All that and more, yes, it will be a power packed Wednesday.
First, the good news. By not signing Dan Kolb, according to Jeff Bridich via the Denver Post's Troy Renck, more opportunities will be given this season to Ramon Ramirez and Manny Corpas. In addition, apparently Manny showed up early to camp to get some extra workouts in. Already Corpas' numbers seem to indicate he's the heir apparent to Brian Fuentes as closer if/when Brian leaves town, but now it looks like he has the determination to match.
Moving on, the second thing I wanted to point out is the continued void in center field for the Marlins, which brought up two thoughts, the first being why they haven't gone after Choo Freeman now that he's.., er.., free, and the second being why shouldn't they go after Cory Sullivan? I know Cory's no Alex Rios, and he certainly won't equate to one of Tampa's guys, but he's also a clear upgrade over what they have and he'd come cheaper, too. Anyway, I doubt anything will happen, but he seems to fit as a stop-gap for Florida once we're sure Jeff Salazar, Ryan Spillborghs and Willy T have things covered over here.
Chris Constancio of FirstInning.com and the Hardball Times yesterday came out with an article which places Joe Koshansky on a level with divisional peers Adrian Gonzalez and James Loney, and ahead of the D-backs' Conor Jackson and Chris Carter. Nate Silver, and his PECOTA projections at Baseball Prospectus beg to differ. In an article for paid subscribers, his projections peg Koshansky as barely above marginal value and dead last amongst his peers. I'm assuming if you're reading this blog, I know which ranking you prefer. The disparity seems to be following a theme this offseason, Keith Law puts on the hate, BA puts on the love, Constancio likes him, BP would rather date someone else. Anyway, Koshansky really doesn't have anything left to prove in the minors, as Colorado Springs stats wouldn't quiet the doubters no matter how phenomenal they were.
Finally, I've only become aware of this today, so if it's old news to the rest of you, then I apologize, but apparently back in September, the San Diego Union-Tribune printed this:
Evidently, another NL West team complained about the Yankees visiting San Diego in each of the first two pairings of NL West and AL East teams in interleague play.
Instead of the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox will come to San Diego. The Red Sox will be at Petco from June 22-24, following the Baltimore Orioles (June 19-21). On the original tentative schedule, announced last week, the Yankees were to be at Petco from June 19-21 with the Orioles following. The Yankees will play the Rockies rather than the Padres.
Alright from which Newsday columnist Ken Davidoff came up with this:
I'm thinking Davidoff was looking forward to the mai tais on the beach paid for with the corporate card when he learned of the schedule switch to come up with something so inane at such a strange point in time.
Let's just go over the points where this is bad journalism quickly as the post is already pretty long.
- The original report never said it was the Rockies who complained. Yeah, yeah, it could probably be assumed that it was the Rockies given the results, but unless Davidoff has concrete evidence of that, he probably should keep his trap shut blaming them.
- Along those lines, when have the Rockies complained about the Yankees' spending so much on talent? As you might recall, the Rockies themselves have been villified and are now under a heavy financial obligation due to the huge contracts they've given out.
- Alright, now finally, look at the original report again. Does it say that the unnamed NL West team "begged" the Yankees to visit? Again, Davidoff seems to be coming up with stuff out of his hindquarters here. If baseball made the switch, then what do the Yankees have to do with it? Please. Whatever. The Yankees have "every right" to feel good about themselves for being such a favorable draw, but beyond that, let's just stick to the rights we all enjoy and not play this ignorant class hypocrisy card.