-- Jen Langosch of MLB.com said that Rudy Owens and Diego Moreno, both considered locks to make the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, both get another year's free ride. She explains that the clock doesn't start on their actual birthday, but on June 5th, and that made all the difference for the young pitchers.
Yesterday, she tweeted that Starling Marte wasn't Rule 5 eligible this year either.
-- Erik Kratz signed a minor-league deal with the Phillies. Our guess is that the fast track that Tony Sanchez is on made Kratz's position with Pittsburgh a little iffy, especially if Ryan Doumit doesn't get moved this winter. Plus it's a move home for the Telford native; the Phillies' AAA team is Lehigh Valley.
-- Clint Hurdle, along with Terry Collins and Bob Melvin, are the leading candidates to become the Mets’ next manager, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. The three ol' skippers are all expected to get second interviews.
I'm assuming the departure of Kratz probably means another year of Doumit. As you noted during the season, Ron, Doumit definitely did better after Snyder was brought in, and Doumit still has one of the better bats on this team---not that that is saying much. I've long since given up on "Dewie", but there's always the chance that he might rebound with another offseason to rehab his wrist.
ReplyDeleteI did like Kratz, though, as a glove first second catcher type. I always compared him to Mark Parent, and I still think his power and defense could help us for 200 at bats or so. He looked overmatched in his first major league action last year, but I don't think he got even 50 at bats in the bigs.
So, it's Doumit and Synder for another season. Eh, I can live with that. There are weaker positions on this team than catcher.