The Bulls were rained out in Gwinnett last night and came home to Durham for today, a day off. So, no game tonight either.
Baseball withdrawal can get really ugly. Good luck.
Then they’re off for a four-game set in Louisville that starts Thursday evening.
The roster is something of a mess, but I’ll try to sort it out, in hopes that if I make a mistake someone will jump in and correct me.
Pitchers:
The Bulls usually carry 12 pitchers. We’ve got 11 filled at the moment. Five starters: Hellickson, Phillips, Rodriguez, De Los Santos, and Hernandez. Six relievers: Baker, Thayer, Bateman, Abreu, Swindle, and Ekstrom. We have two more pitchers on the disabled list, Cromer and Vasquez. Cromer just went on the list. No word on when either might be back. No word if anyone will be showing up to fill position currently vacant. Maybe after Montgomery finishes the first half of their season.
Position players:
The Bulls usually carry 12 position players (including two catchers). Ryan Shealy had an “opt-out clause in his contract effective 15 June, so he’s gone. J.J. Furmaniak got a couple of days family time off. Elliot Johnson went on the disabled list. But Joe Dillon is back, infielder Omar Luna has been added to roster, and Justin Ruggiano will be back from his bench-sitting assignment to Tampa Bay. So we may have 12 healthy position players — Lobaton, Colina, Luna, Furmaniak (if he makes it to Louisville), D. Johnson, Dillon, Richard, Chavez, Perez, Joyce, Jennings, and Ruggiano.
Even without Elliot Johnson, that remains a formidable lineup of pitchers and hitters.
Regarding the loss of Shealy: Both Joe Dillon and Dan Johnson can handle first base on Chris Richard’s days off. The Rays also have a couple of first basemen down in the farm system. Guess we’ll see if Ryan shows up in minor or major league ball somewhere else.
Two sources are confirming that Jon Weber will be playing with the Mud Hens soon: The Toledo Blade and Indy Baseball Chatter. So guess that it’s going to happen.
Triple-All All-Star Game
Time to vote. Fan votes count for one-third of the All-Star balloting. Last year the results of fan voting was not made available, but maybe this year we’ll get a chance to see them. I did some work to help decide who to vote for, but in the end, just pulled up the ballot and voted there. About all I have to offer readers is that you will note that Dan Johnson does not show up as a choice in the third baseman slot, only as a designated hitter. In my humble opinion, he’s as good as anyone else we’ve seen at third this year, so I wrote him in at the bottom of the ballot (after voting for him in the DH slot, of course).
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Thanks for the update on Weber..been trying to track him down. I have family in the Toledo area and have asked them to give him a big cheer if they see him play.
ReplyDeleteAny idea how bad Elliot's injury is?
interesting blurb at the Bulls site this morn about the sinkhole drama in the warning track
ReplyDeleteWhat does an "opt-out" clause meant? Was it Shealy's decision to leave, or the Bulls?
ReplyDeleteNo idea about Elliot's injury, but perhaps someone who's close to him might be able to say something ...
ReplyDeleteRe: opt-out, Shealy's in that the Rays refused to put him on 40-man/call him up.
I've never actually read one of these contracts, but in recent memory Abreu last year, and Blalock and Shealy this year had a condition in their "minor league" contract that allowed them out of their contract by a specific date. Last year Abreu had a 15 June deadline and the Rays called him up, then traded him to Cleveland. (He actually left baseball for a while after being DFA'd by Cleveland a couple of week later). Blalock had an earlier deadline, but the Rays wanted him. At a guess (and it really is a guess) Shealy has a higher paying offer from another team, and maybe a shot at being on a 40-man roster. Could the Rays have given him a nudge? No way to know. Could there have been two sides to the opt-out clause? No way of knowing that either. Pure speculation on my part is that the Rays are auditioning first basemen for the Pena job (we started the year with four, there are three down in Montgomery now) and let Shealy know that he wasn't going to make the cut.
I can't imagine too many players would use their opt-out clause without pretty good assurances that there was another, better, deal out there.
ReplyDeleteI know that when he started Shealy was fast-tracked for the majors, but got stuck behind Todd Helton in the Rockies' system. For whatever reason, he seems to have a hard time finding the right place for himself.
Shealy had no real potential for advancement with the Rays this year. Pena isn't going anywhere for now, and Aybar fills in fine when Pena is on an off day. There are other opportunities for him to get a callup on other (worse) teams.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to remember is that MLB's pension system is basically tied to the # of days you spend up in the majors. So even if you go to someone like the Nationals or Orioles for a worse contract, if you get called up in garbage time of the season, it helps set you up for later in life.
Shealy had no real potential for advancement with the Rays this year. Pena isn't going anywhere for now, and Aybar fills in fine when Pena is on an off day. There are other opportunities for him to get a callup on other (worse) teams.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to remember is that MLB's pension system is basically tied to the # of days you spend up in the majors. So even if you go to someone like the Nationals or Orioles for a worse contract, if you get called up in garbage time of the season, it helps set you up for later in life.
Reminds me of the story from last year of Sal Fasano signing a minor league deal with the Rockies wanting to get called up for just a single day so that he could get his MLB benefits and have health insurance for his sick kid. As I recall, he spent the year at AAA and the team never gave him the one day call-up he needed/wanted.
ReplyDeleteElliot is recovering well and should be back pretty soon. He strained his quad, so he's resting it and says it's feeling better by the day. :) Thanks for your concern, and we're excited to see him play again!
ReplyDelete