Mack Ade – Morning Report – 3-20-13

I received another $30 in donations, raising this month’s drive total received to $145. God bless all of you.

Major League baseball owners will be voting on May 8^th and 9^th on whether they will take the pension plans away from front-office executives, trainers, minor league staff and scouts. It is expected to pass. What nice guys.

John Sickles pointed out… Tom Glavine went 1-5, 5.62, 12-K, 27-BB, 40-IP in AAA in 1986.

I watched the replay of the Mets-Cardinals game on MLB-TV on Tuesday. How can you not be excited about a pitcher like Mike Harvey? First, the control and now hitting 100. The boy deserves a lineup around him

The Reds reassign Billy Hamilton and Drew Hayes to minors camp

St. Louis released SS Ronny Cedeno.

The Texas Rangers options out Mike Olt, Jeff Beliveau, Wilmer Font, and Engel Beltre, Collin Balestar, Evan Meek, Yoshinori Tateyama, Neal Cotts, Juan Apodaca, Jose Felix, Brandon Snyder, and Brandon Allen.

Travis d’Arnaud – link - “I feel like I’ve been playing really well and getting my comfort level back in the box after not playing for so long,. I’m catching well and [my] game-calling [has been good]. I feel like I’ve been doing pretty well.In the beginning I was a little too antsy and trying to do a little too much and I had a talk with Hudgy [hitting coach Dave Hudgens] about just relaxing and getting pitches I can handle. So far it’s been successful and I feel a lot more comfortable at the plate.”

Mets fans… don’t forget July 31^st - link  -  “Yet, when Marlon Byrd is considered the favorite to start in right field, it's only just that Mets realists are mostly focused on July 31, the non-waiver trade deadline. Similar to how the front office acquired top prospects for Carlos Beltran in 2011, and for R.A. Dickey during this offseason, there are a variety of current Mets players who should be donning different jerseys if the organization correctly forges ahead with its rebuilding effort.”

A nice Cole Frenzel story – link - A native of North Dakota, the 23-year-old Frenzel became a legend as a high school player. A left-handed hitter and right-handed thrower, he helped lead his team to two state titles, and was named an All-State player during his final three seasons. He also holds the state’s high school home run record with 23. He ultimately accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Arizona.

A Cory Vaughn siting in an article – link - Even though den Dekker put on a defensive show during spring training, the 25-year-old struggled mightily in Triple-A in 2012, posting a worrisome .220/.256/.373 line. The left-handed hitter also struck out an alarming 154 times over 585 total PAs. Vaughn, son of Greg, is arguably the higher-ceiling hitter of the two, as he posted a .814 OPS with 23 HR at Advanced-A. That said, the right-handed hitter will turn 24 in May, has yet to play above A-ball, and similar to den Dekker, has a tendency to strike out (114 Ks over 535 PAs).

MLBTR reports that the Boston Red Sox are looking to increase their rotation talent. Seems the 1012 and current version posted the worst team ERA (5.19)in Boston history….  We might want to keep an eye on this team as a possible dump zone come July for either Johan Santana or Shaun Marcum for OF prospect Jackie Bradley or Bryce Brentz.