2004 Spring Training Position Battles

[Pat]

Washington Bats

6th spot in the rotation
I'm looking at two guys. The current leader is the 12th overall pick of the 2000 draft, Terry Bornemann. In nine starts last year, he went 5-2 with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. The challenger is Rule V Draft pick Pat Powell. Never pitched in Triple-A but at 25-years-old, he has shown an amazing control potential. If Bornemann struggles, he could be sent down to Triple-A. If Powell struggles, he gets sent back to New York's minor leagues.

Shortstop
With the departure of veteran Shawn Nolan in Free-Agency, the starting spot at shortstop is up for grabs for the first time in a decade. Cy Gray was the utility man last year and while he isn't much of a threat at the plate, his defense is DWI worthy. The challenger, is 25-year-old Steven Bailey. Bailey is more of a second basemen but his bat potential could shine in the Spring.

Last Bullpen Spot
This is a long list. My closer, two setup and three middle relievers are all locked in. Behind them I have Dusty Casserino, Dusty Durham, Oscar de Leon, Shane Ward and R.J. Williams.

[funclown]

Fine I'll move i here:

Usual spring training goal for Pawtucket: No injuries.

Pawtucket does have a battle though for the #5 spot

R-Ruben Aparacio vs L-Will Moreno(Rule 5)

If i was a betting man, I'll bet on Will making it to opening day. Kid not going to get alot of long starts for us, but my scout has him at 5-6-4 with 5 POT for control. Former top prospect will get every chance to make the team. Also like having Aparacio in AAA in case of injury (last option year) and we do the occasional 6 man rotation during long schedule stretches. Like to keep two lefty starters if possible.

Worst case, Moreno flops and we send him back or use that new "lefty specialist" setting.

Jimmy Lee going to see some at bats, but will be back in AA when spring is over. On base type players need as many at bats as you can get them.

No other battles really are taking place.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Spear]

We have a huge battle for the final couple spots in our bullpen...

Bullpen:
CL - Edgar Fajardo - secured job
SU - Ivan Gallo - secured job
MR - Kazunari Murata - secured job
MR - Al McGinnis - secured job
MR - Doug Austin - secured job
----------------------
Willie Riveria - Drafted last year, was called up in late September and showed that he could compete at this level. Might be able to fill the setup man role with a good spring.

CJ Yount - Rule V draft pick from Washington. Hasn't been able to break the glass ceiling in that organization but could very well make the cut in Toronto. He has proven that he can be an elite AAA reliever so lets see if he can seize the BLB opportunity now

Jaime Crooke - Another Rule V draft pick. At 26, he's younger than Yount but surprising he hasn't even had a cup of coffee in the BLB yet. Might be considered a long shot unless he can prove in ST that he can control his slider and fastball.

Dave Weitz - Drafted last year by our organization. He's a lefty with tremendous stuff, but his movement and control might not be at BLB level yet. The lack of lefties in our bullpen plays to his advantage and with an injury to Doug Austin, we could see him in Toronto sooner than later.

Fred Evers - The prize of the farm up until TJ Dunn was drafted last year. He's been undergoing an identity crisis as we aren't sure if he should be a SP or in the pen. Was a September call up last year and pretty much by-passed AAA. He might need to be in AAA Ottawa for a season before he finds himself in Toronto full time

Other names in the mix: Dave Bass, Ruben Sostre, Manny Casillas, Frank Chavez, Gustavo Gutierrez, Alex Gonzalez, Danny Tarin, Michah Cook.

Other stories to watch around the Toronto camp..

4th OF job is up for grabs with veteran Jerry Buck as the leading favourite. Tommy Berman had a strong showing in AAA last year and everybody initially thought he would be the starting RF until the Brandon Lawyer trade happened a couple weeks ago. Berman has a chance to redeem himself on the field and beat out Buck but its likely he will need the ABs in AAA to continue to develop. Couple Rule V pick ups are in the mix too. OF Ippei Adachi has played a total of 168 games in the BLB but has a career average south of .200, he will have to hit a lot better than that in order to bump off Jerry Buck. Jimmy Ritz has spent his entire BLB career on the mound but was drafted in the Rule V to compete for a job in the OF. He will be the most interesting to watch as scouts claim that he has the potential to drive the ball into the gaps.

[Z]

We're pretty locked in. Only question is whether we'll start the season with 12 or 11 pitchers.

[umd]

Race to 115 losses begins. First important date? June 15.

[Lintyfresh85]

2B - Jerrod Inge vs. Ian Buchanan

Inge is the in-house option and I think he's got the higher ceiling, so he will be given the chance to start the season as the RHP portion of the platoon. Not expecting miracles from either guy, but if they can do better than what I got last year, I'll be happy.

[Spectre]

(C) Abraham Santana vs. Jan Parson- both are first round picks, Santana obviously has the higher ceiling. Parson is the more advanced hitter but is a different style hitter than Santana. Parson is a Jason Kendall type hitter while Santana is more of a prototypical middle of the lineup hitter. I'm leaning towards keeping both on the roster to start the year but that may change.

1B Francois St. Laurent vs. Alejandro Astimaby- The loser of this battle will become the DH so both are making the team. Astimbay has dominated in the minor leagues and looks to bring his power bat to the big leagues. Like St. Laurent, he mashes lefties so playing time will be competitive.

OF Tyler Bollinger vs. many others- Bollinger was a guy I drafted in the mid-rounds as a MR but he's always had good hitting ratings (6 contact, 5 gap power) and plays decent OF defense. He's a solid reliever but I have a ton of pen arms. I changed him to OF officially and he seems OK with it. He's going to platoon against lefties against whom guys like Dixon and Mast struggle. We'll see how it goes but I think he will win the job.

SP- I'm fairly certain my rotation will have Reyes/Simpson/Mejia/Ventura/Sutton but we'll see if Donnie Sherman earns a spot in the rotation. My scout calls him a frontline starter now so the conversion helped him. It'd be hard to not put him in the rotation if he has a strong spring.