[illeracula]

News Around the League from March:
With spring training days away the Dover Generals went out and got some bench depth, with Morris Sinclair. The Generals and Sinclair agreed to a 1 year deal worth $4,840,000. Morris is 38 and in the twilight of his career. Last season he hit .238-23-79 for the Salisbury Ports.

Will Wilson, the 34 year old ex-closer for the Baltimore Barons, lost his closer slot to hot-shot John Heath, was destine to show the Barons that he still has what it takes. He showed up to came 30 pounds lighter, and has gained 2-3 MPH on his heater. Wilson struggled with a 4.50 ERA last season, a year after saving 45 games with a 2.78 ERA. Heath and Wilson give the Barons one of the best 8-9 inning combo relivers around.

Let the Games Begin!!!

Norbert Meyer an OF for the Lewes Braves will miss 4-5 months with a broken bone in his elbow. Not a good way to start spring training for the 28-year old. Norbert has spent parts of the past 3 years with teh Braves. The signs that injuries won't effect the Braves this year aren't looking good.

Cristian Rodriquez will miss the first 5 months of the season with a torn rotator cuff. The Virginia Beach lefty pitched in 57 games out of the pen last year.

Looking for some veteran leadership the Chesapeake Blue Crabs re-signed David Armstrong to a 1-year deal. Armstrong played with the Blue Crabs the past 2 years. Last season the 35 year old hit .242-5-25 in 227 AB's.

The following day the Blue Crabs announced the signing of free-agent 2B Jose Chavez. Chavez has played his whole career in Dover, and has a gold-glove and an all-star selection to his name. Chavez agreed to come to Chesapeake for 1-yr worth $3,120,000.

Luis DeLeon the young star of the Ocean City Tourists will miss the season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. DeLeon started 31 games for the Tourists last season going 13-9 with a 2.23 ERA, his first year as a starter, after 2 pitching out of the pen for two seasons.

Howard Johns, is 37-years old, and a shadow of his former self. Once a gold-glove (2) and All-star (3) second baseman Johns is now regulated to back-up duty. The Milton Brewers opened up their pockets to bring the veteran to thier team, dishing out a 2-year deal worth over 9 million, with the second year a vesting option requiring 550 PA's.. Johns played in only 69 games last season for the Chesapeake Blue Crabs, the only team he has ever known in this 7 years, but he did hit .297-8-37. In 2015 Johns had his best season hitting .281-20-96.

Norfolk Cavaliers Update:
Battle for Catcher:
John O"Donegan is hitting .211, collecting 4 hits in 19 AB's. John Phillips is 0-19 with 6 K's. Not sure if its the pressure getting to Phillips or the fact that we had him playing some 3B. I have shifted them around for the 2nd Half and O'D will get some games at 3B and Philips will catch.

The starter: Ed Duke .308-0-3 (26 AB's)

Battle for 1B Back-up:
Most of the players on this team play 1B, so keeping around both Yann Gosselin and Francisco Gallegos isn't a necessity. Yann has showed off his power hitting 3 HR's in 25 AB's, collecting a total of 6 hits for a .240 avg. Gallegos on the other hand is hitting .263, with 5 hits in 19 AB's. This battle might come down to the final days.

The starter: Francisco Reyes .350-0-2 (20 AB's)

2B/3B/SS Backup:
With the starters pretty much named, the battle is really for back-up. Wassink is off to a hot start, hitting .391-1-7 in 23 AB's, looking like he is healthy from his season ending injury last year. Cody Johnson is hitting .222-0-1 in 18 AB's. There have always been questions regarding Cody's bat its his glove we like better. Mario Reyes, the guy who isn't supposed to make the team, is hitting 5-11 with 4 RBI's.

The starters:
Joe Chambers: .286-1-3 (21 AB's)
Augusto Rodriguez .100-0-0 (20 AB's)
Mauro Candelaria .280-0-2 (25 AB's)

Outfield Depth:
Bryan O'Neil is making the most of the spring hitting.316-0-0 during 9 games. Ramon Granandos who believes he should be starting (and has for 3 years) is not hitting the ball well going 3-26 (.115), and Javier Janchez is off to a decent start hitting a HR and driving in 7. The next 2 weeks will be imporatnt as we look for Granandos to start to hit the ball, with a team loaded with lefties he would be the lone "bench" outfielder that swings from the right-hand side.

The starters:
Kent Davis: .400-0-3 (10 hits)
Jeff Lewis: .429-0-5 (21 AB's)
Sergio Galvez: .400-1-4 (15 AB's)

DH
I forgot to talk about the DH, but King Brock is penciled in to hold down that slot. He also plays 1B, but not very well. He has pure power and likes to drive in runs. This spring he is off to a red-hot start hitting .385-4-13 in 26 AB's. He is the starter and the back up 1B will end up being his sub if needed.

Pitching has been a mess. The starters are doing well and it looks like our "5" will be who was predicted:
Miguel Contereras, Matt Hollis, Arturo Ramirez, Takayuki Iemochi and Vaughan Griffith. Paul Brown threw well in his lone start and Armando Lopez will be starting this week.

I had high hopes for Ivan Pineda, but he has struggled this year, hopefully he will get some more work and be ready to go, otherwise he will be shipped off. In 3.1 innings he has given up 5 hits. I am hoping to get him some more work this week.

I have 2 more games till we only have 10 games left, and at that point I will begin making my spring cuts... More to come regarding the pitching, since it seems fairly complicated with 20 players in camp.