Clearing The Bases

Boston Red Sox: My thoughts and prayers go out to Boston. Just another senseless act of violence once again. I’m a Yankee fan, and a Cowboy/Islander fan also, and outside of playing for a hockey team called the Blackhawks, I’ve never worn any other team’s jersey other than those three teams, would consider it disloyal, today however I would proudly wear a Red Sox jersey, there is nothing wrong with rooting for your hometown team, but let’s not forget that in the end, we are all Americans.

Baltimore Orioles: Top prospect, SP Dylan Bundy, is still experiencing elbow discomfort and is not throwing at this time. When it comes to elbows and pitchers, we all think the worst (Tommy John surgery), and it may come to that, but the O’s need to figure out sooner or later what the problem is. If he has to undergo TJ surgery, than the earliest Bundy could possibly make the starting rotation would be 2015, but if they club waits and he undergoes surgery later this summer, than it might be 2016 before we see Bundy. Either way, you can expect Baltimore to be very cautious with their future ace.

Chicago White Sox: Second baseman Gordon Beckham will be lost to the team for about 6-8 weeks as he will undergo surgery to correct a fractured hamates bone…..Adam Dunn is off to a terrible start this season only batting .128 but what has to even be of more concern to the team is that he has only walked twice so far this season. Usually you don’t mind his strikeouts all that much because that comes with a healthy OBP, but not so much this season. Outfielder Dayan Viciedo is off to a rough start as well.

Cleveland Indians: Outfielder Michael Bourn will be lost to the team for at least a week after having his hand stepped on while sliding into first base over the weekend. Will never understand why players do this. It’s been proven over and over again that you don’t get to 1B any quicker by sliding in, it only increases the chance of injury. I guess Cleveland and Bourn should be lucky he only suffered a laceration and nothing more serious. He should be back in the lineup as soon as he can grip a bat without opening up the wound.

Detroit Tigers: I think I’m done trying to figure out the closer carousel in Detroit. Manager Jim Leyland stated that Joaquin Benoit would be the closer but then let him pitch 1 2/3 innings in a non-save situation. I still think it’s a closer by committee situation but don’t forget about Bruce Rondon either, he has had four straight scoreless outings in AAA and should not be forgotten…..Anibal Sanchez looked really good in his start versus Oakland on Sunday. If he turns out to be an ace also, there will be no stopping Detroit this year. Not until the World Series anyway.

Houston Astros: Starting pitcher Erik Bedard is having a rough go of things in the early part of the season. He had to be removed from his first start after four innings despite being handed a huge lead (pitched well in the four innings but the team didn’t want overtax him), and yesterday was blasted by the Athletics for six runs, not making it out of the first inning. Bedard is a candidate to be traded if and when he can prove himself to be a reliable starter.

Kansas City Royals: The addition of SP Ervin Santana has paid off so far for Kansas City. He has thrown eight innings in back to back starts and could continue to give the Royals the depth in their rotation that they need. First baseman Eric Hosmer is dealing with a sore quad. He is once again off to a slow start to the season. Third baseman Mike Moustakas is also having a hard time in April, as a matter of fact, outside of OF Alex Gordon and DH Billy Butler, most of the Royals haven’t found their batting stroke yet.

Los Angeles Angels: Anyone watching 1B Albert Pujols run has to wonder if he will be able to make it through the entire season. I’m not sure he could beat a throw at first base from right field as of this moment. If I’m the Angels, I DH him as much as possible…..With all the money the Angels have spent on offense the past couple of off-seasons, it might have been nice to make an addition to their pitching staff other than C.J. Wilson and Ryan Madson. They are woefully thin in starting pitching.

Minnesota Twins: The Twins called up one of their top hitting prospects, OF Oswaldo Arcia, but it was only for a game as he was sent back down to AAA on Tuesday…..Have to wonder how long it will be until OF Aaron Hicks is sent down, he is batting a robust .047…..Outfielder Josh Willingham has missed the past couple of games due to the flu, this sort of thing happens when you don’t build a dome on a stadium in Minnesota.

New York Yankees: So far so good for the NYY as they have weathered the injury storm, still, it will be at least two more weeks until OF Curtis Granderson and/or 1B Mark Teixeira might return from the DL…..The news is not so good for SS Derek Jeter as he is nowhere near close to a return to action. He is just starting to take ground balls in extended spring training and has yet to start running. Best case scenario for his return right now seems to be mid-May and even that may be wishful thinking…..Andy Pettitte was skipped over for his start against Baltimore due to a cranky back, this is nothing serious and he should be good to go Friday versus Toronto.

Oakland Athletics: The loss of OF Yoenis Cespedes is a big one for Oakland, but better to be safe than sorry with a thumb injury. The worst injury for a hitter is to the hand or wrist area, and they can take a while to heal. The A’s mentioned that if not for a roster shortage, OF Coco Crisp was also banged up, they wouldn’t have put Cespedes on the DL, while this may be true, better to be out to long than to short with this kind of injury…..What kind of year can SS Jed Lowrie have if he can just stay healthy for 150+ games?

Seattle Mariners: After being one of the worst hitters in MLB last year, 2B Dustin Ackley looks just as bad this season, batting a robust .122 in the early going. How long until they have to send him down to AAA to see if he can get things figured out? First baseman Justin Smoak should join him…..The Mariners may have acquired Jesus Montero from the Yankees with the idea that he would be their everyday catcher of the future but Mike Zunino should be that man, and sooner rather than later…..Outfielder Michael Morse who missed a few games due to a fractured finger is back in the lineup Tuesday.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays have one of the worst offenses in baseball. This really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but now we are hearing the whispers that they should call up super prospect OF Wil Myers. Unlikely they will as this would put an undue amount of pressure on the rookie to solve all of the team’s offensive problems. Not to mention it would start his arbitration clock a year early and the team would have to admit they made a mistake in not starting him in the majors…..If the Rays fall out of contention early, you have to think they will look into trading SP David Price. They know they can’t sign him long term, and the earlier they deal him, the more they will get for him. They will have suitors lined up around the block, including division rivals NYY and Boston, but it’s unlikely they would trade him to either of those two, think Texas.

Texas Rangers: It seems like the reason SS Jurickson Profar is still at AAA is because 2B Ian Kinsler is not a big fan of moving to first base. Isn’t this suppose to be a team game? Shouldn’t you do what’s best for the team? The Rangers would certainly be a better one with Profar at 2B and Kinsler at 1B then Kinsler at 2B and Mitch Moreland at 1B. Doesn’t this move have to happen eventually anyway? You just signed SS Elvis Andrus to a long term deal, so he’s not going to play there. Maybe you’re going to move Profar to the outfield, but that would weaken his value to your team a little bit. Still amazes me that they didn’t trade Profar or Andrus to get OF Justin Upton, it just made to much sense, and for those who have proposed a swap of top prospects, Profar for the Cardinals Oscar Tavares, while it does make sense for both organizations, it will never happen.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays are a mess right now. They lose SS Jose Reyes until the All-Star break with a sprained ankle, OF Jose Bautista can’t get on the field, and their pitching staff has been a huge disappointment so far. That being said, the AL East is a quagmire and no team is going to be able to run away with the division…..Was very surprised to hear that the Jays were thinking about moving 3B Brett Lawrie to second base. He failed there when he was with the Brewers, and even if he could make a better transition now, does it make any sense to have him take more hits at 2B when he has already shown an inability to stay healthy playing third?

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