Spring Training Games
In the first action of the year, Florida beat Pittsburgh and Oakland handed it to San Francisco in the battle of the scrubbos. In a tight game later in the evening San Diego beat Oakland 4-3 in 10 innings as former Athletic Jeremy Hermida scored the winning run. Knowing their roster spots were on the line, several key bench players put in stellar performances, while others cracked under the pressure to achieve. Teams have until Tuesday to establish their 25 man rosters, and until the 2nd week of the season to make final cuts to the 40 man roster.
Utility players exchanged
Spring training games also provided a chance for GMs to gather and exchange some of their useless parts, hoping to find treasure among the junk piles. Pittsburgh sent high-paid but less than mediocre Carlos Silva to Oakland in exchange for late round draft pick Phil Dumatrait, while Florida sent Brian Burres and Dave Roberts to San Diego for Jeremy Reed and Austin Kearns, who was the starting right fielder for last year's champions but who has since lost a job due to his real life struggles combined with Ichiro Suzuki's move to right field.
Schedule Announced
The JSBL Commissioner's Office released the 2009 schedule this week as well. While most teams expressed satisfaction, there has been rumblings from the fans of California and Seattle who don't have their home openers until Week 3. Fans are claiming there exists favoritism towards the San Diego Padres, whose owner and GM also have key roles in the Commissioners Office. San Diego does not play a road game until they make the trip up to Oakland in Week 3. The complete schedule is available below under League Resources.
News (Mar 19, 2009)
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News (Mar. 13, 2009)
CARDS ARE HERE!
As of 7:30 pm last night, they are here! They should be available for pickup anytime after Saturday afternoon. Just let Chris know when you are coming by to pick them up. Season starts in just under 2 Weeks. Opening day is March 26th! Stay tuned for updates on Spring Training games.
UPDATE:
Spring Training games will be held this Wednesday, March 18th, starting at around the normal time of 5:30pm, as teams look to make final decisions on some key players.
As of 7:30 pm last night, they are here! They should be available for pickup anytime after Saturday afternoon. Just let Chris know when you are coming by to pick them up. Season starts in just under 2 Weeks. Opening day is March 26th! Stay tuned for updates on Spring Training games.
UPDATE:
Spring Training games will be held this Wednesday, March 18th, starting at around the normal time of 5:30pm, as teams look to make final decisions on some key players.
News (Mar. 12, 2009)
California's first deal
The new ownership of the California franchise made their first transaction today shipping out flame-throwing reliever Grant Balfour and speedster Ryan Freel to Oakland in exchange for a trio of recently drafted youngsters, left-handed starting pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Greg Smith, and second base prospect Luis Valbuena. The young starters will significantly improve the California rotation with Smith stepping in this year, and Gonzalez hopefully living up to his high potential in the future. The Demon Squirrels also acquire a good second base prospect, a position that is in scarce supply in the Joe Shlabotnik baseball league. Oakland picks up a right-handed bat off the bench to support Nomar Garciaparra and one of the best right-handed middle-relievers, two key components management felt they were lacking as it attempts to make a championship run this year.
With two weeks before the start of the regular season teams are making their final preparations, rumors of possible moves have been flying, be sure to stay tuned.
The new ownership of the California franchise made their first transaction today shipping out flame-throwing reliever Grant Balfour and speedster Ryan Freel to Oakland in exchange for a trio of recently drafted youngsters, left-handed starting pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Greg Smith, and second base prospect Luis Valbuena. The young starters will significantly improve the California rotation with Smith stepping in this year, and Gonzalez hopefully living up to his high potential in the future. The Demon Squirrels also acquire a good second base prospect, a position that is in scarce supply in the Joe Shlabotnik baseball league. Oakland picks up a right-handed bat off the bench to support Nomar Garciaparra and one of the best right-handed middle-relievers, two key components management felt they were lacking as it attempts to make a championship run this year.
With two weeks before the start of the regular season teams are making their final preparations, rumors of possible moves have been flying, be sure to stay tuned.
Draft and Other News (Mar 10, 2009)
Seattle Ships off Rickie Weeks
Just moments before the draft, Seattle continued its busy off season by shipping off second baseman Rickie Weeks to the Florida Fishnets in exchange for Coco Crisp and a 5th Round Pick. The move betters both teams by giving Florida a solid everyday second baseman which it has not had in recent years, while giving Seattle the defense in centerfield to replace the aging Johnny Damon who could no longer catch up to some of the tougher catches in Center. Seattle also freed up the backlog of second basement it had after acquiring Howie Kendrick and Orlando Hudson in separate deals earlier this offseason.
Draft
With the first pick in the 2009 Rookie and Free Agent Draft, Pittsburgh chose outfielder Jay Bruce. With Florida's second base position filled with its recent acquisition, Florida chose pitcher Johnny Cueto. Oakland, having swapped first round picks as part of the Vladimir Guerrero trade earlier this off-season, picked in Seattle's spot, picking Cuban 2B/SS Alexei Ramirez. For full coverage of the 2009 Draft you can click here
Pittsburgh Oakland swap utility players
Immediately after the draft, Oakland, having acquired 3 defensively capable utility outfielders during the draft in Chris Dickerson, Felix Pie, and Aaron Cunningham, sent last year's backup outfielder Darin Erstad to Pittsburgh in exchange for hard throwing Mexican lefty Jorge de la Rosa. Erstad's ability to play well defensively both in the outfield and at first base will help Pittsburgh in late innings with a defensive replacement for the lumbering Miguel Cabrera, while Jorge de la Rosa looks to add innings to the Oakland bullpen and hopefully contribute in the future.
Fully updated rosters are available below
Just moments before the draft, Seattle continued its busy off season by shipping off second baseman Rickie Weeks to the Florida Fishnets in exchange for Coco Crisp and a 5th Round Pick. The move betters both teams by giving Florida a solid everyday second baseman which it has not had in recent years, while giving Seattle the defense in centerfield to replace the aging Johnny Damon who could no longer catch up to some of the tougher catches in Center. Seattle also freed up the backlog of second basement it had after acquiring Howie Kendrick and Orlando Hudson in separate deals earlier this offseason.
Draft
With the first pick in the 2009 Rookie and Free Agent Draft, Pittsburgh chose outfielder Jay Bruce. With Florida's second base position filled with its recent acquisition, Florida chose pitcher Johnny Cueto. Oakland, having swapped first round picks as part of the Vladimir Guerrero trade earlier this off-season, picked in Seattle's spot, picking Cuban 2B/SS Alexei Ramirez. For full coverage of the 2009 Draft you can click here
Pittsburgh Oakland swap utility players
Immediately after the draft, Oakland, having acquired 3 defensively capable utility outfielders during the draft in Chris Dickerson, Felix Pie, and Aaron Cunningham, sent last year's backup outfielder Darin Erstad to Pittsburgh in exchange for hard throwing Mexican lefty Jorge de la Rosa. Erstad's ability to play well defensively both in the outfield and at first base will help Pittsburgh in late innings with a defensive replacement for the lumbering Miguel Cabrera, while Jorge de la Rosa looks to add innings to the Oakland bullpen and hopefully contribute in the future.
Fully updated rosters are available below
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