ATM report--It's sale day and spring training begins

[nyy26wc]

1) Today, MLB will announce the sales of the Marlins to Expos owner Jeffrey Loria and of the Expos to MLB. Jeff Torborg will move from Expos MGR to Marlins MGR, Frank Robinson will take over as the Expos MGR, highly regarded Mets assistant GM Omar Minaya will take over as Expos GM, while former Angels President Tony Tavares will be named Expos President.

2) Pitchers and catchers start reporting for the Yankees today.

3) The Royals re-signed 2B Carlos Febles to a 1 year, $775,000 contract.

Febles had a terrible year in 2001, hitting .363 SLG, .291 OBA, .654 OPS, -19 RCAA, .293 OWP, 3.46 RC/G, 30 RC in 79 games. He's had a double digit negative RCAA and RCAP in each of his 3 years in the majors (excluding his 11 game September callup in 1998). Febles has a .704 career OPS, compared to his league average of .787 and 2B average of .755, -46 RCAA and -33 RCAP in 313 games.

4) The Astros signed free agent P Hipolito Pichardo to a 1 year contract and designated P Wayne Franklin for assignment.

Pichardo had a 4.93 ERA and -2 RSAA in 30 games with the Redsox in 2001. He's alternated between positive and negative RSAAs since 1995 (excluding a missed 1999 season). Pichardo has a 4.41 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.30, and 21 RSAA in 349 games.

Franklin had a 6.75 ERA and -3 RSAA in 11 games in 2001 and has a 5.94 ERA and -4 RSAA in 36 games during his 2 year career.

5) Yankees C Jorge Posada says he's making good progress from his shoulder surgery in late November and his goal is to be ready for Opening Day.

6) The Rangers signed free agent 3B Ed Sprague to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Sprague hit .436 SLG, .374 OBA, .810 OPS, 3 RCAA, .590 OWP, 5.79 RC/G, 15 RC in 45 games with the Mariners in 2001. It was just the 3rd time in his 11 year career that he had a positive RCAA, with the last time coming in 1996, while it was his 8th time with a negative RCAP. Sprague has a .737 career OPS, compared to his league average of .770 and positional average of .773, -89 RCAA and -73 RCAP in 1203 games.

7) On Sunday, Jim Spencer died, at the age of 54, of an apparent heart attack.

Spencer had a .694 career OPS, compared to his league average of .715 and 1B average of .763, -36 RCAA and -115 RCAP in 1553 games with 5 teams, from 1968-82.

8) Redsox MGR Joe Kerrigan says Pedro Martinez will probably be limited to 100 pitch outings at the beginning of the season.

[TGwynn19]

Originally posted by nyy26wc

8) Redsox MGR Joe Kerrigan says Pedro Martinez will probably be limited to 100 pitch outings at the beginning of the season. [/b]

And Dan Duquette will probably call Pedro a baby for pitching so little.

[Duque]

Only if Duquette is still around - now that the sales have been approved, his days may be numbered.

[Xanadu Dragon]

The Pedro thing is not good news for Bosox fans.

[TGwynn19]

Originally posted by Xanadu Dragon
The Pedro thing is not good news for Bosox fans.

Actually, it might not be. I don't think they kept Pedro on a strict count early in the season in the past. Hopefully they are just being carefull vs. hiding the truth about Pedro's arm. I hope it is the former as he is the one player I truely want to see play next year.

[KCBOOMER]

KC has high hopes foe Febles but the numbers and his injury proneness sure don't bode well. As a fan you have to like the passion he plays with and as silly as it sounds it seems the team plays better when he is in the lineup.