Miami Sports Insider

NO. NAME POS
49 Winston Abreu RP
65 Craig Albernaz C
61 Nevin Ashley C
16 Willy Aybar 1B
50 Grant Balfour RP
8 Jason Bartlett SS
73 Joe Bateman RP
64 Tim Beckham SS
47 Jeff Bennett RP
-- Joaquin Benoit SP
15 Reid Brignac SS
5 Pat Burrell LF
69 Angel Chavez SS
36 Randy Choate RP
67 Alvin Colina C
31 Lance Cormier RP
13 Carl Crawford LF
74 Jason Cromer RP
40 Wade Davis SP
72 Richard de los Santos RP
26 Joe Dillon 3B
54 Mike Ekstrom RP
63 J.J. Furmaniak SS
22 Matt Garza SP
58 Jeremy Hellickson SP
52 Carlos Hernandez SP
39 J.P. Howell RP
28 John Jaso C
27 Desmond Jennings LF
24 Dan Johnson 1B
9 Elliot Johnson SS
20 Matt Joyce LF
19 Gabe Kapler RF
41 Jose Lobaton C
3 Evan Longoria 3B
57 Jake McGee SP
30 Dioner Navarro C
34 Jeff Niemann SP
23 Carlos Pena 1B
38 Fernando Perez CF
76 Heath Phillips SP
14 David Price SP
32 Chris Richard 1B
1 Sean Rodriguez 2B
11 Justin Ruggiano LF
43 Ryan Shealy 1B
33 James Shields SP
10 Kelly Shoppach C Read more

NO. NAME POS
31 Burke Badenhop RP
21 John Baker C
30 Brian Barden 3B
1 Emilio Bonifacio 3B
66 Jay Buente RP
3 Jorge Cantu 1B
25 Brett Carroll RF
50 Jose Ceda SP
8 Chris Coghlan LF
65 Scott Cousins CF
70 Brad Davis C
78 Matt Dominguez 3B
68 Kris Harvey RP
9 Brett Hayes C
18 Wes Helms 3B
32 Clay Hensley SP
76 Dan Jennings RP
40 Jorge Jimenez 3B
55 Josh Johnson SP
54 Hunter Jones RP
13 Mike Lamb 3B
52 Chris Leroux RP
7 Hector Luna SS
28 Mike MacDougal RP
51 Cristhian Martinez RP
71 Ozzie Martinez SS
24 Cameron Maybin CF
73 Seth McClung RP
53 Dan Meyer RP
23 Andrew Miller SP
27 Jai Miller CF
81 Logan Morrison 1B
22 Donnie Murphy SS
47 Ricky Nolasco SP
46 Leo Nunez RP
72 Kasey Olenberger SP
29 Ronny Paulino C
48 Hayden Penn SP
79 Bryan Petersen RF
75 Matt Peterson RP
37 Renyel Pinto RP
2 Hanley Ramirez SS
16 Danny Richar 2B
12 Cody Ross CF
34 Vinny Rottino C
44 Brian Sanches RP
19 Anibal Sanchez SP
14 Gaby Sanchez 1B
58 Chris Schroder RP Read more

=== All You Need Is Glove ===

On our pregame, Matty shot back:

I don’t like dogmatic comments like “It’s physically impossible for a defense to save a run a game compared to an average MLB defense.”

I don’t buy that for a second, Doc. Read more

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, as always, has a great-feel-for-the-game article up this morning.  He points out that with the Mariners and Rays struggling, and on teetering on the brinks of positive and negative momentum, it would be a great time for an ace-like performance out of your Opening Day starter.

Felix Hernandez wants to be viewed as a dominating ace.  Baker is right on track in putting the responsibility on him to take over a game in this particular situation.  The same applies to James Shields, one of my favorite pitchers.

.

=== The Shield, Dept. Read more

With Matt Lindstrom's tentative hold on the closer role, this Verducci article on a Boston bullpen experiment has some lessons-learned for the Marlins...

“By the end of spring training we will have one [closer] and we will have guys in defined roles,” Boston GM Theo Epstein says. “And by the end of the year, who knows who the closer might be? It might be some kid who gets put in that role on the second day of the season, like [Jon] Papelbon last year, or somebody from outside the organization, or somebody who started the year in Double A. We don’t know.”

[snip]

What Boston won’t do is repeat the mistake it made to open the 2003 season, when it thought a bullpen could be run with interchangeable parts. Read more

Jason Churchill, a Seattle 'net writer with strong contacts inside baseball, reports that the Marlins came close to a deal for Jose Lopez. He quotes a Marlins scout thusly:

"The deal was never close," he said, "because we wanted one particular name and their best offer came in without that name. They didn't budge on that name, and we couldn't see moving forward unless we got what we felt was the right deal for us."

Jason continues where the scout leaves off:

That name was Adam Moore, the M's top catching prospect, who ranks in the middle of Prospect Insider's Top 10 in the upcoming handbook. Read more