disarcina

If Wells is in the line up with all the players headed to AA ball - -does that mean he's going to start in CF for the Arkansas Travelers this year? Base hit - Wells --- reads like a line drive in the box score.

Did that pick off move look pretty close to a move towards the plate (balk) to anyone else here?

The Kings are moving in the right direction now. Home schedule coming up - no time to let up. With the home games coming up a win streak here will have them advancing up the standings and well into the top 8 fairly quickly. With the shortened season, the run to the end here is going to be like the stretch run last year where that end of the season final (or next to last game, can't remember now) loss to San Jose dropped the Kings from number 3 spot to number 8 (didn't work out that poorly, did it?) on the basis of that one loss. the roller coaster effect on the standings will be in effect for a while this year. We've already seen where a slow start has put the Kings -- they're just now digging out.

Well, it certainly looks windy and cold in Tempe today. Hope it warms up over the next two weeks or so.....and am sure it will. This time of year is crap shoot weather-wise in the Phoenix area..........it can be hotter than blazes or one year (a few years back now) it was actually snowing in part of the Camelback Mountain area.......to the extent it affected the PGA tour event going on at the time. The folks sitting behind the plate today at Tempe Diablo look pretty bundled up with arms crossed. The guy that just started the game for the Halos looks like he just punched his ticket for AA ball this year.

Last time there was a report on Kazmir here, he was pitching for some Independent League team and got waxed in a short outing giving up something like seven runs in two innings. He had started a few games for that independent league team and that outing may have actually LOWERED his ERA for the season which was 15.00 or something. But, yeah, he's looking good (in FEBRUARY as a prior post points out) throwing off the mound. Kazmir, once the hard throwing NY Mets prospect and up and comer, apparently lost velocity on his fastball which Madden clearly picked up on in Tampa Bay -- so he was dealt to the Halos who then signed him to an extension..... UNLESS, he' really learned to pitch (a la Frank Tanana another former Halos hurler who hurt his arm and then had to become a pitcher rather than a thrower), I just don't see Kazmir making it back and I don't see the dedication and focus in Kazmir that Tanana had. Tanana had an incredible career after his mid-career adjustment.

Taylor: We have an ESPN 8 team league (used to be a 10 team league but that changed about two years ago) of Angelswin.com folks that has been around for some 10 years or so now (I've lost track). It looks like one of our team owners from last year (we are in the third year of a Keeper League) won't be returning this year. I'm giving him until March 1 to either confirm that he's back IN or we'll get a new owner --- which would be you, Taylor, if you are interested. Now, our league is for the time-pressed fan who is not obsessed with FLB -- we do an auto-draft through ESPN (it is set for March 14) and do a season long roto type scoring. There's no head to head, week by week stuff and, obviously, we don't have a live draft that consumes hours and is difficult to coordinate times, dates and places. This league is set up for the fan who likes FLB because it really keeps you up on the game and all the MLB players in each league, but wants to be able to spend less than five minutes a day at whatever time the person wants to participate. It's a FREE league -- and I prefer leagues where there is a cost simply because if someone pays for the league they are more likely to stay involved -- the one commitment we absolutely need from you is a commitment to actively participate in the league all season long from the season opening game to the final game of the season including any regular season play off game(s) to decide the division winner/ wild card spots. Nothing is worse than a FLB team owner who's team falls back in the standings and then that team owner just stops participating for the rest of the season -- that affects every other team in every FLB category in the league........I've been in leagues where this happens (usually in the FREE leagues) and don't like it. So we need to have that commitment from you. Since you're an avid FLB participant, sounds as it if it won't be a problem/issue for you. If you want IN, let me know and I will reserve a spot for you -- I'm pretty sure that the team owner who has not responded to date, won't respond by March 1. At some point you will need to send me your e-mail address so I can add you as a team owner. Let me know by posting a reply on this tread.

Triple against Maronde -- not going to help his ST stats. that's why you have to watch the games and not just rely on the box score. that's really a F-8. Out number one.

Bourjos misplaying a flyball? That's unusual. what happened there? If it's an outfielder mix up -- well, the old rule was CF'er gets everything he can and has priority.

Avs today -- in about 15 minutes. Does my Kings avatar transfer over from the old site? I didn't develop my own Avatar, Chuck, Brian or someone provided it for me -- and it was great! Again, I'm no tech wizard.

But can we have a moratorium on CRAIGs while a few of us get used to the new format? Otherwise, I might as well change my screen name to Craig for the first month or so -- and I had my share of CRAIG posts before the shift to this new forum/format. New site looks great. I just need some time to adjust. About five years should do.

Can we have a moratorium on the "CRAIGS" while some of us get used to the new format. It's going to take some getting used to -- and it's not as easy (or, rather, I'm slow on catching on -- more likely the case) to check the prior posts. so expect some "NEWS JUST IN - CRAIG" type posts at the outset. Sorry.

Split squad -- MLB audio has the Giants/Angels game at Scottsdale Stadium -- it's the Giants' KNBR feed. It's a minor league line-up over there (Scottsdale) for the Halos today but Andrew Romine is starting at SS. I am rooting for him to make the 25 man opening day roster. GEEZ -- it's great to have baseball back on the air!

Looks good -- but it's going to take some getting used to -- that's more me than the new forum -- I am not a real tech guy so any change from what I'm used to with the on line stuff takes some time. I like what I see. I did have some initial difficulty signing back in. But looks good. Will take some time to figure out all the new apps and stuff.