Season starts tonight; Diamondbacks alter their rotation

[nyy26wc]

1) TODAY IS OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's game--

Rangers (Ismael Valdes) at Angels (John Lackey), 8:00

2) Shane Reynolds says there's a good chance he's going to sign with the Mets after he clears waivers tomorrow.

3) The Astros released P Jesus Sanchez. He requested the move after he was sent to the minors last week.

4) The Angels sent INFs Alfredo Amezaga and Chone Figgins, OF Jeff DaVanon, C Wil Nieves and Ps Mark Lukasiewicz, Rich Rodriguez and Doug Nickle to the minors, moved P Matt Wise from the 15 to the 60 day DL and added OF Julio Ramirez to the 40 man roster.

Rodriguez has a 3.82 ERA/16 RSAA in 606 games, including a 5.40 ERA/-1 RSAA in 36 games with the 2002 Rangers.

5) The Giants sent INF Cody Ransom, OFs Tony Torcato and Jason Ellison, C Trey Lunsford and Ps Jim Brower and Jeff Urban to the minors and added 1B Andres Galarraga and OF Ruben Rivera to the 40 man roster.

Galarraga has a .846 career OPS, compared to his league average of .745, and 182 RCAA in 2140 games, including a .738 OPS/-4 RCAA in 104 games with the 2002 Expos. If he gets enough playing time, he can make a run at Willie Stargell's NL record for career SO--

STRIKEOUTS
1    Willie Stargell            1936   
2    Mike Schmidt               1883   
3    Andres Galarraga           1871   
4    Dale Murphy                1748   
5    Lou Brock                  1730   
6    Tony Perez                 1660   
7    Willie McCovey             1546   
8    Sammy Sosa                 1539   
9    Willie Mays                1526   
10   Ray Lankford               1495   

Rivera's .310 SLG, .302 OBA, .612 OPS, -12 RCAA in 69 games with the 2002 Rangers was his 3rd double digit negative RCAA in the past 4 years. He has a .704 OPS, compared to his league average of .785, and -53 RCAA in 631 games.

Brower, who was acquired in the Livan Hernandez trade, has a 4.60 ERA/-4 RSAA in 124 games, including a 4.37 ERA/-1 RSAA in a career high 52 games with the Reds and Expos in 2002.

6) The A's sent 1B David McCarty, INF Jason Grabowski, OF Billy McMillon and C Adam Melhuse to the minors, placed P Jim Mecir on the 15 day DL and added OF Ron Gant to the 40 man roster.

McCarty has a .660 OPS/-69 RCAA in 504 games. McMillon has a .712 OPS/-4 RCAA in 151 games.

the minors, placed P Jim Mecir on the 15 day DL and added OF Ron Gant to the 40 man roster.

Mecir's recovering from offseason knee surgery and is expected to miss the first 4-6 weeks of the season.

Gant's .489 SLG, .338 OBA, .827 OPS, 7 RCAA in 102 games with the 2002 Padres was his highest RCAA since 1996 (he also had 7 in 1998). He has a .806 career OPS, compared to his league average of .746, and 108 RCAA in 1815 games.

7) The Twins sent 1B Todd Sears to the minors and added P Mike Fetters to the 40 man roster.

Fetters has a 3.76 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.43, and 48 RSAA in 592 games, including a 4.09 ERA/2 RSAA in 65 games with the Pirates and Diamondbacks in 2002.

8) The Devil Rays added OF Rocco Baldelli and Ps Jim Parque and Steve Parris to the 40 man roster, sent C Hector Ortiz to the minors, designated INF Hector Luna, OF George Lombard and P Hans Smith for assignment and signed INF Terry Shumpert to a 1 year contract.

Baldelli, 21, was ranked as the Devil Rays #1 prospect by Baseball America. In 2002, in 77 games in A ball, he had a .917 OPS (.535 SLG, .382 OBA), a .942 OPS (.529 SLG, .413 OBA) in 17 games in AA and a .761 OPS (.469 SLG, .292 OBA) in AAA. He has awful plate discipline and successfully went 96 for 96 in AB without a walk in AAA.

Despite only pitching a total of 13 games in the past 2 years, Parque achieved the very difficult, and unenviable, task of posting double digit negative RSAA's in both of them.

Parris's 5.97 ERA/-13 RSAA in 14 starts with the 2002 BlueJays ended a streak of 4 consecutive years with a positive RSAA.

Shumpert had just been released by the Dodgers.

9) The BlueJays sent INF Mike Moriarty to the minors and added Ps Trever Miller and Doug Linton to the 40 man roster.

Miller, who hasn't pitched in the majors since 2000, has a 5.44 ERA/-16 RSAA in 105 games. Linton, who hasn't pitched in the majors since 1999, has a 5.86 ERA/-39 RSAA in 105 games.

10) The Braves sent INFs Jesse Garcia and Mike Hessman, OFs Donzell McDonald and Bo Porter and C Johnny Estrada to the minors.

In addition to having a poor minor league track record, Estrada has a .619 OPS/-25 RCAA in 99 games in the majors over the past 2 years.

11) The Rangers sent INF Donnie Sadler, OFs Lance Nix and Ryan Christenson and P Ryan Drese to the minors and placed OF Rusty Greer and P Jeff Zimmerman on the 15 day DL.

Drese is expected to be recalled when the Rangers need a 5th starter.

Sadler has a .548 OPS/-57 RCAA in 322 games and a 3 year streak of double digit negative RCAA's. Christenson has a .656 OPS/-34 RCAA in 392 games.

Nix, 22, was ranked as the Rangers #4 prospect by Baseball America. While he impressed the team in spring training, he hasn't reached AA yet in his 3 years in the minors.

Greer was placed on the DL retroactive to March 21, but who knows why they did that. Name a part of the body and odds are Greer's got an injury there. He's out of the season and there's a good chance his career is over.

Zimmerman missed the entire 2002 season and probably won't be back until at least after the midseason break.

12) The Yankees designated C Chris Widger for assignment and added C John Flaherty to the 40 man roster.

Widger has a .709 OPS/-46 RCAA in 488 games.

Flaherty has a .669 career OPS, compared to his league average of .773, and -144 RCAA in 913, along with a streak of 5 consecutive years with a double digit negative RCAA.

13) The Indians traded minor league C A.J. Hinch to the Tigers for a player to be named later.

Hinch has a .638 OPS/-52 RCAA in 319 games, including career highs in both OPS (.722) and RCAA (-8, excluding a 9 PA small sample size in 2000) with the 2002 Royals.

14) The Marlins placed OF Abraham Nunez and P Justin Wayne on the 15 day DL and added OF Gerald Williams to the 40 man roster.

Wayne has a right lower leg contusion. Nunez has a strained left hamstring.

Williams has a .716 career OPS, compared to his league average of .780, and -92 RCAA in 1045 games.

15) The Dodgers sent 2B Joe Thurston, INF Ron Coomer and C David Ross to the minors, placed P Derek Thompson on the 15 day DL and will place OF Chad Hermansen on the DL today.

When Guillermo Mota's suspension ends, Coomer is expected to be recalled and a pitcher will be dropped.

Thurston was the projected 2B coming into spring training.

16) The Expos released INF-OF Trace Coquillette.

17) The Twins released Ps Ben Ford and John Sneed.

18) The Tigers released C Robinson Cancel and P Brian Edmondson.

19) The Brewers added OF John Vander Wal and Cs Eddie Perez and Keith Osik to the 40 man roster.

Vander Wal has a .796 career OPS, compared to his league average of .767, and 18 RCAA in 1213 games, including a .756 OPS/-2 RCAA in 84 games with the 2002 Yankees. Perez has a .683 OPS/-40 RCAA in 367 games, including a .543 OPS/-11 RCAA in 42 games with the 2002 Indians. Osik has a .635 OPS/-48 RCAA in 359 games, including a .461 OPS/-13 RCAA in 55 games with the 2002 Pirates.

20) The Cardinals released OF Bill Ortega.

[nyy26wc]

1) The Diamondbacks sent SS Alex Cintron, INF Chris Donnels, OF Mark Little, C Robby Hammock and Ps John Patterson, Ron Villone and Eddie Oropesa to the minors, designated P Greg Swindell for assignment, released P Mike Jackson, added 2B Carlos Baerga to the 40 man roster and loaned OF Felix Jose to the Mexico City Reds.

Patterson was expected to be the 4th starter, but lost the job in spring training to Oscar Villarreal.

Villarreal, 21, was ranked as the Diamondbacks #13 prospect by Baseball America and had a 3.74 ERA in 12 starts (14 games) In AA and a 4.36 ERA in 10 starts in AAA in 2002.

Swindell has a 3.86 ERA, compared to his league average of 4.12, and 60 RSAA in 664 games, including a 6.27 ERA/-7 RSAA in 34 games in 2002. Jackson has a 3.35 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.21, and 116 RSAA in 960 games, including a 3.27 ERA/7 RSAA in 58 games with the 2002 Twins.

Little has a .704 OPS/-9 RCAA in 137 games, including a .619 OPS/-10 RCAA in a career high 79 games with the Rockies, Mets and Diamondbacks in 2002. Villone has a 5.04 ERA/-27 RSAA in 319 games, including a 5.81 ERA/-15 RSAA in 45 G/7 GS with the 2002 Pirates. Donnels has a .674 OPS/-20 RCAA in 450 games, including a .737 OPS/-2 RCAA in 74 games in 2002.

Baerga, who hasn't had a positive RCAA since the first year of Clinton's 2nd term, has a .755 OPS/-5 RCA in 1353 games, including a .695 OPS/-4 RCAA in 73 games with the 2002 Redsox.

Jose has a .740 OPS/2 RCAA in 729 games.

2) The Rockies traded minor league P Ryan Cameron to the Redsox as the player to be named later in the trade that sent P Javier Lopez to the Rockies.

3) The Redsox sent P Jason Shiell to the minors.

4) Twins 3B Corey Koskie's back injury isn't going to force him to go on the DL, but might keep out of tomorrow's opener, especially if the weather in Detroit is cold.

Koskie's .447 SLG, .368 OBA, .815 OPS, 9 RCAA in 140 games in 2002 was the 3rd time in his 4 years as a starter that he had either 8 or 9 RCAA, with the exception being a 19 RCAA season in 2001. He has a .833 career OPS, compared to his league average of .773, and 41 RCAA in 567 games.

5) The Cardinals sent P Josh Pearce to the minors.

6) The Whitesox sent 2B Aaron Miles and P David Sanders to the minors.

7) The Mets added INF Jay Bell and P Graeme Lloyd to the 40 man roster and designated P Tyler Walker for assignment.

Bell has a .763 career OPS, compared to his league average of .753, and -6 RCAA in 1991 games, including a .556 OPS/-5 RCAA in 32 games with the 2002 Diamondbacks. Lloyd has a 3.91 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.59, and 41 RSAA in 516 games, including a 5.21 ERA/-7 RSAA in 66 games with the Expos and Marlins in 2002.

8) The Yankees placed Ps Mariano Rivera, Steve Karsay and Jon Lieber on the 15 day DL.

Rivera fell to 2.74 ERA/7 RSAA in 45 games in 2002 and has a 2.60 ERA/131 RSAA in 448 games. Karsay has a 3.88 ERA/47 RSAA in 321 games, including a 3.26 ERA/11 RSAA in 78 games in 2002. They both could miss most, or all, of April.

Lieber is almost certainly out for the entire season.

9) The Padres sent INF Alex Pelaez and C Mike Rivera to the minors.

10) The Mariners sent Ps Ken Cloude, J.J. Putz and Rafael Soriano to the minors, added C Pat Borders to the 40 man roster and placed OF Chris Snelling on the 15 day DL.

Borders will serve as Ben Davis's backup for the first few games of the season but expect him to be dropped when Dan Wilson comes off the DL. Borders has a .673 OPS/-109 RCAA in 1010 games, with just 21 of the games since 1999.

Soriano, 23, was ranked as the Mariners #1 prospect by Baseball America. He had a 2.31 ERA in 10 games (8 starts) in AAA in 2002 and a 4.56 ERA/-2 RSAA in his first 10 major league games (8 starts).

Snelling, who is ranked as the team's #2 prospect by BA, is still recovering from last season's knee injury.

Rafael Soriano to the minors, added C Pat Borders to the 40 man roster and placed OF Chris Snelling on the 15 day DL.

11) The Pirates added Ps Julian Tavarez and Dennys Reyes to the 40 man roster.

Tavarez has a 4.61 ERA/-10 RSAA in 427 games, including a career worst 5.39 ERA/-24 RSAA in 27 starts (29 games) with the 2002 Marlins. Reyes has a 4.56 ERA/-4 RSAA in 253 games, including a 5.33 ERA/-3 RSAA in 58 G/5 GS with the 2002 Rockies and Rangers.

12) The Tigers added C Matt Walbeck and P Jeremy Bonderman to the 40 man roster and placed P Danny Patterson on the 15 day DL.

Bonderman is their top prospect and is starting the season in the rotation.

Walbeck has a .606 OPS/-139 RCAA in 623 games.

Patterson has a torn ligament in his elbow and only pitched in 6 games in 2002.

13) The Rangers traded minor league OF Odannys Ayala to the Royals for minor league C Fernando Lunar.

14) The Rangers added OF Ruben Sierra, INF/OF Jermaine Clark, C Chad Kreuter and P C.J. Nitkowski to the 40 man roster.

Sierra hit .418 SLG, .319 OBA, .736 OPS, -4 RCAA in 122 games in 2002, which his first season with over 100 games since 1996. He has a .770 career OPS, compared to his league average of .744, but an OBA 17 points under his league average, and 40 RCAA in 1898 games. Kreuter has a .694 OPS/-59 RCAA in 937 games, including a .712 OPS/-1 RCAA in 41 games with the 2002 Dodgers. Nitkowski has a 5.28 ERA/-28 RSAA in 282 games, including a 2.63 ERA/4 RSAA in 12 games in 2002.

15) Diamondbacks P Armando Reynoso says he's leaving the game to attend to family matters.

Unless he shows otherwise, let's consider him retired. Reynoso's only pitched in 11 games in the past 2 years and has a 4.74 ERA/16 RSAA in 198 games.

16) The Cubs added PH Lenny Harris and OF Tom Goodwin to the 40 man roster, placed Ps Antonio Alfonseca and Will Ohman on the 15 day DL and placed P Scott Chiasson on the 60 day DL

Harris's .766 OPS/3 RCAA in 122 games with the 2002 Brewers was his first positive RCAA since George Bush's first full year in office (1990). He has a .675 career OPS, compared to his league average of .745, and -106 RCAA in 1653 games. Goodwin's .659 OPS/-2 RCAA in 78 games with the 2002 Giants was his 8th consecutive year with a negative RCAA and he has a .674 OPS/-133 RCAA in 1124 games.

Alfonseca has a strained right hamstring and is expected to miss all of April. He has a 3.82 ERA/17 RSAA in 340 games, including a 4.00 ERA/0 RSAA in 66 games in 2002.

17) The Indians added 3B Casey Blake, INF Bill Selby, C Tim Laker and Ps Billy Traber and Jose Santiago to the 40 man roster, sent OF Jody Gerut and P Dave Burba to the minors and placed INF Ricky Gutierrez and Ps Mark Wohlers, Bob Wickman and Cliff Lee on the 60 day DL.

Blake starts the season as the starting 3B and has a .643 OPS/-5 RCAA in 49 games. Selby has a .673 OPS/-19 RCAA in 171 games, including a .675 OPS/-7 RCAA in a career high 65 games in 2002. Laker, who didn't play in the majors in 2002, has a .591 OPS/-23 RCAA in 181 games. Santiago has a 4.58 ERA/0 RSAA in 200 games, including a 6.70 ERA/-15 RSAA in 42 games with the 2002 Phillies.

Gutierrez is still recovering from neck surgery and has a .695 OPS/-93 RCAA in 1058 games, including a .671 OPS/-14 RCAA in 94 games in 2002. Wickman will miss the whole season. Wohlers has a 3.97 ERA/18 RSAA in 533 games, including a 4.79 ERA/-2 RSAA in 64 games in 2002.

Burba says he'll make a decision in a month on whether he's going to retire.

18) The Phillies signed Ps Jose Cabrera, Wayne Gomes and Julio Santana to minor league contracts.

Cabrera had been cut the Twins earlier in the week. He has a 4.95 ERA/-19 RSAA in 198 games, including a 6.79 ERA/-33 RSAA in 50 games with the 2002 Brewers. Gomes has a 4.60 ERA/-2 RSAA in 321 games, including a 4.64 ERA/-1 RSAA in 20 games with the 2002 Redsox. Santana has a 5.34 ERA/-31 RSAA in 161 games, including a 2.84 ERA/8 RSAA in 38 games with the 2002 Tigers.

19) The Devil Rays released C Angel Pena.