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Shifting Gears

Shifting-GearsWith six players optioned to Syracuse, two reassigned to minor-league camp, and a veteran given his release so he can pursue a job elsewhere, that’s my cue that it’s time to shift gears away from spring training.

As I wrote last month, I would post about spring training from the minors point of view for long as it seemed reasonable, estimating that would it be about three or four weeks. Well, just like last year, it’s about 23 days.

Unfortunately, it’s more than two weeks until the “other” Opening Day of April 4th (Harrisburg, at home; Hagerstown and Syracuse, on the road), with day after beginning the morning ritual of cherry-picking the boxscores and writing summaries for the “News & Notes.” That Friday is also the opening night for Potomac, which I’ll cover with the first of what I hope to be five dozen or so “Last Night In Woodbridge” (with a few “Sunday Afternoon” editions, too).

A couple weeks after that, I’ll begin the weekly feature of “Good, Bad, and Interesting,” where I pick out the leaders, trailers, and outliers of each affiliate in the spirit of passing along fun facts and things I’ve noticed while doing the daily notes.

Until then, sit tight as we wait out the rest of the spring. Just like the dark months of December, January, and February, I’ll do my best to refresh the site with minors-oriented news, even if the some of next few items that I expect to see may be unpleasant.

11 Commments

  1. I assume the minor league rosters will be starting to take shape now. How soon do you think you might have some information there, Luke?

    1. Not soon enough for anyone’s tastes. The reveal of the rosters is kept close to the vest and usually only precedes Opening Day by less than a day or two. I’m thinking the Tuesday (2nd) and Wednesday (3rd) before that Thursday (4th). Earliest I can recall it being released is March 31st.

  2. I appreciated the way you reminded folks last year that the unpleasant news (cuts from the minor league system) was possibly the end of a dream for the guys affected, and that readers should temper their comments accordingly.

    As for the final cuts from the major league roster, I hope they turn out better than the Chris Snyder transaction, for which the Nats received nothing. I suppose Rizzo gains goodwill with the Angels and non-roster invitees in the future, but I wish he could have received something, at least. This is my hope going forward as players out of options (like Mr. Rivero) fail to make the 25-man roster. I wuld hope that the Nats can get some obscure low-level prospect instead of nothing in return.

    1. Thing is, even as a minors guy, I’d rather have the goodwill that could lead to the next Zach Duke in the case of Snyder. It was obvious from Day 1 that his signing was an insurance policy for Wilson Ramos.

      I wouldn’t hold my breath about Rivero getting traded, period. Thus far, Rizzo hasn’t flipped an out-of-options player who hasn’t has had at least some major-league playing time.

      1. Yup, they are either going to work Rivero through the waiver-line or they are going to treat him like a rule 5 and keep him on the roster.

        I strongly suspect that lefty Abad has made the team. I can’t see them giving up Henry. And that means someone is going to get optioned. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if its Storen.

        1. No way is Storen getting optioned to start the year–remember, he had a bad camp in 2011 as well. He’ll only go down if he continues to struggle badly once the season begins.

      2. I keep thinking we’ll hear of a trade involving Owings or Marrerro. Can’t imagine them platooning at AAA.

        Also, has anyone in Viera reported any B Meyers or S Solis sightings? Guessing both are destined for raining behind in XST.

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