OK, so it’s less than a month until pitchers and catchers report… and it’s about 40 degrees warmer than it was a week ago… but this is the nadir of the offseason: holidays have come and gone, first pass at the player reports written, but the prospect books are still a couple weeks away from …
As reported earlier this week, I’ve been using the downtime afforded by the Fairfax County Public Schools weather to work on the first draft of the player reports for the 2014 Watchlist. The focus has been on the players that I’ve seen in the past season or so, the Top 10 guys per Baseball America (for which I have more up-to-date scouting reports), and the GCL and Auburn guys, who I don’t expect to get much attention from either BA or John Sickels.
Special thanks go to Ryan Kelley and Sean Hogan as their work on the 2013 draft picks (listed in the blogroll) was invaluable for this project (see previous parenthetical) as it made possible for me to write in more sooner than in years past. When the 2014 book and PDF arrive from BA and Sickels respectively, I’ll fill in “Report Not Written” entries and edit/rewrite the others.
As always, feel free to discuss in the comments while we wait (wade?) out the winter.
It’s been nearly silent on the transaction front for the past 2-3 weeks. With yesterday’s post from BA, along with some tweets from the estimable Bill Ladson, we have a few moves to pass along: Signed C Chris Snyder Signed IF Taylor Wrenn Re-signed IF Will Rhymes Re-signed RHP Ryan Tatusko Released RHP Michael Boyden …
Yes, we’re in a slow stretch here, especially after a two-week holiday break (well, for the kids, maybe; for the parents, not so much). It also doesn’t help that it’s a both rainy day and a Monday, which I’ve heard gets many people down.
As the pic and the headline suggest, I’ve been working on the the 2014 Watchlist, beginning with the essays for the DSLers and the Notables (bats and arms for both) and the “first draft” for the catcher player reports. As with all the categories, the idea is to write up what I can until the prospect books arrive via e-mail (Sickels) and snail-mail (Baseball America).
With the close of the Venezuelan Winter League earlier this week, we can kill some time take a final look at how the notable Nats minor-leaguers did in Winter baseball last year 😉 BATTERS PLAYER LG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG SB Oscar Tejeda DWL 28 86 …
Perhaps more accurately, a couple of site updates and a couple news items for folks to read/watch. First, the site updates — in keeping with the odometer turning tonight from 2013 to 2014, the 2014 Watchlist is up, and the 2013 Watchlist has been archived. With the downtime afforded by the winter break, I’ve finally …
It’s always interesting to me to do this piece and see what stories emerged from a given year. I look over the archives, letting chronology dictate a few of my choices, but by the end of the list it becomes thematic. Likewise, what begins as a list of names starts to morph into narratives, for …
With the blitz of retailers trying to “make up” for the shortened holiday season, let’s hope that by the time you read this, you’re done with all your shopping and are somewhere safe and away from the throngs, enjoying the company of whomever you choose (or not) while celebrating in moderation.
And as you should each and every day, be grateful for what you have, spare what you don’t need to those who do, and just be kind to others (even if they’re related to you 😉
There have been two transaction posts this week, no doubt yesterday’s coming early thanks to the forthcoming holidays. Here’s a rundown of the guys that were signed for the period of Dec. 6-20:
Given the surname and the lack of any listing on baseball-reference.com, the presumption is that Cespedes and Morel are IFAs, but absent any biographical data, that’s the extent of any inferences thatn can be reasonably made.
Canham was originally drafted and signed by the San Diego Padres in 2007 but has played the past three seasons with three different organizatons, as well as sizable stint with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League in the summer of 2012.
Burris is also a AAA veteran who’s spent most of the past six seasons at the level for San Francisco and Cincinnati, batting .241/.294/.266 in 108 games (the most played in a single season since 2007) for Louisville.
With the exhaustive search for a trading partner to move Corey Brown completed, the Washington Nationals announced the 2014 lineup for their affiliates’ coaching staffs today (new hires in red, returnees in blue): SYRACUSE Manager – Billy Gardner, Jr. (new hire) Pitching Coach – Paul Menhart (promoted from Harrisburg) Hitting Coach – Joe Dillon (new …