Mets @ Braves Weekend Preview & Other Stuff

Before I preview this weekend's series as most of you already know Fox bought Turner South from Time Warner. And unfortunately the Braves broadcasters will be replaced with the guys from FSN; Bob Rathbun and Jeff Torborg. What happens to Chip/Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Don Sutton, and Joe Simpson? They will continue to cover games over on TBS and the Braves Radio Network. This news really isn't suprising since Skip and the gang are not on Fox payroll but it is a change of what the future holds for the organization.

This weekend begins Round 2 against the Mets. The Mets are 14-7 while the Braves are tied for 2nd with the Phillies at 9-12. My question for this series shall be: Will the bats come alive? The Mets were the last team to see any productive hitting from the Braves. The probables for the weekend are as follows:

Fri: Pedro (4-0) 3.04 vs. Smoltz (1-1) 4.15

Sat: Glavine (2-2) 2.78 vs. Thomson (0-0) 1.31

Sun: Trachsel (2-1) 3.13 vs. Davies (1-2) 4.56

I predict the Braves will win the series 2/3. Around the East, the Phillies visit Pittsburgh, The Marlins host the Rockies, and the Nationals are in St. Louis.

**A Weekend Poll has been added**

Delmon Young: King DumbAss

Young should be suspended the remainder of the season. Man, that was uncalled for. Sure, we all get pissed at the umps for various reasons, but don't attempt to take him out by throwing your bat at the guy. I lost total respect for Young. This is worse than the Alomar spitting incident.

Swept by Brewers

The hitting disease continued today in the lineup. This time it was met with a bad combination of relief pitching. Sosa pitched well for 4 innings, but he had the classic meltdown while the pen gave up it's share of walk's and hits. I'm thankful there's an off day tommorrow. I feel completely different from what I felt last week this time last week. This team can't continue to lose to mediocre teams. Starting May 3rd the Braves will play two solid weeks of divisional games. On the road at Philly, NY, and Florida, while later Washington and Florida visit Atlanta. I consider that patch of games pretty big for Atlanta and by no means can the Braves go in there and play like there playing right now. We'll be 9-32 when it's said and done.

My evaluation of the first 21 games is that I wouldn't have expected the team to be at (9-12). 12-9 would have been my pick, a slow start by staying just ahead of .500. Anyway I've had my rant. I'll post a preview of the weekend series Friday.

Rumor Mill: Francoeur To Richmond?

The rumors are a buzzing about the state of Jeff Francoeur. Will he be sent down to Triple AAA to work on hitting? It's getting all too common for this guy to swing and miss at everything. AJC reporter David O'Brien proposes that the Braves will have to address this issue soon enough.

Sending him down will not reflect that Atlanta has gave up on the guy. He still has minor league options left, why not use them while you can. I personally don't think it's a big deal if he is sent to Richmond. If Francoeur is sent down, who will take his place? By default, Brian Jordan and Matt Diaz could both see action in RF. Kelly Johnson is still banged up and not ready for a return. I can see a scenario where Jordan/Diaz split time in right while Jurries is brought up to fill the roster spot. Jurries would play 1B for a slumping Adam LaRoche.

Stay Tuned, this topic will see more light until Francoeur shakes the cobwebs.

Slumping Braves

The Braves are in a funk. Another loss to the Brew Crew for a second straight night. Just like the Nationals series spotty hitting and run support have hurt the team. Hudson cruised along last night until he hit a pothole in the sixth. Chipper Jones did return from the DL and went yard in his second at bat. Edgar Renteria is expected to return to the lineup Friday against the Mets. Today Atlanta will wrapup this series with a day game that will feature Jorge Sosa and Ben Sheets squaring off. Sosa is in much need of a good outing while Sheets also craves a solid start. After today, Atlanta flies back home and will have the day off tommorrow before a 5 game homestand with the Mets and Rockies. Today's game is at 1:05ET on TBS.

**New poll has been added**

Where's Eddie Perez?

If you didn't know already Eddie Perez is still with the Atlanta Braves. He's at Double A Mississippi. The Braves are using him as a mentor for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. I wasn't even sure if he was playing, and come to find out he has been. Click here to check out his stats for the season. Eddie still has some pop in the bat. Injuries throughout the depth chart would probably be the only way Eddie would be back with the big league club. I think it's great what he's doing for the club. Most people in the same situation would probably complain and leave, but Eddie displays strong loyalty to the team.

Split Series and Rain...

Summary: That sums up this weekend's series against our divisional rival Nationals. Friday night Alfonso Soriano went vintage with 3 HR's. The Braves weren't able to do anything until the 8th against Nat's ace John Patterson but it was too late in the game. Saturday's game was a wash and has been rescheduled for Sept. 18th? Sunday night seemed similar to Friday's game as the Braves bats were still left at Shea Stadium. Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur went hitless for a second night but Wilson Betemit bailed the team out with a 3 run HR in the 8th to take the lead. Reitsma came in the 8th and left in the 9th cause of trouble and was replaced by Remlinger who got the save in the end.

This series was close to becoming a sweep by the Nationals. Atlanta offensively looked pretty poor. My expectations were high for the Braves coming into the series but I was left a little let down, maybe it had something to do with the rain. Atlanta will finish up a 3 game series against the Milwaukee Brewers beginning tonight.

Mon: Kyle Davies (1-1) 4.82 vs. Chris Capuano (2-2) 3.46

Tues: Tim Hudson (1-1) 6.08 vs. Tomo Ohka (1-1) 4.09

Wed: Jorge Sosa (0-3) 10.45 vs. Ben Sheets (0-2) 4.50

I like this series. I would like to see Kolb in one of these games so we can have a little payback. The Brewers started out 5-0, but of late have lost 5 of their last 7 games.

Prospect Watch: Chris Waters

Chris Waters is another of the seeming never ending pitching prospects throughout the Braves organization. Waters has started this season at double AA Mississippi. He may see some time at Richmond later this year. Waters is 25 years old and has spent his career bouncing between single A and double AA while shoulder problems have constrained him from development. This is the year for Waters to outshine as another threat in the Braves organization. So far at Mississippi, Waters has started 3 games and has posted good stats in the young year.

3G 1-0 1.59ERA 17IP 14H 5R 8BB 14K

Weekend Series: Atlanta @ Washington.....Plus Injury Updates

Tonight will begin the weekend series against divisional foe Washington Nationals. This is a good opportuinity for the Braves to get a little winning streak going. After winning 2/3 against the Mets it seemed to have lifted the Braves up, how much of lift is yet to be determined.

The injuries continue to take a toll on the team. Marcus Giles suffered a sprained finger during the Mets series and will take some time off before determining whether a DL visit is needed. Martin Prado has been called up to fill the roster spot. Chipper Jones plans to be off the disabled list and back with the team for the back half of the Brewers series early next week. Edgar Renteria might be ready to return in a few days. All in all the Braves are really working with a skeleton crew in the IF.

The probables for the weekend are:

Fri: Smoltz (1-1) vs. Patterson (1-0)

Sat: Thomson(0-0) vs. Ramon Ortiz (0-2)

Sun: Davies (1-1) vs. Armas (1-2)

If the hitting can keep up it's mean streak I don't see any reason why Atlanta can't sweep this series. Smoltz and Davies picked up complete games during their last outings and John Thomson has pitched the best over his last two starts.

The rest of the NL East:
Mets @ Padres
Bannister/Williams, Pedro/Chris Young, Zambrano/Hensley

Marlins @ Phillies
Olsen/Leiber, Mitre/Meyers, Moehler/Lidle

Game Log: 4/19 Braves @ Mets

This will be a first. I'm going to summarize today's game as it is being played. Feel free to comment or follow along as I update this post during the game.

1st inning: Braves go down 1-2-3, atleast we made contact. Huddy with a great 1st. Striking out Reyes followed by a couple of groundouts from Woodward and Delgado.

2nd inning: A.J. leads off, grounds out. Frenchie singles to LF. Jordan grounds in fielder's choice getting Jeff out at second and Pratt K's looking. Huddy w/ 2K's, one to Wright and the other to Nady. Hudson seems to have brought his A+ game this afternoon. Valentin flies out to end the inning.

3rd inning: Pena will be lucky to get hit while up with the club. Anyone remember Esix Snead? Speed and defense, no hitting ability. Huddy flies out, and Orr strikes out. Hudson K's Castro while Chavez and Glavine ground out. This game is moving fast.

4th inning: More contact outs and Andruw struck out. 1-2-3 go the Muts.

5th inning: Francouer singles...again. Jordan flies out..I would send Francoeur on a steal. Well..thanks for listening Bobby, but Francoeur was thrown out. Pratt grounds out to end the top half. Hudson continues an awesome outing, Wright and Valentin grounds out while Nady K's.

6th inning: Pena and Hudson ground out while Orr K's for the second time. Damnit, Castro singled to get the first hit of the game for the Mets. Jordan on a terrible throwing error causes Chavez to reach first and Castro gains second. Get ready, Glavine is going to bunt. Good job, Diaz. Reyes flies out to LF, and Diaz gets Castro out at the plate to end the inning. Although a hit is allowed, no runs crossed home.

7th inning: Betemit flies out to 1B while Diaz flies out to CF. Andruw Jones homers to give the lead to Atlanta! 5 HR's in 4 Games. That's the Andruw Jones we know. A.J. picking up where he left off last year. Francoeur reaches 1st on a Wright throwing error. Jordan singles and Jeff reaches third. Pratt K's. Woodward grounds out and Delgado walks. Wright is HBP and nady grounds into double play, inning over.

8th inning: Wright w/another throwing error. Pena reaches first. Huddy will remain in the game to hit. Hudson grounds out, Pena moves to 2B. Orr groudns out, but Pena moves to third. Betemit reaches first on another Wright throwing error. Has Wright blown out his arm? Pena scores for insurance. Diaz flies to CF to end the Braves half. Valentin flies out, Castro K's, and Chavez grounds out. Onto the 9th..

9th inning: Heilman replaces Glavine. Andruw grounds out to third, Francoeur grounds out to second, LaRoche comes in to hit for Jordan and flies out. Julio Franco comes in to hit for Heilman and grounds to short. Reyes doubles to right and Woodward drives him in with a single. Delgado flies out for out # 2. Wright grounds into fielder's choice. Game Over! Braves win the game and take 2 out of 3 against the Mets. That should silent some of the Mets talk. This is great for Atlanta. The Braves are back to .500 8-8 and will have an off day tommorrow before starting a weekend series against the Washington Nationals.

Hudson goes the distance and pitches spectacular. Davies and Hudson go back2back for complete games. You can't ask for much more out of your starting pitching.

Rumbling Notes

Wes Obermueller who was acquired in the Dan Kolb trade from the Brewers has been released by the Braves and will be sent to Japan's Orix Buffaloes.

Edgar Renteria will take the week off as I suspected earlier to recover from his rib cage injury.

Chipper Jones is inline for a return off the DL next week.

Last night, the Braves had chances to take the lead but couldn't cut the mustard. I'm already tired of the Mets and their "superstar" players. That's all I hear about. Their lineup vs. our division titles, back and forth. The bad thing is the more the Mets win the more people write them in as a divisional winner. Last time I checked it was April. Pedro's 200th win last night is quite an accomplishment but unfortunately it came at the expense of the Braves. The Mets/Braves will play 18 times this year. 1 down 17 to go. The second game of this series is tonight as Kyle Davies and Victor Zambrano lock horns. Davies is due for a good quality start while Zambrano hasn't done anything since coming to NY. It's bad when your shopped around and you can't get any bites. Tommorrow's rubber match is setup for a classic in the making: Hudson vs. Glavine.

1998 NL Cy Young Race: Glavine & Hoffman

I'm bored so I decided to check out previous records for MVP and Cy Young awards. Does anybody know how the point system works to determine the winner? In '98 Glavine had 11 first place votes while Trevor Hoffman had 13 first place votes. Finishing with 99 and 88 points respectively. Here are the stats for both players.

W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
Glavine: 20-6 229 2.47 1.20 157 0

Hoffman: 4-2 73 1.48 0.85 86 53

I'm not trying to take the award away from Glavine, but I'm just wondering what's factored in determining a winner.

Braves take 2/3 over Padres

Positive: Atlanta won their first series since their opening series against L.A., Smoltz pitched the first complete game by a starter this year, Thomson had another strong outing, Francoeur knocked a GW HR while continuing to get on base.

Negative: Bullpen blunders caused this series from becoming a sweep. Edgar Renteria strains his rib cage and will take most of the week off.

What's Next: A 9 game road trip to be exact. Starting tonight against the N.Y. Mets. The Mets will try everything in their power to take this series. Pedro vs. Jorge Sosa will be the probables for the first of three games.

The AJC is reporting that the Braves could have new ownership by July. Current bidders are Arthur Blank, Lew Dickey, Jr. Family, Liberty Media, and Ron Terwilliger. New ownership has been talked about since last November when Time Warner stated they were entertaining offers.

Wilson Betemit: What's Happens Next?

Is a trade inevitable? Betemit has proven outright he is an everyday player. Most people including myself naturally assumed he would take over the SS position after Furcal left, right? Wrong. We trade our #1 prospect for an established SS coming off a not-so-hot season. Betemit is now left w/out a position and it's widely assumed he'll be traded for a RP/Closer, right? Nope, not yet; although I'm sure J.S. is listening to offers at the present time.

I don't know what will happen to him but it's safe to say you can't keep good talent riding the bench all year long. I like Betemit and we most defintely need him during times like these (Chipper on DL). This is the way I picture the whole scenario: Chipper is at third, blocks Marte who needs some MLB uptime, so we deal him. Chipper remains at third and now Renteria at SS, Betemit's ready, but we'll eventually deal him as long if Chipper or Edgar doesn't come down with some season ending injury. So, Betemit is just a Marte who gets more playing time. Meaning that there both ready to play but can't due to positions already filled. Atlanta sends them off and the next prospects move up and wait their turn. Call it bad timing if you want. I have nothing against Chipper Jones, the face of the organization or Renteria who is a good addition to the team, but it's hard to just sit and watch this happen.

**New poll added, Vote if you like.

Boyer Likely Done for Season

Blaine Boyer will have arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder sometime next week and will likely miss the remainder of the 2006 season. Hopefully Boyer's surgery will be successfull so he'll be on track for a return in 2007. Blaine now joins Mike Hampton and possibly John Foster as other Braves out for the year.

Close but no Cigar

Another rocky start, nothing new of late for Braves starting pitching. Davies kept everything up in the zone and the Phillies took advantage of some unintentional BP. The Braves rallied back as Francoeur began to break his slump taking 2 out of the park. Overall I thought Davies pitched really well excluding the forty pitch 1st inning. I liked how he came back and pitched stronger as the game continued. San Diego comes to town for the weekend. Here are the pitching probables:

Fri: Hudson(0-1) vs. ho Park(0-0)

Sat: Smoltz(0-1) vs. Peavy(1-1)

Sun: Thomson(0-0) vs. Williams(1-0)

I believe Thomson and Williams could pass as brothers. Maybe it's the red hair or something. The Padres have started off slow just like the Braves and this series could being some upside to either team. Monday Atlanta hits the road for 9 games starting out against their detested rival N.Y. Mets. As of today Jorge Sosa and Pedro will square off. That's doesn't look good on paper.

4/12 Game Cap: Braves 5 Phillies 7

More crappy starting pitching. This time from 2005's comeback kid Jorge Sosa. Is it me or has Sosa put on some pounds? He continued his struggles going 4 innings, on 4H, 4R, 3BB, with only 2K's; this included a walk to P Cory Lidle and a screwup at 1B on a Rollins hit leading to more runs. Later, Aaron Rowand provided more run support with a HR off of a Chuck James changeup.

For Atlanta, Wilson Betemit lead the way smacking 3 doubles. This guy gets better and better with every game. McCann continued his productivity going yard once for a 2/4 2RBI night. It wasn't that bad of an offensive night and possibly on most nights it could be enough to give us the win, but last night pitching, defensive mishaps, and Philly bats were against us.

Tonight it's Gavin Floyd vs. Kyle Davies. Two young stars of the future for both clubs. Floyd struggled mightily in his debut against L.A. while Davies pitched well in his debut, excluding the one inning meltdown against S.F.

Tony Pena, Jr.

Tony Pena Jr. has been called up from the minors to fill the vacant roster spot. Betemit will continue to start at 3rd while Pena will provide bench duties. Pena may see a start or two during his time up. He's a better fielder than hitter.

Pena's 2006 Triple A Statline:

5G 4H/14AB .286/.375/.357

Chippa to DL & Other Rumblings

Instead of the couple days off, Chipper Jones headed to the 15 day DL yesterday. Better safe than sorry. Amongst the other happenings, Joey Devine was sent back down to Triple A after 2 outings for Atlanta this year. Devine also seems to be suffering from a sore back. Peter Moylan the pickup from Team Austraila has been called up to fill the roster spot.

Last night was a good win for the team. Thomson pitched the best of any starter this year and the team was able to get hits when needed. Andruw hit another 3 run jack while Giles homered for the first time this season and Chris Reitsma came back to get the save after Sunday's breakdown. Today is an off day before play pick's up again Wed. It's Lidle vs. Sosa @ 7:35ET.

Leading off....Marcus Giles

Here's a stat for ya. So far, Giles has walked 11 times in just 7 games this season. Last year, Rafael Furcal walked only 16 times during April/May combined. Keep it going Marcus.

4/7-4/9: Braves/Giants Weekend Wrapup

Ugly. A 4 games series in San Fran and only coming away with 1 victory. It should have been 2 if you saw the game yesterday. Reitsma blew the ninth. I was grilling burgers heading into the bottom of the ninth and I came back, the game was over and Braves lost. "What the hell?" I found out Reets gave up a homer to Lance Neikro then gave up a couple of hits, a walk and a Wynn blooper as the Giants took the game. Atlanta went 3-4 during the seven game road trip. The games were oddly high scoring affairs, and we outscored L.A./S.F 53-48. Offensively that looks great. Pitching wise, very very bad. I'm still not worried. This team will turn it around. It's early and the season doesn't end in April. One person I am worried about is Chipper Jones. Chippa suffered a twisted knee and sprained ankle in the crummy field conditions in yesterday's game. He'll miss the game today and will be tested again Wed. Hopefully he'll be out for just a couple of games instead of a DL stint. Thankfully Atlanta still has Wilson Betemit.

Jeff Francouer: .069/.097/.069 2H/29AB -he has a case of Kelly Johnsonitis. Same as the pitching there's no reason to fear.

Tonight give us something to cheer about. The home opener at the Ted. Atlanta against divisional foe Philadelphia. John Thomson vs. Brett Myers via ESPN @ 7:05ET. Thomson will be making hist first start of the season. The Phillies come to town with a 1-5 record. This series should be close as both teams will be wanting to get back on the right track.

Braves News: Devine and Ray Called Up

Horacio Ramirez has been placed on the 15 day-DL. John Thomson will move into the rotation. Blaine Boyer has been sent down to Triple A, while P's Ken Ray and Joey Devine will fill the 2 available bullpen spots. Boyer hasn't pitched good at the start of the season and I'm glad the team is sending him down to work out the kinks. Ken Ray looked good in ST and hopefully will continue the success in the majors. I'm glad Devine is back in the pen. He's got plenty to prove.

This Year in Baseball.....

Here's a list of things I conjured up while thinking about this season. What do you think will be most exciting to watch this year in baseball?

1) Jimmy Rollins hitting streak.
2) Watching Barry Bonds chase Babe Ruth and Hammerin Hank.
3) Watching Barry Bonds being investigated for steroid usage.
4) Watching the Interleague games.
5) The Braves going after their 15th divisional pennant.
6) Watching Albert Pujols hit HR after HR while contending for the HR record.
7) The No-Hitters yet to come.
8) The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry.
9) The Milwaukee Brewers actually competing in the NL Central.
10) The Cubs Postseason Dreams.
11) The All-Star Game.
12) The HR Derby.
13) The Wild Card chase.
14) The World Series.
15) The Yankees not making the playoffs.

So, what do you think? Comments are welcome. Also does anyone know why Ken Griffey Jr. is wearing number 3 this season?

4/5 Mini Recap: Braves 9 Dodgers 8

Positive: What a wild series. Atlanta comes back from behind to get the win and end the series in L.A. Wilson Betemit homered in the third to lead a 5 run rally and then Ryan Langerhans RBI double in the eighth gave the Braves the lead and the game. Reets closed it out in the ninth.

Negative: As you probably saw or heard already Horacio Ramirez injured his left hamstring and will be placed on the 15 day DL. Thomson will once again enter the rotation.

What Now: Atlanta will begin a 4 game series against the Giants starting with an afternoon game at 4:35ET. Jorge Sosa and Noah Lowry will be your pitchers.

4/4 Recap: Braves 4 Dodgers 5

Negative: Ugh! Rain in Cali? Say it ain't so. It washed the Giants/Padres game and stopped this game temporarily. "Blame it on the Rain" says Milli Vanilli and John Smoltz as he stated having trouble gripping the ball during the rainshower. Regardless the Braves were down early and couldn't bounce back. J.D. Drew homered in the first leading a 4 run inning for the Dodgers. Penny was strong going 5 innings, on 5H's, 1R, and 8K's. Smoltz matched the 5 innings but gave up 9H's, 5R, and only 3K's. Jeff Francouer is still hitless this season.

Positive: McCann got the Braves on the board in the second inning scoring the only run Atlanta would get off of Brad Penny. No need to fear, Smoltz has gone 0-3 with a 14.89 ERA over his past 3 opening starts. He'll rack up 15K's against the Giants this weekend. Chuck James appeared in relief going 2 innings with 2K's but offset with 2BB's. Lance Cormier pitched the 8th allowing 1 hit and 1 walk.
Offensively, Adam LaRoche hit another homerun in the eigth but struck out in his other 3 AB's. Replacing Francoeur, Matt Diaz got his first basehit of the season.

What now: Tonight Horacio Ramirez will face our old freind Odalis Perez tonight at 10:10 ET.

**New poll added if you would like to participate.

4/3 Recap: Braves 11 Dodgers 10

Positive: The offense looked great. I've questioned how this offense will start out. Marcus Giles looked comfortable at leadoff and did the job. LaRoche came through in a big way with a jack in the 1st.

Negative: Errors..again it's early in the year but it's better to work out the kinks before the season starts rolling, but it didn't cost us the win. Tim Hudson. Hudson was ate up in his first start. I'm not worried, remember last year when the Marlins hammered Smoltz? Smoltz came back, and so can Huddy. Bullpen, how many times will say this as a negative? Same story as last year but this time w/out Kolb. Boyer looked horrible, are we sure he was ready to come back? Boyer's ERA is 81.01 Reitsma's scary ninth brought back nightmares of '05.

What Now: Atlanta continues their 3 game series against the Dodgers tonight, as John Smoltz will face Brad Penny. The game is at 10:10ET, and that means I'll have to catch the box score tommorrow morning due to work constraints.

Opening Day: Braves at Dodgers Preview

Another season begins. It doesn't seem that long ago we were watching the White Sox win the series but today is another day; a holiday of sorts, it's Opening Day in the world of baseball. Yippie!! Atlanta begins there 2006 season out West against the L.A. Dodgers before heading to the Bay in San Fran. If you've been keeping up with Atlanta this offseason you know of all the changes the team has been through. The Dodgers have also made changes. L.A. looks a little more mature this year. In the offseason they scooped up veterans like Bill Mueller, Nomar, and Furcal to the infield while Kenny Lofton, and Jose Cruz Jr. are new faces in the OF. I like thier infield (Mueller, Furcal, Kent, Nomar), but their OF will be questionable. Already health concerns are circling around the dugout. Kenny Lofton will begin the year on the DL and J.D. Drew is not 100%. The combination of Jayson Werth, Ricky Ledee, and Cruz Jr. will have to step up for the Dodgers to compete. Their pitching staff greatly dissapointed last year and of course is expected to vastly improve this year. Lowe will remain the #1 ace for the Dodger Blue. Who's comes after Lowe? Odalis Perez, Brad Penny, Jae Seo, and Brett Tomko round out the rotation. I think Seo will be a good pickup from the Mets. The bullpen is hoping Eric Gagne turns back to old form. If not, the contingency plan lies with highly wanted Danys Baez. Baez was inquired by just about everyone that needed a closer this offseason including the Braves. He will begin as the setup man for Gagne. Yhency Brazoben is another name to remember. Brazoben stood strong last year as Gagne's season was cut short. I predict the Dodgers will finish second in the division behind the Padres, if injuries plague the team too often they'll drop to third.

Today's game will air on ESPN at 4:10ET. Hudson vs. Lowe.

Braves Finalize Roster

One thing to point out involving the roster. Joey Devine did not make it. The only logic behind this has to be more save opportuinities at Triple A?? That's all I can think of. James Jurries also did not make the team, but I expect a callup real soon. So here's what the pen will look like on opening day:

2006
Reitsma, Villareal, Thomson, Cormier, Boyer, Chuck James and Mike Remlinger.

compared to

2005
Benero, Kolb, Grybowski, Colon, Martin, Reitsma, and Sosa

This year's pen is still not perfect(who's is?) but surely looks brighter than last year's.

Tommorrow is one of baseball's most exciting days and I will preview the upcoming series against the Dodgers.