Around The Diamond

(From Phillies.com)

Exactly how I like my Charlie Manuel... slumped in a chair, sunglasses on, with what could possibly be an empty beer can under his chair, fist bumping Jim Thome. 

Those of you who emailed me with Hector Luna as the first Phillies player to hit a Homerun this season will receive a free DroppedStrikeThree.com T-shirt! (no one emailed, and those shirts don't exist). The Phillies won today's exhibition game in Clearwater this afternoon against the Florida State Seminoles with a score of 6-1. Not much worth commenting on other than the fact that Juan Pierre led off the game with an incredibly uncharacteristic strikeout and Domonic Brown took a ball off the hand he injured last year. For two guys that need a lot of things to go their way to earn a spot on the team, this probably wasn't the start they were hoping for. Pierre was an interesting get mostly because he's a contact hitter who rarely ever strikes out. He'll be competing with a near mirror image of himself in Scott Podsednik for a 5th OF spot and a likely frequent pinch running gig. A healthy Podsednik has a leg up due to his 2010 success, though last year he battled through multiple injuries. Keep an eye out for this one. Brown, on the other hand, practically needs to have a flawless spring and while he did steal a base in that same inning, the HBP just gives management one more thing to point at should he struggle for a few brief moments this spring. His only real chance lies with an injury to either of the two mentioned above or Laynce Nix. The real Grapefruit League action begins in two more days with a Saturday afternoon game against the Yankees. Anything to get this image off my Yahoo home page:

Another fantasy baseball freebie here for you from the folks at ClubhouseGM.com. Check out their 35 page draft kit, as well as their player rankings and tier projections. I find you can never have too many opinions when it comes to fantasy. 

Mike Stanton is now Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton... add this one to the list of name changes this season. 

Poor David Wright... stuck on a team that dumped 50% of its salary and just about every asset they have to fend off the bill collectors. Now, to top it all off, he has to wear orange and blue shirts with the Underdog logo on the front. As if they weren't already the punchline of just about every joke in baseball, now they've chosen to promote their struggles. This isn't a team that has struggled to attract free agents or sustained years of reduced payroll. This is a team that was has been auctioned off over the past year because the Wilpons are desperate to maintain ownership of the team. It's going to take a team full of superhero dogs to save the Mets. Sorry, David Wright... there is very much a "need to fear."

The Cure Baseball is a pretty non-profit organization with the goal of raising money for cancer research groups and families affected by cancer through the game of baseball. They are raising money to support a traveling summer baseball team that will in turn use every summer game to act as a fundraiser. I think it's a pretty cool outreach that all baseball fans could get behind. How do you support from Philadelphia? Well donate, or buy some merchandise!

Lunch Time Link Dump: First Off Season Edition

• Hot off the presses is Baseball America's Prospect rankings. The biggest surprises to me are Catcher, Sebastian Valle coming in at 3rd and Pitcher, Jonathan Pettibone jumping all the way up to Number 4. The Phillies have a handful of strong pitching prospects, but the Pettibone promotion seems to come out of left field to me. May, Biddle, Aumont, DeFratus, and Colvin are the more commonly talked about names which leads me to believe that Pettibone must have really impressed some scouts with velocity or movement to elevate his status so much. Also take a look at that 2015 projected lineup. A lot of familiar faces mixed in with a lot of high upside talent!

 

• Shane Victorino is a #Belieber 

• A growing rumor I've heard on a few sites is the idea of Jose Reyes to the Marlins. The Phillies are the model of success when it comes to signing a superstar free agent to a middle of the road team that's moving into a new stadium. But then what do they do with Hanley Ramirez? One option is to move him to third base which gives you a powerful lineup of Reyes, Gaby Sanchez, Hanley, LoMo, Bonifacio, and Stanton with a healthy Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez. But with Emilio Bonfacio playing a lot of games at 3rd Base for the Marlins last season, maybe either he or Hanley become expendable pieces for the Marlins. Either would be solid top of the lineup SS options for a whole host of teams, including the Phillies.

• Adding insult to an already insulting October/November, the Cardinals have asked for permission from the Phillies to interview Ryne Sandberg for their now vacant head coaching position. When word got out that the Cubs were looking for a manager with a little more experience than Sandberg, I was a bit giddy over the idea of keeping him in our organization. With Pete Mackanan interviewing for a handful of other coaching jobs, there's likely to be an opening just to the left of Charlie on the top of the dugout steps. At the very least, the AAA job is surely Sandberg's to keep. Maybe I'm just daydreaming alongside Justin from TBOH when I imagine Sandberg grooming Phillies minor leaguers for two more years after Charlie can ride off into the sunset of retirement and Ryne can take over a team largely made up of his own guys.  

• Citi Field is in the midst of a make-over. No, not some sort of noise suppressing dome to eliminate the sound of airplanes landing at Laguardia, but instead they'll be moving in the outfield walls to address the significant drop in HRs that they've experienced since moving from Shea. Perhaps they don't realize that a deep outfield isn't necessarily a bad thing for a team that led the league in extra base hits that didn't clear the wall and has enough speed to rank 3rd in SBs. Do the 10-12 extra HRs a year make up for the likely reduction in doubles and triples that drive in runs? No one else in baseball can quite screw things up like the Mets. With their aforementioned noise pollution problems, the ridiculous Jason Bay contract, the revolving door of management, having to watch their best player leave via free agency, and finishing 3.5 games behind the Washington Nationals, it's only getting worse to be a Mets fan.

• It's not too early to start Christmas shopping for me:

Phillies Win 8-5?

A Haiku to describe yesterday's game...

Mini Mart hits a homer.

Harold Camping must be right.

The world ends this year.

So let me get this straight... Vance Worley is effectively wild for 6+ innings and the Mets can only score a run? Then they shellack Cy Young candidate Cole Hamels for 7 runs and an early exit? And then Kyle Kendrick shuts down the Mets for the better part of the day Sunday? All the while, John Mayberry and Michael Martinez are the offensive powerhouses of the weekend? You can't predict baseball.

Lunch Time Link Dump

Baseball is upon us. I'm still as optomistic as ever about the Phillies, but let's be honest, they were playing the Astros (Read: Another franchise run into the ground by Ed Wade). So while initially I planned a lengthy article highlighting all the finer points of Phillies baseball through the first three games, instead I'm going to hold off for one more series. The Mets may not be much better than the Astros, but a familiar division opponent will be a better test to see where the bar should be set. So for now, links...

• A pretty awesome article from Joe Posnanski of SI.com about moving on after the excitement of Opening Day and moving into the 162 game grind. For some fans, the season ends much sooner than it does in Philadelphia these days.

• While watching the Yankees game on Fox on Saturday, I couldn't help but notice what an enormous nerd Ken Rosenthal looked like for wearing that stupid bow tie. Guys who are 5 feet tall and have the same haircut as Pee-Wee Herman should really make better decisions regarding neck wear.

• Speaking of Yankees, don't look now but Mark Teixeira is on pace for 162 Homeruns. If that doesn't win him an MVP as I predicted, then I don't know what will. It should also win me about 4 fantasy baseball leagues. Kyle Drabek killed it on Saturday too. Both are on my team so I might be a genius.

• If you can't laugh at yourself, then really, who can you laugh at? I thought a SNY employee inserting a clip of an old Family Guy episode into the post game broadcast was pretty hilarious, but obviously it's going to cause some repercussions. It's still not as bad as the Manhattan Mini Storage ad.  

• Here's the blog of that dude who has become famous for snagging foul balls and homeruns at dozens of ballparks. I like catching batting practice on occasion and if a ball lands within arms reach, I'll make a play for it. I have some friends who get a little more intense when it comes to BP (you know who you are!). But the things this dude does take disturbing to a whole new level. 1st off, anyone with a sign begging for a ball is pathetic. 2nd, adults don't bring baseball gloves to a game. Lastly, swapping clothes mid-BP to appear to be a fan of the other team is a violation of epic proportions. No baseball is worth selling your fan-soul for. 

• Jason Stark's article on how the Phillies managed to get their starting rotation together is pretty interesting. We don't really think about it much anymore, but trading away Cliff Lee is really the only scenario that allowed the Phillies to sign him as a free agent. Funny how Ruben went from public enemy to genius. 

• The Phillies 5 starting pitchers as 76ers... could you ever imagine the Eagles doing something like this?

• In case you haven't heard, ZooWithRoy.com won ThePhield of 64 Phillies blogs. While probably not the most informative or educational blog out there, ZWR is certainly entertaining. The anonymous creator posts up plenty of baseball related tidbits without taking himself too seriously... and it's been a massive success. Maybe this time next year, I'll be looking down on the Phillies blog world from the same perch instead of losing to a site that only updates on full moons.

• I had this conversation at the bar the other day with a complete stranger, but the more this Barry Bonds case goes on, the more furious I get about the complete waste of taxpayer money that's involved. Millions upon Millions of dollars are spent on a victimless crime trying to prove perjury, yet there are thousands of unsolved/unprosecuted  murders out there. Being guilty in the court of public opinion is far more damaging to Bonds than anything a court could levy on him.

• Three fairly high profile guys already headed to the bench/DL for injuries this weekend: Evan Longoria and Jair Jurrjens strain an oblique, and Matt Holliday needs an emergency appendectomy. Probably no DL time for Holliday, but good luck finding a 3rd Baseman capable of producing in place of Longoria. Looks like 3 weeks or more is a possibility.

Wait, we signed who?

No, I haven't been wallowing in self pity over my first round loss in ThePhield or hiding under a rock the past three days. In fact, I've been in a place the locals call "Baseball Heaven". Though, unless you're thing is a car full of sloppy looking Latino chicks flashing you on the highway at midnight (yes, that happened), I don't exactly consider St. Louis heavenly. Why a city would plop a beautiful stadium in the Midwest equivalent of Camden is beyond me, but I digress...

So, Luis Castillo, huh? We're going to replace a top three second baseman with a castoff from our enemy who can't make it to his first game on time. More than a bit of a head-scratcher to me, but maybe that's why I build houses for a living instead of running baseball teams. There's pros and cons and at the end of the day it's a move that's worth trying, but that doesn't mean I agree with it.

First, the good... he's a three time All Star and Gold Glover who pokes singles like they're going out of style and has stolen a bunch of bases in his career and has put up respectable numbers as recently as 2009 and only signed a minor league deal worth a few pennies. He's definitely a small ball player which was one of my 2011 predictions.

That's all I got for the good.

The bad... well, I'm going to need bullet points for this one

• He's 35 years old. We're already the oldest team in the majors and he shifts the curve further in the wrong direction. He's already started to show that there's not much left in the tank...
• Remember all those reasons I said Lastings Milledge might be a good fit? Those are the same reasons why Luis Castillo is not. There's a difference between a 26 year old with an attitude problem and a 35 year old. Castillo is proof that a Leopard cannot change his spots and has had more than his share of 2nd chances. 
• Number 1 is retired in Philadelphia.
• He has zero pop. That was acceptable when he was a 62 SB threat. That's no going to happen at his age.
• His 2010 was dreadful. Wilson Valdez out-performed him in just about every category. His season ending "bruised" heel was the equivalent to putting an injured horse out of its misery.
• He was cut by the Mets. Seriously. If the welfare bound Mets are willing to swallow $6M and let him walk away in favor of three guys who aren't even a blip on anyone's radar, what value does he really have?
• His signing takes away opportunities from guys who have done everything right this spring. I know how meaningless ST is to most people, but Josh Barfield, Wilson Valdez, and Delwyn Young have had impressive springs. These three guys have more to lose than Castillo and are simply more hungry for a job.

Sure, this is the epitome of a tiny risk, medium reward move. If he pulls his diva routine or stinks it up, the Phillies can cut him and go back with the Valdez/Barfield/Young/Orr/Martinez Plan B. If he gets his act together, maybe he can stick it to the Mets once or twice and give us a solid OBP. But I'm doubtful we'll see any of the latter. It's not my favorite move ever, but it's certainly no Adam Eaton.

Lunch Time Link Dump

Another episode of Lunch Time Link Dump. Got some pretty cool news last night so I'm going to try to step up my game in the next few days:

• First and foremost... get your ass over to ThePhield to see the field of 64 greatest Philadelphia sports blogs. I'm a #12 seed up against PhilliesLongDrive.com, and while I don't expect to win, help me put up a good fight! The voting directions should be on the image! Get them in by 5pm Thursday!

• KELLERandGEORGE are a couple of jokers from PA who take a break from cow-tipping to do a somewhat listenable podcast. It's a nice mix of humor, sports, and pop culture. 

• Not to steal their thunder, but Norm MacDonald will be hosting a sports related show on Comedy Central this spring. I've always thought he was hilarious and his take on sports is even better than his usual stuff. Who doesn't remember his schtick hosting the ESPYs that got him a bunch of dirty looks from Ken Griffey Jr. and no invite back?

• Check out your Grapefruit League leading Philadelphia Phillies! Those AAA guys are really raking down there!

• Exactly as I was saying about Albert Pujols. It's going to be tough for him to get $300M if the Yankees and Red Sox aren't interested in bidding. 

• 16 Great Baseball books from the Huffington Post. I have about 5 of them in my collection and can vouch for Moneyball, Between the Numbers, and The Bill James Abstract as excellent choices.

• LOLMets. For the ridiculous sourpuss face that RA Dickey makes when he throws his knuckleball. And for sending out this incredibly lame email yesterday asking their fans to buy tickets to games in Philadelphia: 

• (Hint, Sell out your own games first. We don't need your help packing the house. They don't expect to sell out their own games. I spoke to a chick last week about ordering 40 of them for a road trip in September.)

• There are about 30 reasons why the Rangers will keep Michael Young. It's not even a remote possibility, Phillies fans. Just forget about it. I'm guessing that Young still starts about 140 games this year for the Rangers. 

• GQ does a lovely little piece on Derek Jeter. My favorite part: "His defensive range was so limited—by one measure, he placed last among shortstops for his overall contribution in the field—that when he won his fifth Gold Glove award, a post on a widely respected baseball Web site read simply "My head just exploded." Cue the Derek Jeter apologists...