Trade Secrets
Did the Post give away the secrets today? Here's a picture from today's spring training preview showing the team's whiteboard. High-tech, guys!
It pretty clearly shows Sledge on the bench with Wilkerson, Guillen and Chavez in the outfield and Nick Johnson starting.
Other nuggets: JJ Davis is listed as the 5th outfielder and Ryan Church falls even below the God-awful Tyrell Godwin.
I don't think that's definitive, but that's probably a good idea at how the team's looking at things, at least as spring training starts.
I should note that the board also has Alejandro Machado on it, who was released on Sunday to make room for Alex Escobar. So, the pictures probably at least a few days old.
Attention Pulitzer Committee: My e-mail address is in the top right corner.
It pretty clearly shows Sledge on the bench with Wilkerson, Guillen and Chavez in the outfield and Nick Johnson starting.
Other nuggets: JJ Davis is listed as the 5th outfielder and Ryan Church falls even below the God-awful Tyrell Godwin.
I don't think that's definitive, but that's probably a good idea at how the team's looking at things, at least as spring training starts.
I should note that the board also has Alejandro Machado on it, who was released on Sunday to make room for Alex Escobar. So, the pictures probably at least a few days old.
Attention Pulitzer Committee: My e-mail address is in the top right corner.
posted by Chris Needham at
9:09 AM
16 Comments:
I don't get it. How can both Sledge and Johnson be on the bench. No cliche intended, but who's on first?
By
Basil, at 2/15/2005 9:17 AM
Because I was too busy editing the picture tags to edit the post.
Johnson's starting. I'll fix the post.
By
Chris Needham, at 2/15/2005 9:19 AM
Got it. Thanks. And now that I squint at the picture I can see that the Stickmeister is the first IFer listed.
BTW, I see an award in your future . . . what a find!
By
Basil, at 2/15/2005 9:22 AM
Did Sunny Kim make it through waivers? I'm confused.
By
Ryan, at 2/15/2005 10:49 AM
Well, we don't know when the chart is from--although the actual newsprint edition has a series of photographs that indicate that they're fairly recent.
He's listed in red, which I assume means he's not on the 40-man.
So, to answer your question in less than 400 words, apparently so.
By
Chris Needham, at 2/15/2005 11:13 AM
Yeah. And I assume the tiny notations indicate the guy's a lefty.
By
Basil, at 2/15/2005 11:24 AM
* means he's a lefty.
# indicates a switch hitter
* also means LHP
Those are pretty universal notations.
By
Chris Needham, at 2/15/2005 11:25 AM
Right. To be honest, I guess I can't see well enough to make out the # vs. the * on the picture posted.
By
Basil, at 2/15/2005 11:32 AM
If you get a copy of the Post, there's a clearer picture on the back page of the sports section.
By
Chris Needham, at 2/15/2005 11:42 AM
I was actually just doing some research into the Sunny Kim situation yesterday, in fact.
A scouring of the assorted transaction wires finds only one mention of him -- back when we DFAed him after the Osuna pickup -- and he's listed as an NRI on the official webpage roster.
So, yeah, it looks like we lucked out there.
By
Yuda, at 2/15/2005 12:37 PM
I'm surprised. This wasn't a Jack Cust situation, where the player was kind of a league-wide joke or of limited versatility to a team (or even let loose during the season).
By
Basil, at 2/15/2005 12:43 PM
Well, Kim wasn't DFAd until most teams had their 40-man rosters set.
It's not like we DFAd a young Pedro Martinez. Kim might be useful, but he's never going to be a star.
For another team to claim him, they'd have to release a player off their 40-man roster. And in all probability, that player isn't going to be appreciably worse than Kim.
I haven't done any sort of rigorous analysis of this, but I'd say that vast majority of DFAs go through, especially in the off-season. During the season seems to be a little different, only because there isn't as much free talent widely available.
By
Chris Needham, at 2/15/2005 1:27 PM
Machado wasn't released. He cleared waivers and is still in the organization, just like Kim.
Don't be surprised - if Sledge stay with the team - to see Wilkerson playing centerfield in April, with Chavez on the bench. Wilkerson has played more than 130 games there in his MLB career.
By
Marc Hulet, at 2/15/2005 3:43 PM
Yeah, you're right on the Machado thing. I just wasn't precise enough with my terms.
Yeah, the Wilkerson in center thing wouldn't be that suprising. I just don't know if he has the ability to play it full time without the team hemmoraging extra-base hits. But, hey, if the Yankees can get away with Bernie in center, the Nats'll be more than ok with Wilkerson out there.
By
Chris Needham, at 2/15/2005 3:47 PM
That's a good point about the 40 man rosters being set, but I thought there was at least one team in the Reds/Rangers class of teams with significant pitching holes that would take a chance on him. He's not really a scrub anymore, after pitching decent ball for 135 innings. Looks like I was wrong.
But I agree that Wilkerson strikes me as a guy who would be stretched to play CF for an entire season, not that I've rigorously studied that (or anything, for that matter).
By
Basil, at 2/15/2005 4:04 PM
RE: MachadoHe didn't clear wavers. They traded him for a PTBNL to Boston.
By
Chris Needham, at 2/15/2005 5:01 PM
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