What's the Buzz? 3/18/06
We'll jump in with another update later tonight, but we'll start now with some action in the World Baseball Classic...
So Cuba is the first into the WBC finals this year with a moderately surprising 3-1 victory over the MLB stacked Dominican Republic. It really doesn't help when D.R.'s 3-4-5 hitters (Albert Pujols, David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre) go a combined 1-12 and leave 10 men on base. And in a modestly ironic move, Alfonso Soriano (0-12 in the WBC) struck out to end the game.
One thing I need to touch on is something the announcers continued to do throughout the tournament. The Cubans are not amateurs. They are the professional/national team of Cuba. Stop calling them amateurs. If the U.S. and Cuba got along better, politically, atleast a third of the guys playing for Cuba would have already been on MLB rosters. The only thing holding these boys back from multi-million dollar contracts is Fidel Castro. We'll be on the lookout for any defections after the championship game.
Back later tonight with results from Korea vs. Japan.
(time passes)
Hmmm...8th inning rain delay. Japan 6 Korea 0. Not what we were expecting but I guess Korea found out what we in the U.S. already know...Byung-Hyun Kim stinks....you do not want this guy on your team; fantasy or reality.
In real Spring Training news...
Braves skipper, Bobby Cox, reiterated today that the closer's job belongs to Chris Reitsma. It is his to lose. Personally, I think he'll lose it sometime towards the end of May, bu teven that could be optimistic. If you're going to draft him, make sure you leave room for guys like Oscar Villerreal or Joey Devine.
The word out of Rumorsville has the Red Sox and Pirates discussing a Craig Wilson for Matt Clement trade. Wilson would definitely benefit from this as he could spell Trot Nixon in the OF and serve as a backup to catcher Jason Varitek. Clement on the other hand would probably suffer in the wins depatment but regain some of those overall numbers he had in past time in the NL. See how it plays out first...until then, their roto values remain unchanged.
It looks like uber-prospect Francisco Liriano could be starting the year in AAA. Manager Ron Gardenhire thinks he can be used in the bullpen to start out, but GM Terry Ryan doesn't want that. Look for the GM to win this power struggle. He'll either start the year in the rotation or he'll start in AAA, with the latter seeming more likely.
Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez will probably be sent to AAA as well. He would have been better off stayin gin the AL trying to glom DH at bats. We'll probably see him when interleague play starts and the Pods go to the AL parks.
Bad news out of Toronto as newly signed pitcher A.J. Burnett removed himself from today's game and is en route to the hospital for an emergency MRI on his elbow. We'll see what the results are, but the words "elbow", "injury" and "Burnett" in the same sentence can only mean disaster. Can't say I didn't warn you...if you picked him up already then I'm sorry for your loss; if you haven't drafted yet, then don't grab him. Here's why.
The David Wells controversies continue in Boston as he has publicly called manager Terry Francona an "idiot" for divulging an earlier conversation to the media. He should still remain in the Boston rotation so there's no real need to adjust his value. Just Boomer being Boomer again.
Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter has extended his scoreless innings streak to 16 now and has a 13/1 K/BB ratio so far. He remains a top flight pitcher and, barring injury, will produce excellent numbers across the board.
More to follow later, so until then...
Catch you next time...
So Cuba is the first into the WBC finals this year with a moderately surprising 3-1 victory over the MLB stacked Dominican Republic. It really doesn't help when D.R.'s 3-4-5 hitters (Albert Pujols, David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre) go a combined 1-12 and leave 10 men on base. And in a modestly ironic move, Alfonso Soriano (0-12 in the WBC) struck out to end the game.
One thing I need to touch on is something the announcers continued to do throughout the tournament. The Cubans are not amateurs. They are the professional/national team of Cuba. Stop calling them amateurs. If the U.S. and Cuba got along better, politically, atleast a third of the guys playing for Cuba would have already been on MLB rosters. The only thing holding these boys back from multi-million dollar contracts is Fidel Castro. We'll be on the lookout for any defections after the championship game.
Back later tonight with results from Korea vs. Japan.
(time passes)
Hmmm...8th inning rain delay. Japan 6 Korea 0. Not what we were expecting but I guess Korea found out what we in the U.S. already know...Byung-Hyun Kim stinks....you do not want this guy on your team; fantasy or reality.
In real Spring Training news...
Braves skipper, Bobby Cox, reiterated today that the closer's job belongs to Chris Reitsma. It is his to lose. Personally, I think he'll lose it sometime towards the end of May, bu teven that could be optimistic. If you're going to draft him, make sure you leave room for guys like Oscar Villerreal or Joey Devine.
The word out of Rumorsville has the Red Sox and Pirates discussing a Craig Wilson for Matt Clement trade. Wilson would definitely benefit from this as he could spell Trot Nixon in the OF and serve as a backup to catcher Jason Varitek. Clement on the other hand would probably suffer in the wins depatment but regain some of those overall numbers he had in past time in the NL. See how it plays out first...until then, their roto values remain unchanged.
It looks like uber-prospect Francisco Liriano could be starting the year in AAA. Manager Ron Gardenhire thinks he can be used in the bullpen to start out, but GM Terry Ryan doesn't want that. Look for the GM to win this power struggle. He'll either start the year in the rotation or he'll start in AAA, with the latter seeming more likely.
Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez will probably be sent to AAA as well. He would have been better off stayin gin the AL trying to glom DH at bats. We'll probably see him when interleague play starts and the Pods go to the AL parks.
Bad news out of Toronto as newly signed pitcher A.J. Burnett removed himself from today's game and is en route to the hospital for an emergency MRI on his elbow. We'll see what the results are, but the words "elbow", "injury" and "Burnett" in the same sentence can only mean disaster. Can't say I didn't warn you...if you picked him up already then I'm sorry for your loss; if you haven't drafted yet, then don't grab him. Here's why.
The David Wells controversies continue in Boston as he has publicly called manager Terry Francona an "idiot" for divulging an earlier conversation to the media. He should still remain in the Boston rotation so there's no real need to adjust his value. Just Boomer being Boomer again.
Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter has extended his scoreless innings streak to 16 now and has a 13/1 K/BB ratio so far. He remains a top flight pitcher and, barring injury, will produce excellent numbers across the board.
More to follow later, so until then...
Catch you next time...
posted by Howard Bender at
7:15 PM
