Can't win em all

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Crash Davis: I never told him to stay out of your bed.
Annie Savoy: You most certainly did.
Crash Davis: I never told him to stay out of your bed.
Annie Savoy: Yes you did.
Crash Davis: I told him that a player on a streak has to respect the streak.
Annie Savoy: Oh fine.
Crash Davis: You know why? Because they don't - -they don't happen very often.
Annie Savoy: Right.
Crash Davis: If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid, or because you're not getting laid, or because you wear women's underwear, then you ARE! And you should know that!

The Bees lost 4-1 to the Memphis Redbirds on Monday night. The fans lost Brandon Wood and Bobby Wilson to the Angels (at least for the time being), but have recently gained Kendry Morales. The next home stand is May 6th vs the Albuquerque Isotopes. Go Topes!

I have made a heart wrenching decision to forgo poker (first Friday after the new moon) and attend the home opener on Friday night (4/11).  I will be entering my usual inconsequential, ill-informed comments on the game and the players but mostly I'll be focusing on the changes at the ballpark.

Of course, there will be the review of the debut of the new big screen which is replacing the old billboard as well as the normal rantings about the concessions, the beer, the soft drinks, the varieties of foods, the servers and staff, the roster postings, etc....  Have a good trip CDW and we'll see the rest of  you at the game.  

Ballpark..

Bees 4-0

The Bees have a perfect record so far and are in the middle of a 0-0 battle in Tucson as I write this. Already there has been quite a bit of shuffling of pitchers as guys come off the 15-day disabled list. That's the reason why I don't make any attempt to predict pitching with the Bees. The team will make its first appearance in Salt Lake this Friday night. Unfortunately I will not be here. I will be in Denver, where also unfortunately, the Rockies will be out of town. I will leave the blog in the capable hand of Ballpark Frank.

Bees open season in Las Vegas

If you are not in Sin City tonight, listen to Steve Klauke on 1230 am or listen live on the web. Game time is 8:05pm. I think I hit mt lineup about right according to the roster posted on the official Bees page. Gary Parchett may play at short though, and I have no idea who Bradley Coon is (outfield).

Bees first home game is a week from tomorrow.

Bees Lineup?

The major league lineups are pretty much set, so I thought I should get my projected Bees lineup posted. Steve Klauke had some good posts last week from spring training on the official Bees Blog. This is exactly the kind of thing that I wish the Salt Lake Tribune did more of. After reading his run down and checking the Angels official roster,which is now set, this is my best guess:

Infield

1B Kendry Morales
2B Adam Pavkovich
SS Sean Rodriguez
3B Brandon Wood
C Bobby Wilson

Outfield

LF Dee Brown
CF Peter Bourjos
RF Terry Evans

Some new names, some returning from years past. Willits will start the season with the Angels due to questions with Gary Matthews Jr's ankle. If you are wondering where your favorite player from last year is, Steve Klauke also has a good overview of Bees players who have moved on to other teams in his March 23 post.

Utes fill the void

Great idea to fill in the void while you're waiting for the Bees to start playing (April 11th), the University of Utah Utes baseball. Today, in 40 degree weather with a 10 knot wind, Mrs. Frank and I watched the Utes annihilate the Air Force Falcons 19 to 0 with two pitchers (Budrow 6 innings/1 hit and Wolfgramm 3 innings/2 hits) and a ton of singles and doubles tinging off of metal bats at Franklin Covey Field. Every starting player ended up with at least one hit and an rbi then in in the bottom of the 8th, the Utes added on a few extra runs with a couple of homers. The final score was: Utes 19/21/0 and the Falcons 0/3/0. That's right, no errors on either team.
The sparse crowd was enthusiastic and most everybody stayed till the end of the game despite the inevitability of the outcome. They were no doubt hopped up on their love of the Ute as well as the brisk sales of coffee and hot chocolate from the one concession. The best part of game though was in the seventh inning stretch after the singing of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", we sang Utah Man: Go Utes!
Click here for the upcoming Utes schedule: http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/utah-m-basebl-body.html

Clearing Waivers wikipedia style

Ballpark Frank has not figured out that he can leave a comment in the comments section. That is how these bloggy things work. Instead he emailed me this question:

what does this mean? is nathan haynes going to be traded rather than come back to slc?

Basically there is no room for Haynes on the Angels 25 man roster, and he is out of options to be sent to the minor leagues, so he must be put on waivers. If he clears waivers, he can re-sign a new contract and play in Salt Lake, but would bump someone else off the 40-man roster. To make sure I answered this question properly I checked out the always infallible Wikipedia.
This from Wikipedia:

Waivers

Any player under contract may be placed on waivers at any time. If a player is waived, any team may claim him. If more than one team claims the player from waivers, the team with the lowest record in the player's league gets preference. If no team in the player's league claims him, the claiming team with the lowest record in the other league gets preference. In the first month of the season, preference is determined using the previous year's standings.

If a team claims a player off waivers and has the viable claim as described above, his current team (the "waiving team") may choose one of the following options:

• arrange a trade with the claiming team for that player within two business days of the claim; or
• rescind the request and keep the player on its major league roster, effectively canceling the waiver; or
• do nothing and allow the claiming team to (1) assume the player's existing contract, (2) pay the waiving team a waiver fee, and (3) place the player on its active major league roster.

If a player is claimed and the waiving team exercises its rescission option, the waiving team may not use the option again for that player in that season. If no team claims a player from waivers in three business days, the player has cleared waivers and may be assigned to a minor league team, traded, or released outright.

The waiver "wire" is a secret within the personnel of the Major League Baseball clubs; no announcement of a waiver is made until a transaction actually occurs. Many players are often quietly waived during the August "waiver-required" trading period to gauge trade interest in a particular player. Usually, when the player is claimed, the waiving team will rescind the waiver to avoid losing the player unless a trade can be worked out with the claiming team.

[edit] Assignment to a minor league team

[edit] Options

If a player is on the 40-man roster but not on the active major league roster, he is said to be on optional assignment—his organization may freely move him between the major league club and the minor league club. If a player is on the 40-man roster and not the active 25 man roster for any part of more than three seasons, he is out of options and may not be assigned to the minors without first clearing waivers. However, if a player has less than 5 years of professional experience, he may be optioned to the minors in a fourth season without being subject to waivers. If a major league player is ineligible for free agency and "has options" remaining, his team may option him to a minor league team without consequence. This is usually what is meant when players are "sent down" to the minors. Likewise, when a player on the 40-man roster is added to the active major league roster, he is "called up" to the majors.

[edit] Designated for assignment

Main article: Designated for assignment

A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the 40-man roster. This gives the team time to decide what to do with the player while freeing up a roster spot for another transaction, if needed. Once a player is designated for assignment, the team has ten days to do one of the following things: the player can be traded, the player can be released, or the player can be put on waivers and, provided he clears, outrighted to the minors. A player who is outrighted to the minors is removed from the 40-man roster but is still paid according to the terms of his guaranteed contract. A player can only be outrighted once in his career without his consent.

For a good read on the ins-and-outs of baseball contracts and other nuances of the game I recommend "Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks" by Zack Hample.