High-profile position battles abound
The Giants haven’t said what they’ll do about left field or the final rotation spot. The A’s haven’t identified their last two starting pitchers.
Similar stories are told throughout Arizona and Florida with teams trying to put the final touches on their seasonopening rosters.
Here are three compelling competitions that have come down to the wire: Dodgers outfield: Andre Ethier has a herniated disk in his lower back that’ll likely keep him shelved into the season.
Manager Dave Roberts appears set with Yasiel Puig in right and Joc Pederson in center. There’s a hole in left with options including Andrew Toles, Scott Van Slyke and Trayce Thompson. Franklin Gutierrez could be used against lefties, and ex-Athletic Brett Eibner is in camp.
Toles appears the favorite, but Thompson is an intriguing choice. Klay’s younger brother, who hit 11 homers in April and May, is making a nice recovery from back surgery and is hitting well, but he’s being eased in and might open at Triple-A Oklahoma City. Nationals closer: The competition is down to Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley and Blake Treinen.
Glover, a rookie, has the right makeup accompanying a potent arsenal but also has pitched just 19 games in the big leagues. Kelley has the most experience (seven saves last season), but two Tommy John surgeries put into question his durability. Treinen has a nasty sinker that could make him better suited for a setup role.
Manager Dusty Baker said Saturday that a decision has been made but the winner hasn’t been told. Red Sox rotation: The deepest and baddest rotation in the game has a vacancy. David Price will open on the disabled list, leaving Chris Sale and Rick Porcello as the anchors.
Steven Wright has a job, but Drew Pomeranz has had triceps tightness. That could mean work for young Eduardo Rodriguez or Kyle Kendrick, 32, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2015. More Panda-monium: Pablo Sandoval was destined to be a $95 million bust in Boston — one down season, one missing season — but he seems determined to live up to his contract.
He’s smaller, though perhaps not much more than his listed 240 pounds. He’s healthier, having overcome his shoulder injury. He’s saying all the right things, like needing to prove himself to the Red Sox and their fans.
And he’s hitting a ton in spring training, especially left-handed. Right-handed has been a struggle, at least before his three-run homer Saturday.
All signs point to Sandoval playing third base on Opening Day, and good for Pablo. But we’ve heard this before, how he’s revitalized and ready to turn around his career. Now it’s up to him to sustain it by keeping the weight off and numbers up.
Even with his rocky exit from San Francisco, it’s fair to say a good number of Giants fans continue to root for him.
Time for Bam Bam: I always believed Hensley Meulens would succeed as a big-league manager, and nothing he did in the World Baseball Classic with the Netherlands altered that opinion.
Meulens took his underdog team, largely from Curacao and Aruba, to the tournament’s final four for a second straight time before losing in 11 innings to Puerto Rico.
With a long resume coaching under Bruce Bochy, impressive communication skills (it helps to know five languages) and an authoritative presence, Meulens makes an excellent candidate.
All he needs is an interview. He once told me he wouldn’t go to the minors to manage — and he shouldn’t — and that the offer would have to overwhelm him because he likes his current gig. Don’t tweet: Josh Donaldson got off to a slow start in Blue Jays camp thanks to a calf injury and has spent time in minor-league camp, which generally has an informal vibe. Teams will put hitters who need extra at-bats in minorleague games and have them lead off every inning.
In Donaldson’s case, the plan was to avoid running. He was to hit the ball and return to the dugout. Simple thing — until someone took video of the home run he hit.
An assistant coach at the University of Texas, Sean Allen, criticized the former A’s third baseman on Twitter without knowing the facts, writing, “This might be the worst video I have ever seen. So much disrespect to the game of baseball. Baseball gods will handle this.”
Donaldson tweeted to Allen that he hadn’t been cleared to run, and Allen apologized. Another life lesson, kids. Around the majors: The Dodgers say Sergio Romo, 34, who’s supposed to set up Kenley Jansen, will be ready for the season. But he returned from the WBC with a sore back and hasn’t pitched much: 11⁄3 WBC innings and two early innings in the Cactus League before throwing a perfect inning Saturday. Afterward he said he felt fine. … Cam Bedrosian could open as the Angels’ closer, with Huston Street’s back bothering him. Bedrosian is the son of Steve Bedrosian, the Giants’ closer on the 1989 World Series team. Cam, who was born two years later, has one career save, just 183 behind his dad. … When the Twins released Ryan Vogelsong ,it was easy to imagine the end for the 39-year-old. But Vogelsong requested the release knowing he wasn’t in the rotation plans and didn’t want to move to the bullpen. Twins manager Paul Molitor said that by not waiting until the end of camp to release Vogelsong, he has a chance to hook on elsewhere. … Josh Reddick played five years for the A’s without playing a single game in left field, but that’s an option now that he’s an Astro. He’ll mostly play right, but the bigger question is how much he’ll play against lefties. He’s a .270 hitter against righties, .218 against lefties, but the Astros didn’t commit $52 million for a platoon player. … Baker is entering the season without a contract beyond 2017 and wants an extension, but Nationals GM Mike Rizzo is giving no hints it’ll be done. Not a great vote of confidence for an organization seeking its first World Series title.