellite Radio, I spoke with David Price, Mark DeRosa, Kyle Davies and Kevin Cameron.
Price, the top pick in last June’s draft, is the top prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays’ minor-league system. He’s also probably the top pitching prospect in the minor-leagues period. He made his pro-debut in an exhibition game against the Yankees last week, and the left-hander popped at 99 on the radar gun while striking out the side. He talked to me about his pro debut, among other things this morning. Read the rest »
Saturday Thoughts
March 22nd, 2008
1. Gus Johnson is March Madness. When he yells as a college sharp-shooter drains a three, I feel as good as a kid who just got an autograph from a celebrity. He has a blast calling games. You can just hear his enthusiasm oozing through his microphone and into your TV set. If Johnson is calling a game, I’m watching it.
2. While I was going to the bathroom at Hooters today, I saw that somebody had drawn a heart around Alex Ovechkin’s name on the sports page, which was pinned to the wall above the urinal. Why am I telling you this? I don’t know. But I thought it was cool. It’s proof that I’m not the only person with a man-crush on Ovie, who became the first player to score 60-goals in a campaign since way back in 1996-97. Read the rest »
Nationals Release John Patterson
March 20th, 2008
A year ago John Patterson was the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day starter. Today he was released.
Patterson hasn’t been able to stay, or even get, healthy over the past few seasons. Now 30, the right-hander is on the verge of joining a long list of names, comprised of talented pitchers whose careers were derailed pre-maturely based on incessant injuries. Read the rest »
Brand New National’s Park
March 18th, 2008
I went on a tour of the new home of the Washington National’s today, and I couldn’t have been more impressed with the ballpark. What a gorgeous stadium!
The cliche about sports stadiums is that, “there isn’t a bad seat.” But at the new home of the Nats, that statement could ring any more true. Sitting in the upper-deck level is nothing like a normal trip to the nose-bleed level. You feel like you’re sitting right over top of home plate, even while standing out on the terrace in the upper-sections of center-field. Read the rest »
Steady as a Rock
March 18th, 2008
It’s almost time to fill out a Final-Four bracket (or five) and the Washington Redskins still haven’t made any noise in the NFL free-agency period. For the Redskins, a typical March generally encompasses a slew of press conferences at Redskins Park to introduce new players. But this hasn’t been the typical March.
The big news out of Redskins camp this week was that Washington re-signed a couple of its own free-agents. Fullback Rock Cartwright, a key contributor on special teams, and defensive lineman Ryan Boschetti, a little-used backup defensive lineman, both inked new deals to stay with the Redskins. Read the rest »