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2008 baseball predictions

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It’s finally here, the start of the 2008 baseball season.  Yes, Boston and Oakland played in Japan last week, but the Cardinals and Royals get started today.  As we get ready for another season, I’ve got my predictions for the upcoming year.

Royals, 5th place finish, 79-83
Cardinals, 4th place finish, 83-79

Royals MVP, Gil Meche–will pick up 15 wins on a much improved starting rotation.

Biggest Royals disappointment, Jose Guillen–will finish with fewer than 20 home runs this season.

Cardinals MVP, Troy Glaus–3B will stay healthy and hit 25+ home runs

Biggest Cardinals disappointment, Mark Mulder and Matt Clement–both pitchers will struggle after unsuccessful comeback attempts from surgery.

Division winners

AL East–Yankees

AL Central–Tigers

AL West–Angels

AL Wildcard–Indians

NL East–Mets

NL Central–Cubs

NL West–Dodgers

NL Wildcard–Braves

World Series, Tigers over the Cubs 4-1

Royals set their 24 man roster?

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3-30 Olivo.jpg The Royals got down to their Opening Day roster of 24 from the 35 who were still on the Spring Training roster before Saturday’s final exhibition game against the Brewers.  Catcher Miguel Olivo’s suspension for the first four games of the season is causing the Royals to begin the season one player short. They’ll go to 25 active players on April 5.

This stems back to a fight last year Olivo was involved in, when as a member of the Florida Marlins, when playing a game against the Mets.

The Royals also cut  infielders Ryan Shealy, Angel Berroa and Jason Smith, outfielder Mitch Maier and pitchers Joel Peralta, Brandon Duckworth, Neal Musser, Brad Salmon and injured Hideo Nomo and Luke Hudson.

All, except for Hudson, were assigned to Triple-A Omaha.  With Olivo out, rookie catcher Matt Tupman was kept as a backup for John Buck.

Shealy had a good spring.  He hit four home runs and had 10 RBIs with a .286 batting average and a .612 slugging percentage. But  first baseman Ross Gload, who has a two-year contract, was out of options, and Shealy had an option left.

Also, if Olivo had not been suspended, Shealy might have made the roster as the 25th man.

Reyes on, Ryan off

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3-26 Reyes.jpg Anthony Reyes and Rico Washington are in. Kelvin Jimenez, Brendan Ryan and D’Angelo Jimenez are out.

The Cardinals made decisions on which 25 players will be on the major league roster tomorrow against Colorado. Washington will be on a big league roster for the first time as a utility infielder, while Reyes will get the last spot in the bullpen.

Reyes has made only five relief appearances in his professional career, three of them as a rookie September callup in 2005. But he offers protection as a true long reliever, something otherwise missing in the St. Louis bullpen.

Washington was a non-roster invitee, but was reassigned to the Minor Leagues on in early March.   Ryan, meanwhile, had been a sure thing for the sixth infield spot before he came down with a rib cage injury that in medical terms is known as an intercostal injury.

Veteran D’Angelo Jimenez became the favorite to take Ryan’s spot on the roster until he returned. But the club was reluctant to commit to a full-year contract for Jimenez when he might only be on the roster for a few days.

Pinkel will throw out first pitch at Cardinals’ opener

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University of Missouri Head Football Coach Gary Pinkel has accepted an invitation from the St. Louis Cardinals to take part in Opening Day ceremonies on Monday, March 31 st at Busch Stadium as the Cardinals open their 2008 season against the Colorado Rockies.

Pinkel, the 2007 Big 12 Conference co-Coach of the Year, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for Monday’s game.  It is not currently known what kind of pitch the former tight end will be going with, but his repertoire reportedly consists of a slow ball, a slower ball and something resembling an eephus pitch.

The FieldTurf 2007 National Coach of the Year will also appear for a stint in the broadcast booth as guests of Fox Sports Net Midwest for the Cardinals telecast.  Pinkel is scheduled to appear in the top of the third inning for the game with FSN broadcasters Dan McLaughlin and Al Hrabosky.

Guillen good to go for Royals

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Jose Guillen will be eligible to play for the Royals on Opening Day in Detroit.

Major League Baseball and the Players Association agreed on a 10-day stay for the suspensions of Guillen and Baltimore’s Jay Gibbons while negotiations are under way on revisions to the Joint Drug Agreement.

The announcement was made early Friday afternoon.

Guillen and Gibbons each faced 15-day suspensions at the start of the season for violations of the Commissioner Bud Selig’s drug prevention program.

Schumaker to see more playing time?

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Schumaker is hitting .382 this spring Early in the spring, the projected Cardinals’ outfield looked like Chris Duncan in left, Rick Ankiel in center, Ryan Ludwick or Juan Gonzalez in right with Skip Schumaker one of the outfielders fighting for their life to make the team.

While Schumaker’s future may have been a little more secure than others, something happened this spring to really solidify his spot not only on the roster, but maybe even the starting lineup.

 

Download/listen to report on Skip Schumaker (:48 MP3)

Royals complete rotation with Bale and Tomko

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The Royals have their rotation set.  John Bale and Brett Tomko get the final spots in the rotation.  They’ll fill out the rotation with Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, and Zack Greinke.  Jorge DeLa Rosa was designated for assignment.   Basically what happens is he goes on waivers. If he clears, he can become a free agent. It’s also possible he could end up at AAA Omaha, and manager Trey Hillman said that’s still a possibility. 

Hideo Nomo had a bit of a setback.  Hillman thinks Nomo tweaked a groin muscle in his last outing.  The Royals are heading up to Milwaukee for two exhibition games and Hillman says Nomo will come along for the trip.  If he’s able to pitch at all with no setbacks, he may be slated for one of the bullpen spots.

The Royals also picked up reliever Ramon Ramirez from the Rockies for a player to be named later.

Seven Redbirds placed on DL

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Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Matt Clement, Joel Pineiro, Tyler Johnson, Josh Kinney and outfielder Juan Encarnacion were all placed on the disable list, retroactive to March 21. That means that if any of them were ready in such short order, they could be activated on April 5.

However, that is highly unlikely. Carpenter won’t be back until mid-August, Mulder in May, and Joel Pineiro late April who is recovering well from a sore shoulder.  Kinney is also recovering from Tommy John surgery just like Carpenter, and Johnson’s shoulder tendonitis leaves his return date up in the air.  Of course, Encarnacion is out indefinitely after getting hit in the eye by a foul ball last year.

Matt Clement pitched in an intra-squad game between AA Springfield and AAA Memphis and struggled with his control walking four of the seven batters he faced.  Clement says he felt good throwing the ball. 

Pitching coach Dave Duncan says he expects Mark Mulder to be back before Clement is ready to pitch at the big league level. 

Royals’ Gaithright hurdles pitcher. Watch the video

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The Royals continue to swing hot bats and beat the Dodgers yesterday 10-9.  Billy Butler had three more hits to raise his spring average to .379. 

Outfielder David DeJesus twisted his ankle in his first at bat and had to come out of the game.  The Royals don’t expect it to be a serious injury.  Joey Gathright replaced him and went 3 for 4.  He even jumped over  Dodger pitcher Hiroki Kurodi as he was fielding a ground ball and got a base hit. 

Jorge DeLaRosa trying to win a starting job didn’t help his cause, as he gave up four runs on seven hits in four innings.  Brett Tomko will audition for a starting position tonight against the Padres.