Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm not Irish, and I don't like beer, but I do have a closet full of color-appropriate clothes! (I'm sure that's one thing that Ducks, Packers and Athletics fans have in common.)
Royals Review has put up a fun post about Irish ballplayers; check it out.
I know we've discussed the 25-man roster decisions to death around here, but after spending the last five days in Phoenix, here it is, for what it's worth. We obviously have the problem of "too many of the same players for the same position". Nico has provided his observations from the same games, and I'd just like to add on to that. I'm much less funny, though.
First of all, and maybe most importantly, I thought Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill both looked fantastic in their starts. Since there is yet no "official" word on Justin Duchscherer, this may turn out to be a great thing; they both have a shot at the starting rotation.
If I didn't know any better, I would swear that Daric Barton was the best player on our team. He looked good from beginning to end of every game he played; his defense is head and shoulders above than anyone else's (including Chavez), and he got the most out of every at-bat. He hit the ball hard in just about every appearance, and is doing his best to ensure that he is not only on the 25-man, but is the starting first baseman. From what I saw, it would be hard to argue otherwise.
Chavez looked great out there on the field, and roused a good cheer from the crowd over at first base.
Jake Fox's performance so far has been disappointing; I was high on him coming into Spring Training, and despite an absolutely BOMB of a homerun hit in one of his at-bats, he swings at absolutely everything and doesn't hit much.
Both Michael Taylor and Chris Carter were in just about every game, and obviously I can't judge from such a small sample size, but "major league ready" did not come to mind. I was unimpressed so far with Taylor's swing.
Adam Rosales looks absolutely great. He makes the most of his at-bats; he has what one of you called "adorable hustle", and is doing everything he can to make the club. He also looks eerily like Bobby Crosby. Like right down to the cleat-sweep of home plate after each pitch. What was really encouraging; however, was how great he looked at shortstop.
It's hard to get too much of a read on Ben Sheets for the season, for obvious reasons if you heard that game, but I've been impressed with Fernando Hernandez's performance so far this spring, and in person, I wasn't disappointed. Ben Sheets? 10 runs, no outs. Hernandez? 6 outs, no runs, no hits, no walks.
The Jake Fox in the outfield experiment? Was not a rousing success; that play was possibly the worst I've ever seen, and I've seen Cust make a few.
From all indications, Coco Crisp probably will not be ready to start the season, so that might free up a spot on the team for Patterson (but likely not Buck).
Today's game will start at 1:00 PM.
In fantasy news, League Athletics Nation is holding a live draft next Tuesday at 7pm. I'll start a fan post for an open thread if you all want to heckle our picks or help team baseballgirl offer some sleeper picks that might help us in our quest for the Dancing With The Stars trophy.
Remember, you can still sign up for CBSSports.com's Fantasy Baseball Commissioner's League for half-off using this link. That takes the price down to $89.99 a league, which is less than $8 a person for a 12-team. If you do start another CBSSports.com league (either with fellow ANers or on your own with friends), email me at baseballgirl1976 at hotmail. Both SB Nation and baseballgirl will make sure you have a fabulous prize to offer the winner.
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