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.

Spring Trainign tidbits...

Chris Ianetta let loose on Hillsborough yesterday in the Bombers 11-10 victory, hitting a homer and driving in 5 runs in the game. In the same game the Hitmen's Aubrey Huff went 4-5 with 3 RBIs. Huff now leads the league (after 4 games) in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging.

Team Buddah finally suffered their first defeat of the pre-season. The Sardines dealt them a crushing 12-2 blow thanks to a brilliant performance from Dustin McGowan (7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 9 K). The win was also Sardine City's first of the pre-season after losing several close calls in the last two days.

The sole winless team remains the first-year Amityville Ant Slayers, who dropped a 5-2 decision to Marietta and later, 3-2 to the Las Vegas Rat Pack. The club remains upbeat though. "Hey those are two really good teams and we held our own with them" says skipper Harmon Killebrew. "We just need some time to come together as a team." The Slayers were encouraged by starts from Armando Galarraga (7.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K) and veteran Roy Oswalt (7 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, BB, 2 K).

On the other end of the spectrum, the final undefeated team is the Newark Sugar Bears. "The team is angry," said Don Mattingly "after losing the cup to the hated Iron Fist, we won't rest until that ugly thing is back in Newark." The Sugar Bears also are anxious to point out that they can win without the crutch of playing in the old Cereal Bowl, a criticism levied on the team for much of the past few seasons. "After we crush them a few times, they'll need some time to come up with new excuses," said newcomer Jason Giambi.

Spring Training kicks off

Yesterday was the first round of pre-season games, once again played in doubleheader format.

In Marietta, all eyes were on #1 draft pick Milton Bradley, but the surly outfielder was nowhere to be found. "Milton missed all of last season with an injury" said team manager Graig Nettles "and we're not about to take a chance of him hurting himself again by putting him into an actual game." Bradley may sit a while as Nettles and the Mighty Men plan to give him as much time as he needs until he feels comfortable.

Things were a bit better for #2 overall pick Chris Davis, who played in both ends of his team's doubleheader. Davis only went 1-6 in the two games, but feels good about things. "I've never faced DMBL pitchers before" said Davis after the game. "I'll be fine by Opening Day."

Finally, #3 pick Edinson Volquez pitched well in his Team Buddah debut. Volquez pitched 6 strong innings, striking out 7 and giving up only 2 runs, one of which was unearned. "I'm so glad we don't have to go to Stamford" said Volquez. "I have a pet babboon and I hear that they're kind of anti-monkey in that area." Volquez's pet babboon was seen on the sidelines advising the team while manager Matt Nokes was taking a catnap.

In other news, the DMBL has announced that they will add another year-end award to their mix. The award, dubbed the Bret Saberhagen Comeback Player of the Year Award will reward a player who has returned to the league after facing some kind of prior adversity - be it injury, retirement, or just crappy performance. The award will be judged by a small panel of judges as determined by the commissioner.

Dynamic Duos

Dave asked me a little trivia question earlier today:

"Now that the John Smoltz-Chipper Jones tag team has been busted up, after 16 years together, which pair of active teammates has played together the longest?"

The answer of course is

Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. Curiously enough, both pairs play on the same teams in the DMBL (Newark and Marietta, respectively) and have done so for quite a while.

Which DMBL duos have played together the longest?

* For the sake of this conversation, we have left out players on Sardine City and New Jersey, since those teams are made up from the ashes of two defunct teams. Other teams that simply changed owners, like D.C., Las Vegas, and Blue Ridge were considered.

While Smoltz and Chipper have been together for an impressive 9 seasons, we will limit this to those duos that have spent at least 10 seasons together.

Bobby Abreu and Chipper Jones and Bobby Abreu and Manny Ramirez, Newark. The three Sugar Bear teammates have been together since 1999 when the Sugar Bears acquired Abreu from the Jerusalem Rabbis. Of course, Chipper and Manny were already on the roster when Abreu was acquired - more on them later. All three are expected to return to the Newark roster this season.

Barry Bonds and Curt Schilling, Arkansas. Bonds is the only player left over on their original roster from the inaugural 1991 draft. Schilling joined the team midseason in 1998 in a blockbuster deal with Vancouver. With the likely possibility that Bonds will retire, this one looks like it's over.

Billy Wagner and Greg Maddux, Vancouver. Maddux is probably the second-longest tenured player in the league after Bonds. He's been on the team since 1992 when the Fist signed him off the waiver wire. Wagner was drafted in 1997. Wagner will likely rejoin the team, but Maddux has noted that he will retire after this season, ending a stellar DMBL career. Maddux has already been tapped as the club's pitching coach, pending his official retirement.

Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, Marietta. The duo is up there, not only in MLB, but also in DMBL. Both were high draft picks of the Jerusalem Rabbis in 1997 and have lived through the club's moves out of Jerusalem, to Stanhope and finally to Marietta. With both players expected to be retained by the club for years to come, these two will probably hold the record eventually.

Chipper Jones and Manny Ramirez, Newark. Yep, they've been together even longer before Abreu showed up on the scene. Ramirez was acquired from Toledo in the 1997 offseason and has been an integral part of the Sugar Bear lineup since. And that's not even the top duo in Newark.

Chipper Jones and Randy Johnson, Newark. Johnson was the first pick selected by Newark in the dispersal draft that created the Sugar Bears back in 1996. Jones was selected in that year's draft. Though Johnson missed some time due to injury, the duo has been in Newark since the beginning. Both are expected back in Newark next season, when they will officially take the title from our winning duo.

Barry Bonds and Pedro Martinez, Arkansas. Martinez was acquired from the Louisiana Lightning in a blockbuster deal during the 1994 season. Martinez did not play in the regular season, but was on the roster for the team's World Series run. The 1995 season was wiped out because of the player strike, so the two only appeared together in a regular season game in 1996, but the extra time gives these two the lead. With Bonds retiring and Pedro's status up in the air, it's likely that this duo's time is up, but what a run!