Spring Training - Getting Ready For the 2006 Season

Far left: Mariners signing autographs; Left: Blue Jays working out; Below: Dodgers new facility in Arizona.

Red Sox Deal Smoltz to Braves

The Boston Red Sox traded righthander pitcher John Smoltz to Atlanta in exchange for the Braves' 2007 #1 draft pick. Smoltz, the #1 draft pick of the Red Sox in 2001, compiled the following stats for in his career with Boston: 5 seasons, 21-24 win/loss record, 3.18 ERA and 107 saves. Last season in his first starter role, Smoltz compiled a 15-12 record with a 3.35 ERA in 212 innings pitched.

First Round Draft Recap

The league champions Kansas City Royals picked Hanley Ramirez with the #1 pick - a no brainer selection. . . .the Giants might have surprised some with picking Andre Ethier #2, but he is a strong selection with high future upside. . . .the pitching starved Dodgers selected #3 Justin Verlander and will anchor their rotation for many seasons to come. . . .#4 Troy Tolowitzki will pay dividends for New York in the future as they now have Cano and Tolowitzki in the middle of their infield. . . .the Angels picked Nick Markakis at #5 and will anchor their right field position for years to come. . . .Russell Martin, picked by the Buccos, was the first catcher taken in the draft. . . .the A's plan to be patient with 21 year old centerfielder Matt Kemp. . .the Pirates selected again at #8 and picked Dustin Pedroia who needs another year of seasoning before full time playing time. . . .the Mariners, another team looking to bolster their rotation, selected Jon Lester at #9. . . .the Braves picked the best pure hitter on the board with #10 Ian Kinsler. . . .

Three starters went in straight succession: Cole Hamels (Astros), James Shields (D-Backs) and Adam Wainwright (Blue Jays). . . .the Redbirds, who wanted to take Wainwright, had to settle with Stephen Drew - the eventual replacement for aging shortstop Edgar Renteria. . . .the Braves might have gotten the steal of the draft at #15 with Josh Johnson . . . .the weak Red Sox offense was upgraded by picking second basemen Dan Uggla. . . .the pitching rich Twins added another quality arm in Jered Weaver. . . . .the Indians know shortstop Omar Vizquel's best days are behind him and decided to pick Ryan Theriot. . . . the Marlins decided to take corner outfielder Josh Willingham at #19. . . .rounding out the round, the Royals grabbed Chad Billingsley with the 20th pick. . . .

Dodgers Select Verlander to Bolster Staff

Los Angeles (AP) - The Dodgers selected Justin Verlander, a 22 year old right hander, with the third pick in the 2006 draft. Last year, Justin posted a 11-2 record with a 1.29 ERA between single-A (Lakeland) and double-A (Erie). The Dodgers will insert Verlander in their starting rotation and look for him to anchor the team for many seasons to come.

Previous #1 Picks

• Hanley Ramirez (2006) - selected by Kansas City
• Prince Fielder (2005) - selected by Seattle
• Matt Holliday (2004) - selected by Montreal
• Miguel Cabrera (2003) - selected by Toronto
• Carlos Zambrano (2002) - selected by Minnesota
• Albert Pujols (2001) - selected by Montreal
• Todd Helton (2000) - selected by Philadelphia

Royals Take Hanley Ramirez With First Pick

Kansas City (AP) – It’s not often that you see the previous year’s league champs have the first pick in the draft, but that is exactly the situation with the Royals this season. Kansas City and Washington orchestrated a blockbuster trade that included sending Carlos Beltran, Michael Young and Houston Street to Washington for Pat Burrell and the number #1 pick.

The Royals promptly made highly touted Hanley Ramirez the first pick in the 2006 draft. Ramirez, just 22 years old, spent last season with the AA Portland Sea Dogs in the Eastern League where he hit .271 with 6 homers, 52 RBI’s and 26 stolen bases.

Pirates Trade Oswalt to White Sox

Pittsburgh (AP) - The Pittsburgh Pirates traded veteran righty starter Roy Oswalt to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for their #1 and #3 round draft picks. Pittsburgh drafted Oswalt in the first round (third pick overall) of the 2001 draft.

In five seasons with the Buccos, Oswalt compiled a 55-38 record with a 3.76 ERA. He has two career shutouts. In the 2004 postseason, Oswalt went 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA in four starts as Atlanta eventually eliminated the Pirates in the Semi-Finals. Oswalt also made three starts in the 2002 postseason going 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA.

Pittsburgh now owns the 6th and 8th picks in the upcoming 2006 draft. . . .

Royals Win Title

Kansas City (AP) - In a series that came down to the wire, the Kansas City Royals beat the Florida Marlins in the final game to become Millennium League Champs. A recap of the series:

FL 3, KC 1 - Adam Everett hit a 3-run homer; Noah Lowery pitches five innings of one run ball before turning it over to the Marlin bullpen

FL 6, KC 1 - Jake Peavy fired a 4-hitter with 12 strikeouts; Derrek Lee hit two homers and drove in four runs

KC 2, FL 0 - Paul Byrd and three relievers spin shutout

KC 3, FL 2 - Danny Haren pitched six strong innings and Huston Street saved his 7th game in the postseason

FL 2, KC 1 - Another Lowery win - another one run game

KC 8, FL 4 - The Royals stay alive as Mark Grudzielanek goes 4 for 4, Michael Young (hitting .378 in the post season) hit a homer and Paul Byrd won his 5th in the post season

KC 1, FL 0 - Hank Blalock hit a homer and Danny Haren and Huston Street (9th save) made the run stand up

Burnett, Peavy Duo Lead Fish to 1st Series Appearance

The Florida Marlins advanced to their first World Series with a 4 games to 2 series victory over the Minnesota Twins. Click here for all the box scores.

Peavy (17 IP, 15 strikeouts, 3 runs allowed) won games 1 and 5 which included a brilliant 3-hit shutout in game #5 as the Marlins won 4-0. Burnett (17 IP, 11 strikeouts, 2 runs allowed) was equally impressive as he beat the Twins twice by scores of 8-1 and 2-1. AJ is now 4-0 with a sparkling 1.32 ERA. Peavy is 2-0 with a 1.07 ERA in the post season.

Florida now meets Kansas City in the World Series. It is remarkable that both teams have never been in the post season before this year. Should be an exciting series!

Royals To Make First World Series Appearance

Kansas City (AP) - Paul Byrd won two games and Michael Young had nine hits in the series as the surprising Kansas City Royals eliminated the #1 seed Cleveland Indians in six games. This is the Royals first appearance in post season play and they are certainly taking advantage of their opportunity. A recap of their series:

Game 1 - Indians 9-5 - Jason Bay goes 4 for 4, Manny Ramirez hits 3-run homer

Game 2 - Indians 3-1 - Bartolo Colon pitches seven sparkling innings

Game 3 - Royals 6-5 - Series moves to Kaufmann Stadium and the Royals hang on for the win; Huston Street pitches 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for his 4th post season save

Game 4 - Royals 4-2 - The combo of Danny Haren, BJ Ryan and Huston Street shut down the Tribe attack

Game 5 - Royals 3-2 - Brady Clark hit a bases loaded game winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for the game winner

Game 6 - Royals 9-4 - Paul Byrd closes out the series with 6 shutout innings as Kansas City rolls

Giants Hold On to 2nd Pick

Last night's draft lottery for the second pick resulted in the San Francisco Giants securing the pick. The Giants, who finished last season with a league worst 61-101 mark, looks to improve in the upcoming 2006 season. . . . . .

Nats Secure First Pick

The Washington Nationals secured the first pick in the 2006 draft. Already armed with a powerful lineup that includes Matt Holliday, Todd Helton, Bobby Abreau, Scott Rolen, Chone Figgins and Pat Burrell, the Nats could look to strengthen their pitching staff by possibly selecting a front line pitcher. Only time will tell........

2006 Draft Lottery Info

We will be conducting our draft lottery on Monday, December 7th and Tuesday, December 8th.....

The “Pennsylvania Daily Number Evening” lottery (http://www.palottery.state.pa.us/) on subsequent nights (7PM EST) will be used to decide who gets the #1 and #2 picks in the first round only. If the second pick yields the same result as the first night, then a third night’s lottery drawing will be used. The remaining 10 teams will draft in reverse order of record. So, the team with the poorest record can do no worst than pick third in the first round.


2006 Lottery Drawing Chances:

000 to 249 – San Francisco (61-101)

250 to 449 – Los Angeles (68-94)

450 to 604 – New York (69-93)

605 to 724 – Washington (70-92)

725 to 814 – Anaheim (75-87)

815 to 879 – Pittsburgh (76-86, 14-10 vs. Oakland & Chicago in tie breaker)

880 to 924 – Oakland (76-86, 13-11 vs. Pittsburgh & Chicago in tie breaker)

925 to 954 – Chicago (76-86)

955 to 974 – Seattle (77-85)

975 to 986 – Atlanta (78-84)

987 to 994 – Hpuston (82-80)

995 to 999 – Arizona (84-78)

(Click here for a history of previous lottery numbers selected.)

Royals Knock Out Redbirds in 6 Games

Kansas City (AP) - Chris Capuano won both of his starts as the upstart Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in 6 games. This was the Royals first post season appearance as they rallied from an early 2-0 series deficit to knock out St. Louis.

The Cardinals had made the World Series the previous two seasons and had won the 2004 League Championship. A recap of the series:

Game 1: STL 5, KC 4 – Westbrook pitched strong 7+ innings, Burnitz drives in a pair

Game 2: STL 4, KC 0 – Dontrelle Willis and Chad Cordero combine on six hit shutout, Konerko gets three hits including a homer

Game 3: KC 7, STL 2 – Capuano gets win; top of the order Mauer, Young and Shelton go 8 for 17

Game 4: KC 4, STL 3 – Royals score deciding run in 9th via a Carlos Beltran single, a Joe Mauer walk and a RBI-single by John Rodriguez.

Game 5: KC 2, STL 0 – Paul Byrd and three relievers shutout Redbirds, Matt Lecroy hits homer off Willis

Game 6: KC 5, STL 3 – Capuano wins second in series, former Cardinal Lecroy hits another homer

Indians Roll, Omar Vizquel Shines

Omar Vizquel doubled home the winning run in a wild 13-12 playoff game #2 propelling the Indians to a series win over Toronto. Vizquel batted .412 in the series while scoring six runs. This was the Blue Jays first post season series in Millennium Legue action. A recap of the series:

Game 1 - Toronto (Carpenter) at Cleveland (Patterson) Toronto enters the bottom of the 9th with a 1 run margin. After pinch hitter Ryan Sheely reaches base on a single followed by a single from Lofton, Chris Carpenter gives it up to Derrick Turnbow. He gets a key strikeout of Mark Ellis but is unable to pick up the save. Jason Bay doubles to bring home the tying and game-winning run. Final 5-4 Cleveland.

Game 2 - Toronto (Sabathia) at Cleveland (Colon) A crazy game. Teams combine for 30 hits, 25 runs and 9 home runs. Cleveland had a comfortable 11-0 lead after 3 thanks to 2 home runs from Manny Ramirez including a grand slam. But Toronto doesn't give up and chips away at the lead. A grand slam in the 9th from Milton Bradley ties it up at 12 a piece. In the bottom of the 9th, Brian McCann singles and Kenny Lofton comes in to pinch run. A double from Omar Vizquel brings home the game winner in another walk-off moment. Final 13-12 Cleveland.

Game 3 - Cleveland (Rogers) at Toronto (Arroyo) Arroyo dominates and shuts down the Cleveland offense. He goes 6 innings of 2 hit ball, allowing only a single run on a Jason Bay solo shot. Papelbon and Turnbow come out of the pen to hold onto the 3-1 win for Toronto.

Game 4 - Cleveland (Prior) at Toronto (Maroth) Cleveland's bats come alive again, belting 5 home runs including 2 from Tony Clark. Mark Prior pitches well, going 7 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 runs while striking out 11. Final 9-3 Cleveland.

Game 5 - Cleveland (Patterson) at Toronto (Lilly) A pitching duel until the 6th. Cleveland has a big inning, scoring 10 runs which would end up being all the scoring for both teams. Cleveland closes out the series with the 10-0 victory. Geoff Jenkins slugged a grand slam in the 6th to lead the offense.

Marlins Advance as Burnett Sizzles

Marlins AJ Burnett won two playoff games as #7 seed Florida upset #2 seed Boston in their playoff series in 5 games. This was the second straight year that the #2 seed knocked off the #7 seed. Burnett finished with a 1.59 ERA in 17 innings while striking out 15. A recap of the series:

It was really an amazingly close series, despite it ending in only 5 games. Game 1 was the only game that wasn't decided in the last at-bat, with Florida winning it 3-1. Florida won game 2, 4-2 in 15 innings. In game 3 Boston won 6-3 in 11 innings. In Game 4, Florida won 8-7 with Victor Martinez getting a game winning hit in the bottom of the 9th off Mike MacDougal with the bases loaded and no outs. Then in the deciding game 5, Luis Castilla drove home Jeremy Reed with the winning run off Pedro Martinez in the bottom of the 9th as Florida won 3-2.

Twins and Santana Knock Off Phils in 6 Games

Johan Santana pitched brilliantly to help the Minnesota Twins defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 4 games to 2 in their quarter-final playoff series. Santana finished with 2 wins and a 1.13 ERA in the series. A recap of the series:

The Twins opened up with a 13-2 win in Game 1 as Graffanino drove in 5 runs and Carlos Lee drove in 4 more. Santana got the win.

1. The Phils rebounded in Game 2 as Freddy Garcia and three relievers shut out the Twins 7-0.

Hideki Matsui drove in a pair of runs as Minnesota won the third game 3-1.

The Fightin' Phils evened the series in Game 4 as Jeff Suppan pitched strong in a tight 5-4 contest. Andruw Jones hit a homer and drove in two runs.

In Game 5, Santana(2-0) was indeed brilliant as he hand-cuffed the Philadelphia offense. He gave up just 6 hits and 1 walk in a complete game performance.

50,547 fans watched an exciting Game 6 at Yankee Stadium. The Twins knocked out the Phillies as Carlos Lee blasted a solo shot in the top of the 11th inning.

Coming Down to the Wire

Strat-O-Matic Report

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LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2005 Millennium League
 
Brock                       WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2005 Cleveland CLA           99  63  .611 ----  *WON* 
2005 Florida FLN             87  75  .537 12.0        
2005 Seattle SEA             77  85  .475 22.0        
2005 Anaheim ANA             73  86  .459 24.5        
2005 San Francisco SFN       61 101  .377 38.0        
 
Killebrew                   WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2005 Kansas City KCA         89  70  .560 ----     6  
2005 Toronto TOA             82  68  .547  2.5        
2005 Houston HON             82  80  .506  8.5        
2005 Atlanta ATN             73  83  .468 14.5        
2005 Los Angeles LAN         68  94  .420 22.5        
 
Koufax                      WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2005 Boston BOA              97  65  .599 ----  *WON* 
2005 Arizona ARN             84  75  .528 11.5        
2005 Oakland OAA             73  80  .477 19.5        
2005 Pittsburgh PIN          76  86  .469 21.0        
2005 Washington WAN          66  90  .423 28.0        
 
Aaron                       WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2005 Philadelphia PHN        92  70  .568 ----  *WON* 
2005 St. Louis SLN           89  73  .549  3.0        
2005 Minnesota MNA           83  73  .532  6.0        
2005 Chicago CHA             76  86  .469 16.0        
2005 New York NYA            69  93  .426 23.0        
 

Fish' Castillo Heading Toward 1st Batting Crown

Marlins second basemen has had a breakout season. He currently is hitting .344 and leads the league in batting average with a 16 point lead over Michael Young of Kansas City. Castillo has played all five previous Millennium seasons with Florida and is a .298 lifetime hitter.

Won/Loss Records Since July 1st. . . . .