[Syd Thrift]

I think the really important things that happen here are major injuries and camp battles. I sim out these games anyway...

Major Transactions
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Feb 9: The A's sign David Decker to a 1-year deal. He'll compete with Jordan Henricks for the starting 1B job.

February 28: The Yankees purchased CF Jeff Murphy from the White Sox for $10,000. Murphy had lost his starting job in Chicago when they decided to move Tom Brown into center field. New York really needs a LF more than a CF but nevertheless Murphy will compete with Micah MacMillan for the starting role there.

March 21: The Twins acquired OF Guillermo Maldonado for RP Danny Mojica and minor league OF Jesse Neal. Minnesota figured they needed outfield depth with Alejandro Cortez out indefinitely, and they had bullpen arms to spare. For their part the Senators acquired a fireballing lefty who posted a poor ERA but struck out 8 batters per 9 innings in 1969.

March 29: The Cubs and Mets swap catchers, with prospect Ricardo Romero going to New York in exchange for their backup Greg Darrow. The Cubs will use Darrow, who hit a solid .275 last year, to challenge Brent Putnam through the rest of training camp and maybe let him take over if the Cubs veteran can't hit. The Mets have their catcher of the future and trading Darrow away was as much to keep feathers unruffled as anything else.

April 2: The Padres trade RP Sam Williams to the Cardinals for SS Akiho Fujimoto. Williams was the last remaining piece of a pretty solid bullpen in San Diego but a solid bullpen is a luxury an expansion team doesn't really need. In exchange they get the loser of the battle the Cards were having at shortstop.

ST Results
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ATL
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Injuries:

Michael Diot's season ended before it even got started. He was expected to do some spot starting work for the Braves this year but instead he'll nurse a torn labrum.

Vicente Luna will miss the first 2-3 weeks of the season with a fractured hand. Franklin Martinez filled in capably for him last year when he missed time and will do the same here.

And if the Braves weren't hurt enough by injuries, they're also going to be without spot starter / middle reliever Jake Cari until some time in May.

Camp Battles:

1B: Jeremy Holden was good but Dante Chairez was better. They'll enter the season platooning though.

BAL
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Injuries:

SP Alfredo Lopez tweaked his elbow while pitching and will be out until May. The O's will push Ben Feldhusen, a 3 time All Star who hasn't pitched meaningful games since the All-Star Break in 1968, into the rotation to take his place.

OOOOOF Ben Feldhusen's out for the season. Again. I think he's done.

Camp Battles:

1B - Neither John Fleishaker nor Devin Cutter looked like they wanted the job particularly, but Cutter was marginally better so he'll enter the year as the starter, with Fleishaker spelling him occasionally vs. lefties.

SS - Lucky Number Blevins held off Ian Reeder with the power of his glove more than anything else. Reeder will travel to Rochester to work on his defense some more.

LF - Dave Hiatt simply outplayed Edgar Colon, who needed to hit to keep that starting gig this spring but batted .155.

BOS
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Injuries:

The Red Sox will be missing the services of Lamar Boyce until late June to early July. Boyce played for three teams last year and was expected to provide relief help. Manny Venegas will fill in for him but the Sox may just go to a 4 man rotation with the games being a little far apart during the first month of the season.

Camp Battles:
2B - The Sox decided to stick with the devil they knew in Dwayne Fraser, although Arturo Jaquez will stick around.

CAL
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Camp Battles:

2B - Chance Hopka came to play this spring and Mauricio Mendez did not so the Angels chose veteran leadership over youth and talent this go-round.

RF - Both Chris Tyree and Alvin Romero were red-hot this spring but the tie goes to the incumbent so Tyree gets the gig for now. Romero will stick around as the 4th OF / next man up as soon as someone gets hurt or cools off.

CHW
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Injuries:

Jim Truss, who was slated to be the Sox' 4th starter in 1970, will instead start the season on the disabled list with bone chips in his elbow. Yikes.

Camp Battles:

3B - Wooten and de Velasco were about even, so the White Sox will start the season with the two of them in a roughly 50/50 platoon split, with the righty de Velasco getting all the at-bats vs. LHP and around a fourth vs RHP.

CHC
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Camp Battles:

C - The writing was probably on the wall when the Cubs traded for him but they made it official: Greg Darrow will start at catcher instead of Brent Putnam in 1970. It is not a move without controversy, as Putnam is a fan favorite and a 3-time All Star, but Darrow is younger, a better hitter, and at this point in his career a better catcher as well.

CIN
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Injuries:

1969 rookie phenom RF Junior Cannon was concussed in a collision at third base and will be out until mid to late April. Willie Ortega, a 26 year old who can play left field and first base and who hit 20 HRs in 274 at-bats for AAA Indianapolis last year, will open the year in left, with Justin Jensen switching over into right while Cannon is out.

Camp Battles:

CF - Chris Wilkes showed that he still might have something left and so he'll take the starting job out of spring training. Ben Menke is still in there as the only guy in the upper organization who is a plus CF.

CLE
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Injuries:

Fernando Zavala's comeback from a torn labrum that has kept him virtually out of the game for the past 4 seasons (just 14 games pitched since 1966) takes a turn for the worse as he's apparently re-torn that labrum and will be out until June at least. Is his career over?

The Indians will be without the services of Alonzo Huanosta until the end of May or the beginning of June, as he pulled up lame with a strained hamstring (and that's going to make him miss 6 weeks!? Good thing I know he has a high work ethic or I'd start pointing fingers). Cleveland's going to need to scramble a bit to find a replacement: for now, it's Nick Miller's job to lose, at least until Alonzo comes back.

DET
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Camp Battles:

C - Gianluigi Farinelli flat-out outplayed Scott Woodcock and so he'll take that job going into the real games.

3B - David Salinas had a solid camp, hitting .280 for the spring, and John Daughtry did not. Daughtry should stick around as a right-handed pinch-hitter though.

HOU
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Injuries:

SP Aaron Shephard is out until mid-May with a sprained elbow. In some ways this injury allows the Astros to avoid having to make some tough decisions about the back part of the order, as both he and Jeff Graton were pitching well but there was really only one rotation spot available between the two of them.

CL - I don't really introduce pitching things as camp battles since at the end of the day both of these guys are going to play a lot, but Alex Ochoa and Jon Douglas both pitched well in spring training and so... the Astros will go with both! This was a thing teams did back then. Douglas is a righty, Ochoa a lefty.

KC
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Injuries:

3B Cris Ramos tore his calf muscle, more or less handing Jeff Nation the starting job. He's expected to return in mid-June.

LF John Beard, the Royals' leading HR hitter / only power hitter of note ruptured his Achilles tendon and will miss the entire year. Given that he's 33 years old and wasn't very good when he was healthy, there's a better than even chance that this is the last we've seen of Beard. They will... figure something out, I'm not sure what. For now, Sergio Sicre is cross-training into left field; he'll be sent down to AAA Omaha to see if he can pick it up in a month or so (this happened on the 2nd to last day of spring training so unfortunately no chance to use the fact that ST gooses position training).

Camp Battles:

LF - Not a competition per se but Sergio Sicre did clear the bar in one game to get a 20 rating in left. Sure, what the heck, I'll keep him on the roster and see what he can do. What's the worst that could happen?

CF - 20 year old David Corona demanded to be taken seriously this spring and he easily won this job. Corona hit .354 with 9 walks in 57 spring PAs.

LAD
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The Dodgers' bullpen just got a bit thinner, as Rich Wilson is out 5 months with a torn back muscle. They'll toss Keith Pacheco into the spring training co-stopper role and see how things shake out.

Less than 48 hours after learning about Wilson's injury, the Dodgers also found out that SP Mario Juarez will miss all of spring training with a rotator cuff strain. They'll be understandably cautious with the young hurler but this will almost certainly put the kibosh on the idea of him breaking camp with the team.

Brian Maccioli's attempts to build on a... rookie season will be stalled for a month, until mid to late April. He suffered a sprained ankle running the bases. The Dodgers will use this opportunity to try and train Nick Sego out there and see if he can put things together enough to play there. I am skeptical.

I guess it's just going to be one of those years for the Dodgers... starting CF and leadoff hitter Danny Hohman is out for the year with a torn ligament in his knee. A huge, huge blow for LA, and I think we can call the return to the old dynasty off at this point. Prospects Butch Magana and JD Heil will duke it out for the 1970 job. Neither of them hit that well in September call-ups, but they are young.

Oh man... so, JD Heil is also going to miss a month with a fractured foot. At least he's not out for the season! That means that Butch Magana has pretty much been handed the starting CF job. Go forth and leadoff-ify, Butch.

3B - Nick Sego, as expected, didn't hold up at 3rd base either. He just plain doesn't have the arm to play on the left side of the infield. The Dodgers will send him down to AAA Spokane and try to teach him the tools of second base; Billy Tristan is the incumbent there but let's be honest, he'll miss time this year. Jeremy Schwartz has had more than 300 at-bats as the backup 3B over the last 2 seasons and he'll fill in there until Maccioli is back.

MIL
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Injuries:

Tom Owen will miss all of spring training with a forearm strain. This shouldn't be too bad, as Owens was projected to make the Opening Day roster anyway, but he won't get a chance to shake off the rust before the games count.

John Simmons will wind up missing the second half of spring training, making it very hard to make a decision on him in right field. Earl Goetz would appear to have the job won by default.

The Brew Crew will be without the services of Julio Garcia, 4-5 last year and one of the few pitchers who will travel to Milwaukee from Seattle. Luis Hernandez will get a shot to demonstrate if he can recapture the magic that made him an All-Star in 1964 for the Yankees (9-2 with a 2.28 ERA).

SP - In a mild coup, Danny Plaunt pitched his way out of the rotation to open the season with a 5.94 ERA in 6 spring starts. Jake Kratky was bad at Vancouver last year and gave up 6 runs in 3.2 innings in the majors but nevertheless he's now the Brewers' 5th starter.

C - Neither Jordan Jenkins nor Jonathan Victoria did super well. I'll go into the season with Victoria remaining behind the plate but I'm looking at you, strikeout boy!

1B - Jon Fath outhit Luis Mendez but truth be told I don't feel super comfortable with Fath as the full-time guy so I'll platoon the two of them going into the year.

3B - The Brewers flat-out don't have the sentimentality towards Ryan Colvin that the A's would have and so have no problems replacing him in the lineup with Francisco Martinez, who just straight-up outhit Colvin. Colvin will stick around for leadership purposes.

SS - Hugo Flores didn't show any ability to hit this spring (a .196 BA) and so he'll be their man in AAA this year as the Brewers choose to go with defense.

CF - Jason Haskell showed why he hasn't played in the majors yet, posting a .160 average when he just needed to hit well enough to knock the non-CF Jonathan Harbison off of the position. Instead he'll ply his trade in AAA Portland in 1970.

MIN
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Injuries:

LF Alejandro Cortez is out for an unknown length of time with a sore elbow that has a moderate effect on the vet's throwing arm. The Twins stuck him on the DL just to be on the safe side; hopefully it won't linger for too long. In the meantime, Mike Grigg has been here before and will play.

Marty Mendel fractured his arm getting hit by a pitch (ouch!) and he'll be out of action until mid-May, so it looks like Dong-hak Park has won the training camp battle for shortstop by default.

The Twins will have to face life without stopper Pete Eason until mid-May, as he suffered a herniated disc in his back. Good thing they traded for Todd Thiesen...

MON
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Injuries:

Friday, March 13 turned out to be a bad day for Expos reliever Jeff Carty, as he learned he would be miss all of the 1970 season on this day with a torn rotator cuff. For now, the Expos will try pairing Nate Herod with Cody Hunter and see how that goes.

Camp Battles:

2B - Adri van Zanten didn't so much win this battle so much as incumbent Sergio Rojas lost it, as the 30 year old hit .180 in spring.

NYM
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Injuries:

Nick Hawkinson will be out until late April to early May with a sprained ankle, leaving Bob Baldwin and Jose Vallin to fight out who will be the Opening Day 3B in his place.

Camp Battles:

2B - Luis Alvarez was clearly not ready to go, hitting .103 and earning himself a one-way ticket to AAA Tidewater. Nick Warren will keep his job at second base.

3B - Jose Vallin probably could have won this job if it was at all close, as he was a contributor to the World Champions last year. It was not and former KC Royal Bob Baldwin wins this battle, at least for the next couple weeks (Hawkinson looks like he'll be back by mid-April).

NYY
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Injuries:

Closing prospect Michael Williams ruptured his ulnar collateral ligament and his career is in serious jeopardy. Early returns say he'll be out until midseason of 1971 at least.

Camp Battles:

1B - The starting slot was never in doubt but the Yankees, faced with the prospect of breaking camp with 3 guys who can basically only play first base, cut former starter and 4-time All Star John Chapman. Chapman will undoubtedly be snapped up by someone.

CF - Micah MacMillan easily held off Jeff Murphy to keep his job, but he should probably get used to the open competition.

OAK
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Camp Battles:

1B - David Decker proved he still has something left in the tank and so the A's will head into 1970 with the 42 year old as their starting 1B and #3 hitter.

CF - It was pretty close but the A's chose to go with the promise of a stronger bat with Mike Schurke over last year's starter Dylan Dockery. Dockery's chances were tied mainly into his superior glove-play but as spring progressed it became clear that Dockery wasn't actually that much better out there.

PHI
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Injuries:

2B Victor Serna will be out until late April with bone marrow edema in his knee. I don't completely know what that is. Anyway, that resolves the 3B issue at least for now, as Francisco Carrasco will open the year as their 2B and leave Alex Becerra 10 days to 2 weeks to prove that he's still the guy for 3rd.

Corey Harpst will miss the entire year with a torn elbow ligament. The Phillies will pit prospect Andrew Powell against veteran and Gold Glove left fielder Bobby Kelly against each other to try and find an answer. Kelly looks awkward in right but should be able to adapt by the end of spring training.

Camp Battles:

RF - Bobby Kelly just didn't hit this spring and that was really the question mark coming from him. So instead the Phillies will try out Andrew Powell and see if he can make the scouts who say he's a C-tier prospect at best eat their words.

PIT
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Camp Battles:

3B - Gregg Powell failed to hit and so the elder statesman Roberto Prieto will get a shot to run it back for 1970.

RF - Brian Jackson and Justin Hearl both hit the cover off the ball in spring training but Jackson's the incumbent, is still only 25, and did hit well in 1968 so I'm going to stick with him. He's already got an angry face on on his player card thanks to his own performance so I won't exacerbate things for now.

SD
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Injuries:

The Padres will be without the services of 1B/LF Alex Canales for most of the season, as he suffered the old biscuit meniscus. Davin Henderson and Carlos Gomez. who both excelled in their own ways as pinch-hitters for the Padres last season, will go at it for the newly opened LF spot. I'd love to platoon them but they're both right-handed batters...

Camp battles:

2B - Roberto Honesto outplayed Jake Gray and so, after a cup of coffee last year, he wins the Opening day job. Last year's guy Jeff Beckwith hit .100 in spring training and got himself cut. His career is almost certainly over.

3B - Kevin Landry just did edge Eli Ware, so he'll keep his job for now.

LF - The Padres will chase Davin Henderson's power over Carlos Gomez' average going into 1970, although of course Gomez figures to see a lot of time as a pinch-hitter once again.

SF
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Injuries:

CF Danny Seligman is out until mid to late May with back spasms (it says "recurring back spasms" but I don't think they've recurred yet... huh, actually, he missed times with regular back spasms last year. I feel like this is probably a coincidence but hey, just in case). This is exactly why the Giants brought in Chae-hwi Park; he'll take over and for now it looks like Rich Kemm, who the Giants brought in from the Pilots' fire sale in the offseason, won't be a late-camp cut after all.

Camp battles:

SS - Neither Masayuki Kojima nor the 38 year old Mario Guevera looked any good, so the Giants will go with... both guys, though they kind of want to go with neither. Kojima is a lefty so he'll get the lion's share of appearances against RHPs with Guevara getting exclusive action vs. LHPs.



STL
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Injuries: The Cards went almost the entire training camp without major injury, only to lose a CATCHER on the last day! It's okay, guys, it was just backup Jose Medina. The new backup is Willis Lazama, a 28 year old who neither hits nor fields at a major league level, so St. Louis's new strategy is to just never rest John Stuart. What could go wrong?

WAS
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Injuries:

Justin Ramey will be out until mid-June with a fractured hand... that is a popular injury this spring training. Joe Nyman, the man Ramey took the starting job from, will take over until he's back, and for the remainder of the spring this will give us a little chance to look at 1969 first round draft pick Rob Curran.

CL - Willis Chavez, the new blood in from Cleveland, had the best spring training of any of the guys competing for the stopper job. It was between him, Gabe Slaughter, and Danny Mojica. Of course, all three of those guys will see plenty of time in the bullpen, especially considering the state of the young rotation.

Camp battles:

2B - Tyler Webster beat out Jeremy Rzepka in perhaps the least exciting spring training battle in the league this year. Knight will look for his 4th Gold Glove this season and hey, maybe he'll actually hit this year.

CF - Bill Swan beat out Ian Everett and looked pretty good doing so (a .304 BA in spring training).

RF - Manuel Alvarez also impressed in spring training and so he'll keep his starting gig for another year and, should he bounce back to that All-Star, .290 hitter level, several years more.