Memphis 3, Buffalo 2

The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, fell to the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), 3-2, on Thursday afternoon from Jupiter, FL

The Bisons are now 0-3-2 in their 10-game exhibition schedule (one game lost to rain).

Bisons outfielder Jason Cooper went 1-4 with an RBI-double at the plate while fellow outfielder Jesus Feliciano drove home the other Bisons run with his 1-3 performance. Outfielder Fernando Martinez was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.

On the mound, LHP Jon Switzer and RHP Eddie Kunz each threw two scoreless innings.

MiLB.com Interview With Clones

In this, the final installment of "At Home With," we speak with Brooklyn Cyclones media relations director Dave Campanaro. Since their inception in 2001, the Cyclones have ranked among the top drawing teams in all of Minor League Baseball.

MiLB.com: How would characterize your team's fan base? Has it grown or changed in recent years?

DC: Brooklynites are extremely passionate about baseball -- and about anything that is distinctly the borough's own -- so we're fortunate in that we meet both criteria. When the Cyclones were born in 2001, the fan base was starved for professional baseball. It had been 44 years since the Dodgers left for LA and Brooklyn's heart still hadn't healed (and probably never will). That first year was all about baseball returning to Brooklyn, but it was also about introducing the Minor League atmosphere to a Major League market. Most New Yorkers had very little, if any, experience with Minor League teams -- the promotions, the wackiness, the between-inning contests, the zany antics. In those first couple of years, I think we introduced a whole new world of baseball to the New York market, and we've been building on that ever since.

As time has gone on, our fan base has become much more familiar with and knowledgeable about, the brand of entertainment (and baseball) we offer. They have come to love the Cyclones for who we are and what we do, rather than seeing us as a potential replacement for the Dodgers (which are super-sized shoes that no one can fill). We still have our share of baseball purists and historians, but every year we see more and more families, kids and casual fans who enjoy not only the game itself, but all the entertainment that surrounds it.

The fact that we can appeal to both is what makes the Cyclones experience so special, and what makes our fan base so diverse.

LINK for more: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090325&content_id=531135&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Mets Prospect - P - Nick Carr

Nicholas Carr P R R 6' 1" 195 04-19-1987

Carr was drafted #41 in the 2005 MLB draft by the Mets. He came straight out of Twin Falls High School, where he posted a 17-4 record over his junior and senior year. Carr decided not to sign, and instead attended the College of Southern Idaho, where he went 5-3, 2.18 ERA, last year.

The Mets signed him as a draft-and-follow on May 24, 2006. Terms of his deal were not disclosed. Currently Carr is all speed, with a fastball that tops out at 95. OnDeck updated their ratings for the Appalachian League at the end of the 2006 season and ranked Carr the 10th best starter in the league (181.34 rating) and the 14th top league prospect overall (1st on the team). His stats were… well… ok: 12 Games, 11 starts, 3-3, 4.88, 1.50. He did have 44Ks in 48 IP but gave up 23 BB as well.

From BA on 8-24-07:

The Brooklyn Cyclones feature more veteran minor leaguers than true prospects, but righthander Nick Carr is one to keep an eye on. The 20-year-old had 56 strikeouts in 42 innings, issuing 16 walks en route to a 3.25 ERA.

The Mets drafted Carr in the 41st round of the 2005 draft, and signed him as a draft-and-follow after he played at the Junior College of Southern Idaho. Carr threw in the low 90s a year ago, but this season he his fastball has been clocked in the mid- to high-90s, thanks in part to improved conditioning. He threw 48 innings in the Rookie-level Appalachian League last year, posting a 4.88 ERA with 44 strikeouts and 23 walks.

In 2007, Carr played for the Cyclones, going 5-2, 3.80, 1.24 in 14 starts.

In September 2007, baseball America ranked Carr as the 16th yop prospect in the NY-Penn league.

In November 2007, he was named the 13th top Mets prospect by Scouts.com.
In late January 2007, Baseball America listed Carr as the #14 Mets prospect in their system, adding: ‘looks like he is close to having 2 + pitches, fastball and slider.’
In late January 2007, Baseball America named Carr as the 19th overall Mets prospect (notice his ranking going down…)

Carr started and ended the season with St. Lucie, but spent the middle with Savannah. His combined record for the year was: 3-12, 5.22.

In October 2008, Toby Hyde write:

The Mets skipped Carr over the SAL straight from Brooklyn in 2007 to the Florida State League in 2008, and the results were simply ugly early. Through June 5, he was 0-7 with a 7.19 ERA, when the Mets sent him down to Savannah to get right. Life was a little better in the SAL, but he was forced back to the FSL in early July when the system was short on arms due to a number of injuries. However, Carr finished 2008 by making his last two starts his best of the year. In his last 12 innings, Carr didn’t allow a run, gave up seven hits, walked three and struck out 13. Carr still has a big-time special arm. He throws 90-95 and was sitting at 92-93. However, in July in the FSL, he had only a slight idea where the ball was going when it left his hand. He threw his below average slider (~80 mph) and change (~84/85 mph) sparingly. I’d suggest that Carr’s future is in the bullpen, but I’d like to see him repeat the FSL as a starter in 2009, and experience some success, and pick up more repetitions, before moving to AA. Likely 09 Start: A+

The Mack Attack - March 26, 2009

Mets News

RHP Rocky Cherry signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox.


The Mets released Valerio De Los Santos


The sure things in the Met bullpen are Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, Sean Green and Pedro Feliciano; and - more and more - Bobby Parnell is making himself a lock. Brian Stokes is out of options and the Mets like him enough that he will make the team. That leaves one spot for Darren O'Day, Fernando Nieve, Carlos Muniz and Ron Villone. I keep hearing that this is still a real competition that could go down to the last day or two. If there is a leader, it is possibly O'Day because the Mets do like him and he is a Rule 5 pick who would have to be offered back to the Angels if he did not make the 25-man roster.

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/ar...wang_cano.html


Bobby Parnell is a guy that came into camp with not a big chance to make the team. He is young, inexperienced, and he lacks the seasoning needed to be in a major league bullpen…or so we thought. As of today, Parnell stands an excellent chance of making the Mets’ opening day roster, and he may have the fun burden of handling the seventh inning and handing the baseball off to J.J. Putz and then K-Rod. But, does he have the ability to do it successfully? I think so. Do you remember a couple of years back when the Mets carried a kid out of camp who went by the name Joe Smith? He had no chance to make the team. Nobody had ever heard of him, and he made sure they did by the end of camp. Smith impressed the big club so much that they carried him to start the season, and he eventually would garner enough value to help the Mets land a proven closer named J.J. Putz.

http://dailystache.net/archives/1653


Frankie Rodriguez doesn't have a problem with four-out saves. Only answering questions about them. Apparently, it's a sensitive subject for K-Rod, who earned back-to-back four-out saves for Team Venezuela after he was not used at all in those situations during last season for the Angels. With Jerry Manuel looking to give his WBC players an extended breather upon their return to the Mets, Rodriguez was asked yesterday if he might need to recharge after his starring role for Team Venezuela. "Why should you tell me that I'm not ready to get back?" Rodriguez said. "I prepared myself really good before every game, so I don't think it's going to take me 10 days or two months to get my energy back. It's going to be right back the next day. "I don't know what you're honestly trying to tell me or what the point is you're trying to get at. A four-out save is like a three-out save. To me, it's the same. I know people have made a big deal about four-out saves. I want to have the same opportunity here, too. I don't know why it's such a big deal."

http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spm...0,769071.story



Here's the skinny. Ignoring or failing to secure other options the Mets just resigned a guy who: their own pitching coach had reservations about, came to camp out of shape and overweight after an off-season where as a free agent, he drew almost zero interest, and...apparently needs a babysitter. A real pro's pro. Inning one of today's spring game against the Tigers was pure Oliver Alchemy, the way Oliver Perez' inability to focus seems to combine with Mets fielding blunders to create some of the most unwatchable baseball possible. Today: Reyes looses ball in sun, Perez proceeds to attempt to walk the ballpark. I turn off TV set. My revulsion at watching Perez pitch is getting to Traschellistic proportions. How many times do you feel like you've seen that one before? Resigning this jokster was a big blunder on the Mets part, an incredible failure of imagination and planning and it will cost them. Mark my words

http://itsmetsforme.blogspot.com/200...signs-big.html



Among the New Yorkers who expressed interest in big-league baseball, more than half - 56% - pledged alliance to the Bronx Bombers and only a third said they root for the Mets, a Quinnipiac poll found. In a theoretical Subway Series, the Yanks are fan favorites, 55% to 42%, holding an edge in every borough but Queens, where the Amazin’s play.

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/...ueens_poll_fin


4. Have the Mets addressed their bullpen problem?

Ummm, ya' think? With last year's bullpen meltdown undoubtedly still fresh in the minds of management, the Mets pulled out the stops in going after top-shelf relievers this offseason. Francisco Rodriguez, one of the elite closers in the game and the owner of the single-season save record, was signed to a three-year deal worth $37 million. A few hours later the Mets acquired another top-notch reliever, J.J. Putz of the Mariners, who came over in a head-spinning three-team trade that involved approximately 37 players. When the dust settled, the Mets also had acquired side-arming reliever Sean Green, while bidding adios to relievers Aaron Heilman and Joe Smith. The end result looks pretty darn good, not that last year's bullpen looked bad on paper. As I wrote in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009, the Mets bullpen projected to be better than the Phillies relief corps, but it simply didn't work out that way. That can always happen, of course—players don't always meet their projections. This is especially true for relief pitchers, whose projections are necessarily based on relatively few innings pitched. But the Mets must feel pretty happy with their new relievers. There are still a couple tweaks left to make: Duaner Sanchez was recently released after the Mets concluded he would never get back the stuff he had prior to his 2006 auto accident. So there is an opening or two in the 'pen and much of the current discussion revolves around the possibility of adding a left-handed arm, since there is currently only one (belonging to Pedro Feliciano) in the bullpen.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/ar...new-york-mets4



WBC Leaders: Kevin Youkilis was tied for the tournament lead in runs with 9 despite only a .182 average. He did have an OBP of .357. Yoennis Cespedes had three triples in six games…Gift Ngoepe (South Africa) was second in slugging with a 1.200, but he only got five at bats…Brett Roneberg (Australia) was tops in slugging (1.286) and OPS (2.036) but he only got seven at bats…Greg hallman struck out 9 times in 11 at bats, but the strikeout leaders were Adam Dunn and Michihiro Ogasawara with 10…Iwakuma’s 20 innings pitched was the most by a pitcher in the WBC…Darvish led the WBC in K’s with 20. Iwakuma was second with 15…Oliver Perez gave up 5 homeruns in a little over six innings of work for a 9.45 ERA…Francisco Rodriguez was the save leader with three, so if they wanted to name a closer to the tournament team he would be the logical selection

http://myworldofbaseball.com/wordpress/?m=200903



Mets Alumni:

LHP Royce Ring was placed on waivers by St. Louis

P Danny Graves was released by the Astros


Beyond that, Mike Piazza recently announced that he's writing his autobiography. When the news of that broke, I opined that there aren't many superstars blander than Piazza, and that guys like him don't really make for riveting reading. One has to wonder now whether the pitch to his publisher involved a promise to be the first megastar -- non-Canseco division -- to come completely clean on PEDs in print.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/sh...up-mike-piazza


Fantasy:

MVN’s Top 150 Fantasy Players:

3. David Wright, 3B-NYM
4. Jose Reyes, SS-NYM
17. Johan Santana, SP-NYM
18. Carlos Beltran, OF-NYM
59. Francisco Rodriguez, RP-NYM
108. Carlos Delgado, 1B-NYM

http://mvn.com/outsider/2009/03/fant...l-top-120.html


General:

Johnny Blanchard, a Yankee from 1955-65, passed away today. He was 76. Blanchard played in five World Series, helping the Yankees win two of them. He was an outfielder and catcher.



The West Michigan Whitecaps, a minor-league baseball team, will be offering up major league cholesterol, carbohydrates and calories in an enormous hamburger being added to the menu this year at the Fifth Third Ballpark. The 1.8-kilogram, US$20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips, all on an 20-centimetre sesame-seed bun.... The Grand Rapids Press reports that anyone who eats the entire 4,800-calorie behemoth in one sitting will receive a special T-shirt. Saner fans can divide it up with a pizza cutter and share.

http://xmmlbchat.blogspot.com/2009/0...am-offers.html



Perhaps that will be the case, but it's clear that many major league clubs and American players simply aren't interested. The US roster was so thinned by a lack of talent and injuries that Indians third baseman Mark DeRosa was forced to start at first base in the semifinal loss. Many clubs, though not admitting so publicly, discourage their star players from participating because they fear potential injuries to their major investments. "The clubs hear this all the time, but I'm going to say this to you as directly as I can: This is a time in life where I know how important your individual club is, this is a time to put the best interests of the game ahead of your own provincial self-interest," Selig said. "Everything we have ever tried to do, whether it was the wild cards or whatever, there was always some criticism. I accept it, and I understand that, but the clubs themselves years ago took a vote on this. They agreed that we had to do something internationally, that we needed to go to China, and we decided that this was the vehicle we were going to use to do that. Now we've got to cooperate with that vehicle."

http://baseballprospectus.com/articl...articleid=8657

Mack's Prospect # 14 - P - Robert Carson

Robert Carson P L L 6-3 220 Hattiesburg HS (Ms.)

Carson had a disappointing senior season at Hattiesburg, finishing 3-5 with only 36 Ks. The bright spot was his 2.65 ERA. As a junior, he went 5-2 with 2 saves and a 2.15 ERA with 60 Ks.

The Mets drafted Carson in the 14th round of the 2007 draft. He signed and was placed on The GCL Mets roster, where he went 1-0, 5.00 in 4 games, 1 start.

Scouts say he has a “big time arm” and throws a “heavy” fastball. Carson features 4 pitches, a fastball, changeup, cutter and curveball. His fastball sits 90-92, and has topped out at 94. His changeup sits around 75-80, while his curveball is low to mid 70s.

In 2008, Carson started out with the GCL Mets and pitched impressively: 1-0, 1.57, 0.74. He was promoted to Kingsport, where he went 2-3, 1.76 in 6 starts.

In September 2008, Toby Hyde wrote:

LHP Robert Carson – 1-0, 1.57 ERA, 5 GS, 23 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 25 K - A pair of dominant outing in July, 12 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 16 K, proved that big lefty was ready for challenges beyond the GCL and earned him a promotion to Kingsport. Carson missed much of 2007 after being struck on the head by a ball, but had a healthy and productive ’08. Carson is the only player in this GCL review who I didn’t see play live, since he threw the day before I arrived in Florida. His fastball sat was 90-93, and his secondary offerings were a slider and a changeup. He told me in July that he was very pleased with the development of the slider this year. As a lefty with good size and velocity, I really like Carson’s ceiling – which could be an MLB rotation sometime around 2012 or so. Projected 2009 Start: Savannah

February 2009:

Toby Hyde on his #18 – P Robert Carson (#7 on Mack’s Mets Prospect List):

Carson shares many of the attributes of pitchers ranked below him on this list: really good size and a good fastball with average or better MLB velocity, sitting in the low 90s, from the left side. Carson differentiates himself in part from those below him was the development of his slider, a pitch that became an effective weapon for him in 2008. The trouble that hitters had driving the ball against Carson is reflected in the fact that he allowed just one homer in over 50 innings of work in 2008. Moreover, he’s already filled out to some degree, and that’s not a bad thing. 2008: Carson missed almost all of 2007 after getting hit on the head by a baseball, but the high school draftee made up for lost time with a strong ’08. He announced that he was done with the GCL in early July when he allowed a combined, two hits, no walks, no runs and fanned 16 over back-to-back six inning performances. Promoted to the Appalachian League, Carson’s walk rate moved up, and his strikeout rate dropped, but he induced nearly three times as many ground balls as fly balls. Projected 2009 Start: Savannah if all goes well in spring training.

Mack: Tobi and I are on opposite poles on this kid, but that’s probably caused from the criteria used to rank these kids. I don’t care how many years they’ve been in the organization, or if their turn comes next. All my rankings are based on my opinions on who has the most tools, highest ceiling, and projects out (if they continue to produce as they have in the past) as a future major league star player. This is why kids like Bobby Parnell and Nick Evans are lower on my list that most bloggers that project prospects. Yes, Parnell and Evans will make it to the Bigs, but I don’t see their starting potential as high as some of the younger kids, like this one.

Mack's Met Prospect Bios up to 60,000 words

Remember... the Mack's Bios are now updated with everything I could find on all the current Mets on all the Mets' minor league teams.

60,000+ words on 140+ pages. I can email it diectly to you... just send nine bucks to paypal, account: JMAde2@aol.com... I'll email it to you the same day.

Mets Pen Prospect - RP - Eddy Camacho

Eddy Camacho P L L 6' 1" 180 23 09-17-1982 Cal State Northridge

In 2003, Camacho played for the La Crosse Loggers of the Northwoods League before going to Cal State Northridge. The strange thing is the fact that the two years he pitched in college were really nothing special: 1-9, 5.99, 1.91 in 2003 and 2-4, 5.66. 1.90 in 2004.

However, the Mets still signed Camacho in 2004 as an undrafted free agent, let him appear in 3 games for the GCL Mets, and then shipped him off to Brooklyn where he allowed only 19 hits in 44 innings pitched (3-1, 0.69, 0.77) and earned the nickname “everyday Eddy”. Go figure. 2005 brought more success, this time at St. Luice (2-4 2.74 10 saves). 2006 was a “breakout” year for Camacho at Binghamton. He appeared in 53 games, posted a 3.63 ERA (an absolutely great number for AA ball) and struck out 61 in 79.1 innings pitched. His 3 season minor league totals are 8-9 in 119 games, 2.61, 1.14 and 148 Ks in 172.2 IP.

In 2007, Camacho did pitch for New Orleans (2-1, 4.44, 1.41 in 32 relief appearances), pitched a little for St. Lucie (1-1. 2.77, 0.92 in 9 stints), but wound up ending the season for Binghamton (0-0, 0.00 in 5 appearances).
In September 2007, Camacho was assigned to play in the Arizona Winter League (which is always a sign that the organization wants to invest more time and money in you).
In 2008, Camacho pitched for both Binghamton and New Orleans, combining for: 5-3, 3.05 in 51 appearances.

R.I.P. - C Johnny Blanchard

Johnny Blanchard, a Yankee from 1955-65, passed away today. He was 76. Blanchard played in five World Series, helping the Yankees win two of them. He was an outfielder and catcher.

From Wiki:

John Edwin Blanchard (born February 26, 1933, Minneapolis, Minnesota - March 25, 2009) was a professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as an outfielder and catcher from 1955 and 1959-1965. A defensive liability for the New York Yankees for most of his career, Blanchard will always be remembered for his heroic play in the 1961 World Series. He hit 2 home runs in that series against the Cincinnati Reds and batted .400 for the entire series. In his career, Blanchard appeared in the World Series 5 times for the Yankees and holds the Major League record with ten World Series pinch-hit at-bats. Johnny Blanchard died peacefully in his sleep at home on March 25, 2009.[1]

The Mack Attack - March 25, 2009

Mets News

Division Preview - 1. New York Mets - This kills me picking this organization to win the NL East. I grew up in St. Louis and absolutely detested Strawberry, HoJo, Dykstra, Mookie, Doc (I snort after every game with Darryl)Gooden, Sid (I'm a fat elephant)Fernandez - God I hate them and the list goes on and on. How much did I love Wainwright (a rookie) buckling Beltran's knees in game 6 of the 2006 NLCS...well - let's just say I am still excited about Adam doing that to Cardinal killer Beltran. But 09 is the dawn of a new era. The Mets only made 2 significant moves in the off season...but oh man were they huge. They had single season save holder Francisco Rodriguez and stud closer, who now becomes one of the best setup men in baseball, JJ Putz. That is all this team needed to add with a lineup that includes Jose Reyes, Beltran, Wright and Carlos Delgado. This team has Santana as the ace of the staff and Maine, Pelfrey & Perez as serviceable 2-4's. This team has to win their division or it will be a huge disappointment from the top down. 2009 record 96-66

http://bigleaguebaseballblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/nl-east-preview.html


David Wright said reports last week of his toe were ‘somewhat overblown,’ noting that it was only a ‘little bruised.’ … “It’s fine,” he said. “I knew it was nothing serious at the time… If I would have thought something was seriously wrong, I wouldn’t have been out there.”

http://www.metsblog.com/2009/03/24/health-david-wrights-toe-is-fine


Xavier Nady… John Maine… Oliver Perez… Jeremy Reed… What do all the above players have in common? I’ll get to that in a minute. Jeremy Reed was drafted in the 2nd round by the Chicago White Sox, with the 59th overall pick in 2002. A year later, he was the Minor League Player of the Year. He began the year at Single A, and after producing a line of .333/.437/.477, yielding an OPS of .914 over 222 at bats, he was promoted to Double-A, where he found his power stroke, and hit .409/.472/.591, with an OPS of 1.063. He was promoted to AAA the following year, which included a mid-season trade to Seattle, and played a bit better in the hitter friendly PCL. He earned top prospect status, and a call-up after hitting .305/.367/.455, with an .822 OPS for Tacoma. Reed began his MLB career on fire, batting .397/.470/.466 for Seattle, with an OPS+ of 149 (100 is average), at the ripe age of 24. 2005 wasn’t as kind to him, as he batted .254/.322/.352, with an OPS + of 84. While not on par with his debut the previous season, his production in 2005 was not terrible for a rookie, especially one who led all center fielders in range factor.

http://nysportsdog.blogspot.com/2009/03/laying-in-reeds.html


Buffalo:

SP Freddy Garcia has been reassigned to the minor league camp and will report to Buffalo once the season starts

Mack: it looks like Bobby Parnell has successfully been converted to a reliever, thus, he will not be in the Bisons’ rotation. Look for the rotation to be: Garcia, Jonathan Niese, Adam Bostick, Fernando Nieve, and either Nelson Figueroa (if he doesn’t get named to the Mets’ pen) or Eric Brown.


The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, played to a 4-4 tie against the New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins) on Tuesday afternoon from Jupiter, FL. The Bisons are now 0-2-2 in their 10-game exhibition schedule (one game lost to rain). Bisons outfielder Jesus Feliciano went 2-3 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Outfielder Fernando Martinez’s RBI-single in the ninth inning helped the Bisons pull even with the Zephyrs. On the mound, RHP Kyle Snyder threw three scoreless innings while Valerio de los Santos and Connor Robertson each chipped in an inning of scoreless relief.


B-Mets:

B-Mets broadcaster Robert Ford is leaving the team to take a position with the Kansas City Royals hosting their pre and post game shows on KCSP AM. I will miss listening to the talented Ford, whose impressive preparation shone through on air. On the other hand, I couldn’t be happier for Ford in his new position. Ford will be replaced in the B-Mets booth by Matt McCabe who worked as an Ford’s broadcast intern for the B-Mets in 2007. McCabe broadcast for the Eugene Emeralds following his graduation from Rice in 2008.

http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com


Mets Alumni:

Section of book on Mike Piazza:

As the hundreds of major league ballplayers who turned to performance-enhancing drugs throughout the 1990s did their absolute best to keep the media at arm's length, Piazza took the opposite approach. According to several sources, when the subject of performance enhancing was broached with reporters he especially trusted, Piazza fessed up. "Sure, I use," he told one. "But in limited doses, and not all that often." (Piazza has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, but there has always been speculation.) Whether or not it was Piazza's intent, the tactic was brilliant: By letting the media know, of the record, Piazza made the information that much harder to report. Writers saw his bulging muscles, his acne-covered back. They certainly heard the under-the-breath comments from other major league players, some who considered Piazza's success to be 100 percent chemically delivered. "He's a guy who did it, and everybody knows it," says Reggie Jefferson, the longtime major league first baseman. "It's amazing how all these names, like Roger Clemens, are brought up, yet Mike Piazza goes untouched."
"There was nothing more obvious than Mike on steroids," says another major league veteran who played against Piazza for years. "Everyone talked about it, everyone knew it. Guys on my team, guys on the Mets. A lot of us came up playing against Mike, so we knew what he looked like back in the day. Frankly, he sucked on the field. Just sucked. After his body changed, he was entirely different. 'Power from nowhere,' we called it."

When asked, on a scale of 1 to 10, to grade the odds that Piazza had used performance enhancers, the player doesn't pause.

"A 12," he says. "Maybe a 13."

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/deadspin_mike_piazza_the_back_acne_was_the_least_of_it


Allen Barra says a case can be made that 83-year-old Yogi Berra was the greatest catcher in baseball history. And no ex-ballplayer is more famous today, not even Willie Mays. But a few years ago, fresh off a book about Bear Bryant, Barra noticed that there hadn't been a definitive bio of Yogi. He set out to fix that, and the result is the new "Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee." Yogi's best known to younger generations as a lovable lunkhead, the idiot savant who talks to a duck on an insurance commercial, who said, "It ain't over till it's over" and "You can observe a lot by watching." Then there are the malapropisms that make a weird kind of sense when you think about them: When you come to a fork in the road, take it. Half this game is 90 percent mental. I didn't really say everything I said.

http://www.salon.com/sports/kaufman/feature/2009/03/25/yogi_berra/index.html?source=newsletter


Despite Lou Piniella’s pronouncement that Micah Hoffpauir has made the team, the Chicago Cubs continue to consider backup infielder options for the bench. Corey Koskie is out, Luis Rivas is ostensibly out, and Esteban German has failed to impress (well, he’s been ok - just saying that he hasn’t dominated). So it may take a move outside the organization. Enter Jeff Keppinger. The Reds, to the surprise of several scouts, are considering trading infielder Jeff Keppinger, a right-handed hitter. FOX Sports. Surely the Cubs will be looking, given that they have pieces like Angel Guzman that they essentially must deal. Keppinger has only been an above average hitter in one partial season, and was worse than mediocre at the plate in extended playing time last year. But as my friends at Sons of Ivy pointed out, he’s excellent in the field, and can play a wider array of positions than even German.

http://www.bleachernation.com/2009/03/24/jeff-keppinger-backup-infielder


Fantasy:

Scouting Book’s fantasy ranking by position:

Closer: #1 - Francisco Rodriguez Health and dramatic nature a bit of a concern, but still good for fifty saves.

Starters: - #2 - Johan Santana Too many questions about health and declining numbers to stay #1.

# 45 John Maine

1B: - # 16 - Carlos Delgado

C: - # 30 – Brian Schneider

2B - #26 – Luis Castillo

SS - # 3 - Jose Reyes - Can't possibly live up to last year's numbers, but still a solid stud.

3B: - # 1 - David Wright - Speed at 3B is rare. Speed with power is worth a double fortune

OF: - # 2 - Carlos Beltran Still has a couple more monster years in him.

http://www.scoutingbook.com


General:

George Kell, the Hall of Fame third baseman who edged Ted Williams for the 1949 American League batting title and became a Detroit Tigers broadcaster for nearly 40 years, died Tuesday. He was 86. Jackson's Funeral Home in Newport confirmed the death but did not give a cause. The Hall of Fame said he died in his sleep at his home in Swifton. Kell was severely injured in a car crash in 2004 but was able to walk with a cane about six months later. Kell outlasted Williams for the 1949 batting crown, hitting .34291 while the Boston Red Sox great finished at .34276. Kell played 15 seasons in the AL, hitting more than .300 nine times and compiling a career average of .306. He was a 10-time All-Star.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090324/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_obit_kell

I want to let all of THT's readers know that one of our most prolific writers and favorite people, John Brattain, just passed away. Many of us got to know John through the Baseball Think Factory, where his good humor was always on display. John joined the THT writing team more than four years ago, and he further honed his extraordinary wit, humanity and sense of fun every week on our site (and elsewhere). For a while, he even contributed twice a week. He was one of the people who made THT a truly rewarding experience for all of us.

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2009/3/24/809281/john-brattain-passes-away