karenmac

yes, and (hopefully like hockey) you can bench guys when they're not playing and put someone else in at that position, so you can have (theoretically) a different lineup every day. For instance, if you know that one of your SP won't be starting that day, you can leave him on the bench for someone else. Not that my lineup is any great shakes at this point, but I've got them set through Friday so feel free to take a look. This won't be as important later in the year, when just about every team is playing just about every day, but I would guess that since April generally has more rain dates built into it, it could end up making a difference early.

Based on the AA roster, I'm wondering where Alan Rick is going to land. Assuming that Muyco and Reed are both at Daytona, and that Rick's bat had not been bad at the end of last season, I'm wondering where he will land. As 3rd catcher in Daytona? I'll be anxious to see the rest of the rosters soon!

You're right, he got 2 ABs in the Cactus League. Sam hurt an oblique muscle last week during a swing. Raisin, thanks for the investigating. Sam being hurt bums me out more than anyone else, I think. Probably just because I already knew the others were hurt. Sam looked super during practices while I was down there, so I hope that, with the oblique, they can get him feeling ready to go soon.

good deal - that means I actually get an opponent the first week! Best of luck to everyone :D

I hope someone gets a picture of the Reed Brothers before or after the game as it looks like Mark is there. I'm guessing Jeremy is in Las Vegas for Seattle as well (even though he's been designated to AAA Tacoma). I hope their parents were able to make it over from California too...

Partied too much after the WS win. This is *exactly* what I was thinking.

Nate, Thanks so much for the insights - we'll look forward to seeing the "final" rosters once they become official. Lilly and Sotolongo being released didn't surprise me much - Lilly always kind of seemed like a jerk. Sotolongo we didn't see in Peoria for more than about 10 seconds, if I remember right, but I always wondered why on earth the Cubs had held on to him. Rayborn retiring was a bit more of a surprise. What exciting news about Matt Weber, though. That will make me root for Northern all the more. Glad to hear he's getting his education and trying something else. Did you see Brandon Taylor at camp at all? He was in the media guide (but so was Gregg), but I don't remember seeing him while we were there at all. Am just curious on how his transition to pitcher is going.

no exhibition game for the Chiefs this year...

1. Number of Cubs wins, 2007: 84 +300 2. Number of Cubs wins, Cardinals season series (16 games): 11 +150 3. Number of runs scored, 2007: 796 +125 4. Number of runs allowed, 2007: 746 +100 5. Final Placement in the NL Central Division: 1st +200 Player Stats & Scoring 1. Number of DLee Home Runs: 21 +40 2. Number of Soriano Stolen Bases: 44 0 3. Murton's Batting Average: .304 +10 4. Aramis' RBIs: 107 +30 5. Carlos Zambrano's Wins: 18 +50 6. Jason Marquis' ERA: 5.12 0 7. Rich Hill's Ks: 163 +50 8. Ted Lilly's Innings Pitched: 162 +10 Bonus Questions I (30 points each) 1. Which will be higher: Z's batting average or Z's batting average against? Z's BAA 0 2. Which will be higher: Aramis' HRs or Marquis' HRs allowed? Aramis' HRs +30 3. Which will be higher: Cesar's OBP or DLee's batting average? Cesar's OBP 0 4. Who will have more HRs: Barrett or Murton? Murton 0 5. Who will have more wins: Hill or Lilly? Hill 0 6. Who will have a higher K/BB: Zambrano or Hill? Hill +30 Bonus II Questions (30 points each) 1. Most HRs: Soriano +30 2. Highest OBP (min. 350 ABs): Matt Murton 0 3. Lowest ERA (min. 150 IPs): Carlos Zambrano 0 4. Most saves: Ryan Dempster +30 The Annual Tiebreaker: Michael Barrett's OPS: .866 off by .132 Total: 1185

look at this picture of her: http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/apmegasports/200703281409509635855-pf.widec.jpg I could call her very bad words for looking that good 7 months pregnant. But I won't. She and Nomah were really great when all of Peoria went nuts when he was here for his rehab appearances.

which was late on Tuesday if I recall. Plenty of time to recuperate - especially with the 2 hour time difference. Seriously, though, Nate, please give Rocky our best wishes - it can't be an easy time for him or Pete right now. For those that don't know, Donna Vonachen died earlier this week: http://www.week.com/Story.aspx?NStoryID=57441. She was the wife of Pete and mother to Rocky, our current President at the Chiefs...when at the game, her seats were just a couple of rows behind us. We'll miss seeing her very much.

isn't there some way to reassign a team to a new yahoo id? If he creates a new account, I would think there would have to be a way to make this swap. In fantasy overall, I would guess it would be typical to have keeper leagues where you need to swap folks out, or you just have someone not keeping things up...

XM also broadcasts the draft in its entirity live, so that may be easier than having to listen to the BBTN crew :D Besides, how much action can there really be at the draft? They're not all in the same room, right? They're on the phone making the picks? Maybe I'm just thinking of the Rule V...

opening day must be getting close :D A - Ryan Howard B - Lance Berkman, Jim Thome C - Jermaine Dye, Bill Hall -> Prince Fielder, Marcus Thames -> Justin Morneau D - Michael Cuddyer, Chris Duncan, Brian McCann, Morgan Ensberg, Jimmy Rollins WC - Russell Branyon -> Josh Hamilton TFirst Half Transactions:

thanks for the update - the confusion makes all sorts of sense, since the broadcasters were idiots (and worse, idiots that hadn't done their homework) I had just seen him working out at Fitch on Sunday, and he looked fine then, so glad to know he didn't suffer any setbacks!

Absolutely! I'm going through withdrawal here! Thanks much - hope your trip is a good one :D

Hi all! So, we were able to get to the Saturday 3/17 minor league games at Fitch. Just as a heads-up, while all of the places I'd seen info published say these are a 2pm start, they actually start at 1pm in AZ. Luckily we were "early" enough that we didn't miss any of the action Saturday felt like a blast furnace in Mesa, it was the earliest day that it hit 100 since 1988. Luckily, some of the wonderful grounds crew people came along and put up tarps in the bleachers, allowing for some shade (that helped a *lot*) With that in mind, please forgive me if I don't remember all the details, but will do my best! Lo-A and Hi-A were playing at Fitch on Saturday, with AA and AAA on the road at the Oakland complex. I spent most of my time watching high-A, mostly because I was too hot to give up my place in the shade! Here were the lineups for Jody (and yes, I realize they had 10 people batting - not sure what was up with that, but hey, it's spring training) 1 - Mark Reed (caught) replaced by Blake Lalli in the 6th 2 - Jonathan Mota (SS) replace by Guzman (not Angel) in the 5th 3 - Tyler Colvin (CF) 4 - Yusef Carter (RF) 5 - Adduci 6 - Elvin Puello (3rd) 7 - Kyle Reynolds (DH) 8 - Jesus Valdez (LF) replaced by A. Joseph in the 7th 9 - Alberto Garcia (1st) 10 - Ryan Lilly (2nd) Samarjida started, wearing #44, and looked dynamite over a couple of innings. Ceda came in, and while he was a big guy who threw *very* hard, I was disappointed in his lack of location in the 4th and 5th innings. Scott Koerber came in with 1 down in the 5th, then Mike Billek pitched the 8th and 9th. Also saw Todd Blackford, Jesse Estrada, and Ryan Norwood on the bench for the hi-A guys. Colvin, while still thin, was darn impressive, and I can see why it looks like we're not going to see him in Peoria. Ditto with Samarjida - he looked *much* better than he did when I saw him in Peoria last summer. Koerber looked like Hawaii was good for him - got a chance to speak with him briefly and he said it was a darn good gig - he only pitched once a week and got to spend the rest of the time on the beach. Nothing quite like an expense paid trip to Hawaii! Saw the last couple innings of the Lo-A game - so not sure who started, but can at least tell you who was on the bench! Heredia Rosario Tirado Lopez Cabreja Anderson Canzler Lewis Landsford Johnston Camp Canepa Matulia McCormick Farina Gilbert Clevinger Got a chance to see the AA and AAA guys practice on Sunday morning, but will have to take a look at my pictures to remember who was practicing with who. Should get a chance to get those uploaded and posted tonight sometime.

actually, they started playing "games" against other minor league teams on Saturday - we were at Fitch to see the low-A and high-A guys. As far as I could tell, though, the record-keeping was that of pitchers charting behind the plate (as well as running the scoreboard). I wrote down the info I saw on Saturday and will post that as soon as I find it in my luggage. I'm going through AZ-withdrawal at the moment, but it helped being able to see Joe Simokaitis, Mark Reed, and Jesus Valdez all in the Milwaukee game this afternoon on mlb.tv!

no doubt - it's hysterical listening to these people in between innings on mlb.tv...guess they don't quite know they're still live somewhere!

it's hysterical to hear the Milwaukee announcers talk - "Sheets is looking great" - only we were at the game yesterday and he looked *horrible*. And they really shouldn't be talking about our pitchers unless they know what they're talking about. Ugh.

Sean Marshall now in for the cubs in Maryvale

mark reed in to pinch hit - just got thrown out 3rd to 1st. Prince has bad footwork

mlb.tv back up - Clay Rapada in to pitch

am guessing that Holdzkom will be with the AA or AAA guys - so might be able to catch him at practice this morning. I think the games for these 2 groups are at the A's complex and not at Fitch this afternoon, though. Will let you know if I see him!

Piggy didn't look good at all, but Jenks looked worse, that's for sure. It was really exciting seeing McGehee tie it up - there were a lot of people who had already left at that point (U of A game started at 4:20), and I'm guessing many, many people were in their cars cursing when it got tied up. While it did seem strange to still have Thome and Konerko in, it did give Piggy some real life experience against some of the best in the game, and that's a good thing.