ChiefsVoice

eh, this one wasnt really an error. the ball was hit about 50 feet, Josh charged bare-handed, threw and the runner was out, but the ump on the bases sucked tonight and called him safe and somehow they called it an error. Acosta pitched better than it shows. Two of the homers never happen if he is out of the innings but errors cost him 7 unearned runs. Again, one of them was a brutal call by the ump on the bases who shouldn't even be doing 6th grade Legion ball. Can't wait to have him behind the plate Sunday. Someone in gray is gonna get run...guaranteed.

3rd double would have been out at most parks but the wall in LCF here is 15-20 feet high. he didnt get any cheap doubles. They were all smoked. The error, he took his time then just air mailed 1st base by about 5 feet.

batting 8th and playing 3rd tonight...and for our quick research he is: A. The YOUNGEST player in the MWL as of today B. The highest draft pick in Chiefs history not counting rehabs...Luis Montanez was also a 3rd overall pick...five years before he wore the Chiefs uniform after his position switch

3B Vitters added to Peoria, IF Mota sent to Daytona. Josh will meet us in Great Lakes this afternoon. As will OF Leon Johnson. Drew Rundle back to mesa.

Tim- I believe they are archived on the MILB Gameday Audio page. We don't have the bandwidth on our website to archive them all. but MILB is supposed to.

I believe Leon Johnson is joining us for the 6 game road trip...not sure who is going where... As for my time with Oneri on the air yesterday we talked a lot about cold weather starts and pitching being ahead of hitting. He loves Rhee and is very impressed with his attitude, abililty to learn/adapt and on-mound demeanor. We also talked about our coaches Desi Wilson, Rich Bombard and Min Sung who is also Korean and helps with Rhee. He likes Kyler Burke's bat from the left side and thinks his power will come this season. Talked about Donaldson's arm and then also the new positions for players...Johnston in LF and Rosa at 1B.

Oneri will join me on air in the 2nd inning tonight...

Windows are never closed!!! I'm sure I'll need the stocking cap and gloves again Sunday though...for 14 innings!

I think we'll play tonight. Stopped raining about 1 and the field has drained. As long as it doesnt rain again we should get it started on time...

The power hasn't shown itself yet this year and apparently his D leaves something to be desired. Not sure where this comes from since he threw out 4 runners tonight.... and as for one of the earlier posts, Ashwood only threw what he did because of pitch counts. 68 pitches in 3 + innings. he had three at-bats over 10 plus pitches due to foul ball after foul ball...

i love that they say he is bar far the youngest guy on our roster when he is 9 days...yes Days younger than Marwin Gonzalez our lead-off hitter and shortstop. Rhee is scheduled to make his home debut Wednesday...if the rain doesnt screw with us Tuesday.

It is a spot start.

Raining here in Burlington but they think we will be OK as of now. Here is Manager Sandberg's lineup. 1. Marwin Gonzalez SS 2. Nate Samson 2B 3. Marquez Smith 3B 4. Josh Donaldson C 5. Blake Lalli DH 6. Jovan Rose 1B 7. Dylan Johnston LF 8. Cliff Andersen RF 9. Drew Rundle CF P Ryan Acosta (expeceted for 3-4 innings) Lets play ball!!!

We are looking like: Hernandez, Rhee, Siegfried, Cabrera as the first 4 in that order. Then Ashwood with Acosta and Chen as our long relievers/spot starters

You won't recognize Dylan when you see him. He looks like a middle linebacker! I'm really looking forward to seeing him in left field. Looks like Rhee or Siegfried to get our opening day nod in Burlington Thursday night. Ryne said he would know for sure at our practice tomorrow.

Raisin- The possibly for Acosta was as a Starter. He is definitely on our roster but our trainer gave us 3 names for the 5th starter so I don't know until tonight who that #5 will be or if Rhee/Acosta may piggyback? No Clue. Also, Alburquerque is not coming....Hung Wen Chen is taking his place. I don't know what happened to Huseby or Pawelek, both were on our roster last week. Ditto Blackford and Leon Johnson hurt a finger on Wednesday and was the last player scratched from us as our CF/leadoff guy.

Let me know when you do!

Yeah 1/17 at the RiverPlex (same site as last year)...we havent been notified yet who will be on the Caravan. Where are the tickets sold? We should have them next week at O’Brien Field...also Bergners in Pekin and the Sheridan Village Bergners in Peoria, Sports Corner in Peoria Heights, Brunk’s Sports Center in Washington, Bartonville Bank, and Morton Community Bank for $15.00 each. No tickets will be sold at the door....The attendees will be on our website early Thursday...

Yeah 1/17 at the RiverPlex (same site as last year)...we havent been notified yet who will be on the Caravan.

Next week (dec 17-21) at the Earliest....not expecting anything at all this week....and i have no clue who we are getting at any of the spots...

Shaver was hurt at the end of the season and I don't know if he will be ready or not, havent heard anything about him since late August. ITI usually has interviews with him. Id be very surprised if Alburquerque is in our rotation. And I think Ceda and Maestri are AA bound with good springs.

I don't expect Rosy back here. Who knows who it will be, but I would expect David in Daytona and us to either get Bombard, Pratt or someone new if there is someone new. We usually find out at the end of the Winter Meetings or the following week so I would guess Dec 5-13 or in that range at the earliest! So far I've only seen 4 teams in our league announce coaches (Bur, West Mich, Dayton and Clinton) and two of those came on Monday or Tuesday.

AA. Easy. and his Slider is awesome. He and Ceda are 1-2. Thomas probably skips Peoria right? I think so. You should get Donaldson and Vitters, though. Yeah i expect those two. And hopefully Burke

Good to hear from you. I agree that Thomas will likely skip to Daytona. I'd agree with Cal that you'll get Donaldson for sure. Vitters, I wonder. He'll be 18 till the last week of the season, so if he's in Peoria he'll be really, really young. Robbie Chirinos and Felix Pie are the only position guys I can recall opening full-A as young or younger than Vitters will be next spring. If Vitters struggles in camp, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets held back. Hopefully, of course, he won't struggle, he'll come to camp hitting and make Peoria and hit great there, too. ChiefsVoice, it's great to hear that Maestri looks so good. Two questions: 1) Could you say anything about his fastball, both velocity-wise and movement/type? Is he a guy who's ordinarily around 90-92 or so, or is that too fast? Do you know if he has some sink or 2-seam action on his fastball, or would the movement be relatively normal/average? 2) In minorleaguebaseball, they list him at 5'11", which isn't very tall for a RHP. So I've been imagining a relatively short guy who maybe wouldn't be likely to throw to hard or to project any added velocity future. But I watched a half-inning on a youtube clip, and he appeared to me to be relatively lanky, perhaps still somewhat projectible, and it appeared to me that while he wasn't tall for a pitcher, that he wasn't short either. Looked as tall as Russ Canzler, for example, who lists at 6'2". Any idea how tall he is, either in terms of 6'x" guestimate, or in terms of how his height compares to other guys on the team? Related questions: 1. Could you share any post-season thoughts on Robert Hernandez? I'm guessing his best asset is the movement on his fastball? Is he a guy who was normally in the 88-91 kind of range, velocity-wise? But perhaps projects to get faster down the road as he fills out more? Promising change? What does he have, if anything for a breaking pitch? Would you say it's more curve or more of a slider? Is that the pitch that's most raw, and needs the most work? 2. Lambert got listed by BA with the best curve in the system, and Callis was suggesting that he could become a good lefty relief prospect, look out Ohman and Eyre. Did you like what you saw from him? 3. Ruhlman had some fairly interesting numbers. Is he a guy who maybe has the stuff to be pretty serious, if he can get more consistent? Whose stuff can look pretty impressive when he's locating it? Or is his stuff definitely not as exciting relative to some of the other guys? 4. I know you only saw him twice, and his numbers were excellent. But could you share any impressions on James Russell? The scouting perspective I've gotten is that he's got a good change, but fastball is question mark. Some reports have suggested that he throws quite soft, mostly mid-80's, i.e. probably velocity is a liability unless he can really spot it. A different report suggested that at least on occassion he gets it up to 90 or even 92, and may have a bit of projection left besides, in which case velocity isn't a liability, even if it isn't necessarily a strength either. Any impression from your view? 5. Chris Siegfried: My impression is that his fastball can be excellent and his curve outstanding, on a given day when he's locating. But that he's really raw and inconsistent. Does that jive with what you saw? I thought I heard the Cubs were maybe considering trying Siegfried in rotation. Not likely, but have you heard anything like that and would that make sense from your view? Thanks a lot. It's always great to get some thoughts from somebody who's seen guys in action. Wow, let see hopefully I get them all. 1. Maestri. 90-92 is accurate with downward movement. he was very tough on hitters late in games all season 2. id say he is over 6 foot, but then again im 5'3 so they are all tall to me. ha Others. 1. Hernandez was very impressive to me. Of course he had a roller coaster ride of a season but thats to be expected when you are that age and away from home for the first time. If he got through the 1st inning he was very tough to score on. But too many times he gave up 2 or 3 in the 1st and then the pitch count went up and the confidence went down. I think it would make sense to keep him with David Rosario for the 2008 season if possible as the two really connected and Robert was much improved in August. 90-92. great change, needs work on location, moving the ball in and out and the breaking pitch which was kinda flat. 2. When Lambert through strikes he was awesome. great curve. Not a lot of velocity. tough late in games, short memory. I could see him as an Eyre type. Campusano is the better lefty (assuming he comes back healthy) but i liked Casey a lot. 3. I was/am a big Ruhlman fan and i hope he gets a chance in Daytona in 2008. he was very reliable and a workhorse out of the pen. Always confident when he was on the mound. Quiet kid but one who gets his job done. Good slider. 4/5. Didnt really see a whole lot of either of these guys. Russell was on such a pitch count with us that it is unfair for me to comment on him but he started our no-hitter and was just as good in his 1st start as well. Had some control problems in his 3rd start at Quad Cities. Id love to watch him some more but I don't know that he will be back....Siegfried had a great Instructs from what I hear. Id love to see him start. He seemed to ask a ton of qusetions of the coaches and other pitchers and had the desire to learn that you dont always see. Good curve yes. I know he had a long college season and was in the pen with us so i wouldnt be too surprised to see him start in ST. Hope that helps. Happy Thanksgiving all!

AA. Easy. and his Slider is awesome. He and Ceda are 1-2. Thomas probably skips Peoria right?