Dicey deal

Las Vegas is busy on the trading block. This time the Rats surrendered highly-touted pitching prospect Daisuke Matsuzaka to Sardine City in return for their second round pick that they traded to the Straphangers earlier this year. Sardine City sent Cameron Maybin packing to make room for Dice-K on the farm team. Interestingly the trade was made while the two teams were playing each other on the field. Sardine City beat the snot out of starter Oliver Perez, who could only record one out while surrendering seven earned runs on five hits and three walks.

Greg Maddux was hanging on to a 4-3 lead against the Falcons when it all unraveled in the eighth. Maddux started off by giving up a hit to Lance Berkman, then walking Justin Morneau. Barry Bonds then launched his fourth homer in the last three games, giving the Falcons a 6-4 lead. Bob Wickman held down the fort in the ninth for his sixth save and 100th career save. Wickman became just the tenth player all-time to reach the mark.

Honolulu and Marietta began the first of their key divisional series. Marietta came back from a 7-3 deficit to tie the game up at seven with a four-run seventh inning, only to watch Honolulu grab the lead back after a Jason Giambi solo shot. Tom Gordon, who squeaked out of a jam in the eighth, could not hold it together for another inning. After giving up a leadoff double to Todd Helton, Gordon walked the next four batters, including walking in the tying and winning runs! Derek Jeter with the...um...walk-off walk? Did Gary Carter fall asleep in the dugout?
John Smoltz won his 150th career victory yesterday against Team Buddah. Smoltz held the Buddahs to one run on six hits over eight innings. Smoltz also struck out five.

New Did You Know? coming later tonight.

Throwing Fuel on the Fire

The Sharks had a bit of a comeback yesterday against the Buddahs. Team Buddah had just gone up to a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Starter Jose Contreras was finally showing signs of fatigue and gave up a couple of runs in the bottom, making it 5-3. After Eric Chavez doubled in the eighth, Contreras was removed for the closer, Bob Wickman. Now Wickman had been anything but good up to this point. Though he had a strong spring, Wickman had already blown two saves and was sporting a 5.68 ERA. Well the Human GasCan was called in to shut the door on the Sharks, but instead gave up three straight singles followed by the crowning moment - Johnny Damon's three-run shot over the right field wall. Jersey manager Matt Nokes was livid after the game, tossing bats and Gatorade bottles all over the locker room. For the moment, Wickman has been demoted as the team's closer, replaced by Todd Jones.

Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson each moved closer to their 200th victory yesterday. Clemens, who notched the win against Las Vegas is now at 193 career victories and Johnson, who beat the Mighty Men, is at 189. Arkansas' Pedro Martinez will try for win #200 Saturday. The only pitcher with more than 200 wins pitched his first game this season yesterday. Vancouver's Greg Maddux recorded the win against Philly by limiting the first-place Endzone Animals to one run and four hits over eight innings.

Monday Musings

Week One is now finished and there is a brand new This Week in the DMBL article going up tonight. Zane wraps up all the events this week in the DMBL. OmahaSteaks are out as the Batter of the Week sponsor...who is the new sponsor?

The Sugar Bears got off to a ridiculous start, but have seemingly come back down to earth. The Sugar Bears were swept in Hillsborough and have not broken the 10-run mark since Wednesday. Not that they have to. The Sugar Bears followed up their sweep by winning their doubleheader against D.C. Sunday and are now sitting comfortably in first place in the Hanover Division.

Meanwhile in the Morris Division, the Endzone Animals suffered their first loss to Team Buddah. The Animals are still sitting in first, but only by one game over the Falcons and two over the Iron Fist and Hired Hitmen. The Morris Division currently has the teams with best four records in the league. This prompted talk of realigning the divisions. The current divisions were first instituted in 1997 when the league expanded for the last time to 14 teams. Maybe the time is right for realignment in 2008?

Sardine City finally broke out of their slump. The Straphangers won their first victory in franchise history Saturday against the Falcons. The game had been delayed when the Arkansas janitor had locked the keys to the stadium in his car and it took seven hours for AAA to respond and get the keys out. Falcons owner Stump Matiash was irate. "If I had known I would have flown down a few boys from Newark to get the car opened." said Stump in a post-game interview. The Sardines won the game 11-3 and carried the momentum into their next series against Carolina, sweeping the Sunday doubleheader against the Cats. "I guess we were the better fish today" said Sardine City manager Bucky Dent.

New Jersey also won their first game, though it took them a little longer. The Buddahs faced a stiff challenge, facing the lone undefeated team in the league. The Endzone Animals already beat the Buddahs in game one and were poised to finish the sweep in game two. The Animals climbed out to an early 2-0 lead after four, but the Buddahs came back in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs off starter Matt Cain. The Animals tied it up in the sixth, but Team Buddah reclaimed the lead the next inning. It looked like they could wrap it up in the ninth, but closer Bob Wickman could not hold down the fort and we were off to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Corey Patterson doubled in Adam Kennedy, giving Jersey a one-run lead. Wickman, who was still in the game, struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the 11th and Michael Cuddyer flew out to Austin Kearns to end the game and secured Team Buddah's first victory.

Almost forgot to mention - team park images and stats are now updated on all team pages.

Spring Training Wrapup: Pitchers

Arkansas claimed two players off the wire: rookie catcher Dioner Navarro, recently with Vancouver, and outfielder Xavier Nady, who was with D.C. Carolina shockingly released Endy Chavez, who was having a very strong spring (and made our list of top spring training performers yesterday).

Anyway, onto our top pitchers this spring.

Francisco Liriano, Marietta. Marietta gave up a lot to acquire the youngster, but Liriano proved that he was worth it (so far). Liriano was 4-1 with a 1.70 ERA. More importantly, Liriano only allowed 7.7 runners per 9 innings, and struck out 45 batters and allowed only 10 walks in 47.2 innings (4.5 K:BB).

Jeremy Sowers, Marietta. Liriano's teammate and another rookie pitcher slated to start the season in Marietta's rotation was 5-0 in spring training, with a 2.95 ERA. Sowers was not quite as dominant as Liriano though. Sowers only managed 9 Ks in 39.2 innings! Sowers' 1.18 WHIP is good, but will it last against real lineups?

Anibal Sanchez, D.C. This is starting to look like the rookie report. Hopefully Phil Plantier won't get jealous. Sanchez was 4-0 in the spring with a 1.73 ERA. Sanchez only allowed 8.9 R/9, but, like Sowers, he is a bit strikeout-averse. Sanchez only struck out 11 in his 36.1 innings of work, but he did only surrender one home run.

Ruddy Lugo, Newark. Another rookie, but this one's a reliever. Lugo was the second most used pitcher in Newark's pen (after Brandon Lyon). Lugo pitched 26 innings, but only allowed 20 baserunners while compiling a 1.04 ERA. It is not known who Newark will choose as their closer - Newark only had one save combined, with a mere 4 save opportunities (and half of those have been released when they cut ties with George Sherrill) - but Lugo may end up in the mix or at least be a valuable setup pitcher.

Brandon Webb, Philadelphia. Our first non-rookie! Webb has put together an impressive spring - 3-2, 1.15 ERA. Webb has compiled an impressive 0.97 WHIP and opponents have managed a meager .487 OPS against him.

Ervin Santana, Arkansas. The "other" Santana, Ervin was 2-0 with a 1.55 ERA in spring. He only allowed 17 hits in 29 innings of work, but he will need to get his walks down (15) if he wants to sustain any success in the regular season. Santana has most likely earned himself a spot as the fourth or fifth starter in the Falcons' rotation.

Felix Hernandez, Hillsborough. "King Felix" had a solid rookie campaign last year and seems to be building his way to another solid year this season. Hernandez put together a 4-1, 2.10 spring with 20 Ks in 30 innings. Pitching coach Brien Taylor expects Hernandez's strikeouts to increase during the season. "I've figured out a flaw in his mechanics" Taylor said. "I've instructed him to use a new delivery similar to the one that brought me success in my career."

Jeff Francis, Honolulu. Francis had very limited action last season, but looks poised to be a contributor this year. Francis was 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA this spring for the Sharks, but his peripheral numbers suggested a warning. Francis' K:BB ration was horrid: 8 Ks vs 13 BBs (0.6) and his 1.20 WHIP seemed to be a bit high for the ERA that he showed. Expect Francis' production to level out a little, but he should still be a valuable member of the Shark rotation.

Bob Wickman, New Jersey. The old dog still has some tricks up his sleeve. Wickman tied with Honolulu's Geoff Geary for the league lead in saves with 6. Wickman compiled an impressive 1.72 ERA in 15.2 innings of work. His 1.15 WHIP was solid, but Wickman did blow 2 saves in the spring. Will New Jersey have enough save chances for Wickman to make a run at the Eck?

Boof Bonser, Hoboken. We started with a rookie and we'll end with one. Bonser has been impressive for the Cutters this season - 3-0, 2.82. Bonser's more impressive stats are his 28 Ks, 7 BBs and 32 hits in 39.1 IP; a 1.02 WHIP, .586 OPS allowed, and a complete game shutout against Newark.

Well those are the top players this year. Tomorrow will be the final entry before opening day.