Hanley Ramirez hopes to return to the Dodgers on April 30. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Hanley Ramirez took part in a full workout and hopes to return to the lineup for his bobblehead day on April 30th. Ramirez tore a ligament in his thumb while playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. He was initially expected to be out until mid-May.

Ramirez took part in batting practice and displayed power during the session at Camden Yards on Friday.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told MLB.com reporter Ken Gurnick he wanted Ramirez to take part in a minor league rehab assignment before he returns to the lineup.

“Stan [Conte, medical director] said we’ve got to get off the trip first,” Mattingly said. “[It is] at least a week before a rehab assignment. You want him to play at least a game or two. He hasn’t played a [Major League] game in six months. He needs to get out and prove himself.”

  The Dodgers have not gotten off to the start many of us would imagine. At the moment are 7-8 which is a game below .500 which record wise you can work with. Well if you’ve seen the Dodgers play then you’d feel like it’s a lot worse than that. Los Angeles have really been struggling with their bats and bullpen. It’s really frustrating to watch and it’s an ongoing thing. In the series against the Diamondbacks and Padres (in LA) The Dodgers have been having issues hitting with RISP (Runners In Scoring Position) and Pitching (Mainly Bullpen). The Dodgers will be in Baltimore for the weekend series against the Orioles and the chance for them to get their act together is out there with the DH rule in effect. As of now we just want to know what is going on with the Dodgers. Why are they struggling so much? Who is to blame for such struggles with the team? Is this an easy fix and what can be done about it? Well let me tell you this in advance. The answer is not Trading Ethie or Kemp, Brining up Puig, or Firing Don Mattingly.

Offensive Struggles: Yes the Dodgers are facing the same problem they did last season. Leaving men on base, failing to score runs, even getting on base at times. Currently the Dodgers 28th in the MLB in Batting Average with RISP (.171). How the way I look at it is based on the line up Mattingly puts out there. You have Carl Crawford and Mark Ellis who have done a good job getting on base. Then you have Matt Kemp who is having a slow start to the season. Just when you think Kemp will knock the runs in he either grounds into a double play or flies out to the point where the runners can’t advance. It’s not just Kemp that is doing it but all over the line up. The Dodgers can not keep this issue if they want to win games. They have good hitters we all know this but whether they’re in the right place in the line up or not. I think Mattingly should move some players around and see if it works to affect because what they have currently isn’t working and that showed the last two series.

Bullpen issues: Oh where do I start with this one? It looks as if the Box of Pain have made is return and adding more fuel to the fire than helping put it away. The Dodgers Bullpen have been a serious issue right now with all the hits and runs being given up. The Dodgers bullpen have an ERA of 4.02 (15 in MLB). While that’s middle of the pack it seems a lot worse when watching. The last series against the Padres the Dodgers pitching had a bad series overall in what many would like to say a “Throw away series”. Not much can really be done with the bullpen at this point but they have to help the Dodgers stay in position to win ball games.

 I still think the Dodgers will get things in order. Thursday the Dodgers got a day off as they traveled to Baltimore. Hopefully this game they can play better and keep themselves at a respectable position. Yes it is early Dodger fans but you have to remember that April games are important as well so there has to come a point where they must get it together. Right now the Dodgers on the pitching end are hurting with Zack Greinke out till June and Chris Capuano on the 15 DL but batting/Position wise Hanley Ramirez is making his return really soon. Hopefully he could provide the help the Dodger offense need. At 7-8 the Dodgers can turn it around with two good series on the road trip So anything could happen. It’s early but Dodgers MUST get things flowing here.

En el deporte es bastante inusual el decir no llorar sobre mojado pero en el caso de los Marlins de Miami a dos semanas de acción es dificil no pensar lo que pudo ser.

En una de las mejores facilidades de béisbol en todas las ligas mayores  es funesto ver el parque lleno de butacas fantasmagóricas, pasillos sín furor de fanaticos y sí hay orgullo de Miami bien se vén esas camisolas en blanca, roja o negra que tienen en su frente la palabra ‘Heat’.

A esta altura de la campaña 2013 mucho de lo que se habla y escribe es sí serán el reemplazo de los Astros de Houston en la Liga Nacional. El año pasado los tejanos tuvieron la desastrosa marca de 107 derrotas entrando en los libros como una de los peores de todos los tiempos. Aunque no olvidemos las 120 en 1962 de los Mets de Nueva York.

En un año que la franquicia cumple su 20 aniversario y todo lo que se conoce de los Marlins es que nunca debieron haber sido aquellos perdidos en el suntuoso Dolphin Stadium.—o como lo quiera llamar por su sín número de nombres en el pasado.

Es cierto que sus equipos campeoniles de 1997 y 2003 fueron deshechos pero nada igual al visto esta temporada. Más aún su figura singular Giancarlo Stanton lo unico que se escucha es cuan pronto estará este mismo año en el uniforme de los Yankees de Nueva York o en uno de su nativo estado de California.

Puede que en un futuro entre otros Donovan Solano sea un Luis Castillo; Adeiny Hechavarria sea un Edgar Renteria o Alex González y José Fernández sea el próximo Liván Hernández o Dontrelle Willis pero este no era parte del reparto que deseaban ver sus asiduos en sus huestes.

Para olvidar un poco el agobio y amargura el soñar no cuesta nada. Entre jugadores activos les ofrezco un equipo Marlin que pudo ser. Cada cual tiene su opinión pero estoy seguro que este seria uno de complacencia de la fanaticada y campeonil.

Un proverbio chino dice “de las nubes más negras, cae agua limpia y fecunda”. En Miami está por verse el futuro de sus Marlins. El tiempo nos dirá.

Ensueño Marlins de Miami 2013:

Ofensiva Regular:
C John Buck
1B Miguel Cabrera
2B Omar Infante
3B Hanley Ramírez
SS José Reyes
OF Josh Willingham
OF Alejandro de Aza
OF Giancarlo Stanton

Abridores:
A.J. Burnett
Mark Buehrle
Josh Johnson
Anibal Sánchez
Ricky Nolasco

Cerrador:
Steve Cishek

SS Andrelton Simmons hits his first HR of the year

1. The Braves are on a roll.  They won their 9th in a row, sweeping the Nationals, the team picked by many to go all the way this year- it is only mid-April, but the Braves made a statement. The Braves are now 11-1….  Paul Maholm is now 3-0 with an ERA of ZERO after pitching 20 1/3 innings….  Braves relievers have inherited 14 runners this young season, and ZERO of them have scored….  Justin Upton hit his NL-leading 7th HR and SS Andrelton Simmons connected for his first of the year, a 3 run shot…  Bucketz Bomberz in our league picked the Braves to win the World Series.  It doesn’t seem like all that odd of a pick…  150 games to go though, but they look dominant.

2. The Giants are sole owners of first place in the NL West with a record of 9-4, even though they haven’t been playing particularly World Series-caliber ball… Tim Lincecum, in the final year of his contract, is pitching poorly.  His ERA is at 5.63 after three starts, and yet the Giants have won every game he’s started and Timmy has a 1-0 record.  After giving up four in the first, he settled down and his fastball was effective…  Cubs starter Edwin Jackson was in command through five, notching 9 Ks….  Cubs SS Starlin Castro is showing why he is so revered, hitting another HR and adding another three hits (.315 avg, .519 slugging, .833 OPS and a couple dingers)… In the sixth, things started to get weird. After a few lead changes, ten innings, a record-tying five wild pitches in one inning by the Cubs, a Hunter Pence HR, and a Cubs balk, the Giants won again… Sergio Romo gave up a hit in the 10th, but got his 7th save.

3. The Dodgers offense had a tough weekend, losing two of three from the Diamondbacks, and finding themselves in fourth place looking up at the D-Backs, Giants, and Rockies… On Friday, ace Clayton Kershaw pitched 7 1/3, giving up 3 ER- the Dodgers scored zero runs….  Today they were shutout again, this time behind a nearly complete game effort from Josh Beckett, who gave up the sole run of the game in the bottom of the 9th with one out… That wealth of starting pitching is good for them, but there is no way the Dodgers should be shut out twice by the Diamondbacks.  Chris Capuano is replacing Greinke in the rotation, but now their once 7th starter Ted Lilly, who has thrown two rehab games in the minors, had declared himself healthy, which puts the Dodgers in a pickle.  If they don’t add him to the roster, they can lose him.

4. A few struggling players seem to be getting back on track.  The Angels took advantage (barely) of the Astros, winning the final two games, to get Trout and Hamilton seeming like their former selves…  MikeTrout went 2 for 3 today with a walk, including a double and his first HR of the season, 3 runs scored, and an RBI.  His average increased 50 points from his low on Friday night- he’s now batting .268…  Josh Hamilton hit a HR for the second consecutive day, to go with a triple and a single on 3/4 hitting, a run scored, and 3 RBI.  His average went up 50 points as well…  Nobody had a better day though than the Phillies SP Roy Halladay who was looking-let’s face it-done prior to his performance against the Marlins today.  He went 8 innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk, along with a couple of Ks.  It was his 200th career win.  Yes, it was against the Marlins, but so be it.  Good news was needed…  Marco Scutaro of the Giants followed up a great Saturday (3 for 4 to raise his avg. 49 points) with a 1 for 6, but the one hit was a run-scoring double in the 10th.  He’ll be alright.

5. The Brewers finally ended their scoreless streak at 32 innings today- they hadn’t scored since Tuesday- when, guess who, Ryan Braun (I hate even typing the guy’s name) hit a possibly steroid/HGH-aided HR.  The Brewers won in extra innings when C Jonathan Lucroy hit a HR as well.  When Braun hit his home run in the eighth, it broke the Cardinals pitching impressive run of 39 scoreless innings.  I’m not sheepish- I hope MLB nails Braun.  He’s bad for the game.

6. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal posted an interesting piece on the Quentin/Greinke injury-resulting brawl from a few days ago. Carlos Quentin, of course, said he was going to appeal his 8-game punishment, but played this weekend, and then accepted it today because tomorrow the Padres meet the Dodgers again.

7. The injuries keep piling up.  The DL list is crowded with good players:

Jose Reyes (out til All-Star break),Yoenis Cespedes (15-day), Erick Aybar (15-day), Jered Weaver (mid-to-late May), Scott Sizemore (out for season), Freddie Freeman (late April), Aramis Ramirez (early May), Jason Motte (likely out for season+), Johan Santana (out for season, maybe career over), Steve Clevenger (60-day), Kyuji Fujikawa (15-day), Jason Kubel (15-day), Zack Greinke (mid-June), Hanley Ramirez (late May), Michael Saunders (15-day), Wilson Ramos (15-day), Brian Roberts (15-day), John Lackey (15-day), Ryan Ludwick (late July, maybe), Sean Marshall (15-day), Gordon Beckham (late May)… not to mention all the Yankees and about 100 others.

Today, Reds ace Johnny Cueto went down.  He is going on the DL tomorrow, and early reports are maybe for a couple of months.

Then there are those that won’t do DL time- yet- but who have gotten hurt and won’t be playing for probably a week or so: Michael Bourne, Michael Morse, Coco Crisp, Franklin Gutierrez, Danny Espinosa (maybe a day or two).

8. I follow Twitter, as I’ve mentioned, during the games when I’m available to pay attention, following mostly baseball related people with about 75 others- mostly comedians or whatnot- and today following all of the day scheduled games and before the night game in New York, it seemed like Twitter was entirely dedicated to the Masters playoff at Augusta between Australian Adam Scott and 2009 winner Angel Cabrera of Argentina.  It was pretty thrilling.  Afterward, when Cabrera missed a putt by just a tiny bit and Scott – who isn’t known for his short game- sunk his to win it and was being awarded the coveted Green Jacket in the stuffy Jim Nance hosted clubhouse, comedian Neal Brennan tweeted: “The world’s dorkiest gang initiation is on CBS right now.”

9. So while there are 150 games to go, it is fun to take a look at what the playoff picture would be if the season ended today:

AL West: Oakland A’s

AL Central: Detroit Tigers/Kansas City Royals (tied)

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Wild Card: Texas Rangers

AL Wild Card: Detroit Tigers/Kansas City Royals (tied)

…

NL West: San Francisco Giants

NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals

NL East: Atlanta Braves

Wild Card: Arizona Diamondbacks/Colorado Rockies (tied for both WC spots).

…

It wasn’t the first game I went to, but the earliest one I remember was a game between the Red Sox and Orioles in 2001.  The game wouldn’t have been anything special had it not been Cal Ripken Jr.’s last game at Fenway Park.  I can still hear the cheers that filled the stadium that seemed to get louder each time he stepped into the batter’s box.

The first Braves game I went to was memorable only for that reason.  They were in Boston for an Interleague series.  Chipper and Andruw Jones both flied out to left to end the game with a score of 3-2.  That was the only time I’ve walked out of Fenway mad about the Red Sox winning.

The only other Interleague game I’ve been to was between the Red Sox and Marlins in 2003.  The Red Sox set a record of scoring 10 runs before getting a single out in the first inning, which still stands today.  They got 4 more in the first inning of an easy victory that ended at a score of 25-8.  This was the single most memorable game I got to experince in person.  What made that record so much cooler for me is that the Marlins won the World Series that year.

The first National League game I went to was the Cubs against the Expos in their last year in Montreal.  Olympic Stadium was overwhelming, and I’m very glad it’s still standing.  I was jealous of the Expos fans at first because when I gave them my ticket at the gate they returned it with a jersey card of a current Expos player.  I wondered why they didn’t do that at Fenway, but figured it out pretty quickly after I saw that the majority of the seats were empty.  The game wasn’t a blowout but the Expos never had a chance.  I was fortunate enough to go on the day Greg Maddux was pitching for the Cubs, and he was spot on.  My family and I were put on the big screen in center field in between innings, which was one of the cooler things I’ve ever experienced at any professional sporting event.

The next game I went to was between the Mets and Nationals the following year.  We were driving back from a family vacation in South Carolina on my birthday.  My parents, being the good people that they are, didn’t want me to have to sit in the car all day on my birthday so we took a detour to watch the game.  I got to see the Mets lose, which always brightens my day a little bit even if they’re not a threat.  The Nationals scored 6 runs in the first inning of a 7-4 victory.

Somehow, I’ve been lucky enough to watch two games from the Green Monster.  The first was the Red Sox against the Devil Rays.  It was one heck of a pitcher’s matchup; Daisuke Matsuzaka in his rookie year vs. Scott Kazmir in his prime.  The most memorable part of the game for me actually came before the game.  My brother and I were sitting on the lowest level of the Moster before the game started.  We both had our gloves on in the hopes of catching a home run ball in batting practice.  Suddenly a Delmon Young shot came flying toward left field.  I turned to the people next to me to see if they were looking, but they were deep in conversation.  I stuck my glove in front of the woman’s face right before the ball gave her a nasty bruise.  Catching that ball felt almost like hitting a ball right in the bat’s sweet spot.  The man thanked me profusely for catching the ball because he said she would never had let him hear the end of that.  He even offered me a beer to thank me, but I said I couldn’t have one because I was only 14.

The second time I watched a game on the Monster was against the Yankees.  I can’t remember what year it was for the life of me, but I think it was either 2007 or 2008.  I know Curt Schilling was on the mound for the Sox but I can’t remember who was pitching in pinstripes.  The one thing I remember clear as day was a drunk fan running on the field in the middle of the 5th inning.  He ran right up to Robinson Cano and stole his hat.  After running around with Cano’s hat on for a few seconds park security tackled him into the Green Monster.

The first (and only) time I saw a Braves home game was in 2010.  My high school graduation present was a weekend in Atlanta to see the Braves play the Marlins during the Fourth of July weekend.   The original plan was to see a game on Friday, explore the city Saturday and watch the game Sunday on the Fourth.  Halfway through the first game we decided to just find some cheap tickets for the next game and watch the entire series.  As much as I would liked to have seen more of the city, I don’t regret going to all three games.  The first game ended in the 11th inning because of an Omar Infante walk-off single, and was the first time I saw the Braves win in person.  The second game, another Braves win, was not as memorable just becasue of the games that sandwiched it.  Unfourtunately the Braves could not complete the sweep and lost a close game on the Fourth of July.  Before the game my dad surprised me with passes to go on the field during batting practice.  Being on the field and seeing it as the players see it was unforgettable.  I even got an autograph from Infante and former Marlins star Hanley Ramirez.  If the Red Sox vs Marlins game was the best single experience I had, this was the best overall baseball experience I’ve had.

The final game on this trip down memory lane was this past season.  My dad, brother and I decided to take a road trip to New York to watch the Braves beat on the Mets and hopefully see Chipper play one last time.  We didn’t know if he was going to be in the lineup or not until we got to the game.  Luck was on my side, and I got to see my favorite player play one last time.  He sat after they returned from a rain delay, but they had the game won at that point anyway.  It was a good thing we chose that day to go because he was not in the lineup the next day, which was the final game of the series.

I applaud you if you stuck around until the end.  I just realized how long this was, but I had a lot to say about these games.  I’ve been to even more, but these were the most memorable.  My mission now is to go to a “new-look Braves’ game, as well as seeing all the other teams I haven’t seen yet.  What was the best game you’ve ever been to?  Is there any team you’re dying to see?

As promised in my first post, I will be posting updates about my own fantasy baseball teams all throughout the year. My aim in this is not to show off my teams, but rather to highlight players that I am obviously tracking more closely throughout the year. I also want to give you, the reader, a chance to join with me on this journey that is fantasy baseball. So first you need to know what types of leagues these teams are in.

My first team is in a standard ESPN fantasy league. It has 10-teams which each carry a 25-man roster and one available DL (Disabled list) spot. It is a head-to-head categories league that scores each category as its own game. Meaning that out of 10 total categories you can win up to 10 games per week. The categories for batters are runs, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, and batting average. The pitching categories include strikeouts, wins, saves, earned run average, and WHIP (walks + hits divided by innings pitched). So, for example, you could have more runs, homeruns, RBI’s, strikeouts, wins, and saves, but have less of the other categories than your opponent. In that scenario your record for that week would be 6-4-0. The draft was done in an auction format with a $260 budget for each team. So, without further ado here is my team: Machado about Nothing

BATTERS:
C: Jesus Motero SEA
1B: Albert Pujols LAA
2B: Jedd Gyorko SD
3B: Pedro Alvarez PIT
SS: Jose Reyes TOR
2B/SS: Everth Cabrera SD
1B/3B: Manny Machado BAL
OF: Matt Kemp LAD
OF: Giancarlo Stanton MIA
OF: Matt Carpenter STL
OF: Domonic Brown PHI
OF: Ben Revere PHI
UTILITY: Gerardo Parra ARI

PITCHERS:
P: Justin Verlander DET
P: David Price TB
P: Adam Waiwright STL
P: Shelby Miller STL
P: Alex Cobb TB
P: Tom Wilhelmsen SEA
P: Casey Janssen TOR
P: Steve Cishek MIA
P: Chris Perez CLE

BENCH:
Jose Fernandez MIA
Mitchell Boggs STL
Jason Motte STL

DL:
Hanley Ramirez LAD

The second league is something new I am trying. I am very excited about this league and how it is played out. It is called a “scoresheet league” because of the way it is played. You fill out an actual score-sheet for your team, and the scoresheet website “plays” the games for you. There are multiple games per week, and your players don’t use their usual accumulated stats. Instead this league focuses on average, on-base percentages, and slugging percentages for batters, while pitchers use earned run averages, innings pitched, and WHIP. The scoresheet website also takes defense into account, as well as percentages for stats from the past 3-5 years. The league includes 20 teams and the initial roster is a 30-man active roster with 5 extra slots referred to as your “farm.” There are also supplemental drafts throughout the season (for example the first is at the end of April), and there is no free agency pool to add or drop, only to draft and add to your farm system.   Here is the team:

STARTING PITCHERS:
Wei-Yin Chen BAL
Brandon Morrow TOR
Phil Humber HOU
Daniel Bard BOS*
Madison Bumgarner SF
Henderson Alvarez MIA*
Lance Lynn STL
Jamie Garcia STL
Joe Kelley STL
Shelby Miller STL
Michael Wacha STL*

SHORT RELIEVERS:
Luis Ayala BAL
Joel Peralta TB
Jared Burton MIN
Jason Motte STL*
Sam LeCure CIN
Mark Rzepczynski STL
Drew Storen WAS

BATTERS
C- Jesus Montero SEA
C- Evan Gattis ATL
1B- Albert Pujols LAA
1B- James Loney TB
2B- Mark Ellis LAD
2B- Ryan Flaherty BAL
3B- Manny Machado BAL
3B- Matt Carpenter STL
SS- Hanley Ramirez LAD*
SS- Pete Kozma STL
OF- Alex Gordon KC
OF- Brennan Boesch NYY
OF- Aaron Hicks MIN
OF- BJ Upton ATL
OF- Domonic Brown PHI
OF- Shane Robinson STL
*- Players currently in the Farm System

Here are the standings for both of these teams after week 1:
ESPN: 0-8-2
Scoresheet: 5-1 (games fluctuate each week, for example, my team played 6 games in week one against 3 different league teams)

So let me know what you think. Where am I weak, what are the strengths, where can I improve, etc? Also, as we get closer to the next supplemental draft for my scoresheet team, I will take polls to find whom I should be drafting.

The Braves earned their fourth consecutive victory and improved to 6-1, their best start since 2007. The Marlins lost their third game in a row and fell to 1-6, their worst start since 2006.

Announced attendance was 34,439, with thousands of empty seats and many tickets sold at discounted prices. Some fans pledged to stay away this season because they’re angry that owner Jeffrey Loria reverted to a frugal payroll only a year after the team opened a new ballpark built mostly with taxpayer money.

A fan who only identified himself as Mark from Hollywood summed it up.

“I love my Marlins,” he said. “But I loathe my owner. “

One fan said he only came to the game because he got a free ticket. He didn’t want to spend money and support Loria.

The Marlins unpopular owner was in the building but did not talk to the press, or sit in his normal seats behind home plate.

“He’s probably worried that he will get booed,” said Marlins fan Keith Hubbell from Deerfield Beach.

Still, fans did fill up a good bit of the ballpark, a sign that some are willing to let bygones be bygones.

“I been down in Miami my whole life, and I’m glad we have the Marlins, and I hope more fans can support the team, ” said Hubbell.

A handful of spectators wore homemade T-shirts disparaging Loria, a few others had bags over their heads, and many wore jerseys of Marlins traded in the past year, including Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes and Josh Johnson.

The only holdover from the Marlins’ opener a year ago who was in the lineup was Giancarlo Stanton, who went 0 for 1 with three walks to drop his average to .174.

The team’s newcomers couldn’t do much against Maholm (2-0), who remained unscored upon this season in 12 2-3 innings over two starts. He struck out seven and walked three.

Craig Kimbrel needed 28 pitches to get through the ninth. He struck out Adeiny Hechavarria with two on to complete the two-hitter for his third save.

Upton singled in the first, doubled in the fourth and homered in the sixth. With a chance at the cycle he singled in the eighth, which dropped his slugging percentage to 1.192 but raised his batting average to .423.

Upton, who came into the game tied for the major league lead in homers, hit a solo shot for a 2-0 lead against Kevin Slowey (0-2). Atlanta also scored in the fourth when Upton doubled, went to third on a flyout and came home on Dan Uggla’s groundout.

The Braves, who lead the NL East, started a stretch that includes 16 of 18 games on the road.

Atlanta struck out only six times, an improvement, but slumping B.J. Upton went 0 for 5 and Jason Heyward was 0 for 4. B.J. Upton is batting .120 and Heyward .083.

Slowey, who was seeking his first victory since 2010, allowed two runs in seven innings. Marlins starters are 1-4 despite an ERA of 2.50.

The Marlins went 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and are batting .170 in those situations. The lone hit off Maholm was a single by Placido Polanco in the third inning.

Atlanta went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Andre Ethier, Major League Baseball player in America (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now the 2013 season has begun and the prediction have begun. One of these prediction is Who will win the west this year? The 2012 world series champion Giants seem to be the  best team in the division. The Giants have the hitting and pitching. The Giants catcher Buster Posey, and Maison Bumgardner lead the team for a chance to repeat as champions in 2013. The Dodgers seem to be the most involved since 2012.  With the addition of a few new batters such as Adrian Gonzales, Hanley Ramirez (on DL) who both came over via trade in 2012. The Dodgers signed Korean pitcher  Hyun-Jin Ryu and Free agent Zack Greinke who at the time was the highest payed pitcher at the time until  Jason Verlander become the highest payed pitcher.  The Dodgers also have Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and 2011 Cy Young Winner Clayton Kershaw who hope to lead the team to the 2013 playoff and win the world series the first time since 1988.

Buster Posey – San Francisco – 2010 Road (Photo credit: BaseballBacks)

Now the 2013 season has begun and the prediction have begun. One of these prediction is Who will win the west this year? The 2012 world series champion Giants seem to be the  best team in the division. The Giants have the hitting and pitching. The Giants catcher Buster Posey, and Maison Bumgardner lead the team for a chance to repeat as champions in 2013. The Dodgers seem to be the most involved since 2012.  With the addition of a few new batters such as Adrian Gonzales, Hanley Ramirez (on DL) who both came over via trade in 2012. The Dodgers signed Korean pitcher  Hyun-Jin Ryu and Free agent Zack Greinke who at the time was the highest pitcher at the time until  Jason Verlander become the highest payed pitcher.  The Dodgers also have Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and 2011 Cy Young Winner Clayton Kershaw who hope to lead the team to the 2013 playoff and win the world series the first time since 1988.

Related articles

• Pitching in spotlight of Giants-Dodgers rivalry (mlb.mlb.com)
• 2013 MLB Team Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers (sidelinemob.com)

The Marlins really don’t have much of a team to show for. Their ace is Ricky Nolasco, who was the No. 4 Pitcher last year, after Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle (who were shipped off to Toronto), and Anibal Sanchez, who was traded mid-season last year to the Detroit Tigers. They are still trying to recover after two fire sales in one season. The first was in the middle of the season in which they traded SS/3B Hanley Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers, P Anibal Sanchez and 2B Omar Infante to the Detroit Tigers, and 1B Gaby Sanchez to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the fire sale after the season, the Fish traded away P Heath Bell to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and gave away SS Jose Reyes, P Mark Buehrle, P Josh Johnson, 3B/OF Emilio Bonifacio, and C John Buck for SS Yunel Escobar and prospects. The Marlins then quickly flipped Escobar to the Rays. After all of this, the Marlins starters are Casey Kotchman at 1st, Donovan Solano at 2nd, Adeiny Hechavarria at SS, Placido Polanco at 3rd, and Giancarlo Stanton, Juan Pierre, and Chris Coghlan/Justin Ruggiano in outfield. This is a very lackluster team, with the only notable name being Stanton, who is arguably the best slugger in the game.

Against the Washington Nationals on Monday, the Marlins’ ace Nolasco gave up only 3 hits to the Nats, and the team as a total allowed 5. This is great, considering that these same Nationals had the best record in the National League last year. The only runs allowed in the game were two home runs from Bryce Harper off of Nolasco. 

The Marlins also had some limited opportunities with their bat. At one point, they had runners at first and third with only one out. Casey Kotchman flied out to center, and Placido Polanco tried to tag up from 1st. He ended up getting caught in a pickle between 1st and 2nd. Giancarlo Stanton took advantage of this and tried to score from third, but was thrown out at home.

Although Miami lost the game 2-0, they show some promise.

-Ricky

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Tuesday, April.02/2013

The Marlins will start year 2 of their ball park with about 33 % of their 2012 Team Salary. They essentially have traded away every veteran over the course of last season and in the winter of 2013.  Just like they have always done, the club builds up for a few years, then tears it all down with lighting fast movements. When will the cycle end and the Marlins have some consistency with the product on the field?

MLB Reports:  Welcome to our newest Kids writer  Jason Alpert-Wisnia – for being selected to join our MLB Reports Kids Writing team.  We are pleased to present the readers with a youthful look to the game of baseball.  Moms and Dad’s – if you have a young kid who loves baseball and wants to write about the game, please email us at mlbreports@gmail.com.  We will be selecting three more kid writers for our website this year. 

By Jason Alpert-Wisnia  (AKA “JAWS”): (MLB Reports Kids Writer – visit his website here )

The Miami Marlins are a semi-new team compared to other teams such as the Red Sox, debuting as a team in the season of 1993 as the Florida Marlins.  They won two championships in that time, yet tore down the team right after.

In 2012, the team moved to Marlins Park with a boatload of new players and I say, after that, it was only a matter of the, before the team was headed for a downfall.  The past was sure to  repeat itself.

Florida Marlins Story on 1997 and 2003:

This Avid Fan knows the DANG TRUTH

In 1997, the Marlins (then the Florida Marlins) signed third baseman Bobby Bonilla, outfielder Moisés Alou, and pitcher Alex Fernandez to lucrative free-agent contracts, which gave Marlins fans VERY HIGH expectations for the team.

Also, at the time, the team already had catcher Charles Johnson, 2nd baseman Luis Castillo, pitcher Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffield. That year, the Marlins tore STRAIGHT through the Post Season.

They plowed through the Giants in the NLDS, and then the Braves in the NL Championship. The Marlins than went to the 1997 World Series, playing against the Cleveland Indians, who at the time had stars and talented players such as: 1st baseman Jim Thome, shortstop Omar Vizquel, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., relief pitcher Eric Plunk, and pitcher Orel Hershiser.

The World Series then went to 7 games, in the bottom of the 11th inning, with 2 outs, Edgar Rentería hit a weak grounder which bounced off Cleveland pitcher Charles Nagy‘s glove, allowing Craig Counsell to score, making it the 1st ever World Series by the only 4-year-old Marlins franchise.

So after this you think that the manager Jim Leyland is going to keep this winning team together, RIGHT!?! No, wrong.  Wayne Huizenga, owner of the Marlins, COMPLETELY RUINS THE TEAM! He trades away outfielder Moisés Alou to the Houston Astros for the pitchers Oscar Hernandez as well as Manuel Barrios.

The team then traded Kevin Brown to the San Diego Padres for a young star named Derrek Lee and two minor league players.

Finally, in May 1998, to ALL Marlins fans sadness, the team dealt away star players – Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, which wasn’t even worth it,since both Mike and Todd would leave halfway through the season in trades, and this all happened due to claimed “Financial Problems”. Overall, the team was dismantled for the first of many times to come.

After that, each year at the end of the season, players that have been star-quality and playing players were traded away, for more players that would become stars, after again being traded away. But the true trouble doesn’t start till 2006, 8 years later. The team than started yet ANOTHER (No Surprise  fire sale of their players.

They traded Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett to the Red Sox, and then traded Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre, and Carlos Delgado away in separate deals, but were able to pick up Hanley Ramirez, a player who turned over time to the face of the team.

Than the team rejected trades for 3 players that in the future showed to be HORRIBLE trades. The Marlins could have acquired Justin Verlander as well as Curtis Granderson for the Tigers, but for some reason rejected, plus rejected a trade they almost finished with the New York Mets for trading Willis for David Wright,but in the end dropped out.

Than from 2006 to 2008, the team went on a even worse path of trades. They traded away slugger Miguel Cabrera for outfielder Cameron Maybin, southpaw Andrew Miller (, reliever Burke Badenhop are among the six different players received by Florida received for Cabrera, where none truly turned out that good.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels were wanting players, but they dropped out due to the Marlins large wants. The Marlins almost were able to get Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Howie Kendrick, or Ervin Santana. The Marlins also in 2008 ALMOST got Manny Ramirez, but ended up declining.

The Marlins than after the 2010 season traded some players, including Dan Uggla to the Atlanta Braves. And at the end of the 2011 season, both Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson were injured, showing a not so good future ahead, but then in 2012, THE MARLINS WENT INTO THE DEEPEST AND DARKEST PITS OF @#!*% !!!!!

 In 2012, the team went into their new ballpark, Marlins Stadium, but brought with the new stadium CRAP trades and tries. The team almost picked up free-agent slugging star Albert Pujols, but the deal went through., but there was a trade to make it up, by picking up Jose Reyes as well as Heath Bell.

Than, at the end of the 2012 season, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, and many of the stars of the Marlins were traded away, leaving the team with very few good players.

Now its the starting week of the 2013. With mainly Giancarlo Stanton as their star, the team is going to LOSE. With the expectations, I see the Marlins ending the season with a 55-107 record – with 5th place in the NL East, losing their division. But overall, I’m guessing to see another Fire Sale before 2017, but overall, this team is the agent’s nightmare.

It is a shame that a City like Miami has had the fortunes of winning 2 World Series in the last 16 years, yet the management takes the fan in Florida. This act should led to a major decrease in attendance at the New Marlins Ball Park this year

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

A big thank-you goes out to our ‘MLB Reports Kids Writer’ Jason Alpert-Wisnia for preparing today’s featured article.  Jason is the son of our Boston Red Sox Author Saul Wisnia.  He is 12 years old and loves the Red Sox too.  His dad tells him routinely that he has been spoiled as a Boston fan ( 2 World Series before the age of 7).  He has designed, performed the layout and edited his own written work at his personal website http://baseballpinchhitter.blogspot.com/ .

Jason is the 2nd kids writer for us at the MLB Reports (1st is Haley Smilow).  You can find everything he posts on the MLB Reports on a page we call ‘JAWS Of Wisnia’ here   Jason likes the nickname of ‘JAWS’ because his initials are JAW.  Feel free to comment on all of his work (especially positive ones) or leave a comment for his dad to pass on to him via Twitter Follow @SaulWizz

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But through it all, I have a good number of overlapping players. Of course, that’s a given when you own 288 different players across 14 teams – but what I’m going to go through today are the players that I own in more than three leagues to show you how much I actually believe the advice that I’m doling out. More than half of these leagues are either for jellybeans or they are expert formats, so no messing around. Not surprisingly, these names should not shock you if you’re pretty familiar with my writing.

So here they are, the players I own most in 2013, kicked off by the only player who I own on more than half of my teams:

Ryan Madson (8 leagues)

When you generally wait on saves like I do in drafts, there’s usually one guy who’s at the bottom of the pile among likely closers that I end up getting on a bunch of teams. Last year it was Addison Reed, and that worked out pretty well for me – considering I got him with one of the last picks in each of my leagues. Madson has been just a touch more expensive than that, but not much. I really think he’ll be fine within a month or so, and still think he’s closing in LA by Memorial Day. Plus, if I’m wrong, I didn’t pay much for him anyway.

Edwin Jackson (6 leagues)

Shocking, I know. There are few people who carry the E-Jax torch so loudly and proudly as I do, and I still can’t quite figure out why. He was the first player on my 20 Favorite Endgame Targets piece at BP last week, and here’s an excerpt of what I wrote: “When owners think of Jackson, there’s too much focus on the fact that he’s never taken that step forward to match his former prospect status, and not enough on what he’s become—a very solid starter who is getting better…He may never “break out,” but he doesn’t need to in order to return value at this price.”

Hanley Ramirez (6 leagues)

I was a strong advocate of Hanley as a top-15 player this year, before he hurt his hand. Although, I did draft him another two times after the injury was fully diagnosed and the timetable was established. Of course, by that point, he was being taken outside the top-100 in a draft and I was able to snag him for $17 in a redraft auction. I still think he’ll be very good when he comes back.

David Ortiz (5 leagues)

Same as Hanley – except Ortiz gets underrated because of his age anyway. He can still hit, and he could be back as soon as mid-April. At the prices/draft spots he was going at, I couldn’t resist.

Jayson Werth (5 leagues)

Werth’s 2012 season was not the type of season we usually expect out of him, except for the fact that he missed time due to injury. The broken wrist cost him three months of the season, and then his power upon his return. However, what he also did was post the lowest strikeout rate of his career – leading to a .300 average. I had him ranked as a top-40 outfielder both in redrafts and dynasty formats, so I had to pounce when appropriate since he’s being taken outside of the top-50.

David Price, Yu Darvish, Starlin Castro (4 leagues)

Like you really need a reason as to why I would own these guys in a bunch of leagues.

Joaquin Benoit (4 leagues)

I’ve been saying this since the end of last season: if I have to own anyone in the Detroit bullpen, give me Benoit. He’s got the best combination of skills and health in the entire pen, and even though Jim Leyland has made some comments about him bouncing back after pitching on back-to-back days, I’d rather buy the best reliever and see if I can squeeze a few saves out of him, then run after a bad pitcher who might have a slightly better shot at saves.

Alex Gordon (4 leagues)

See #1 in my bold predictions post.

Mike Napoli (4 leagues)

Again, another thing you’ve heard me say over and over and over again in relation to a number of different players. Any time you can own a catcher-eligible player who isn’t playing the position (or isn’t playing much at the position), take him. Napoli should be logging most of his time at first base, especially in light of the hip injury, and he’s been a nice discount in a few leagues.

Homer Bailey (4 leagues)

When I ranked Bailey as a top-40 starter in dynasty leagues, it reflected that I not only thought that his step forward in 2012 was real, but that there may be even another step forward before he’s done improving. Of course, his current price in the market suggests that he’s not quite that 2012 version. I understand the skepticism, since he’s burned many owners before, but we’re also talking about a former top-10 prospect in baseball.

Aramis Ramirez (4 leagues)

Constantly underrated. Constantly owned by me.

Melky Cabrera (4 leagues)

The PED backlash against Melky is causing him to drop in drafts, and he shouldn’t be. As the likely #2 hitter in that Toronto lineup, he should put up numbers across the board, including potentially elevated HR totals while playing half his games in Rogers Centre. Sure, his BABIP was a little fluky last year, but he doesn’t need to hit .346 to hold serious value.

Brian Goodwin (4 leagues)

Least. Surprising. Thing. Ever.

And if you’re wondering where some of my other particular favorites are, here’s a list of all players I own in three separate leagues:

Hitters – Colby Rasmus, Carlos Beltran, Adam Jones, Joey Votto, Eric Hosmer, Josh Donaldson, Carl Crawford, Adam Lind, Nick Swisher, Shin-Soo Choo, Alex Rios

Pitchers – Jordan Zimmermann, Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Drew Smyly, Drew Storen, Johnny Cueto, Ernesto Frieri, Glen Perkins, Matt Harrison, Brett Anderson, Jake McGee, Trevor Rosenthal, Zach Britton, Greg Holland, Wily Peralta

Prospects – Max Fried, Blake Swihart, John Lamb, Dorssys Paulino, Casey Kelly, Jeimer Candelario, Cody Allen

Follow me on Twitter at @dynastyguru.

The Rangers now have $131 million committed to Andrus over the next 10 seasons. Looking at similar deals given to young shortstops like Troy Tulowitzki the Rangers could have just signed Andrus to a very team friendly deal.

Andrus can opt out four years into his extension which will go into effect after his current deal expires after the 2014 season. So he will be in a Rangers uniform until he is at least 30 and maybe until he is 34 if he decides not to opt out.

This signing is very good news for the Rangers as both Hanley Ramirez and Derek Jeter’s contracts both expire after the 2014 season, and face it the free spending Yankees and Dodgers are both capable of outbidding the Rangers for Andrus.

The Rangers now have some flexibility on the field that GM Jon Daniels will have to work out. He has some very important personal decisions to make regarding certain players futures with the team. What does this extension mean for Ian Kinsler, Jurickson Profar and many others on the team?

This move almost certainly means that top prospect Jurickson Profar will either be the Rangers second baseman in the future or he could be the centerpiece in a deal that brings either David Price or Giancarlo Stanton to Texas. Both of whom are expected to be available  as they near free agency and arbitration respectively. That future could come later this season if Kinsler is moved to first base or elsewhere in the field.

Mitch Moreland could be the player most directly affected by this signing. Before Spring Training this season for the first time in his career Moreland was the starting first baseman from day one. He won’t be platooned like he has in the past few seasons, being sat down against lefties. One reason for this is because of the loss of Michael Young and Mike Napoli but the team also thinks he has matured into an everyday player. With this signing though his leash has likely been shortened and they might be quicker to pull him in favor of bringing Profar up and moving Kinsler over.

Currently the Rangers only have two outfielders on the big league roster under contract past this season, Craig Gentry and Leonys Martin. Both Nelson Cruz and David Murphy could hit free agency at the end of this season if they can’t agree on extensions with the team. So the Rangers could look to next season and try Kinsler in the outfield to see if he can be a replacement for either one of them.

What do you think of the signing? What should the Rangers do about Profar now? Let us know in the comments.

-Brian Boynton (@gingabeard_man)

Año tras año el béisbol de las Grandes Ligas le deja saber al mundo los salarios de sus protagonistas activos en sus 30 franquicias. 

Esta temporada la nomina mayor del béisbol mayor la tienen en sus libros los Yankees de Nueva York con $228,835,490 mientras que la menor lo son con alrededor de $22 millones los Astros de Houston. Tal como está leyendo tanto Alex Rodríguez como Johan Santana quienes probablemente no tiren una pelota esta campaña ganan más que todo el conjunto de Houston.

Para los amantes de las mayores estos son los salarios de los 10 mejores de sangre latina pagos y los mejores pagados de cada franquicia y ellos son:

Los Mejores 10:

1.Alex Rodríguez, Yankees de Nueva York, $29,000,000
2.Johan Santana, Mets de Nueva York, $24,644,708
3.Adrián González, Dodgers de Los Angeles, $21,000,000
4.Miguel Cabrera, Tigres de Detroit, $21,000,000
5.Felix Hernández, Marineros de Seattle,  $19,857,143
6.Alfonso Soriano, Cachorros de Chicago $19,000,000
7.Albert Pujols, Angelinos de Los Angeles, $16,000,000
8.Adrián Beltré,Rangers de Texas $16,000,000
9.Hanley Ramírez, Dodgers de Los Angeles, $15,500,000
10.Robinson Canó, Yankees de Nueva York $15,000,000

Por Franquicia:
Liga Americana
Orioles de Baltimore-Wilson Betemit, $2,000,000
Medias Rojas de Boston-David Ortíz, $14,500,000
Medias Blancas de Chicago-Alexis Rios, $12,500,000
Indios de Cleveland-Asdrubal Cabrera, $6,500,000
Tigres de Detroit-Miguel Cabrera, $21,000,000
Reales de Kansas City-Ervin Santana, $13,000,000
Angelinos de Los Angeles-Albert Pujols, $16,000,000
Mellizos de Minnesota-Pedro Florimón, $495,000
Yankees de Nueva York-Alex Rodríguez, $29,000,000
Atléticos de Oakland-Yoenis Cespedes, $8,500,000
Marineros de Seattle-Felix Hernández,  $19,857,143
Rays de Tampa Bay-Yunel Escobar, $5,000,000
Rangers de Texas-Adrian Beltré, $16,000,000
Azulejos de Toronto-José Bautista, $14,000,000

Liga Nacional
Cascabeles de Arizona-Miguel Montero, $10,000,000
Bravos de Atlanta-Christian Martínez, $749,750
Cachorros de Chicago-Alfonso Soriano, $19,000,000
Rojos de Cincinnati-Johnny Cueto, $7,400,000
Rockies de Colorado-Jorge de la Rosa, $11,000,000
Astros de Houston-Carlos Peña, $2,900,000
Dodgers de Los Angeles-Adrián González, $21,000,000
Marlins de Miami-Placido Polanco, $2,750,000
Cerveceros de Milwaukee-Aramis Ramírez, $10,000,000
Mets de Nueva York-Johan Santana, $24,644,708
Phillies de Philadelphia-Carlos Ruiz, $5,000,000
Piratas de Pittsburgh-Wandy Rodríguez,$13,000,000
Cardenales de San Luis-Yadier Molina, $14,200,000
Padres de San Diego-Edinson Volquez, $5,725,000
Gigantes de San Francisco-Angel Pagán, $8,250,000
Nacionales de Washington-Rafael Soriano, $11,742,090

In Baseball the Dodgers take half the Red Sox lineup in exchange for a bag of dicks and then stole Hanley Ramirez from the Marlins. In the off season they picked up a huge Asian prospect and Zach Greinke to bolster the pitching staff.  The Angels picked up Albert Pujols last season and then grabbed all-world-everything Josh Hamilton this off season.

The Lakers landed Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.

UCLA Basketball landed the number one recruit in the nation and the #1 recruiting class as well.

What did the city gain from all of the huge trades, acquisitions, hype and hoopla? Nothing. The Dodgers and Angels missed the playoffs, USC football ended the season at 7-6, UCLA gained a few wins but ended the season with three straight losses, the Lakers will either miss the playoffs or sneak in with an eight seed and UCLA basketball was upset by 20 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

So excuse me if i’m only cautiously optimistic about the Dodgers season. Will they make the playoffs? Sure, but doesn’t everyone make the playoffs now. Getting into a one game playoff isn’t an accomplishment for the biggest payroll in the history of major league baseball.

The Dodgers need to make a run this season to really live up to their potential. It’s basically World Series or your season is a failure for this team.

PS. Over/under 90 wins? pound the shit out of the over. They’ll get 90 wins out of the Padres and Rockies alone.

One thing I like to do is take a league that I am part of and allow you guys (and girls) to follow along and see how pathetic my team is doing through the year. Last night I was asked to be apart of a baseball draft with a bunch of bad eggs from Overbrook where if you come in last place they break all of your toes…Actually I am lying and they couldn’t have been a nicer group of guys. I mean who wouldn’t love being in a league with names like Nicky Vitucci and a hoss named Mush. I felt like I was in a spin-off movie of a Bronx Tale. With a last name Capriotti, I was fitting right in.

It was a 10 team draft so teams are going to be slightly stacked, but I still think I did a solid job of getting the best players available. In my opinion it was slightly a little more tilted towards offense so that was my focus early on. Here are the hitters:

C: Mike Napoli, Brian McCann (DL)
1B: Albert Puljos
2B: Jason Kipnis
3B: Ryan Zimmerman, Hanley Ramirez(DL)
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Jurickson Profar(Minors)
OF: Adam Jones, Curtis Granderson (DL)
OF: Alex Rios
OF: Nelson Cruz
DH: Dom Brown

Somehow I was able to get the best hitting shortstop in Tulo in the second round. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Puljos was a can’t miss at the 6th overall pick and I think I did a nice job at getting injured players like Hanley, McCann and Granderson in the 8th, 11th and 20th rounds respectfully. I’m sure they won’t all come back full to their all-star caliber but I’m sure 2 of them will and if so, I have just developed some serious assets to trade at the deadline. Power hitting Shortstops and Catchers are hard to find. Taking Dom Brown in the 21st round is a steal in my opinion considering the spring he has had for the Phils.  Profar is the #1 prospect in the minors and would normally be a starter on all 31 other teams, but considering that the Rangers are stacked, he will have to wait for an injury to Andrus or Kinsler. Overall I’d give my offense an A-minus.

However, I won’t be giving my pitching an A-minus. I didn’t do it by design, but I kind of became a homer with 3 of my first 4 starters I took. Take a look.

SP: Cole Hamels
SP: Cliff Lee
SP: Kris Medlen
SP: Roy Halladay
SP: Ryan Vogelsong
RP: Joel Hanrahan
RP: Chris Perez

Reserves
Mike Minor
Marco Estrada
Jaime Garcia
Matt Garza
Shelby Miller(SP/RP)

After I took Cole and Cliff, there was no way I could pass on Roy Boy in the 14th round. There are very few instances when the moon aligns when Venus and you are able to take your teams 3 aces. A year ago this was unheard of, but given Roy’s problems in the spring. It fell right into my lap. My reserves are mixed with vets who won’t light the world on fire, but should get me some wins and then some up and coming players like Shelby Miller and Mike Minor who could be household names by the end of the season. My pitching staff gets a solid B and my team as a whole gets a B+ compared to the other teams. I am certainly not the best team in the league on paper, but I should definitely make the play-offs. The key for me will be making some solid trade deadline moves.

As the season moves on, I will update you with how my team is doing and how I plan to win it all.

For this edition, we have posed six Angels and Dodgers oriented questions to be answered on both of our blogs prompted by the end of spring training and the World Baseball Classic and, of course, Baseball Fans’ Christmas Morning, otherwise known as Opening Day. We hope you enjoy this continuing freeway collaboration and, hey, if anyone has any burning questions for future editions (yes, even snarky ones), please ask away:

So, about those less than stellar spring training records? Are you concerned? What, if anything, did you learn about your team from spring training?

Kristen says: I’m not really concerned about the Angels spring training record (or, truth be told, the Dodgers either for that matter). Split squads facing full squads. Pitchers taking the mound in unconventional innings for unusual stretches of time. Players pulled both more and less quickly than they usually would be. Minor leaguers finishing what the big leaguers start. Spring training play is just too different from regular season play for the one record to say anything predictive about the other. Besides, lately the Angels have started off their seasons with a crappy April and early May. The terrible spring training record gives me a small, odd hope that they’ve somehow gotten it out of their systems earlier this season. Now, having watched more spring training games than not, I can tell you that I am still really concerned about the Angels bullpen and only somewhat less concerned about the back end of the starting rotation. Here’s hoping that I’m just a hopeless worrywart without cause.

Matt says: as far as the records I’m not concerned at all because if you look at spring training most of the time it’s the minor league guys and Non roster guys playing so no need to worry at all. As far as what I learned in Spring I learned a few things. 1- the Dodgers minor league system is in great hands and 2- Dodgers have depth.

After watching spring training, what player(s) have particularly impressed you? What player(s) you look forward to seeing this upcoming season?

Matt says: One player I am really looking forward to seeing and Impressed by is Josh Beckett and here’s why. While Beckett isn’t going to be a Cy Young Award winner he is going to produce for the Dodgers. I believe the change of scenery will really help him this season. Another player that impressed me was Hyun Jin Ryu. Ryu will have to adjust to the MLB style of play but without a doubt he can for sure get it done. He will be a treat to watch this season. Yasiel Puig also impressed many Dodger fans this spring. Even though he was sent to Double A due to no room on the roster he will be something else once he’s called up.

Kristen says: I’m still head over heels enamored with the Angels outfield – Mike Trout, Peter Bourjos and Josh Hamilton. They had their rough games and bouts of butterfingers this spring training but I really got the impression they learned to work well together. Watching Bourjos get his centerfielder’s confidence back after a season spent largely on the bench was a kick and a half, as was watching Hank Conger kill it at the plate.

This is the first season with two 15 team leagues and interleague play every day. In fact, the Angels are one of the teams opening the season with an interleague series. What are your thoughts on this?

Kristen says: I’m an oddity among hardcore baseball fans in that I actually enjoy interleague play and look forward to all of the odd matchups – perhaps it’s a throwback to my childhood and all of those great DC/Marvel comic mash ups. So, on many levels, I am excited to see the Angels take on the Reds. In fact, my only annoyance with the Angels season opener is not that it’s against a National League team. It’s that the series takes place on the East Coast and most of the games are early, sticking me with the unappealing choice of either catching games that take place while I’m at work only in bits and pieces on the radio and in phone updates, or watching them on delay knowing full well that there is no way I will be able to avoid knowing the outcome of the game prematurely unless by some miracle I can avoid the entire internet, the radio, television and basically all human contact until I’m finished watching the game. I know. Not bloody likely.

As for this being the first season with two 15 team leagues, I love having an equal number of teams in both leagues at last, but still have some serious reservations about that equal number being an odd one. We’ll see how this works out.

Matt says: I honestly believe is a pretty cool yet odd thing. With Opening Day it’s the start of the season and you always want to start the season off on the right foot. Interleague games to start the season will be an odd one but will also be fun. A good example is Angles and Reds. The Reds pitching staff against the Angels line up at Great American Ballpark is a game that catches many eyes. AL vs NL contenders. I believe it is a great treat for baseball fans.

What are your thoughts on your team’s Opening Day 25-man roster? Do you have any issues or just plain surprises?

Matt says: Justin Sellers is a player that surprised me. I would’ve thought Alex Castellanos or Ellian Herrara would be on the roster but Mattingly wanted to go with Defense. Paco Rodriguez is also another surprise but the kid shown that he can pitch. That’s for a fact. He can really pitch and has a bright future with this team. Other than that I see no other surprises on the 25 man roster. Most are healthy which is great.

Kristen says: The 25-man roster is more or less what I expected. There were no surprises for me in terms of the starters and I am completely happy on that front, ecstatic even. I was thrilled, though not surprised, that Hank Conger made the roster. Hopefully 2013 is his year to really make an impact! I was pleasantly surprised to see Andrew Romine make the bench list and am excited to see what he can do. I’ve had a soft spot for the kid ever since I saw him pull off a tough force play at third with a long distance slide across the bag with the ball, just ahead of the runner. He’s rough around the edges and needs work at the plate but has good instincts and an appealing versatility. My only issue is that even, with a large personnel shuffle in the bullpen, I still don’t trust them to be consistently reliable. Prove me wrong guys. I would love nothing more than to be making heartfelt, happy mea culpas to the bullpen at the end of the season.

The World Baseball Classic was big news and now the media are debating the impact it will have on the regular season. What are your thoughts?

Kristen says: I think it’s a mixed bag and that the effects will differ from player to player. I’m thrilled silly that the Angels’ participant, Erick Aybar, emerged from the WBC with a May and June like hot bat that he shows every intention of maintaining. In the case of Aybar, who regularly plays pretty much year around between the regular season and the Dominican League, I think he actually has a chance of maintaining it and other teams will be in this same, happy little boat. Other players may start out hot but fade early having, effectively, started playing hardcore, competitive baseball a month earlier than their teammates. And, of course, WBC related injuries – many of which would not have happened during less intense ST play – will be an issue for a few teams, including the Dodgers. What we have to remember, however, is that if the unfortunate end of the WBC related effects spectrum is enough to tip the seasonal balances for any team, then one of any number of the sort of injuries/issues that managers have to anticipate during the regular season might well have had the exact same effect.

Matt says: I honestly believe it will. Hanley’s injury was something that could’ve Happened in a Spring Training game. What many fail to realize is that the WBC gets players into 9 innings shape instead if slowly getting into that game by game. It gets them ready and going and if their teams make playoffs then the atmosphere will have them set to go. So I believe for the good it will have them ready.

Bonus Bloggers’ Bias Question: So, Opening Day. Do you have tickets to your team’s home opener and what, if any, Opening Day traditions do you have?

Matt says: yes I absolutely do. This is my first FULL season as a season ticket holder and I am looking forward to it. A tradition I always have is I check my stuff the night before and put it in one place. Then I get there the next day for batting practice and to see all the festivities. Opening day is really great.

Kristen says: I am bouncing off the walls excited! Yes, we do have tickets to the Angels home opener, though it’s just about the latest home opener for any team this season so I still have a ways to go before I get to see my guys play live. For the last three seasons, our tradition has been to go to the Angels home opener. In seasons like this one where that doesn’t coincide with Opening Day, our tradition is just to watch as much baseball as possible and really soak it in after the long winter without, preferably accompanied by a nice bottle of red…or two. Sadly, this year all traditions will be bucked. I’m sick, so no wine, and the Angels are playing at 1 p.m. on a weekday so, really, no Angels. Thus this year’s ‘tradition’ is apparently watching not my team and being frustrated until the Angels hit Texas. But, you know what? Today umpires will call out those magical words, ‘Play ball!’ twelve times in regular season play, so I simply can’t be bothered to wipe the big, silly grin off of my face long enough to be upset about much of anything. Baseball is back!

Arizona Diamondbacks:  The D-Backs are going to be the top sleeper and get a wildcard this season according to our own, Andy.  Teams need to pay attention to this ball club.  They will miss Justin Upton, but they have some pop in their lineup with Aaron Hill, Miguel Montero, Jason Kubel, Paul Goldschmidt and jack-of-all-trades, Martin Prado.  They are anchored by Ian Kennedy and Trevor Cahill, who top off a solid rotation, who turn things over to a good bullpen.

Colorado Rockies:  Awful pitching + mediocre hitting + Troy Tulowitski = A last place finish in the NL West.  They’ll win somewhere between 62-66 games and that’s that.

Los Angeles Dodgers:  The Dodgers have spent the money.  They have that going for them and they do have one hell of a lineup and a big rotation with Kershaw, Greinke, Beckett (if he can pitch half what he used to) and company.  I like Hanley Ramirez and Carl Crawford to have a much better season this year and the regulars like Ethier, Kemp, Gonzalez and company will perform at a high level as they should.  I, Matt, give them the wildcard bid.

San Diego Padres:  The Padres should do as good, maybe a little worse than last year.  They’re starting off the year with Chase Headley on the DL and without many bats in the lineup should miss on RBI opportunities.  Pitching is also a question in San Diego.  Mark them down for 70-74 games.

San Francisco Giants:  World Series champs two of the last three years with a rotation that’s awesome with Cain, Bumgarner, Lincecum, and Vogelsong, a lights out bullpen and Sergio Romo to close it out.  How can you go wrong with pitching like that?  Their lineup won’t produce a ton of runs outside from Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey, and Hunter Pence; I also like Angel Pagan to keep up production, but it should be enough with their pitching.

It will be fun to watch the top three teams of the NL West this season.  Here’s how we have them placing:

Andy’s Picks

1. San Francisco Giants
2. Arizona Diamondbacks (Andy), Los Angeles Dodgers (Matt)
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (Andy), Arizona Diamondbacks (Matt)
4. San Diego Padres
5. Colorado Rockies

Matt’s Picks

1. San Francisco Giants
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. San Diego Padres
5. Colorado Rockies

Monday, April 1/2013

Chipper had a lifetime slash line of .303/.401/.529 with 2726 Hits and 468 HRs. He played the game the way it was supposed to be played, with class and all out effort.

By Ryan Dana (MLB Reports Writer): Follow @ryandana1

The start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season is upon us. While that is beyond awesome, unfortunately there is a list of really good players who will likely not start the season playing for a Major League team. Most of these players are out due to injury, but there are also a few others I would like to mention that are out due to retirement, suspension, or the fact that they have still yet to sign with a team.

It will be a bittersweet Opening Day for the Atlanta Braves who will be without Chipper Jones this season. He spent his entire 19 years of Major League service time with the Braves, and after an MVP season in 1999, a 1995 World Series Championship, and 8 All-Star appearances, Chipper has decided to call it a career. Jones was one of, if not the best, switch hitter of all time.

Chipper Jones Highlights

He was a beloved player across the MLB and certainly in Atlanta. Happy retirement to Chipper, he deserves it. The Braves will also be without their starting Catcher Brian McCann until at least late April as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery.

Kyle Lohse just signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as I’m sure a lot of you have heard. Now that leaves Brian Wilson as the big unsigned former All-Star to talk about. Wilson a 3x All-Star (as recently as ’11) underwent his 2^nd Tommy John surgery at the beginning of the 2012 season.

Wilson is still just 31 years of age, and the owner of 171 Career Saves, so I believe there will be a lot of interest when he is ready to come back. Wilson has said he doesn’t want to audition for teams until he is 100%, which he is approaching, but not yet at.

It will still probably be a few weeks before he starts working out for teams, but he will land somewhere with a chance to contribute to a big league bullpen. You might expect to hear some news about him right around the start of May.

There are a few players suspended to start the 2013, but by far the most significant is Carlos Ruiz of the Phillies. Ruiz is eligible to return April 28^th after being suspended 25 games for testing positive for amphetamines. Ruiz made his 1^st All-Star appearance in 2012. He has been a strong backstop for the Philadelphia Phillies since ’07 and will be vital if they hope to challenge the Nationals and Braves for the NL East.

As far as injuries go there are some players who are definitely out to start the season and some that are questionable for it. Among those definitely out to start the season is Hanley Ramirez. For those who watched the World Baseball Classic, or just keep up with baseball, you may have heard he tore ligaments in his thumb diving for a ball during the WBC (just 4 innings from the end of the tournament) and will be out until at least late May.

The LA Dodgers are stacked with talent, but Ramirez will be missed. People will continue to point at the WBC as a potential threat to the health of Major Leaguers playing in it.

The Mets David Wright was also injured in the WBC, but his injury seems minor and isn’t expected to keep him out for Opening Day. I still say an injury at the WBC is just as likely to happen in Spring Training, but if it happens to one of “your” players I’m sure it’s not as easy to think that way.

Derek Jeter has 13 All-Star Appearances and 5 Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and World Series Championships. It was tough to witness his ankle injury last postseason, even as a Red Sox fan, I hope he can make a solid comeback from it.

Interesting to me, the 2 teams who will start the season with the most All-Stars injured are the 2 teams who lost in the 2012 LCS’s. The Yankees and Cardinals have some pretty major injuries to start 2013.

 The Yankees Captain Derek Jeter had a pretty gruesome ankle injury in the 2012 playoffs that is still not 100% and he is doubtful for the start of the season. I wouldn’t be concerned with him missing a few games, but my worry would be that this injury lingers. The hobbled Yankees will need Jeter’s leadership on the field to keep up in a tough AL East.

After Jeter the news only gets worse. Alex Rodriguez is out until at least mid-July with another hip injury. This could possibly keep A-Rod out the entire 2013 season, and cripple his performance if and when he returns.

Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson are both out until at least early May due to a back and forearm injuries respectively. Phil Hughes is expected to be placed on the 15 day DL to start the season with a back problem. Michael Pineda is going to be out until at least early June and possibly until the All-Star break continuing to recover from his shoulder surgery from May last year. This is 4 starting position players, and 2 starting pitchers on the shelf to start the year for the Yankees. Not good.

Chris Carpenter has achieved a lot in his career including a Comeback Player of the Year in 2009. Even if he misses all of 2013 I hope he doesn’t retire. I love watching this guy play and would love to see him win another Comeback Player of the Year Award.

The Cardinals have some pretty tough injury news too. Chris Carpenter is likely out for the season with a recurring neck and arm problem. Carpenter helped the Cardinals win World Series in 2006 and 2011, putting the team on his back in the latter postseason. At 38, some fear it’s the end of the line for Carpenter who has been one of the best competitors in baseball in recent times.

Rafael Furcal, another integral part of the Cards 2011 Championship is coming off Tommy John surgery and likely won’t be ready until September. David Freese and Jason Motte are also likely out for some part of the 1^st month of the season. The Cardinals have a deep organization which will cover them for the time these players are out, but Carpenters loss will hurt enormously come October should St. Louis see the playoffs.

Some of the latest injury news regards the New York Mets and the 1^st pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter for the organization, Johan Santana. The news is not good. After already knowing he would be out for part of the 2013 season, it now looks like Santana’s shoulder will keep him out the entire season. After trading R.A. Dickey this offseason, Santana was the only veteran leader they could really count on in their rotation, but now the Mets season outlook went from already bad, to even worse.

Santana may have been the best pitcher on the planet for a stretch from ’04-’08 tossing 219+ IP each year only having an ERA over 3 once in that span.

Unfortunately Santana has had a lot of injury troubles since his workhorse days in Minnesota. He had the no-hitter in 2012, but really hasn’t had much else to boast of in a few years now. Another tough break to see him out for a full 2013 campaign.

Another pair of injuries that could impact a division race are the ones to Neftali Feliz and Joakim Soria pitchers for the Texas Rangers.

The AL West is another tough division, and the Rangers ran it in 2010-2011 winning the division and AL Pennant both years. 2012 they took a step back only securing a wild card berth. Feliz was a big part of the ’10-’11 Rangers as a lights out closer in just his 1^st two seasons in the Majors. He was then converted to a Starter in 2012, then required Tommy John surgery in August, which means he will probably be out until this August. The Rangers plan to use him as a reliever again, at least for this season when he comes back.

In April of 2012, the then Kansas City Royals pitcher Joakim Soria had Tommy John surgery as well. The Rangers are looking at the end of May as a timetable for his return right now. A healthy Feliz and Soria coming back mid-season could be race changing additions for the Rangers out West, they have that type of ability.

I’ll go through some quick hitters as far as injury updates now. I already wrote a full article about Corey Hart being out until possibly May with a knee injury, for further elaboration search his name for the article on the site. Grady Sizemore is once again injured which is commonplace at this point. It is his back right now which will keep him in the dugout until at least early July for Cleveland.

It may have taken a while for Headley to put it all together in the Majors, but boy was his 2012 special. We’ll see if he can continue success into 2013 even after being slowed by injury.

Chase Headley of the Padres is out until at least mid-April with a thumb injury. Headley was one of the big surprises of 2012 as he finished 5^th in NL MVP voting with no real signs foreshadowing the performance. Nick Markakis is probable for the start of the Baltimore Orioles season with a neck injury. Neck injuries are one of those injuries that would have me worried about linger effects, hopefully for the Orioles sake and Markakis’ this will not be the case.

One finals injury to talk about is that of David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox DH. He is “doubtful” for the start of the season, with an Achilles injury. With the new look Red Sox lineup, Ortiz become even more integral than years past, so his return will be eagerly awaited. On top of that Ortiz just got a fairly rich multi-year contract that will bring expectations of production.

This injury forced Ortiz to miss from mid-July on, of 2012 (excluding 1 game in late August). Not to beat a dead horse, but this is an injury that has signs saying it could affect Ortiz past his return which will hopefully not be too far removed from Opening Day.

There are a bunch of big injuries around the MLB to start the season. I tried to keep the article directed more towards the “big name” players, with more serious injuries with implications for their team’s chances in 2013.

You’ve been caught up on the major news on the topic. There is a list just as long of guys who are out that are also very good and important players for their teams, but I don’t want to bore the readers to death, then no one would be able to read future articles. Comment with any thoughts you have about these injuries or if you think I had an unforgivable emission to this list.

Ortiz doing a little light running in Spring Training. The Red Sox will definitely be better than last season in 2013, but Ortiz will really need to play 120 games or so for them to have a real shot in the AL East.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to our baseball writer Ryan Dana for preparing today’s featured article.  Ryan is junior studying physical education with a concentration in coaching at Bridgewater State University. He has been playing baseball since he was 7 and coaching since he was 14. Ryan wants to be a college baseball coach once he graduates.  Ryan is, and always will be, a diehard Boston Red Sox fan. Secondary to baseball, he is a big health and fitness enthusiast. You can find Ryan on Twitter . Follow @ryandana1.

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