Some general thoughts on the Friday before our first spring training game:
1. Non-Guardians Thought - Living in St. Louis, I watched Albert Pujols from the time he was a rookie through the time he left for LA and then, on MLB network, when he came back to St. Louis for that final year. He is a Cardinal IMHO. But MLB will have a different story. The Angels paid him to play for them for 10 years. He was paid by the Cardinals for 12 years. While he hit more than twice the number of HRs and doubles in St. Louis, the fact is that there is not a really significant difference in the time he was in LA compared to St. Lous. Why is this important? Wade Boggs. He signed a lucrative contract with Tampa Bay with the proviso is if he made the HOF he would go in as a Ray, even though he played almost all his career in Boston and NY. MLB then put in a rule to avoid these shenanigans in the future by saying that MLB would decide which hat a player wears going in unless the years are close, at which time the player's input will be considered. This year Pujols begins the first year of his 10 year personal services contract with the Angels. I wonder if their is a clause in his Angles contract that says he will go in as an Angel? I wonder if his additional time with the Angels will sway him to go in as an Angel. I wonder if he is not contractually obligated to go in as an Angel if he will go all Fred McGriff on us and go in without a logo on the hat of his HOF statue/bust. And, of course, I wonder if he will go in as a Cardinal.
2. I am so excited to see how this year in the minors plays out. We have a lot of guys who will be subject to the Rule 5 this coming December and it would be nice if they all break out this year and make it difficult on the Guardians' deep thinkers when they have to make their 40 man this November. Here are some of the guys who will be Rule 5 eligible this winter:
Second Time Eligible
Peyton Battenfield
Alexfri Planez
Micah Pries
Gabriel Rodriguez
Jonathon Rodriguez
Trey Benton
Ethan Hankins
Nick Mikolajchak
Lenny Torres
David Fry
Junior Sanquintin
First Time Eligible
Daniel Espino
Mason Hickman
Josh Wolf
Logan Allen
Joe Naranjo
Jose Pastrano
Wuilfredo Antunez
Jorge Burgos
Luis Durango
I can see some of these guys breaking out this year, making decisions difficult as, unless we have some big trades, there won't be room for any more than 2 (at the least) to 4 (at the most) of them this winter.
I have highlighted the guys who I think are, at present, locks this winter. Some of the other guys, like Battenfield, Pries, Fry and Hickman may force the Guardians hand by being called up during the season. Guys like Gabriel Rodriguez and Jonathon Rodriguez are on the cusp of breaking out, Trey Benton was throwing close to triple digits this winter and guys like Hankins, Torres and Wolf are young hurlers coming off of injury-plagued pasts. Plus there always seems to be 1-2 guys who come out of nowhere to put up ridiculous numbers (see Jhonkeny Noel, for example) and put themselves in contention for a 40-man roster spot. Maybe it is Alexfri Planez's year to put all that potential together and become one of our top 10 prospects. He certainly has loud tools.
3. Injuries happen over the winter. I read in a piece that said that Andrew Misiaszek was going to be out for a while, essentially removing the only wildcard bullpen lefty who might have surprised and made the team out of spring training or could act as a backup if Hentges got hurt or was ineffective. Are there more guys who are reporting to ST with injuries that occurred over the winter or that lingered from last year?
4. Had to smile at the lineup for our first ST game. Now it starts. Arias, Brennan, Freeman, Rocchio, and Fry. I could see all of these guys helping us to various degrees this year and in the future. Zunino batting 5th. I think they really have high hopes for this guy as an offensive force this season. Quantrill followed by Herrin. Let's hope the pitching development people have worked their magic with Herrin and he can open the season as an effective member of our bullpen and we just don't have to throw a guy onto our opening day roster (like Pilkington) just because he is left-handed.
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