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Wednesday, March 12, 2008 |
Catching Up
Various and sundry... I've been busy with other things this week, and baseball has slipped my attention a bit.
- The Angels sent Jose Arredondo and twelve other players down to minor league camp so far this week. One of them was Sean O'Sullivan, who had something to prove after he suddenly lost his velocity just before the 2005 draft.
- Jered Weaver is looking increasingly likely as an opening day starter candidate, especially after having a fine outing against the Padres yesterday.
- Tony Reagins wants you to know he isn't anybody's puppet.
- Via Jon, ex-San Bernardino Sun sports columnist Paul Oberjuerge writes about his firing. The slow death of newspapers has been a topic of some interest in these parts, and I wanted to focus on this graf:
... MediaNews is in severe crisis. The corporate credit rating of Singleton’s company, which brings new meaning to the words “highly leveraged,” has been reduced three times in a matter of weeks, and there were stories out about how he couldn’t meet his obligations to the bankers. And only the previous week I’d been told The Sun lost money in January. LOST money. Didn’t just “not make plan,” which is why Gannett dumped San Bernardino eight years ago, after a year in which The Sun turned a profit of “only” 8 percent. No, The Sun lost money. That never happens in newspapers. Well, it never used to.
This is interesting because with the Orange County Register now handing its Dodgers coverage over to the MediaNews Daily News, the speculation had been that the Register itself was a buyout candidate, and from that same MediaNews group as well. But that doesn't make a lot of sense if MediaNews is itself taking on water; lashing two sinking ships together usually doesn't result in both of them staying afloat. - The Angels are not looking to trade Juan Rivera, which is good because the age of that outfield is not a good thing.
- Oddly, Nomar Garciaparra won't be going to China, leading me to wonder whether Ned thinks he still has value.
- Tommy Lasorda: still an ass after all these years.
- The Rangers have had injuries to three projected starters: Vicente Padilla (strained left gluteus maximus), Kevin Millwood (a hamstring tweak that has prevented him from facing any batters so far), and Brandon McCarthy (elbow inflammation that — so far — will not require surgery).
The Rangers' two “healthy” guys: Kason Gabbard, who suffered arm fatigue last September and has a history of arm problems, and Jason Jennings, who is coming back from elbow surgery.
Labels: angels, dodgers, rangers, spring training
Comments:
Re newspapers in general: Rob, do you watch The Wire?
Re Vicente Padilla: nah, too easy.
Why the Rangers traded Edinson Volquez (not much of a prospect, but still intriguing) for another bat (Josh Hamilton) is anyone's guess. It would be the equivalent of the Halos trading Juan Rivera for a slick-fielding, weak-hitting shortstop (in that vein, some have suggested that the Angels are interested in Clint Barmes of the Rockies, which is not the least bit credible).
Re Vicente Padilla: nah, too easy.
Why the Rangers traded Edinson Volquez (not much of a prospect, but still intriguing) for another bat (Josh Hamilton) is anyone's guess. It would be the equivalent of the Halos trading Juan Rivera for a slick-fielding, weak-hitting shortstop (in that vein, some have suggested that the Angels are interested in Clint Barmes of the Rockies, which is not the least bit credible).
Hey Rob, Congratulations on the Dirtbags beating the crap out of my team, the Hawaii Rainbows. We're the top 15's favorite doormat apparently, with losses to No. 1 Arizona St and No. 8 Michigan and now a sweep by Long Beach State. We're a young team and I'm hoping this brutal schedule helps us in the long run. That kid Vance Worley is terrific. i saw him pitch Saturday and he was very impressive.
Yeah, I saw that. I came in on Sunday evening to the Dirtbags' website and for some reason there wasn't a story on the Saturday game, which led me to believe they lost that game, it had been rained out, etc. I was shocked to see they had subsequently swept. They're a good team but I think they're playing a little over their heads right now.
jjack -- Volquez was running out of chances even in the Texas organization. His command continued to be spotty (from memory), and I think they wanted a piece they could use now. As for the outfielder part, have you seen their outfield? Mush and mush. Volquez wasn't going to help the Rangers near-term, so from that point of view I understand it ... but I also kind of agree with you that pitching should have been higher priority.
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