May Baseball Musings

This is drastically overdue, but better late than never, right? Anyway, with two months of the baseball season pretty much in the books, I wanted to catch up on some interesting things in this early season.

Predictions—The Wheelhouse might have been a bit off with some of our preseason forecasts as not only are the Indians in dead last (picked to the the AL Central), but I also thought the Diamondbacks were on their way to a great season to compete with the Dodgers down the stretch all season. As it turns out, the Dodgers, with or without Manny, might have the NL West wrapped up by the Fourth of July. They are currently up 8.5 games over the Padres—yes, the Padres and they just won 10 straight this week! Meanwhile, the D-Backs are 20-27 and have really been hurt by the loss of Brandon Webb since April. The Dodgers look to be a force in the National League. With Chad Billingsley living up to the expectations, the Dodgers might be my favorite to come out of the NL.

Zach Greinke—Can you say legit? Greinke is finally putting together that breakout season that people have been talking about for a couple years, and it's not a breakout season for a young player, but possibly on way to a historic season. He's already fired five complete games while sporting an ERA under 1.00 through his first 10 starts, which hasn't happened since 1966 when Juan Marichal did it. Not bad company at all. It'll be a great thing to watch all summer to see how long he can keep this incredible pitching going. And he almost makes the Royals watchable...every fifth day at least.

Early Surprises—If you scour the standings, you see two teams near the top of their respective division that is a bit of a shock. Before their recent nine-game streak into the tank, the Blue Jays were the hottest team in baseball. They have come back to earth, but once they figure out how to win again, I think they can hang around for a while and compete. I've always been a fan of the Blue Jays. I love the city of Toronto, a great baseball town. Love the SkyDome (forget the Rogers Centre crap) and I think they have a decent team. The other surprise is the Texas Rangers, who are leading the AL West by three games. Sure, they can hit the ball, they have always been able to do that, but the pitching has been there for them through 40 games. Will it last? No, it will not. I mean they are getting pitching from guys you never heard of like Matt Harrison. Texas will not last and the Angels will pass them once they get healthy and their shit together.

Guys I Would Love to Have on my Fantasy Team—This is a long list, but nobody is higher on the list than Raul Ibanez. I had him on my radar in both of my drafts this year because he's always been a consistent hitter and I liked the move to Philly. Of course, I thought he would drop a round or two more and passed him only to see him get taken and absolutely rake in this early season. Have you seen this guy? He's having an incredible start to the season, hitting .339 with 17 long balls, 44 RBI. He had just 23 homers in 162 games last season! Of course, I wish I had Greinke. How about Orioles outfielder Adam Jones—what a pickup if you grabbed him late. I do have Justin Morneau in two leagues, so I can't complain there as he's been a beast so far this season as well. The list goes on...Ian Kinsler, Dan Haren, Billingsley.

Pride. Passion. Pittsburgh Pirates—Of course, the Pirates would put their fans through a series of crazy emotions through just two months. The Pirates ran out to an 11-7 start, dropped eight straight after that and have been about 4-5 games under .500. It would be nice to see them sniff .500 all year and actually make something to watch down the stretch to see if they can avoid the infamous record. Honestly, I don't see that happening. They just don't have the talent (surprise) yet. The winning in April was a nice reminder of how great it can be if they would have a winning team one of these years. For now in Pittsburgh, we're on the Andrew McCutchen watch till he gets called up.

Pitchers and Catchers Reporting

"They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell
you to hit it square." -- Willie Stargell

Lost in the shuffle of the Clemens, McNamee, Pettitte, HGH headlines today was pitchers and catchers reported to Florida and Arizona, signaling that the first signs of spring and baseball are just around the corner! Thank God. Despite being a Pirates fan, every year I'm pumped for the start of spring training. I guess when you think about it every team (yes even the Bucs) has a shot at beginning anew and claiming that World Series title in the fall. Of course, the Pirates will be out of by the end of April, but hey from a sunny perspective in Florida we sure can dream right?

So what's going on this first day of spring training? Here are some news clippings from around the Grapefruit and Cactus League.

The World Champs are back. The Red Sox pitchers and catchers reported today to Fort Myers and apparently they are thinking about repeating as champions. Shocking, I know. And they have a good shot of doing the job. They didn't lose much of any significant players from last year's team and with a pitching staff that will return Josh Beckett, Dice K, young prospects Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and the ever-reliable 4.00 ERA/180 IP guy per year Tim Wakefield. Forget about Curt Schilling for now...his loss, for half a season or whatever it'll be, hurts but this team won't need him to cruise into the playoffs. I'm sure he'll suddenly be back and healthy come October.

The Dodgers checked into Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., for the 61st year and also their last as the team plans to move onto Glendale, Arizona next year (of course it would be the fast rising city of Glendale). Sure the move to Arizona makes sense geographically, but moving out of Dodgertown where you have been for over 61 years is a bit weak. But I guess the Dodgers are used to pulling out of things to make more money somewhere else.

Reigning AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia checked into the Tribe's camp in Winter Haven, Fla., and announced that he was done talking about a possible extension with the Indians until after the season. Sabathia could become a free agent after the 2008 season, and I'm sure he wants to test the free agent market and see the $$$ that awaits him. Supposedly Cleveland offered him a four-year deal where he would make at least $17 mil next year. That wasn't good enough and really, with the Yankees and Red Sox out there reading to spend money, it probably wasn't enough. Sabathia is rolling the dice, though, in a contract year and better produce if he wants a Johan Santana type deal.

A couple of former junk Pirates showed up on new rosters today as well. Former No. 1 draft pick Kris Benson signed with the Phillies. Wow, look who's desperate for pitching. After his publicized divorce from Anna Benson, Kris missed the entire 2007 season due to some injury (it doesn't matter, he's had all of them in his career) and I totally forgot he could still throw the baseball. Also, Craig Wilson (nicknamed "Thor" in Pittsburgh) signed with the Reds. If there's one place that will tolerate striking out a ton and blasting home runs once a week, it's Cincinnati so maybe he'll make the team and then bury the Pirates in their first series with four home runs in three games.

Speaking of former Pirates, it was reported that Dodgers pitcher Jason Schmidt will likely not be ready for Opening Day and there's no timetable for his return. Yeah, that three-year, $47 million contract he signed last offseason is looking solid for LA. What does Schmidt have to show for all that money so far? One win. He went 1-4 with a 6.31 ERA last season before needing surgery. Joe Torre has his work cut out for him in the city of Angels.

Oh yeah, can you feel baseball in the air?! The Wheelhouse can and I can't wait to get the season underway.