Starting rotations; "Wacky, screwy, freak accident"; Trade rumor denied

[nyy26wc]

1) The Dodgers may have determined their first 4 starters--Hideo Nomo, Odalis Perez, Kevin Brown and Kazuhisa Ishii, while Darren Dreifort and Andy Ashby are still competing for the 5th spot.

There's some talk that Ishii's still competing with Dreifort and Ashby for the 4th/5th spots, but Ishii says he's been told he's already made the rotation.

2) The Rockies named the order of their rotation--Jason Jennings, Aaron Cook, Shawn Chacon, Denny Stark and Denny Neagle.

Neagle was going to be the Opening Day starter, but was pushed back to the 5th spot in order to give his sore elbow some extra time to recover.

Cook, 24, was ranked as the Rockies #1 prospect by Baseball America. He had a 1.42 ERA in 14 starts in AA and a 3.78 ERA in 10 starts in AAA in 2002, before having a 4.54 ERA/2 RSAA in 9 games (5 starts) in the majors.

3) The Royals named their starting rotation--Runelvys Hernandez, Jeremy Affeldt, Miguel Asencio, Chris George and Darrell May.

4) The Twins announced the order of their rotation--Brad Radke, Joe Mays, Kyle Lohse, Rick Reed, Kenny Rogers.

5) The Reds added Ps Jimmy Anderson, Josias Manzanillo, Felix Heredia and Kent Mercker to the 40 man roster and sent Ps Seth Etherton and Jeff Austin to the minors.

Anderson won a spot in the rotation. The rest of it will be Jimmy Haynes, Ryan Dempster, Danny Graves and either Paul Wilson or Chris Reitsma. But, since Wilson could be headed to the DL, due to a sprained rib cage, Reitsma could be the frontrunner to start the year in the rotation.

Whenever players are listed as being added to the 40 man roster, it means they were non roster invitees who've made the team.

6) The Indians named Casey Blake as the starting 3B.

Blake's a 29 year journeyman with a .643 OPS/-5 RCAA in 49 games of major league experience, spread out over the past 4 years.

7) The Twins sent Cs Joe Mauer and Brandon Marsters, INF Alex Prieto, OF Michael Ryan and Ps Juan Rincon, Brad Thomas, Ben Ford and Micheal Nakamura to the minors.

Mauer, who turns 20 next month, was the 1st pick in the entire 2001 draft and is ranked as the 4th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America. After having a .983 OPS (.492 OBA, .491 SLG) in 32 games in Rookie ball in 2001, he had a .785 OPS (.393 OBA, .392 SLG) in 110 games in A ball in 2002.

8) The Yankees signed Ps Willie Banks and Mike Thurman to minor league contracts.

9) The Giants sent 1B-OF Joe Vitiello, 3B Lance Niekro and OF Carlos Valderrama to the minors.

Niekro is Joe's son.

10) According to the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles say they have no interest in Greg Vaughn.

11) Last year, Angels P Ramon Ortiz gained 3 years when his year of birth was determined to be incorrect. Now, his birthday has changed. Instead of yesterday being his 30th birthday, that won't happen until May 23.

I wonder what's going to change next year.

12) Royals GM Allard Baird says it's "highly unlikely" that CF Carlos Beltran will be in the Opening Day lineup. Beltran is still recovering from a strain right oblique muscle.

13) The Rangers named Carl Everett as the Opening Day LF.

But, that's only because Kevin Mench is going to season on the DL. He's just expected to miss the season opening 3 game series and then he'll take over the job.

Correction from yesterday--Roger Clemens's Opening Day start will be his 13th, so he'll be 1 behind the AL record.

[nyy26wc]

1) Pirates P Mike Lincoln will start the season on the DL. Lincoln bruised his shoulder after tripping over a golf ball.

MGR Lloyd McClendon summed it up when it called it "Just a wacky, screwy, freak accident."

2) Redsox GM Theo Epstein says there's no truth to NY Newsday's rumor that the Redsox and A's are working on a Nomar Garciaparra for Miguel Tejada trade.

3) The Rockies sent 3B Garrett Atkins and Kevin Eberwein, 3B-1B Kit Pellow, OF Luke Allen and Ps Elio Serrano and Vic Darensbourg to the minors.

4) Harry Eisenstat died on Friday, at the age of 87.

Eisenstat pitched for the Dodgers, Tigers and Indians from 1935-42, with a 3.82 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.40, and 25 RSAA in 165 games.

5) Now that he's lost his starting job, Tigers 2B Damion Easley says he wants to be traded.

6) The Tigers released Ps Oscar Henriquez and Julio Santana.

7) Tigers MGR Alan Trammell says Rule 5 selections Matt Roney and Wil Ledezma have made the team, along with rookie Eric Munson.

Ledezma has never pitched above A ball. Roney's made it all the way up to AA, where he had a 6.11 ERA in 13 starts in 2002.

Trammell says Munson's going to get "significant" playing time at 3B, while Dean Palmer is going to be a DH, some 3B against lefty and maybe get some time at 1B.

Munson, 25, was the 3rd pick in the 1999 draft and was ranked as the Tigers #5 prospect by Baseball America. He had a .860 OPS (.367 OBA, .493 SLG) in AAA in 2002 and has 38 games of major league experience, spread out over the past 3 years.

8) The Royals sent OF Aaron Guiel, C Mike Tonis and Ps Kyle Snyder and Brad Voyles to the minors.

9) The Cubs traded OF Antoine Cameron to the Rangers for a player to be named later.

Cameron, who just turned 23, hasn't appeared above Hi-A ball in his 3 years in the minors.

10) The Reds are giving Barry Larkin some work in the OF.

For now, this looks like the Reds just want him to get a little bit of experience there, in case he's needed in an emergency.

11) The Diamondbacks sent C Brad Cresse and OF Luis Terrero to the minors.

12) The Devil Rays sent OF Ryan Thompson to the minors.

13) A's CF Chris Singleton recently had a cyst removed from his thyroid and has had a strained hamstring. He believes he'll be ready for Opening Day.

After -28 RCAA/.683 OPS and -6 RCAA/.762 OPS seasons with the Whitesox, Singleton hit .410 SLG, .296 OBA, .706 OPS, -7 RCAA in 136 games with the 2002 Orioles. He has a .741 career OPS, compared to his league average of .777, and -36 RCAA in 556 games.

14) The Mariners released minor leaguers 1B Calvin Pickering and Sean Peless, INF Frank Kunich, OF Brandon Greenlee and Ps Ramon Royce, Bryan Acors, Timothy Burton, Daniel Head, Michael Kesten, Lanny Patten, Eduardo Reyes and Skip Wiley.

[gyb13]

Originally posted by nyy26wc
Anderson won a spot in the rotation. The rest of it will be Jimmy Haynes, Ryan Dempster, Danny Graves and either Paul Wilson or Chris Reitsma. But, since Wilson could be headed to the DL, due to a sprained rib cage, Reitsma could be the frontrunner to start the year in the rotation.

Reitsma has also been sent down now...

[gyb13]

Originally posted by nyy26wc
5) Now that he's lost his starting job, Tigers 2B Damion Easley says he wants to be traded.

I don't think any team will be 'easley' persuaded in taking him as a starter...