Top Items:
Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Nats Send Down Church, Make Watson the Starter — VIERA, Fla., March 28 — With less than a week to go before Opening Day, the Washington Nationals initiated another shake-up in a spring training full of mayhem on Tuesday, sending outfielder Ryan Church to Class AAA New Orleans …
Discussion:
Washington Times, The Curly W, BallWonk, Nasty Nats, Church of Baseball, District of Baseball and William F. Yurasko's …
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Chris Needham / Capitol Punishment:
A Tale Of Two Outfielders — Let's play a little game with two outfielders. Just for the sake of argument, we'll use some completely random initials like RC and BW. — Triple-A — RC BW — Batting Average .343 .318 — On-Base % .428 .360
Ryan / Distinguished Senators:
Boo Bowden, Yay Sheinin — Here I was trying to be positive. Me yesterday: … Jim Goddamn Bowden today: … Me yesterday: … Jim Goddamn Bowden today: … Church will be back, and I guess we could have a contest to guess if it'll be owing to Watson's ineffectiveness, Guillen's injuries, a Soriano trade, or Other.
Discussion:
Nationals Farm Authority
Dexys Midnight / The Nats Blog:
An absolute freaking laughingstock — That's paraphrasing SuperNova from my cell phone conversation with him on my drive home tonight after I informed him that the Nats sent their second best position player from last year (after Nick Johnson) to the minors.
Discussion:
District of Baseball
Chris Needham / Capitol Punishment:
What Do 50 At Bats Mean? — The team is going to defend Ryan Church's demotion by pointing to his .200 batting average in spring training. Just for the hell of it, let's look at the 2005 season, and see what 50 AB samples get us. — I'm using Baseball Musing's wonderful day-by-day database …
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Church among latest cuts — Outfielder surprised by move; Watson wins center-field spot — VIERA, Fla. — Nationals outfielder Ryan Church was stunned when he found out that he was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon. — The Nationals also sent right-hander Jason Bergmann …
Associated Press:
Church 'shocked' after being optioned by Nats — VIERA, Fla. — For the second straight spring, the trajectory of Washington Nationals outfielder Ryan Church's major league career was affected by a surprising roster move on the Tuesday before Opening Day. — This time around …
Discussion:
Baseball Toaster
Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Watson's Numbers May Not Be Enough — JUPITER, Fla., March 27 — He came to spring training having been told he would have the chance to win a job as the Washington Nationals' starting center fielder and leadoff man, and on paper, he has done little to fritter away that opportunity.
Discussion:
District of Baseball
David Lennon / Newsday:
Heilman sent to bullpen — JUPITER, Fla. — The bullpen phone rang for Aaron Heilman shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday, when the pitcher formerly known as the Mets' No. 5 starter was called in to the manager's office and told that his job title had changed. — Brian Bannister soon followed …
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T.J. Quinn / NY Daily News:
Rocker brushes back Glavine over snubs — Former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker said he didn't want to be "pigeonholed" as a bad boy last night, but then he took a few shots at onetime teammate Tom Glavine on the "Daily News Live" show on Sportsnet New York.
Discussion:
A New York Mets Blog
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Carrie Muskat / MLB.com:
Grissom retires after 17 seasons — Departure of 38-year-old opens door for Pagan — MESA, Ariz. — Veteran outfielder Marquis Grissom ended what he called a "fun ride" and retired from baseball Tuesday, ending his career after 17 seasons. — "When it's time, it's time," Grissom said.
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Mike DiGiovanna / Los Angeles Times:
Salmon Gets It Right in Return — TEMPE, Ariz. — It had been 20 months — July 25, 2004, in Seattle to be exact — since Tim Salmon played the outfield, so as the Angel veteran stood in right field before Monday's triple-A game against Texas, one thought consumed him: "That first ball always finds you."
MLB.com:
Cubs acquire McCormack and Holdzkom for Wellemeyer — The Chicago Cubs today acquired minor league pitchers Lincoln Holdzkom and Zach McCormack from the Florida Marlins in exchange for pitcher Todd Wellemeyer. — Holdzkom, 24, has recorded a 2.86 ERA in 110 career games in the Marlins organization.
Discussion:
CubsNet.com
Dick Kaegel / MLB.com:
Royals claim Graffanino — Andrade claimed; Ambres designated for assignment — SURPRISE, Ariz. — Infielder Tony Graffanino is back in the Royals' fold. — The Royals claimed Graffanino on waivers from the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday and he fits right into the picture in a backup role.
Discussion:
Baseball Toaster
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Rich Draper / MLB.com:
Notes: Greene, Wright secure spots — Catcher and right-hander heading for Opening Day roster — SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It was a great Monday for non-roster catcher Todd Greene and pitcher Jamey Wright, whom manager Felipe Alou said have secured spots on the Giants' Opening Day roster.
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Spring Training: No new deal for Littlefield yet — Pirates' GM to enter penultimate season — SARASOTA, Fla. — The Pirates have made no move to extend general manager Dave Littlefield's contract, which has two years remaining, even though that was the same amount of time he had left …
Baseball Crank:
2006 AL West EWSL Report — The second of six division previews, using Established Win Shares Levels as a jumping-off point. EWSL is explained here, and you should read that link before commenting on the method; 2006 revisions to the age adjustment are discussed here.
Discussion:
6-4-2
