Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Armas Out/Good Spring
Armas is Back Out
Just when you thought it was safe to include Armas among your early season pick-up sleepers to wow your opponents with your foresight and panache, Tony is back on the shelf again. Seventeen pitches into his simulated game last Thursday, he experienced a mild right deltoid strain. The Expos have now declared that they have no intention of rushing him to be ready for Opening Day--which simply means he won't be ready. GM Omar Minaya said Armas could possibly be ready for action by mid-to-late April, two keys words in that sound bite being could and possibly. If you really want to stash TA in your IR spot, I wouldn't recommend against it, but in ESPN leagues where there's just one of said spots, I don't know if he's the one player in all of MLB to focus on for it.
Whose Arm to Replace Armas?
The Expos are looking at four contenders to replace Armas in the rotation until he returns (whenever that will be). The list (in random order) is Seung Song, Sun Woo Kim, Shawn Hill, and Jeff Farnsworth. Farnsworth was a non-roster invitee and it's showing (9 IP, 5 R, 3 HR, 6 BB, although with 10 K). Kim and Song are both having ridiculously awful springs (Song, 8.10 ERA in 10 IP w/4 HR and Kim a 7.71 ERA in 9 IP w/4 K & 7 BB). I think this could mask a potentially decent upside for Song at least. His combined stats last year at AA/AAA were a 3.07 ERA with 84 K and 57 BB over 146 IP). Not great (or really even very good), but certainly worth a stream or two if that's your cup of tea. I'd forget Kim for now (and maybe for good). His MLB totals look like this: 5.66 ERA, 61 K, 43 BB).
In a word--oy. He's only given up 6 HR in those 105 innings but singles and walks hurt just as bad and he's not even that extreme a ground ball pitcher, so it's most likely an anomaly considering his other numbers. There is one bright spot for both of them. They combined on a 6 hit shutout of the Orioles today, Kim taking a no-hitter into the 5th, for whatever that's worth (not much). Hill's my current favorite for the job--but not because of his skills. Here is his response on the opportunity to replace Armas: "It might open up a window for me, but I'm not expecting to be there." What confidence. Who wouldn't want a guy like that in the rotation? Give it to Hill, Frank. He's definitely got his head on straight.
Watermelon, Watermelon, Watermelon Rind
Don't look now (really, don't look), but the 'Spos are 14-6 this spring, to date the best record of any team in the NL East and in the entire Grapefruit League. The burning question (not really, I've actually had a grand total of zero e-mails on this): Does it mean anything? That'd be no. The Expos finished with the best NL East spring record last year (2nd in Grapefruit) only to finish 4th. What it does mean is that they have a lot of players who are fighting for their 25-man-roster lives. Proof? Some spring AVG updates: Cepicky-.478. Bergeron-.447. Sledge-.417. Calloway-.350. Robinson says he's got an idea who the regular LF will be. He won't tell, of course, but I'm gonna try and read his mind. (heavy mental strain) The answer came back Termel Sledge. We'll see if I'm right.
And Then There Were 42
The 'Spos ended the dreams of nine players this past weekend, none of any fantasy notoriety except for maybe Pat Mahomes (okay, he doesn't have any fantasy value either, although in 1994 he went 9-5 in 21 starts for Minnesota). Mahomes was reassigned to minor league camp, where he'll most likely start the season with the AAA Edmonton Trappers. According to the team website, when asked about his demotion, he replied, "Evidently, they want to see results in Spring Training." Apparently no one told Pat that training camp isn't just about exchanging recipes with the other roster hopefuls (although I bet he'd bake a good lemon meringue pie as sour as he sounds). Robinson said that Mahomes could still make the big league team, so keep on bakin', Pat.
Closer Watch
Why I'm doing this is beyond me, but I would like to point out again an option for Frank and Omar to use at closer should Biddle find trouble early in the year. Jeremy Fikac continues to pitch well this spring (9 IP, 11 K, 5 H, 3 ER). As I said last week, not overpowering, but all those runs and all but one of those hits came in a one-inning faux pas earlier in Spring Training. Otherwise, 8 IP, 11 K, 1 H. Don’t forget that his career OBA is lower than both Biddle's and Ayala's and his K/9 is also (Fikac 7.6, Biddle 6.3, Ayala 5.8). I know Cordero's the popular "young gun" pick, but Fikac's got 100 IP of experience on him as well. Robinson says Biddle's earned the chance to begin as closer--and I agree--but I'd have Fikac waiting at the gate of the bullpen just in case.
Waiting Patiently (Somewhat) for the Regular Season
I can't wait for the season to begin. We finally won't have to hear any more players say, "This is the best shape I've been in in years." If that were true, then MLB wouldn't have paid out over $283 million dollars to players on the disabled list in 2002 and had their "employees" miss collectively over 24, 000 days, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Now these figures are down, but nobody's fooling anyone with all those "I’m in great shape" platitudes. But until they stop, I figure that I can say, reporting for the Expos as the season draws near--and in the best shape I've been in in years--this is Matt Allen--ESPN.
Archive site: http://exposflb.blogspot.com
Just when you thought it was safe to include Armas among your early season pick-up sleepers to wow your opponents with your foresight and panache, Tony is back on the shelf again. Seventeen pitches into his simulated game last Thursday, he experienced a mild right deltoid strain. The Expos have now declared that they have no intention of rushing him to be ready for Opening Day--which simply means he won't be ready. GM Omar Minaya said Armas could possibly be ready for action by mid-to-late April, two keys words in that sound bite being could and possibly. If you really want to stash TA in your IR spot, I wouldn't recommend against it, but in ESPN leagues where there's just one of said spots, I don't know if he's the one player in all of MLB to focus on for it.
Whose Arm to Replace Armas?
The Expos are looking at four contenders to replace Armas in the rotation until he returns (whenever that will be). The list (in random order) is Seung Song, Sun Woo Kim, Shawn Hill, and Jeff Farnsworth. Farnsworth was a non-roster invitee and it's showing (9 IP, 5 R, 3 HR, 6 BB, although with 10 K). Kim and Song are both having ridiculously awful springs (Song, 8.10 ERA in 10 IP w/4 HR and Kim a 7.71 ERA in 9 IP w/4 K & 7 BB). I think this could mask a potentially decent upside for Song at least. His combined stats last year at AA/AAA were a 3.07 ERA with 84 K and 57 BB over 146 IP). Not great (or really even very good), but certainly worth a stream or two if that's your cup of tea. I'd forget Kim for now (and maybe for good). His MLB totals look like this: 5.66 ERA, 61 K, 43 BB).
In a word--oy. He's only given up 6 HR in those 105 innings but singles and walks hurt just as bad and he's not even that extreme a ground ball pitcher, so it's most likely an anomaly considering his other numbers. There is one bright spot for both of them. They combined on a 6 hit shutout of the Orioles today, Kim taking a no-hitter into the 5th, for whatever that's worth (not much). Hill's my current favorite for the job--but not because of his skills. Here is his response on the opportunity to replace Armas: "It might open up a window for me, but I'm not expecting to be there." What confidence. Who wouldn't want a guy like that in the rotation? Give it to Hill, Frank. He's definitely got his head on straight.
Watermelon, Watermelon, Watermelon Rind
Don't look now (really, don't look), but the 'Spos are 14-6 this spring, to date the best record of any team in the NL East and in the entire Grapefruit League. The burning question (not really, I've actually had a grand total of zero e-mails on this): Does it mean anything? That'd be no. The Expos finished with the best NL East spring record last year (2nd in Grapefruit) only to finish 4th. What it does mean is that they have a lot of players who are fighting for their 25-man-roster lives. Proof? Some spring AVG updates: Cepicky-.478. Bergeron-.447. Sledge-.417. Calloway-.350. Robinson says he's got an idea who the regular LF will be. He won't tell, of course, but I'm gonna try and read his mind. (heavy mental strain) The answer came back Termel Sledge. We'll see if I'm right.
And Then There Were 42
The 'Spos ended the dreams of nine players this past weekend, none of any fantasy notoriety except for maybe Pat Mahomes (okay, he doesn't have any fantasy value either, although in 1994 he went 9-5 in 21 starts for Minnesota). Mahomes was reassigned to minor league camp, where he'll most likely start the season with the AAA Edmonton Trappers. According to the team website, when asked about his demotion, he replied, "Evidently, they want to see results in Spring Training." Apparently no one told Pat that training camp isn't just about exchanging recipes with the other roster hopefuls (although I bet he'd bake a good lemon meringue pie as sour as he sounds). Robinson said that Mahomes could still make the big league team, so keep on bakin', Pat.
Closer Watch
Why I'm doing this is beyond me, but I would like to point out again an option for Frank and Omar to use at closer should Biddle find trouble early in the year. Jeremy Fikac continues to pitch well this spring (9 IP, 11 K, 5 H, 3 ER). As I said last week, not overpowering, but all those runs and all but one of those hits came in a one-inning faux pas earlier in Spring Training. Otherwise, 8 IP, 11 K, 1 H. Don’t forget that his career OBA is lower than both Biddle's and Ayala's and his K/9 is also (Fikac 7.6, Biddle 6.3, Ayala 5.8). I know Cordero's the popular "young gun" pick, but Fikac's got 100 IP of experience on him as well. Robinson says Biddle's earned the chance to begin as closer--and I agree--but I'd have Fikac waiting at the gate of the bullpen just in case.
Waiting Patiently (Somewhat) for the Regular Season
I can't wait for the season to begin. We finally won't have to hear any more players say, "This is the best shape I've been in in years." If that were true, then MLB wouldn't have paid out over $283 million dollars to players on the disabled list in 2002 and had their "employees" miss collectively over 24, 000 days, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Now these figures are down, but nobody's fooling anyone with all those "I’m in great shape" platitudes. But until they stop, I figure that I can say, reporting for the Expos as the season draws near--and in the best shape I've been in in years--this is Matt Allen--ESPN.
Archive site: http://exposflb.blogspot.com
