Category Archives: Ryan Freel

Think Twice Before Adding Pedro to Fantasy Roster; More Met Injuries…

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Well – we got some good news and bad news…  Good News?  Pedro Martinez fanned nine of the first twelve batters he faced, finishing with eleven, in a start against AA Trenton.  Bad News?  He allowed a homer to one kid, and three runs on five hits in six innings.  So, it sounds like Pedro might be able to help in short spurts – two or three innings, maybe.  But, don’t think Pedro is ready to be a major league starter – much less PEDRO – when he gets to Philadelphia.  Will I root and cheer for him?  You bet.  Am I adding him to my fantasy roster?  I’d rather have Jess Todd or Brian Matusz.  [ESPN]

When you think of teams fighting injuries, you think M-E-T-S…  Mets!  Last night, Jonathan Niese, a promising young pitcher, was covering first on a double play grounder when he did the full splits taking the throw.  Trying his first warm up pitch in the next inning, Niese fell over – the results of completely tearing his upper hamstring from the bone of his right leg.  Later, Gary Sheffield aggrevated his hamstring running the bases (Sheff says it’s cramping and needs more electrolytes) – and the bad news for Jose Reyes is that he may not play this year owing to scar tissue and inflammation where his hamstring connects near the knee.  [ESPN/MLB]

The Yankees have opened up a slight lead over the Red Sox in the AL East, and now they open up a series at home against those same Sawks…  For Boston, they won’t have Jason Bay in left field for the first couple of games.   After missing a couple of games, Bay played last night and irritated a sore hammy running out a grounder.  He’s day-to-day for now – we’ll see how rest helps.  [ESPN]

Seattle’s Erik Bedard will undergo an MRI on his ailing shoulder – the same shoulder that has had the ace lefty shelved since late June.  [ESPN]

Washington’s Austin Kearns may undergo surgery on his right thumb – as it is, he’s on the DL.  Having hit .195, it’s any wonder why he’s not in AA rather than the major league roster…  Taking his roster spot is TWELVE YEAR minor leaguer, Jorge Padilla.  [SI]

Well, let’s give you the lowdown on Padilla…  He was in the Phillies chain but never strung together a really good hot streak – by the time he got to AAA, Padilla was rather ordinary – .256, with speed (32 sbs), but little power.  After injuries shelved him, Padilla moved around – AA for the Mets, AA/AAA for Kansas City, and now AA and AAA for Washington where he’s been hitting everything, drawing a few walks, and occasionally knocking the ball out of the park.  Like the story about Cubs infielder, Bobby Scales, it’s great to see Padilla (who turns 30 next week) get a shot after more than 1100 minor league games.   (And, he can probably outhit Kearns by 60 points or so – and is still mobile if not a burner.)

A couple of veteran pitchers inked minor league deals…  Paul Byrd signed with Boston (why hasn’t ANYBODY signed this guy until now?); Brett Tomko’s career has life – he’s got a deal with Oakland.  The mill has it that he’s there to eat up innings so the young A’s starting rotation doesn’t burn out in September.  Wow – that’s a sign you’ve given up on the season.  Wasn’t Randy Lerch available?

Few writers are as good as KC Star alum Joe Posnanski…  Pos writes about how small market teams have fallen on hard times in 2009.  Give it a look-see.  [SI]

Welcome Back!  Joe Martinez pitched for the Giants last night – the same guy who was nailed by a liner up the middle off the bat of Mike Cameron and suffered three skull fractures earlier in the year.  Glad to see he’s back – hope he sticks around.  Aaron Miles was brought off the DL by the Cubs.

Hurry Back!  Giants pitcher Henry Sosa tore a muscle in his shoulder and goes to the 60-day-DL.

Is it Over?  The Cubs released Jason Waddell; Cody Ransom (Yankeees), Ryan Freel (Kansas City) were designated for assignment.  Wow – this has been a tough year for Freel…

Torre: Manny, A-Rod, Other PED Users are “Hall of Fame Type Players”

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Joe Torre, backing the multitude of players who were using PEDs, says that Bonds, Manny, Clemens, and A-Rod were Hall of Fame type players before they used – not that he thinks that means they should get in.  Torre has no problem standing behind his players, as they helped make Torre look like a winner after years of losing in Atlanta, St. Louis, and New York (Mets).  Let me ask you this:  Is Joe Torre a Hall of Fame manager now that we know how many of his players were using under his watch? [MLB]

San Francisco, as surmised, placed Randy Johnson on the DL with a strained throwing shoulder, a shoulder injured while batting. [MLB]

Pedro Martinez has a new suitor – the Philadelphia Phillies.  This despite reports that when other clubs scouted Pedro in June, he looked “unimpressive”.  MGR Charlie Manuel wants a horse, but may have to settle for a five or six inning guy. [MLB]

Ryan Freel’s best asset is his mobility – he gets around.  And now, Freel joins his fourth team in about 18 months – the Cubs traded him to the Royals for a Player to be Named Later.  According to FoxSports (quoting AP sources), Freel told Royals MGR Trey Hillman that he’s been bothered by a concussion (hit in the head with the ball while diving back to first on a pickoff play) and bad hamstring, which has contributed to Freel’s hitting .140 with the Cubs.  The Cubs are picking up part of Freel’s salary.  [FoxSports]

When Marc Rzepczynski makes his debut Tuesday, he’ll be the fifth Blue Jay to make his debut in 2009 – breaking the team record set when the Blue Jays entered the majors in 1977.  Rzepczynski is a lefty with skills – his K/9 rate has improved though he still needs to work on his control; he keeps the ball in the park.  Statistically, he reminds you of Kevin Brown. [FoxSports]

Tigers MGR Jim Leyland says that rookie Rick Porcello will not pitch until after the All-Star break, getting the kid some much needed rest.

Welcome Back!  Padre reliever Luke Gregerson; Rockies pitcher Franklin Morales; Cubs pitcher Angel Guzman; Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson; Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez; Royals catcher John Buck…

Hurry Back!  Padre David Eckstein goes to the DL with a pulled hammy; Red Sox 1B Jeff Bailey (high ankle sprain); Cubs pitcher David Patton (groin strain); Mets outfielder Angel Pagan starts a rehab stint, as does Brave Kelly Johnson and Phillies reliever Jack Taschner.

Soto Not Out of the Weed(s); The Doc Who Gives Female Fertility Drugs to Ballplayers

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It’s not enough that he’s barely hitting his weight, struggling through what has been a difficult sophomore season with the Cubs.  Now comes word that Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic while a member of the Puerto Rican baseball team.  Soto will not be suspended, but may be fined and will likely get more regular drug tests.  Soto calls it an isolated incident.  What was isolated about it: the usage, or getting caught? 

If you were wondering what doctor would prescribe a female fertility drug to cure some “illness” with Manny Ramirez, you aren’t alone. Apparently, Federal DEA officials are investigating the person whose signature is scribbled on the RX form; one Philip Publio Bosch, a 71-year-old family practitioner in Coral Gables, and his son Anthony, who apparently is the person who put Ramirez in touch with his doctor daddy. Dr. Bosch has a clean slate, according to initial reports, but Anthony has at a reputation for hanging out with sports types for more than a decade. 

Seattle’s Yuniesky Betancourt heads to the DL after smoking his right hamstring running out a grounder in the eighth inning Thursday. Ronny Cedeno gets a shot at short for the near future. 

He started the season as the Pirates #2 starter, and now Ian Snell is in AAA Indianapolis, having been demoted. With a 2 – 8 record, Snell was told to work on throwing first pitch strikes and work on his breaking pitches. If this were a team with depth or options, like Philadelphia or the Yankees, Snell would be sent to the DL with soreness or inflammation and get a few rehab starts to do the same thing. 

Atlanta reliever Jeff Bennett was angry about giving up a two run hit to Alex Rodriguez, and in anger punched a door with his left hand (thankfully, as we learned in Bull Durham, he threw his non-throwing hand). However, the door won – the hand is broken – and Bennett will take a turn on the DL. 

Koji Uehara says his elbow is fatigued, pulling himself out of his start against the Marlins after six innings. Spencer Fordin, writing for MLB.com, reports that Uehara is struggling with pitching every fifth game, rather than once a week as he did in Japan. The Orioles have tried to ease the transition, but Uehara is already scheduled for a checkup with the team orthopedist. 

I watched a little of John Smoltz’s first start against Washington – and while he had good velocity, he threw a lot of pitches up in the zone and got tattooed early. By the end, though, he was fine and even fanned the side in the fifth. 

Welcome Back! Ryan Freel, Cubs infielder, returns from the DL. He’ll be back soon. Brad Lidge was activated today by the Phillies. Jose Lopez went home to Venezuela for a death in the family – he returned to the lineup today. God Bless…

Hurry Back! Reed Johnson, Cubs outfielder, with lower back spasms. John Buck gets a rehab assignment in Omaha before he returns to the Royals. Eric Stults, my second favorite Dodger starter, gets a rehab stint with the Inland Empire 66ers.

Afterthoughts… The Detroit Tigers signed draft pick Giovany Soto – a pitcher. Now, if he could wind up pitching one day to the Cubs catcher, that would be cool.  Magglio Ordonez and Vladimir Guerrero both cut their hair and homered that night.

Torrealba Talks About Son’s Kidnapping; Posnanski and James Discuss Pitch Counts

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As a lot of you know, I’m in favor of using pitch counts to monitor fatigue for pitchers, but not to limit the number of pitches or innings a pitcher can throw in a game.  My thought was that for most guys, instead of limiting the number of total pitches thrown, pay more attention to a number thrown in an inning, and pay MORE attention in innings when a batter faces eight or more pitches, or a pitcher clears 20 pitches.

For example, I’d let any starter throw 33 pitches in the first inning.  But, in the second, I’d lower that number by two – and keep doing that for the rest of the game.  At the end of seven, I wouldn’t let my starter throw 19 pitches without having someone ready to go in the pen.  However, if the guy threw 20 or more pitches in the inning, you’d reduce that number in subsequent innings by another two pitches (let’s say it was in the second inning), so now instead of allowing 29 pitches in the third, I’d move it to 27.  If it were 25 pitches thrown in the inning, knock another two off, and if 30, knock two more off…  It’s a rule of thumb, mind you, and something that could be modified based on experience with different pitchers.

The idea was that over time, the number of pitches someone could reasonably expect to throw would be less with each inning, but if he was still effective, you could keep the starter out there.  Theoretically, then, a pitcher could throw 140 pitches in a game over eight or nine innings, but if few or no innings were higher than 20 or so, it probably wouldn’t be very taxing at all.

And, you could do other things – if you notice that someone seems to struggle, change the counts.  Still, it’s a system that doesn’t say “you’re done” after 100 pitches, and even encourages pitches to do things like build endurance.  To help this process out, I’d also speed up the game so that pitchers weren’t waiting too long between pitches, trying to end games in 2:40 rather than 3:10.  Finally, it would reduce the number of pitchers needed on a roster from 12 or 13 back to 10 or 11, which would prevent guys like Cody Ross getting too much time on the mound.

Well, it’s nice when other professionals agree with me.  Joe Posnanski and Bill James discuss it on SI’s site.  In short, they discuss how Nolan Ryan is encouraging Texas pitchers to build leg strength, get in better shape, and plan on throwing more complete games.  I like it.

On to other news…

Yorvit Torrealba told of the fear he and his family faced when dealing with his son’s kidnapping.  The kid is doing better, but he lives in Miami now.  Amazing story, really.  Give it a read.

If you are looking for injury updates, here’s some good news and some bad news…

Good News:  Grady Sizemore is only about a week away from playing again.  The bad news is that Jake Westbrook is not.

Good News:  Damaso Marte is ready to begin throwing again.  The bad news is that Jason Isringhausen’s injury is bad enough to end his season.

Mets outfielder Gary Sheffield is hitting despite a sore knee, which will require an MRI.  Not sure if it’s good or bad news.

On the Mend?  Welcome back to the Rays, Jason Bartlett.  Also, Toronto catcher Michael Barrett heads to rehab; Ryan Freel does the same for the Cubs.

Public Admonishing of Umpires

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Didn’t get to watch any baseball last night as I was the emcee for the Norcrest Elementary School PTA Fundraiser. Jeanne was the chair of the event – I just stood on the stage and talked about some of the cool things people could bid on and announced winners. We raised about $13,000 last night, which is pretty cool.

The best item, probably, was a deal provided by Santana Moss, whose kids go to Norcrest and went to pre-school with Casey. He is paying for four people to fly to Washington DC, stay in a hotel for the weekend, and be his guest at a Redskins game… Top bid was around $2500.

The verdict is in – Carlos Zambrano will miss six games.

With most position players, this would be a two game suspension, but for starting pitchers they have to do more games because they have to make sure he misses a normal turn in the rotation. Frankly, this is unfair to the pitchers who then get docked six days pay instead of two days pay. Can we get a system that separates making the pitcher miss a turn in the rotation from getting whacked in the paycheck?

More unfair, however, is the umpire leaning in and causing the bump – it was totally inadvertant. Had the umpire backed off instead of leaning in and turning in Zambrano’s direction, the Gatorade machine is saved and cooler heads might have prevailed.

And, at what point should an umpire just challenge people? Back off, allow for a short vent, ask them to leave, and walk away. If the player or manager chases, then you have room to kick someone out. But sometimes you have to walk away. And, when the umpire is out of line – as he was here, and the umpire who pushed Magglio Ordonez out of the batter’s box, I want public admonishment from MLB.

Take last night’s fiasco between the Twins and Red Sox where a bad home plate umpire having a rough night missed a call at the plate and then had to run Mike Redmond and Ron Gardenhire – and THEN, because his strike zone judgment was impaired, ran Jason Varitek and Terry Francona. If four people are tossed, maybe the umpire needs a six-day suspension.

Todd Tichenor needs a suspension and the league should announce it.

The Phillies Brett Myers may have hip surgery, which would put the defending champs in a bit of a (Randy) lurch. Myers said in an interview that there was fraying in his hip.

Jorge Posada will be with the Yankees as they begin a series in Cleveland. Players who arrived early got to see a great basketball game last night…

Cubs utility infielder Ryan Freel went on the DL last night with a strained hamstring – not surprising since Freel does this every couple of months or so. Bobby Scales, who had been dispatched to AAA Iowa, was asked to turn the car around and head back to the park. Scales returned in time to hit a pinch hit homer in the Cubs loss to the Dodgers.

On the transaction list, Baltimore recalled David Hernandez from AAA Norfolk, gave him the start last night, and he won his debut. Hernandez can pitch. In the minors, he averaged 10.4 Ks per nine, he kept the ball in the park, and while he’s occasionally wild, he’s been dominating people the last two years. He had 60Ks in 43.1 innings at Norfolk. This is the kind of dominating performance you want from a propsect. I hope he stays – he’s a heckuva lot better than Adam Eaton. If you are hunting for a cheap starter, go get him.

Mike MacDougal, former Royals arm, gets a chance with the Nationals. Meanwhile, former Orioles closer Chris Ray heads back to Norfolk to find his stuff.

On the Mend? Tom Glavine had a successful rehab start. Annibel Sanchez was assigned to Jupiter (may have to find a night to see him pitch) by the Marlins. C Carlos Dominguez was sent to Bakersfield by Texas.

2009 Season Forecast: Baltimore Orioles

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Baltimore Orioles
2008: 68-93 (5th AL East, 28.5 games back)
Runs Scored: 782
Runs Allowed: 869

With the trade of Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard to Houston and Seattle respectively for prospects, 2008 represented the first year of a rebuilding plan in the American League’s toughest division.  But these Orioles weren’t half bad.  Sure, they were 22 – 50 inside their division, but actually above .500 against everyone else (46 – 43).  The reason?  The Orioles had a decent offense and a handful of young pitchers finding their way.  It’s a good time to be a Baltimore fan – just don’t expect to make the playoffs until a rotation anchor or two can be found.

Looking Back on 2008

With 782 runs scored, the Orioles finished in the middle of the league in terms of scoring – just a few runs behind the Yankees.  What they lacked was pitching and defense – having allowed 869 runs, which was next to last in the American League.

Baltimore got off to a great start – winning sixteen in April and fighting for the division lead for the first month.  Things slowed in May thanks to a streak against their own division where they lost ten of thirteen, but a solid June followed.  Even though the leaders in the division were starting to pull away, the Orioles were still five games over .500 as late as June 20th.  Heck, if Toronto had a 39 – 34 record at this point in the season, the way they finished, the Blue Jays might have won a playoff spot.

Instead, the Orioles got cold after the all-star break.  Ending a five-game losing streak had them at .500 for the last time on July 11th, and from that point on, Baltimore was a non-factor, losing a few games each month to .500 until September, when playing rookies killed the overall record.  The Orioles went 5 – 20 to close the season, ruining what had been, until then, a reasonably successful summer in Camden Yards.

Tell me about that offense

Behind the plate, the new Cincinnati Red, Ramon Hernandez, held his own.  He provided a little power, and a .250+ batting average, but not much else. Hernandez has actually slipped some from his performance in 2006, which didn’t help, but his backup, Guillermo Quiroz, couldn’t hit .200 in 134 at bats.

The infield was reasonably strong at two spots.  Third baseman Melvin Mora had a decent enough season, driving in 104 runs and batting .285.  Second sacker Brian Roberts is a great leadoff hitter, just missing .300, hitting 51 doubles, adding some triples and homers, a lot of walks, and 40 stolen bases in 50 chances.  Kevin Millar struggled to hit .234, but even that had a few homers and some walks.  For the position, that’s not good enough and he’s likely to move to a bench role with another team in 2009.  Where the Orioles really struggled was finding a consistent option at short.  Of the guys playing at least 200 innings (and nobody played more than 400 innings there), the best hitting option was former White Sox prospect Alex Cintron, who hit .286 but with little power or other helpers.  The rest averaged about .200 as a group, including Brandon Fahey, Freddie Bynum, and Juan Castro.

The outfield featured rookie Adam Jones, who hit .270, but showed room for power potential, a little speed, but not much else at this stage.  As such, he’s mildly below average as a hitter, but if he could step forward one or two notches, he could help.  Luke Scott came over from Houston and hit well enough, with 23 homers and showing some plate discipline.  However, his occasional platoon partner, Jay Payton, struggled at the plate – so the net result wasn’t exactly positive.  Rightfielder Nick Markakis continued to show growth as a future star, hitting for power (20 – 87 – .306) and getting on base.

If Markakis wasn’t the best hitter on the team, it was Aubrey Huff, who had a career season (32 – 108 – .304.)  Both scored about 7.5 runs per 27 outs, and anchored the offense.  Only Oscar Salazar hit well off the bench, and he didn’t have 100 plate appearances.

Defensively:

Baltimore pitchers worked with a defense that was not quite league average…  The league turned converted 68.6% batted balls in play into outs.  Baltimore finished at .68.5%.

Around the horn, Mora and Millar was just a touch above average, while Brian Roberts was just a touch below league average.  Most of the shortstops had decent defensive stats except Bynum, so while the offense at short was lacking, the defense was not.  However, the team was rather weak in terms of turning double plays in part because there were a lot of flyball pitchers and Roberts was working with a different partner most of the season.

Markakis and Scott were a shade off of league average, while Adam Jones was slightly worse than that.  When Jay Payton played, he couldn’t hit but the ball found his glove.  Luis Montanez, however, played three outfield positions and never seemed to be standing where the ball was hit…  Between them all, the outfield was actually below average and with a fly ball staff, this was a problem.

Hernandez had an awful year throwing out runners – 99 of the 123 people who tried to steal were successful.  Throw in the fact that he was slightly above average in terms of mistakes per game and that the staff’s ERA and winning percentage wasn’t very strong, my system suggests that Hernandez was among the weaker catchers in the AL.

Now Pitching…

Only two pitchers had really strong seasons for Baltimore.  Starter Jeremy Guthrie was about 19 runs better than the average pitcher, going 10 – 12, with good control through a few too many balls left the yard.  It was the second solid season for Guthrie, who is far and away the ace of the staff.  Middle reliever Jim Johnson didn’t allow a homer all season, which kept his ERA down, and despite having ordinary walk and strikeout data was also valuable for the Orioles.

Unfortunately, too many guys were WAY below average here.  Among the rotation starters, Brian Burres (-21 runs), Daniel Cabrera (-14 runs), Radhames Liz (-22 runs), Garrett Olson (-29 runs), and Steve Trachsel (-20 runs in 8 starts) got the Orioles in the hole early all too often.  Chris Waters came up and had 11 middling to below average starts with a 5.01 ERA and was an improvement.

The bullpen had Chad Bradford for a while, and George Sherrill had 33 saves, but they weren’t by any means awesome.  Sherrill’s ERA was 4.73, so he wasn’t setting the AL on fire as the Orioles’ fireman.  Most of the other relievers, including Dennis Sarfate, Lance Cormier, Jamie Walker and others struggled to put up league average numbers.  Compare that to the staffs of Boston, New York, or Tampa (much less Toronto), and you can see where the team needs to improve.

Forecasting 2009:

Ideally, the Orioles would like to see a little more offense, but more importantly, they have to find ways to keep the other team from scoring runs.  To get to .500, you’re talking about cutting more than 100 runs from the runs allowed, which means finding six decent pitchers and improving the outfield defense.

Offensively, the changes start at catcher (Greg Zaun for Ramon Hernandez, with Matt Wieters possibly getting his shot at some point this season), as well as first base (Millar is gone, with Ty Wigginton here).  Cesar Izturis arrives from St. Louis to play short – he’s not a championship quality hitter, but will be an improvement over the crew who played here last year.  It looks like the Orioles will not be trading Brian Roberts (they shouldn’t), which helps, and if Melvin Mora stays productive, the infield will be solid.  Defensively, they are probably 5 to 10 runs better, and offensively they are probably 15 runs better.

The outfield has added Felix Pie and Ryan Freel, but I don’t see how either of them will take Jones, Scott, or Markakis out of the lineup.  However, Pie could be the surprise – and as a defensive replacement, he’ll be solid.  The outfield of Scott, Jones, and Markakis can still produce runs, but more importantly there are a couple of bench performers who can contribute.  Offensively this is probably worth ten runs, and defensively, this could be worth ten runs, too.

Zaun is a better defensive catcher than Hernandez, but he’s been catching since Doug Ault was in Toronto (not really), and his contribution will not last the season.  Of the NRIs, Robby Hammock might play, and he can at least hit the ball some.  Chad Moeller and Guillermo Quiroz are in camp, but neither will be making a big contribution in the near future.  Matt Wieters has a job as soon as he’s ready.

One assumes that Huff should stay productive in his role, but he was so good last year, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s off by ten runs this season.

There are, oh, 120 pitchers in camp in Ft. Lauderdale hoping to make the Orioles roster in April.  Guthrie is still here, and Rich Hill arrives from Chicago trying to put his career back together.  Hill would be a step up if he brings his best game.  The rest are a bunch of unknowns.  Matt Alberts was better as a reliever, but he could start some and be an improvement of ten runs over somebody.  Brian Bass comes over from Minnesota where, as a reliever, he wasn’t special.  As a starter he was tolerable here in Baltimore.  He might get a shot.  Troy Patton came over with the Tejada deal, he might be ready for a few starts.  George Sherrill needs to up his performance – and someone else needs to help out in the bullpen.

The problem is that they are all unproven rookies or second year guys.  Could they be better?  Sure – but it’s just not something you can predict with any dependability.

As such, I see the runs scored/runs allowed breakdown to be somewhere around 800/850, which translates to about 76 wins.  In this division, that’s a tall order, but there are enough pieces to see a better team in Baltimore.  If one or two pitchers step up in the rotation – a Hill and a Sherrill, for example – suddenly these guys are approaching .500 – and that’s pretty impressive.  When a few more young arms make it to the majors, this team might be ready to compete for a playoff spot.

Down on the Farm…

AAA Norfolk’s best hitter was Oscar Salazar (13 – 85 – .316), who got a cup of coffee with the big league club and played well.  He could have slid into the first base slot, and may well get this job after spending a decade in the minors (he’s 30).  He’s just been blocked everywhere he’s been (Oakland, the Mets, Detroit, Kansas City, Anaheim, and Cleveland), and he wasn’t a good enough middle infielder when he was younger.  However, with the ability to play the whole infield, he’s a good bench option.  Radhames Liz and Jim Miller pitched well enough to earn shots with the parent club last year.

Matt Wieters, the future catcher, hit .365 at AA Bowie in 208 at bats, with 12 homers and 51 RBI.  He can’t be far off…  Lou Montanez and Nolan Reimhold hit for power; Montanez had the higher batting average, but Reimhold has the better plate discipline.  David Hernandez and Chris Tillman led a quartet of Bay Sox pitchers to double-digit victories (the others were Brad Bergeson and Jason Berken, two other potential studs).  Both showed killer K/9 rates and will be in line for rotation spots by 2010 if not sometime this summer.  Julio Manon dominated as the closer – he’s just not a young prospect.  He’s 36 this summer.

Cole McMurray and Pat Egan led the hurlers at Aberdeen (High A), with closer Brandon Cooney (from nearby Florida Atlantic – near me, anyway) showing strong numbers.  Other than Wieters, the Frederick Keys also had first baseman Brandon Snyder (15 – 80 – .315) and pitchers Brandon Erbe and Jake Arrieta, who both had strong strikeout numbers if not solid won-loss records.