[Syd Thrift]

Major Transactions
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March 13: The Angels purchased C Eddie Dimmock (.197, 5, 40) from the Dodgers for $2,500. With their own backup catcher Estevan Garza laid up most of spring training with a mild groin sprain, California needed some veteran presence to handle the pitching and play some games when Shaun Dennehy's not available. The Dodgers cut ties with a former starter who struggled badly last year and lost his gig.

March 15: The Mets purchased OF Kyle Damian (.258, 4, 16) from the Royals for $2,500. With Dave Corona moving into left this year, Kansas City had no place to play Damian, who was roughly league average with the bat in LF last year. On the NY side of the ledger, Ruberto Yebra isn't hitting at all in spring training (.169, 0, 4 so far) and while they're not going to have him give up the spot based on a bad March, they need better insurance than Edgar Arriaga.

March 15: The Angels traded P Ed Lagos (2-2, 2.47) and C Ryan Thaxton (.275, 2, 28 at AAA Hawaii) for C prospect Johnny Becton (.259, 4, 27). Becton was one of the two catchers the White Sox selected in the first round of last year's draft and with Lee Zgonc looking like their catcher of the future, they decided to cash in on Becton. The reward here is Thaxton, who looks like he'll hit well and be a guy the Sox can use until Zgonc is ready, and Lagos, a fireballing youngster who might not have the stamina to start on a regular basis.

March 19: The Padres purchased RP Darius Parchman (0-1. 2.93) from the Brewers for $7,500. The real-life equivalent of this deal was a decent reliever going to... *Hawaii* for cash, but Hawaii is a Padres affiliate (even though the guy didn't resurface with San Diego; I guess their arrangement was a bit more loosey-goosey than what you see nowadays). I do rather expect this guy to play a lot for San Diego because San Diego is not good.

March 23: The White Sox traded P David Hinkson (0-0, 4.76 combined) to the Giants for OF Scott Lammers (.211, 8, 48). Hinkson showed he might have some stuff left with the White Sox last year after the Yankees released him, and he's struck out 8 men in 8 spring training innings so far. The Giants might be taking a 13-8 spring a little too seriously; on the other hand, you can never have too much pitching. The White Sox fetched Lammers for him, who can join Sebastiano Veneziano in an outfield filled with guys who were pretty good once upon a time.

March 24: The White Sox traded C Nick McIntyre (.266, 20, 64) to the Royals for CF Moniko Fernandez (.264, 13, 38 at A San Jose). McIntyre was a very good starter, leading AL catchers in homeruns, but the Sox seem committed to Mike Perez going forward and are workig to nip a potential chemistry issue in the bud before it happens. They get back Kansas City's 1st round pick in 1970 in Fernandez, although early reports on him is that he's a good-field no-hit kind of player who's at least a year away.

March 25: The Pirates purchased 1B Jack Holman (.251, 7, 50) from the Brewers for $5,000. This is Holman's 3rd team in 3 years but the fact is, Milwaukee has two people in the depth chart ahead of him in Rule V draft pick Kozue Nakamura and former Braves farmhand Ray Hawkinson. He's obviously not the #1 guy in Pittsburgh either but with Albilio Valdivia increasingly showing his age and both Ian Swerdlove and Arturo Ganzalez failing to meet the Timonen line in spring training, Holman should get plenty of use as a caddy and pinch-hitter.

March 25: The Expos purchased OF Jose Maldonado (.294, 16, 62 for AAA Phoenix) from the Giants for $5,000. Despite the nice season in the minors last year, Maldonano was excess to the Giants' plans this year and the Expos can always use more hitting.

March 26: The Indians purchased 2B Marcos Escobedo (.306, 5, 28) from the Brewers for $3,000. Escobedo was passed over in favor of the younger, more powerful, and better defensively Eric Biron, but the Indians see some use in him as a pinch-hitter and insurance clause in case 34 year old TJ Pritchett misses time.

March 29: The Tigers traded minor league P Ruben Estrada (13-4, 2.82) and CF prospect Dan White (.280, 13, 70) to the Twins for P Jim Marceau (3-3, 2.89). It's costing them a pretty penny - Estrada looks like a back of the rotation starter and White looked like he was going to be the Tigers' CF of the future before they acquired Alvin Romero - but Detroit gets a guy in Marceau who was arguably the Twins' most effective relief pitcher after closer Pete Lynn last year. Will they be able to get better leverage for him later in the year? Or will they ride his talent to an unlikely pennant chase?

March 29: The White Sox traded 3B Omar Dominguez (.223, 5, 23) to the Senators for C/PH Matt Hackney (.228, 1, 6). Whether or not Jeff Nation can stick at third, the White Sox now have other options at the hot corner and have little to no need of Dominguez. They could, however, take a flier on Hackney, who hit .283 in 1969 and still looks like he's got some good bat control even though he hit .228 last year (only 3 Ks in 57 at-bats). Washington should not feel comfortable with a 35 year old David Salinas at third, no matter what they tell their fans.

March 30: The Tigers traded RP Larry Hilbert (4-4, 4.06) to the Mets for RP Nate Khoury (0-0, 1.42 in 6 games) and RP Benito Diaz (4-5, 3.35). Hilbert is unhappy with his role with the Tigers but was very effective as recently as 1969. The fact that he's a guy who's proven to be solid in high leverage situations makes him straight up more valuable than Khoury, who's an interesting piece who could be good in a couple years, and Benito Diaz, a longtime minor leaguer who had a decent rookie season at 31 between Cleveland and New York.

March 31: The Expos traded 2B Adri van Zanten (.255, 12, 48) to the Mets for 3B Bob Baldwin (.239, 1, 8) and CF Andy Owens (.196, 1, 7). With van Zanten reportedly unhappy at the way Bill Heyen was just handed the 2B job in spring training, the Expos feel it's better to drop the complainer. In return they get a couple of vets who can fill in and provide that good old veteran leadership.

March 31: The Red Sox traded P Chris Messina (8-9, 2.69) and 1B prospect Juan Ortiz (.266, 10, 41 at AA "Pawtucket") to the White Sox for 2B Brian Long (.271, 7, 74) and P Jim Truss (3-9, 4.73). The White Sox continue their fire sale, moving on from 3-time All-Star Brian Long, in order to get the Red Sox' 4th best prospect overall but best pure hitter - Ortiz is only 20 and projects to be an impact starter. The teams also swapped pitchers in this deal.

March 31: The Reds traded OF John Leyva (.281, 6, 40 at AA Asheville) for OF Manuel Alvarez (.239, 1, 18 at WAS and MON). Leyva's not a lot but a team like the Expos have just plain no use for the 36 year old Alvarez; in fact, given that he was signed as a free agent last August, the fact that they can pull anything for him is a bonus. Alvarez should have value left as a pinch-hitter.

April 2: The Padres purchased RP Greg Grady (0-1, 2.45) from the Phillies. The 25 year old Grady wasn't going to make the Phillies' Opening Day roster so they took the money and ran with it. He could be effective for San Diego, who knows?

April 3: The Braves traded minor league RP Joe Davis (0-0, 1.04 at A Shreveport) to the Padres for minor league C Scott Ferriola (.240, 2, 17). Of these two players, Ferriola's the one with the biggest chance to carve out a major league career since he's the closest, but neither player looks major league ready at this point. We'll see, I guess!

News
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March 6th: I've seen a few injuries so far but none to major players that extend to more than a couple weeks into the season. Well, now White Sox P Bob Reyes (12-11, 3.33 combined between CLE and CHW) joins teammate and former 18 game winner Daniel Roche (4-4, 2.73) on the 60 day DL, with neither player expected to pitch until the second half of the year. A big blow for a team whose only shot at staying above water was keeping what's left of the pitching staff healthy and getting the younger players to step up.

March 7th: Twins RP Pete Eason (1-3, 4.26), a former staff ace who won the AL Cy Young in 1963 but who hasn't been able to stay healthy since... jeez, 1966, suffered a fractured elbow today that will keep him out until August. His Twins career might be at an end.

March 12: Twins P Bryan Lewis (0-0, 9.64), who had a very slim chance of making the Opening Day roster anyway, suffered a separated shoulder falling out of bed and won't pitch at all until June. He was only 5-13, 5.18 in AAA so it's probably for the best.

March 19: Big setback for Angels SP Jordan Irons (12-7, 2.56), who the team was expecting to at least be in the mix to be their Opening Day starter. He is suffering from elbow inflammation and, as mild as that might sound, that's going to take him out of action until late May.

March 20: Braves P Colin Rose (8-8, 4.52), who I'm personally tracking because he's the knuckleballer I added to the save, is going to miss 4 months with a torn meniscus in his knee. It's not an arm injury, which is good news, but Rose hasn't really been developing super well and I'm getting a bit concerned.

March 22: Jeremiah Vardaman (13-11, 3.75) joins Jordan Irons on the DL with elbow tendinitis, further weakening the Angels' rotation in a year where the Twins seem they could be gettable.

March 23: Padres RP Adam Cheeseman (2-2, 4.57) who recovered from a poor start with Oakland last year (2-0, 6.89) to put together 29.2 quality innings in San Diego, will miss the season with a partially torn UCL in his elbow. Cheeseman is 36 and that could spell the end to his career.

March 23: Speaking of back of the rotation starters, White Sox hurler Franklin "Dirty" Davila (4-6, 5.00), a 15 game winner with the Red Sox in 1969, will miss the first 5-6 weeks of the season with biceps tendinitis. Davila was hoping to get back on track after a bad, bad 1970 but now joins three other prospective Chicago starters on the disabled list. This might not be the Chisox' year. Prior to the injury, he was leading the AL by throwing 14 scoreless innings in spring training.

March 25: Cardinals #1 starter Jimmy McCauley (17-12, 3.55) will miss Opening Day with a lingering ankle injury that won't go away. This puts St. Louis in a real quandary, although to be honest their hopes of competing for the NL East were already kind of low.

March 25: A's pitcher Ryan O'Neal (7-7, 4.29) was diagnosed with a bad rotator cuff tear that, at least preliminarily, appears to mark the end of the 29 year old's career. O'Neal played for some pretty bad teams in Kansas City and in 1967 went 11-12 with a fine 2.49 ERA. Since then, he's struggled to stay healthy and hasn't been super effective when he has played. Should this be the end, O'Neal finished with a record of 43-60 with a 3.54 ERA. That ERA isn't as good as you'd think, but then, he was better than the record, too.

March 25: Things just keep getting worse and worse, as the Angels' presumptive starting RF Josh Teague (.230, 17, 51) will be out until at least May with a sore shoulder. A very sore shoulder, I guess? In a way this is a happening that allows California to not be tied up by their own decision-making, as either Barney Leriche or Chris Tyree might just be better than Teague, who the Angels seemed to prefer just because he came from outside of the organization (Teague had been a starter for the Red Sox the past 3 years).

March 26: With about a week and a half to go before Opening Day, we're beginning to get to the point to where the mid-term injuries begin to make a difference. Here, the Padres will be without the services of 3B Kevin Landry (.245, 18, 77), the vet who's #2 all-time on the Padress in HRs (31) and #1 in RBIs (154). Landry should return in early May; in the mean time, they'll have to make do with some combination of Eli Ware and Ryan Casper.

April 2: Now that spring training is finished, there are probably still a couple trades to be made but it's a good time to look at the top and bottom offseasons again...

1. Boston Red Sox: Added OF Tom Brown (CHW), 2B Brian Long (CHW), LF Sam Marks (CHC), and 3B Cris Ramos (KC), lost SP Chris Messina (CHW), CF Ryan Johnston (CHC), SP Franklin Davila (CHW), LF Brandon Kane (CHW - Rule V draft). It's not every year you can add two All-Stars to your starting roster, and to do it the Bosox gave up relatively little - two back of the rotation guys in Messina and Davila and a guy in Johnston who was cruising to be the backup CF. They were already in good contention for the AL East before and now they've got to be the early favorites.

2. St. Louis Cardinals: Added LF Rafael Disla (LA), RP Billy Munoz (BAL), OF Elijah Johnson (PIT), SP Ernie Alvarez (PIT), and CF Dylan Dockery (MIL), lost 1B Justin Stone (LA), SP Octavio Vargas (PIT), SP Ed Chavera (KC), and LF Ryan Ashbaker (MIL). For some reason - I guess because technically it happened during the playoffs - the Rafael Disla trade isn't listed here; I don't have direct access to WAR but I'd guess that that move would turn the offseason down a bit for the Cards. Still, they added a good amount of pitching and defense and didn't give up a lot of current value in return.

3. Atlanta Braves: Added CL John Winn (CHC), RP Steve Hollopeter (NYM), and LF Kenny Augspurger (MIL), lost LF Ruberto Yebra (NYM). Again, the John Winn "addition" was just the Braves getting back value they already had for most of last year, but it's good to get it back. They should go into 1971 with a much better bullpen than the one they ended 1970 with at least.

22. San Diego Padres: Added RP Darius Parchman (MIL) and SP Alfredo Lopez (BAL), lost SS Akiho Fujimoto (SF), Tim Reece (BAL), and RP Chris Valenzuela (BAL). The Padres seemed to go backwards this offseason but sometimes that's what you have to do as an expansion team. Fujimoto is by all accounts a very good shortstop but the man is 32 years old.

23. Chicago Cubs: Added CF Ryan Johnston (BOS) and CF Ryan Clements (CHW), lost CL John Winn (ATL), CF Mark Tooley (CIN), LF Sam Marks (BOS). Again, the Winn deal was free money for Chicago, really, and even Tooley's not necessarily that big of a loss if Chance Cooper turns out to be the real deal, but... it's not nothing, and most of all this contending team really added nothing in the offseason.

24. Chicago White Sox: Added 1B Pete Jennings (CAL), CF Ian Everett (WAS), SP Aidan Williams (CAL), SP Chris Messina (BOS), and LF Scott Lammers (SF), lost SP Raul Mendoza (WAS), LF Tom Brown (BOS), 2B Brian Long (BOS), 1B Willie Vargas (CAL), and C Nick McIntyre (KC). To put it mildly, the Sox blew everything up this offseason. By WAR they dropped 10 wins, which would put them at around 66-96 if everything else holds right; I would be surprised if they don't lose 100 games.

April 3: Everything happens for a reason, I guess. A day after acquiring Manuel Alvarez from the Expos, the Reds learned that their starting RF Justin Jensen (.226, 42, 96) will be out until the second half of the season with a badly broken ankle. Alvarez is a former 3-time All-Star with the Senators but he was also cut loose by them last year and hadn't been super effective for them at the plate for several years before that.

April 3: In bad news for the Expos - if not similarly bad, it's only because they have zero expectations - they learned that their 1970 closer Trevor Munro (2-5, 5.10, 13 Sv) will miss the next two months with a strained forearm. Munro wasn't super effective last year but Montreal needs any and every arm they can find.

Spring Training / Cutdown Stuff
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I'll try and leave this to only the important camp battle-y stuff...

Atlanta: Pitching cutdowns necessitated the release of Vinny Sanchez (9-14, 4.50); I have to imagine someone will snap him up soon. LF Chris Ward appears to have easily outplayed Kenny Augspurger for the starting job. The Braves' offseason signing of C Danny Coyle (.153, 3, 14) results, at least for now, in a starting job for that guy, although we'll keep close tabs in case he's washed. In center, neither Josh Damon (.176) nor Jose Gomez (.236) exactly showed a lot with the bat but I think Damon wins out based on the slightly better defense. In both of these guys' case, the loser sticks around on the major league roster.

Baltimore: I think Rule V pick David Delgado just straight up outplayed Ted DiGirolamo this spring; neither are super-great defensively so I may carry 3 catchers early on. Speaking of catchers, it seems a little cruel to dump Jon Hernandez down from All-Star to backup within the course of a season, but bear in mind that the All-Star appearance was as a catcher and he's just not pulling his weight at first base. Omar Rodriguez gets the nod here.

Boston: I just couldn't decide who to cut amongst 3 middle relievers so in spite of a 4 man rotation, the Red Sox will carry a 10 man staff going into 1971. I'm not sure why I put Edwin Madriles into a camp battle at third base with Kristian Schneider but even though the 24 year old Madriles seemed to win it, I stuck with the veteran and former California Angel here. Also I sent Madriles down so that he could continue to play every day. Hope he doesn't get too mad about that. In the midst of that, veteran Mauro Magoni, who was the starter for most of last season, was cut.

California: Travis Corley wasn't super-great this spring but 39 year old Jordan Wooten hit below the Timonen Line so the 26-year-old gets the call there. Wooten is a lefty hitter so will mix in a lot against RHP until/unless Corley establishes himself. Chris Tyree didn't really have a great spring but he'll get the starting nod in RF (at least until Josh Teague returns) thanks in part to Barney Leriche's ability to cover center, right, and first base.

Chicago (A): CF Josh Barone does not look like he's ready for the majors (he hit .128 this spring) so Ian Everett, the former starter in Washington, wins by default.

Chicago (N): Neither Juan Perez nor David Holcombe seemed to want it this year, so for now I guess the incumbent and veteran Perez wins over the 23 year old Holcombe. I sent Holcombe down so he could play every day.

Cincinnati: There's a changing of the guard at first base, as 23 year old Alonzo Rivera won the starting job over 5-time All-Star and 11 year starter Stephen Clark. Clark was a bit off his game last year and Cincy is too good to be sentimental.

Cleveland: 3B Bobby Ramirez had a fantastic spring and won himself the job over last year's guy Roberto Hernandez. Hernandez was... fine last year, but not really a top guy and Ramirez looks like he could be the real deal.

Detroit: Jose Ayala's move to 3rd seemed to play OK but the guy just didn't hit at all in the spring and as such I think the Tigers are better off trying their lot with Rob Curran... mostly. There will be some platooning going on there.

Houston: Nothing to report.

Kansas City: The Royals officially moved on from Jay Byers, who was the team's backstop last year but was kind of bad. Okay, not kind of. Anyway, they have a new guy now in Nick McIntyre. At first base, neither Josh Lewis nor Yahashi Ono were particularly impressive, so I'm sticking with Ono but using a roster spot to keep Lewis along since Ono is 39 and could be washed. Even if he's not, he shouldn't play in 150+ games the way he has each of the last two seasons. At third, it was pretty much a wash there as well so I'll go with the veteran presence of Mike Ramos over Ryan Newton, who I'm not particularly impressed with. They'll run a semi-platoon there anyway. In center, Allen Scurry won that job over Josh Coldiron, although again they'll fall into a bit of a platoon arrangement because why not? And in right, RJ Dominguez looks like the best hitter on the team so he'll play in right over Rule V pick Joshua Birley, who will nevertheless break camp with KC.

Los Angeles: The Dodgers will start the year with 21 year old Santos Rodriguez, a 4th round pick from the 1970 draft, as their #5 starter. Yeah, it's crazy but it just. might. work. In center field, 24 year old Ben Ernst has won the job over JD Heil and Butch Magana. I'd say they're keeping the seat warm for Danny Hohman, but with Hohman out until the 2nd half (and not having played at all in 1970), this could be as permanent as anything else in baseball.

Milwaukee: In a battle of untested minor leaguers at first, it looks like Kozue Nakamura has done enough to win the job over Ray Hawkinson, though since Hawkinson's a lefty and Nakamura's a righty, Hawkinson will stick around, platoon a little, and pinch hit a lot. 21 year old Damian Kerchner doesn't look ready for the big leagues so he loses out the CF battle to Fernando Ceballos and the Brewers will look to find a backup on the waiver wire.

Minnesota: Someone had to be the odd man out in the rotation and, following an 8-16 1970 and a bad spring, it was Ricardo Magdaleno. I'll try him out as a lefty specialist, given that he's a southpaw and all.

Montreal: All 3 OF positions were up for grabs going into spring training... in left, Willie Ortega and Jose Maldonado were basically a wash, so I'm going to take a longer look at the guy I know less about in Maldonado. Neither Jeff Byce nor Andy Owens showed much of any sign that they could hit. I'll stick with the incumbent Byce on account of at least he can field well, whereas Owens seems to have lost a step. I'm not a fan of Willie Morales' range or arm in right field but 25 year old Johnny Martino proved not ready to play in the major leagues so I guess I'm going with Willie anyway.

New York (A): Gene Lueders had a great spring and Roy Holm had kind of a trash one, so Lueders will win the final rotation spot. German Ybarra looks vaguely like he can sort of wield a major league bat and so he'll start at short over the 31 year old Mike Armand. In the midst of all this, I'm sending Wing-fung Yi down, as he still has options left and was pretty bad last year. Maybe he can figure out what went wrong with regular playing time in the minors.

New York (N): Neither Danny Waters nor Adri van Zanten were exactly fantastic in the spring but hey, van Zanten was a full-time starter for the Expos last year so I'll go with him. Waters should still see a lot of action against RHPs.

Oakland: 43 year old David Decker looks like he still wants to play, so I can't just give Josh Lewis his job outright, but I do think that the 22 year old Lewis made a good case and he'll mix in heavily at both catcher and first. 2B Israel Gaytan, a Rule V pick out of Boston, has never played above A ball but he sure looked like he was ready to go in spring training; he'll take over second base for 1971.

Philadelphia: "21" year old Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey had a great spring and, with peace and love, will break camp as the Phillies' #4 starter. At third base, Alex Becerra hit 26 HRs but also batted just .237 and played kind of bad defense, so he didn't get a lot of respect coming into the year. Nevertheless, he won the 3B job over Nate Rowe and his .360 average in Euguene in 1970. Rowe will stick around in the majors and spell both Becerra and SS Tony Shannon.

Pittsburgh: There are just too many arms in this pitching staff, so in spite of the presence of Paz Lemus I'm going into the year with a 6 man bullpen.

San Diego: Juan Moreno was bad in both 1970 and in spring training, so in spite of being penciled in as the Padres' stopper heading into 1971, he has been released. C Michael Debose, a Rule V pick out of St. Louis (who, by the way, has had 2 of their 4 Rule V picks returned), didn't look ready but hey, the Padres are a bad expansion team and don't really have a backup catcher so he's as good as anything. Adam Bakke somehow enters his 3rd year as the Pads' backstop. Eli Ware looked bad but Ryan Casper looked overwhelmed, so Ware is the team's 3B, at least for the next month until Kevin Landry returns. By the way, this wasn't even technically a camp battle but Paul McCartney joins Ringo as the first two members of the Fab Four to hit the big leagues; he'll start at second base this year. 24 year old Armando Troncoso wins out at shortstop over the veteran Ben Dowler. And in center, Zach Hadley and Tyler Mitchell BOTH WIN I mean they'll platoon.

San Francisco: The Giants will break camp with Rule Ver Moises Melendez in the rotation. He didn't have a great camp and then got hurt so the Giants want to see a little bit more of him before returning him to Boston. At catcher, Felipe Ronchetti just seems to want the job more than Chris Campbell; for starters at least he's their man. Bobby Turner and Will Hartmann will platoon in left, which neither player will be too happy with. At third, Tim Mock showed enough to keep the job over Ryan Jersey, who, at 26, isn't really a prospect anymore anyway.

St. Louis: I didn't like either of the options in there for the 5th slot in the rotation so I sent both guys down and am negotiating with Ben Schmidt to see if the 30 year old former Montreal Expo wants that job. Mike Morrison was no great shakes at third during spring but his veteran presence and clear edge on defense won him the job. I guess I'm not quite ready to cut ties with Chris Johnston yet because he and Tom Depew are platoon mates at second base going into 1971. Joe Wicker had a terrible spring and loses the shortstop job to Dusty McCully; in fact, I'm going to send Wicker down to the minors to see if he can find that swing again. St. Louis has nothing better to do in center, so they'll open up the year with Rule V draftee Jim James as their starting CF over Justin Leone, who had a bad spring. In right, I don't really like Casey Satterfield, but I don't dislike him enough to use Elijah Johnson, who's clearly taken a step back defensively from his 11 Gold Glove form. I'll use Johnson out there enough to hopefully keep him from getting too mad.

Washington: Even though they're not contending, I'll open up with a 4 man rotation in Washington; they have 4 really nice starters and not a lot else after that. Bobby Kaplan looks keyed in to the LF job so he wins it over Rule V pick Jon Zimmerman, who I'll offer back to Kansas City. Devin Bucciarelli and Roy Conners both look like they kind of want to stick around in the bigs at center, so I'll semi-platoon them - Bucciarelli is the right-handed part but he'll get the lion's share of at-bats. RF Bubba Wilson tore the cover off the ball in ST; maybe the scouts are wrong and he'll be a good long-term guy (he'll never be Alvin Romero, of course).