Training Camp: Hoboken Cutters

Hoboken was certainly the busiest team on draft day, making several pick-related deals to gear up for 2010. Clearly the 2009 season is viewed as a rebuilding year for the franchise.

Positional battles: Nick Blackburn has had a solid spring and seems like a lock to take the fourth rotation slot, with Greg Smith the likely winner of the fifth. Rookie Clayton Kershaw has had a disastrous spring thus far, though it's only been one start.

Things look pretty rough at the hot corner as Joe Crede and Hank Blalock have shared most of the time there, but Crede has struggled mightily, while Blalock has been solid.

There are a lot of outfielders in camp and none of the three positions are a given. Marlon Byrd has gotten a lot of time in the field, but has been terrible (.217, .649 OPS). Denard Span has been excellent and may be the way to go for a youth movement. Chris Duncan has been mediocre and limited to DH, a position that Adam Dunn will likely dominate. Others have been mediocre or worse, leaving this field wide open.

Pre-season surprises/disappointments: Ryan Church may have earned himself a big role in the poor outfield with his spring (.388/.467/.633). Catcher Mike Napoli is second on the team with 14 RBIs and leads the team with 5 homers. Hanley Ramirez looks ready for the season (.307/.390/.500, 4 HR, 13 R, 10 RBI). Adam Dunn has been brutal in the early going (.130/.333/.304) as has the aforementioned Joe Crede (3-38).

Takashi Saito seems to have the closer role sewn up (2.25 ERA, 10 saves in 10 games). The rest of the pen has been hit (Brian Tallet - 1.50 in 12 games) or miss (Ryan Madsen - 0-1, 6.91 in 13 games). Aaron Cook has been the ace of the pre-season with a 2-0 record and 2.38 ERA in 4 starts.
Roster outlook: The Cutters have already made some cuts, but remain 5 playes over the limit. They have five ineligibles, four of which are pitchers, so there's a possibility that a couple of them will be cut. In addition look for some veteran outfielders to be culled after the roles become clearer.

Training Camp: Hillsborough Hired Hitmen

It's double-dose Friday. Hey I've gotta finish these before the season starts, right? And with only 12 more games left on the pre-season schedule, that means we have about a week until Opening Day!

Hillsborough made great strides and finally made it over the hump and into the playoffs last year. This team looks about as strong as last year's, so they should at least be contenders for a playoff spot this year.

Positional battles: Russell Martin and Kelly Shoppach have been battling over the starting catcher job, with newcomer Shoppach taking an early edge over incumbent Martin. Though Shoppach's .250/.286/.469 line doesn't inspire a lot of awe, it is light years ahead of Martin's awful .179/.319/.205. Shoppach's absolutely destroyed lefties in spring training, but he's been just as bad as Martin against righties.

How about the battle royale for the third base job? Aubrey Huff was protected by the Hitmen, but they went ahead and drafted three more third base-eligible players. Veteran Mike Lowell and journeyman Ty Wigginton will provide a lot of competition for Huff. So far in the preseason, Huff has played the most at the hot corner, doubling the combined games of the other two contenders. Wigginton has an advantage in that he can also play in the outfield. We did say three more, right? In case you were wondering, Ron Belliard is eligible to play third, but is more likely to play second for the Hitmen.

Pre-season surprises/disappointments: Huff has taken the challenge to heart and has been ripping the ball so far (.400/.492/.800). First-round pick Shin-Soo Choo has claimed a starting spot with his fast start (.325/.460/.550). The rest of the outfield is also on a tear - Nick Markakis (.322/.446/.559) and Carlos Lee (.322/.355/.661) seem ready for the season to start. Ryan Howard is the weak link right now, outside of the catching platoon. The slugger is off to a poor .227 start, but has 3 homers and 8 RBIs in his 14 games.

Everyone is still waiting for young Felix Hernandez to step up and fulfill his potential, but things aren't looking so hot right now for him. King Felix is off to an 0-1, 16.20 start in his 2 games and has been sent back to AAA Motown for some instruction. Justin Verlander is ready to take his place, however. Verlander, who seemed like he could lose his rotation spot, has been brilliant in 2 spring starts, giving up only 3 runs in 15.1 innings for a 1.76 ERA.

Roster outlook: Finally a team with an interesting roster. The Hitmen have a near-maximum 38 players on the roster, which will leave 8 looking for jobs come opening day. The Hitmen have 5 ineligibles, some of which will likely be gone. Max Scherzer, a protected ineligible, seems to be the only one assured of staying with the team. The club has 10 relievers, plus swingman Seth McClung on the roster. At least 3 of them, and maybe 4 will likely be sent packing. On the offensive side, Mike Lowell and Juan Pierre shouldn't start shopping for homes in Jersey just yet.

Training Camp: D.C. O-Bombers

The O-Bombers come in with a philosophy of change - no more mediocrity. The new-look Bushslappers felt that the previous moniker was too negative and will now focus on something more positive, like bombs.
Positional battles: The fifth starter battle boils down to Ryan Rowland-Smith and Oliver Perez. Rowland-Smith can also pitch out of the bullpen, so the club may be cautious with the rookie and let Perez start out in the rotation and bring the Australian out when he inevitably falters.

Although Derrek Lee is the favorite at first base, he has a bit of competition in camp this year. Veteran Todd Helton will give him a good run and Casey Kotchman could also challenge Lee. Meanwhile, at second base, the club made a draft day deal in order to acquire Howie Kendrick in the draft, so you know he will have every chance to win the job from Dan Uggla. Carlos Beltran and Matt Kemp should have starting jobs in the outfield, with Hideki Matsui possibly playing some DH along with the loser of the first base battle. Look for rookies Jay Bruce and Lastings Milledge to also get some at bats, possibly in platoon roles.

Pre-season surprises/disappointments: The team has gotten off to a great start offensively, with most of the projected lineup hitting well. The team is led by catcher Brian McCann (.397/.438/.534). Lee has gotten a big jump on winning the first base job with a .377 average and 1.045 OPS. Lee also leads the team with 12 RBIs. Jose Reyes has surprised with his hot hitting - leading the team in runs scored (12) and second in RBIs (10).

The pitching staff has been pretty bad so far in spring, including two projected starters - Erik Bedard (0-2, 8.36) and Chris Young (0-3, 12.12). Half the bullpen has been lights out - closer Jonathan Papelbon, in particular, has a 2.12 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 10 games - while the other half has been roughed up.
Roster outlook: The O-Bombers are carrying only one extra player in the pre-season, including five ineligibles. Chris Ray seems to be the most likely candidate to be cut at this point, but the team could make a surprise cut (or acquisition) yet.

Training Camp: Carolina Mudcats

After finishing out of the playoffs the last two seasons, the Mudcats will look to return in 2009, but is it their turn? So far, the Cats have the league's best record at 11-3.

Positional battles: A.J. Pierzynski and Bengie Molina seem to have a platoon going right now, but Pierzynski has been struggling and losing ground to Molina. Most infield positions seem locked up, but look for Carlos Guillen to make a play for some at-bats. The outfield also seems to be set, with perhaps Fred Lewis and Delmon Young looking to gain a platoon role. The Cats only have 5 starters on the roster, so there won't be any surprises in the rotation. Edwar Ramirez has been doing a good job closing games in the pre-season (3 saves, 0.00 ERA in 8 games), but Brian Fuentes will likely take the job once the season starts.

Pre-season surprises/disappointments: Troy Tulowitzki is making his case to take the starting shortstop role (.367/.441/.600), but his rival Mike Aviles is doing just as well (.320/.375/.600) in almost double the at bats. Outfielders Vernon Wells (4-24, .541 OPS) and Grady Sizemore (.157, .542 OPS) have struggled, as has most of the team - at least hitting the ball.

The pitching staff has been great so far - Tim Hudson is 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA, Carlos Zambrano has a 1.77 ERA in 3 starts and Dice-K is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA. Most of the pen has ERAs under 2.50. The only one struggling thus far is ace Roy Halladay (0-1, 5.00 in 3 starts), but word is he's been trying out a couple of new pitches he saw on YouTube.

Roster outlook: The Cats only have one cut to make (wow so far nothing too exciting to write about as far as cuts go for the first three teams!). There are currently 5 ineligible players on the roster and one of them could be a cut (Carolina already cut one in the middle of the draft!) or else Carolina could opt to cut one of their 7 relievers.

Training Camp: Blue Ridge Bombers

Sitting at 2-10, the second year Bombers are still trying to put together a competitive team in the DMBL. The Bombers aren't making any pretenses about competing this year, but hope to put together a good core and show some improvement in 2010.
Positional battles: One of the questions in camp is where will Mark DeRosa play? DeRosa, acquired from the Sugar Bears in the offseason can play at multiple positions - second base, third base, and outfield. DeRosa can certainly slot in as the club's third outfielder - Carl Crawford and Nate McClouth seem to have the other positions locked up - or he could wrest the second base job away from Rickie Weeks. Then there's always the DH job. There is no clear cut choice here and it will most likely be a timeshare, possibly including DeRosa.

Most of the rotation looks pretty obvious, but the fifth starter spot is still up for grabs. If spring numbers are any indication, Joe Blanton may be the leader at this point, but there are still plenty of games left to play. There's also no guarantee that whoever wins this battle keeps the job for the remainder of the season.
Spring training surprises/disappointments: The pitching has been dreadful for the most part so far, with only a handful of relievers pitching well so far. Edwin Jackson, one of the contenders for the fifth rotation spot, has been particularly brutal (21.00 ERA, 3.33 WHIP in 2 starts).
Edwin Encarnacion has been the top batter for the club, hitting .362 with a 1.019 OPS in 12 games). Hunter Pence (.818 OPS) and Jeremy Hermida (.775) have been pretty solid as well. The aforementioned DeRosa could be playing himself into a utility role if he keeps up his pitiful hitting (.160/.208/.360 in 50 at bats).

Roster outlook: The Bombers are another team, like the Ant Slayers that already have close to their final roster - they only need to cut two players, so we don't expect a lot of changes before Opening Day. With 9 starting pitchers on the roster, expect one or both cuts to come from there.

Training Camp: Amityville Ant Slayers

We're going to take a little look into each team's camp as we run up to the start of the season. First stop on the road is Amityville. After the Tampa Bay Plunkers could not continue, Nick Pucci took over the franchise at rock bottom prices.

Pre-season battles: All of Amityville's infield and catcher slots are locked up, barring a trade or pickup. There are 6 outfielders battling for the 3 outfield slots, plus Ryan Garko is in the DH mix as well. Veterans Johnny Damon and Pat Burrell should have the upper hand here, while Jacoby Ellsbury and Torii Hunter should factor in heavily as well.

The starting rotation also looks like it should be pretty set, but the team could choose to go with Jered Weaver instead of Mark Buehrle or one of the youngsters. Weaver's been pretty impresive in his two starts so far in spring training, but so has the entire rotation. Buehrle is the only one that has not pitched yet. Manny Parra, who also hasn't pitched, seems to be a long shot at this point.

Pre-season surprises/disappointments: As noted, the starters have been a pleasant surprise so far. But the team's two closing candidates, Troy Percival (11.25 ERA in 5 games) and Salamon Torres (13.50 ERa, 2 saves, in 3 games) have been disastrous so far.

On the hitting side, Torii Hunter has exploded out of the gates, hitting .385 with 8 RBIs and a .769 slugging in 6 games. James Loney has been very disappointing with a .143 average and .389 OPS in 35 at bats. His platoon mate, Garko, hasn't been much better though (.222, .586 OPS in 9 AB). The catchers have been abysmal - starter Dioner Navarro is 2-22 with a .223 OPS and backup Brad Ausmus is 1-15 with a .243 OPS.

At only 10 games into the season a lot can change, but the Ant Slayers seem pretty set. They are only one player over the limit and there are several fringe candidates that could go before the season starts.

Day off

The DMBL did not expect to have a day off Sunday, but 90% of the league's players refused to play, noting that they should not have to play on National Pig Day. The DMBL Player's Union issued a statement, saying that forcing the players "to play on such a prestigious holiday is an affront to our civil liberties and a disgrace to the battles that pig rights activists have fought for so long." Many players took up positions outside the stadium along with their pet pigs to protest, singing such memorable pig rights songs as "Old Mcdonald" and "May had a Little Pig". Some fans brought grills and were turning the protest into an event, grilling up some delicious ribs and sausages.

The DMBL will resume games tonight, once the parking lots have been cleaned up.