213 Miles From Shea

The Rangers are really trying to lock up a youth movement. Although terms of the contract that is being negotiated are unknown, it is known that the Rangers do want to lock up Kinsler to a long term deal as well, to keep a strong middle infield of Kinsler and Young.

If the rangers keep Texaria after this year as well, for a long range deal, Texas could have a very good infield, if the numbers grow as they are right now of course.

Many people remeber last year when the San Fran Giants had their idol competition. Barry Bonds was Paula Abdul in the rookie and charity event. They had it again yesterday, this time Barry Zito was Paula Abudl.

The Mets yesterday had a media photoshoot that involved…cooking stuff. They all had cooking tools and ingrediants for the New York Papers

Um…i dont know what is worse…this public relations photo shoot, or the public relatiosn slogan…and im pretty sure ive seen a picture of ozzy guillen of the white sox recently with cooking stuff too, to say like a pinch of a bench or stir with bull pen and stuff….wierd

Miguel Batista is working on his first year on his three year contract. But apparently he has another talent as well. Miguel Batista is now working on his third novel, pretty nifty.

Micheal Young, All Star MVP (since Trevor Hoffman blew the game for the NL in the ninth) and the shortstop of the Rangers, is close to be locked up for another five years with Texas. The basis for this deal is the Chase Utly deal.

All from MLB.com

Yesterday I saw the Number 23, so I thought i would do a series about the number 23 in baseball.

Now in the movie they contort numbers in really strange ways in order to make the number 23, so i will do the same, and some might not make sense until u see the movie

Todays 23 target will be the catcher of the Yankees, Jorge Posada

Jorge Posada hit 23 homeruns last year.

He walked 64 times, half of that is 32, which reveresed is 23.

He made his major League Debut on 9/4/95. so lets take 5×9-4-9, that gives the answer of 32, which reversed is 23

Finally, his full name Jorge Rafael Posada, which equals up to 154 when all the letters get their number values. Take 154, and do this (1+5)4, that gives you 64. 64 divided by 2 is 32, 32 reversed is 23.

When doing this i also found some funny numbers, that i will post later.

So in the first installment of looking back to this time last year, lets looking at the 2006 Spring Training Guide from Sporting News. As an overall reaction, they got somethings right, and others very wrong. Here are some outstanding standouts:

Sporting News Spring Training Preview 2006

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In the Top 5 off season moves that deserve more attention, they said that #1 was the Mets signing Paul Lo Duca. They said he would give the team more soul and pulse in the post season.

They were right about this one, and we all know it.

For players with the most to lose, the second person they list is Bret Boone (2B). They said that spring training would be the last place he has to revive his career.

And we know the story, he retired in Spring Training.

They say for El Duqe as a horoscope (he is still with the diamondbacks at this time)

“The Kings weighed your value and exiled you to the desert. You’re experienced and wise, but that won’t be enough”

And then he becomes an important piece to the Mets playoff run, gets injured right before the post season, and is crucial to the rotation this year.

More coming soon 

All from the Baltimore Sun

Manny Acta announced yesterday that he feels there are three spots in the bullpen for people to make. He feels that Ray King, 31, will be one of the people to make one of those spots.

That leaves two bullpen spots and four rotation spots for about 35 pitchers to compete for. Man, thats going to be fun to watch.

Mark Lowe of the Mariners had more work done on his pitching elbow yesterday that should make his regular season comeback in around June.

Carl Pavano got hit by a line drive yesterday at camp in the foot. Yankee officials say its nothing.

A few days ago, Nick Markakis of the Orioles hit reliever Jamie Walker in the head with a line drive. Jamie Walker had a mild concussion and is ok. Spring Training is dangerous now.

The big news of the day im going to keep short, cause i havent turned on ESPN yet today, and i assume its all over the place. Matusaka threw batting practice for the first time yesterday. The comment by the pitching coach of the Red Sox is that Matusaka is as advertised.

So here is that Marlin VS Met review I said I would do for the past two weeks:

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Hanley Ramirez 8.9 (Reyes 9.6)

Dan Uggla 8.0 (Valetin 7.7)

Miguel Cabrera 9.6 (Wright 9.2)

Josh Willingham 7.5 (Alou 7.7)

Mike Jacobs 6.5 (Delgado 9.0)

Jeremy Hermida 7.4 (Green 7.0)

Miguel Olivo 7.3 (LoDuca 8.3)

Alfredo Amezaga 7.7 (Beltran 9.2)

Marlins Score: 62.9

Mets Score: 67.7

Mike Jacobs a 6.5? That’s harsh, I know he had a below average year last year, but I think he is on the up. If he makes hitting adjustments this year, he is going to be a much better player this year.

Next up I have the review of last years preview to see if they got it right. Also, I saw the movie 23 today, so im preparing a large article of stats that =23…some will be a stretch. And i will post that other half of the Phillies articals.

  Hanley Ramirez 8.9 (Reyes 9.6) Dan Uggla 8.0 (Valetin 7.7) Miguel Cabrera 9.6 (Wright 9.2) Josh Willingham 7.5 (Alou 7.7) Mike" data-image="" data-button="">

In the first installment of 2007 Draft Previews, we will take a look into a projected number 1 overall first round pick, Pitcher David Price

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From the Vanderbilt site:

High School Resume

Had a .43 ERA

151 Strikeouts

2004 All American

College Resume

Freshman Year:

Freshman All American

2.86 ERA

92 strikeouts in 62.1 innings

1.26 ERA for team <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />America

39 Strikeouts in 5 games for USA, with one complete game

Sophomore Year:

Elected to his third All American Team

155 Strikeouts, Third in NCAA history

In the FISU Championships, posted a .20 ERA in 8 starts

Was named the top prospect on the USA national Team

Baseball America, predicts Price to win pitcher of year.

Multiple Sources predict Price to get the overall number 1 pick in the 2007 draft.

Last week, the Devil Rays had an interview with David Price

If the Devil Rays get this guy, they could have not only the best farm system but possibly more young talent then the Marlins across the street from them, who snagged a lot of prospects last year.

The Devil Rays are hoping for Igwarma to break out from Japan. They have BJ Upton and Delmon Young who receive a lot attention on their own. They also have the second overall pick from last year, Evan Longoria who is also receiving a lot of attention. David Price would add a pitcher to their mix of future stars.

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All From the Baltimore Sun

Pedro will find out somet time next week when he will be allowed to start throwing again for the next step in his recovery from surgery.

Rivera, who had muscle problems last year near his right elbow, had a successful throwing session yesterday according to Yankee officials.

Also with good throwing sessions returing from surgery was Randy Johnson. Now it was his coaches who said that he had a good throwing session, it was a private session, and reporters were not able to go watch it.

Val Majewski is a mid-level prospect in the Orioles farm system. By scouts, he is projected to become a bench player. He was asked in a Question and Answer session if he gets heckled being from New Jersey:

“I dont care. I am all for it. I love NJ. I am going to live there as long as I know. I wouldnt leave. Its a thing if you live there you love it. But its always a different opinion if you are from somplace else.”

Some Baseball News from Sporting News:

This week they ranked shortstops in fantasy terms, as you can guess first place was Jose Reyes. In a surprising second place is Rollins, which is a blood boiler.

We all know know that Pelfry developed a splitter in the AFL this year. He is going to replace his curve with his splitter and is now developing a changeup to go with his fastball.

So here are the Nationals numbers:

38 pitchers in camp

23 were in the majors last year

1.3 average wins per person

I will finish the list later. Its very funny.

Teahan was a rookie third baseman for the Royals this year who hit a nice.290.

However, he had to be moved this off season to the outfield for one of the most anticipated prospects in a long time, Alex Gordon.

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He hit a nice .325 in the minors last year and is ready to make his big league debut.

Most baseball fans didn’t even hear of him until late in the season last year or until all the guides for the 2007 season came out this year.

However baseball card collectors knew his name very well due to Topps Series 1 from last March. Last year, the MLB player union made new rules regarding when a rookie card can be made. The rules are complex, and prospect cards have to be in an insert set now. Topps did this all right except for Alex Gordon. His rookie card was made, and Topps tried to pull it from the line, but some of the cards slipped out to Walmart.

Three versions actually made it in the market, a full version, a version with a hole in it, and all white with name version were all sought after and sold for thousands. Basically, they became legends.

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