ODDS AND ENDS, M-P

Continuing our Preview of last-minute moves with BARB clubs, hours before Opening Day!

MADTOWN: An excess of infielders will present itself when Freddie Sanchez and come off the DL later in the season, but for now the Murlocs can handle their surplus of riches with Alex GordonKelly Johnson and Dan Uggla vieing for 2B, while Scott Rolen and Jhonny Peralta man the hot corner. Rookie Alcides Escobar is on hand to back up veteran SS Jimmy Rollins. The 'Kung Fu Panda', Pablo Sandoval, will probably have to put on the tools of ignorance to find playing time with all this infield depth and Prince Fielder ensconced as the cleanup hitter. LHP J.P. Howell is the only true lefty reliever on the roster, but he begins the season on the DL.


OAKLAND: The former Fresno Regulators is now United up in the Bay Area. Not united, however, is former starting SS Marco Scutaro, who was offered in a since torpedoed deal for Los Angeles RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka and is now riding the bench behind Asdrubal Cabrera, who has won the starting shortstop job. RHP Hideki Kuroda, also on the trade market, is for now in the mix for the starting rotation but LHP C.J. Wilson is ready should either he or veteran Derek Lowe falter. 'El Caballo', LF Carlos Lee, may be forced into a platoon setup in order to get more speed in the lineup, with CF Michael Bourn winning the leadoff role. 42-year-old Trevor Hoffman is waiting in the wings to get save opportunities should Huston Street falter.


POTTSYLVANIA: Skip Schumacher went from contending for the 2B job to the bench after the Creepers acquired 2B Aaron Hill from the Arizona Thunder, while Blake DeWitt was assigned back to AAA. The loss of Ryan Theriot in this year's draft means that it is finally Erik Aybar's time to shine as the starting shortstop. LHP Cliff Lee, expected to be the club's #2 starter, will instead begin the year with a (hopefully) short tenure on the disabled list. Former Frostbite and Darwin starter Ben Sheets missed all of the 2009 season, and will try to recover his 2008 form in the Creepers rotation: Sheets won 13 games in his last season of 'relative' health, three of them shutouts. The Creepers need him, because the pre-season trade of Yovani Gallardo and Lee's injury has them short in the rotation. The club does expect, however, to score quite a few more runs in April than in last season, largely due to stockpiling some left-handed sluggers in DH Hideki Matsui, OF Brad Hawpe and 1B Carlos Pena.


ST. FRANCIS:


WORCESTER:


YUMA: