18 Wins for Daniel Cabrera?

I've said it before in this space, but it bears repeating: I'm an Orioles fan. A long-suffering Orioles fan.

So take the following with a grain of salt:

Daniel Cabrera has turned the corner.

Yes, I realize it's still early in spring training. But Cabrera looked very strong this afternoon against the New York Mets. And so far this spring, he's pitched five innings, struck out six, allowed two base hits and -- most importantly -- he hasn't walked a single batter.

Cabrera has all the talent in the world, and his inability to throw strikes last season so frustrated the Orioles that they sent him to the minors. But after Cabrera returned, he seemed to look like a more mature pitcher. And he very nearly no-hit the New York Yankees in the final week of the season.

The difference this spring with Cabrera -- and I've seen both of his appearances on television -- is that his delivery seems more consistent. In short, he looks like a veteran out there. And that newfound poise -- combined with his immense talent -- is why I'm predicting a minimum of 18 wins for Cabrera this season.

Now...on to more observations from today's game...

* Orlando Hernandez started for the Mets, making his first appearance of the spring. So how did he get things started? With a 63-mph curveball that leadoff hitter Ruddy Yan could only stare at. That's just not fair.

* El Duque pitched a scoreless first inning, but then was roughed up in the second. Hernandez allowed five runs -- and faced ten men in the inning -- allowing six hits and a walk.

* Cabrera, as I mentioned earlier, got the start for Baltimore and looked great. He's changing speeds more often it seems, and that makes his fastball simply overpowering. He ended all three of his innings with strikeouts, including called third strikes to close out the first and second frames. In all, Cabrera struck out four and allowed just one hit in three innings of work.

* Orioles outfielder -- and former Met -- Jay Payton doubled to right field in the first and fifth innings. Every time I've seen Payton hit this spring, he's gone the other way with the ball.

* One thing that always fascinates me about spring training is the fact that in many parks, the managers and coaches sit on lawn furniture. Am I the only one who thinks this would be a great idea for the regular season as well? Imagine it -- the players stay in the dugout, while the coaching staff sits on oversized, white plastic lawn chairs near the on-deck circle. This might even present a great sponsorship opportunity, as companies would have to bid for the rights to be the official managerial lawn furniture of Major League Baseball.

* Baltimore catcher -- and Rule V selection -- Adam Donachie hit a three-run bomb to left field off Hernandez in the second inning. I still think he's a longshot to make the team, but a couple more drives like that and he could stick as Ramon Hernandez's backup...and it looks like he has some power.

* Mets right-hander Mike Pelfrey -- the team's top prospect, according to Baseball America -- took over for Hernandez to begin the third and was very impressive. Pelfrey allowed two runs (both unearned) in three innings pitched. But here's the impressive part: 12 of the 13 batters Pelfrey faced hit the ball on the ground. (Of course, the Mets misplayed a couple of those, leading to the runs.) But Pelfrey seems like a very strong groundball pitcher who has a bright future -- I could easily see him in the Mets' rotation at some point this season.

* Shawn Green finally ended his slump -- which had climbed to 0-for-15 -- with a single to right field off of lefty Kurt Birkins in the sixth inning.

* I also had a chance to catch some of the game in Viera, Florida between the Astros and Nationals. The Nats wore their "camo" hats for this game and I have to say those could be the ugliest baseball caps I've ever seen. Seriously. I'm color blind, yet I still know that the mix of colors in those hats was awful.

* Former Rockie Jason Jennings got the start for Houston and he struggled early. Jennings allowed three runs in the first on a walk, a double and two singles. In the second, Jennings surrendered an RBI double to deep center off the bat of Christian Guzman...but he did settle down to pitch a scoreless third inning before calling it a day.

* I'll be back tomorrow with more...

Dice-K, Bay-bee!

That's right -- I got him.

After obsessing over Daisuke Matsuzaka all spring long...I landed him earlier tonight in the FantasyAuctioneer.com AL-only Experts League.

And for the low price of just $29.

Tonight's auction meant I didn't get to see much in the way of games today (although I had the YES Network broadcast of the Reds-Yankees game on in the background and saw the Roger Clemens love-fest...and the scare early in the game when a shattered bat came flying at Andy Pettitte.)

I'll go over the championship team I assembled in just a moment. But first, a public service announcement: My sportsblurb.com column is up for this week. You can check it out at http://sportsblurb.com/baseball/game.asp.

OK, now onto the squad. The league is a 13-team (ugh!) AL-only league with a $260 cap...no keepers...and a five-round reserve draft following the auction. Here's what the boys look like for '07...

C - Greg Zaun, $6
C - Vance Wilson, $1
1B - Shea Hillenbrand, $11
2B - Brian Roberts, $26
3B - Akinori Iwamura, $12
SS - Juan Uribe, $6
CI - Aubrey Huff, $21
OF - Jermaine Dye, $27
OF - Raul Ibanez, $18
OF - Reed Johnson, $11
OF - Willy Mo Pena, $9
OF - Marcus Thames, $4
DH - Jay Gibbons, $9
P - Daisuke Matsuzaka, $29
P - Adam Loewen, $12
P - Jon Garland, $9
P - Kevin Millwood, $6
P - Luke Hudson, $1
P - Francisco Rodriguez, $35
P - Justin Duchsherer, $4
P - Danys Baez, $1
P - Jesse Crain, $1
Res - Travis Buck
Res - Adam Jones
Res - Juan Salas
Res - Edison Volquez
Res - Francisco Rosario

So there you have it -- the 2007 Fantasy Auctioneer AL-only Experts League Champions.

More tomorrow...

Why Javier Vazquez Was Distracted Today...

I can’t tell you how great it is to have electricity again. After high winds knocked out power for most of Monday, Tuesday was back to normal…although there was just one game available on television: the White Sox vs. Rockies from Tucson.

* Kind of an interesting day for White Sox starter Javier Vazquez. The veteran right-hander took the mound at Tucson Electric Park against the Colorado Rockies and did not look good at all, allowing a pair of runs in both the first and second innings before settling down a bit to pitch a perfect third.

* But during the fourth inning, it was learned that Vazquez may have been a bit preoccupied during this start. After all, if you had just signed a three-year, $34.5 million contract extension wouldn’t you have your mind on how you could best go about spending that money?

* Vazquez had two outs and no one on in the top of the second before hurting himself with his glove. He allowed back-to-back infield singles to Chris Ianetta and Willy Taveras but he got a glove on both and should have gotten an out on either ball. As you’d expect, the next hitter – Kaz Matsui – tripled down the right field line to make it a 4-0 game.

* Call me crazy, but I just can’t see the marriage of Rodrigo Lopez and Coors Field working out so well. Lopez allowed opponents to hit him at a .302 clip in 2006…not exactly the type of numbers that will spell success in Colorado.

* Lopez had been cruising along until the third, when he allowed a single by Darin Erstad, an RBI double by Juan Uribe…and a long, line drive home run to right by A.J. Pierzynski on a changeup left up in the zone.

* Got a good look at Rockies’ #1 prospect Troy Tulowitzki in this game, as he played shortstop and hit eighth in the order. Tulowitzki struck out against Vazquez in the second inning and then swung and missed at a 1-2 curveball from left-hander Matt Thornton in the fourth. In the sixth, Tulowitzki ripped an 0-1 curve from Adam Russell into left for a solid double to finish the day 1-for-3.

* Rockies catcher Chris Ianetta, the team’s #8 prospect, according to Baseball America, singled off of Vazquez in the second, but was overmatched by Thornton in the fourth inning, striking out on three pitches. In the sixth, Ianetta worked a walk off of Adam Russell and finished the day 1-for-2 with a run scored.

* Yet another Rockies prospect – right-hander Jason Hirsh – also made an appearance in this game and was very impressive. Hirsh came over to Colorado along with Willy Taveras in the deal with Houston for Jason Jennings, and Hirsh currently ranks as Colorado’s #3 prospect, according to BA. Hirsh pitched three scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. In his first inning of work, Hirsh retired the side in order on a pair of pop-ups and a grounder. Then in the fifth, Hirsh retired the first two hitters before allowing a two-out single by Junior Spivey, who was quickly erased attempting to steal. Hirsh finished his day by retiring the White Sox in order in the sixth and showed off a hard slider that fooled several hitters.

* 6’8” right-hander Adam Russell, the White Sox #8 overall prospect according to Baseball America, came into the game in the fifth and pitched two innings for Chicago. Russell pitched a 1-2-3 fifth, but then struggled in the sixth. Russell allowed an infield single to Matt Holliday and then gave up a monster home run over the batter’s eye in center field to Brad Hawpe. Russell did show an above-average pickoff move, nearly picking off Holliday just before allowing the long home run.

* MLB.TV provided a glimpse of the Padres and Diamondbacks earlier this evening, in a game where both Chris Young and Brandon Webb pitched three innings. Arizona’s Scott Hairston touched up Young for a two-run home run in the second, but nothing else of note happened in the four innings I saw.

* Three televised games are on tap for tomorrow but I may not have time to watch them and post a blog entry. My first draft of the season takes place tomorrow night – the FantasyAuctioneer.com AL-only experts league…where I’m looking to get back in the winner’s circle. Much like the White Sox, I had a great 2005 – winning a championship – but I was unable to repeat in ’06.

If it's not one thing...

If it's not one thing, it's another.

After complaining for days about how Directv was keeping me from watching televised spring training games, today I can't blame them at all.

Today, I can blame Mother Nature. High winds knocked out the power at my house just before the 1:00 games were to begin and I've only recently gotten the lights back on. (I won't even mention the piece of siding that has blown half-off my house and keeps slamming into the wall, making an incredibly loud noise...)

So no recaps from today; my apologies. If the house is still standing -- and the lights remain on -- I'll have more tomorrow.

Directv is KILLING me

It happened again.

The Twins-Red Sox broadcast was supposed to appear at 1:00 p.m. today on channel 660. So I set up my Tivo accordingly.

What did I get? About a half-hour of an ACC Women's Basketball Tournament game, followed by three hours' worth of a Directv logo.

It seems like it's impossible for Directv to get through an entire weekend without a programming error that takes away all or part of a spring training broadcast.

But I've spent time in this blog ranting about Directv for days...I'll simply keep the rest of my screaming to myself for now and get on to the games I was able to see.

* The Cubs and White Sox did battle today in Mesa, Arizona and it was Alfonso Soriano's first televised game as a Cub. Soriano got the start in center field and took a terrible route on a flyball hit by Junior Spivey in the third inning. Soriano made the play, but he turned a routine ball into a bit of an adventure; it seems like this will be an ongoing story this spring.

* White Sox starter Jon Garland pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only two hits -- both off the bat of Soriano. Other than that, Garland looked strong.

* Right-hander Julio Mateo -- the Cubs' #11 prospect, according to Baseball America -- took the mound for the Cubs in the third inning. Mateo pitched a scoreless third inning before imploding in the fourth, allowing a pair of walks before delivering a belt-high fastball to Jermaine Dye. Dye crushed that pitch well over the wall in left field for a three-run homer. Two batters later, Rob Mackowiak got a fastball down-and-in and golfed it over the wall in right. As Mackowiak circled the bases, Lou Piniella began his walk to the mound to end Mateo's day.

* For the second time in just four days, I got a chance to see knuckleballer Charlie Haeger take the hill for the White Sox. Haeger pitched a pair of scoreless innings against the Rockies on Thursday, leading me to praise him for his 84-mph fastball. Maybe I should take that back -- Haeger fell behind the first hitter he faced today, Derrek Lee, and grooved a 3-1 fastball clocked at 82 miles per hour. Needless to say, Lee deposited that pitch over the left field wall for a home run.

* In the fifth inning, Paul Konerko hit an absolute bomb to left field off of John Webb -- a mammoth shot that cleared the bleachers beyond the wall and landed in the parking lot. It was Konerko's second home run of the day...and it could easily be the longest home run hit in Mesa all spring.

* Former Rangers prospect John Danks took over for the White Sox in the sixth inning. Danks, of course, came over to Chicago in the deal that sent Brandon McCarthy to the Rangers. Danks was hitting 92 mph on the radar gun with his fastball; he allowed a leadoff single in the sixth before retiring three straight hitters.

* Because the Twins-Red Sox game wasn't available on Directv, I fired up the MLB.TV and watched some of the Phillies-Yankees game from Clearwater. Neither Derek Jeter nor Alex Rodriguez made the road trip, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Jose Tabata -- the Yankees' #2 prospect, according to BA -- hitting cleanup for the Bombers.

* Tabata squared off against Cole Hamels in the first inning and bounced to third. Tabata finished one-for-four.

* Hamels looked very strong, allowing just two hits in three scoreless innings. Hamels seemed to have mid-season location on his pitches, and he threw a great fastball on the outside corner to get Johnny Damon looking in the third inning.

* For the Yankees, Carl Pavano got the start. Yes, you read that correctly -- Carl Pavano pitched in a game. Pavano was quoted after the game as saying he felt great and was happy with his performance, but I thought he looked rusty. Pavano allowed a hit and a walk in the first, and allowed a long single off the wall in right to Wes Helms in the third inning.

* Finally -- since there wasn't much else of interest on the field during this game -- I will say that it was a bit strange listening to Gary Matthews in the Phillies' broadcast booth. Matthews, of course, has been an analyst before (with Milwaukee, I believe) but his voice will take some getting used to this season...

* Three televised games on the schedule for tomorrow -- assuming Directv cooperates -- so I'll have some observations tomorrow evening...

Another year, another analyst

Today marked the debut of the new Washington Nationals broadcast team on MASN, as Don Sutton made his debut alongside Bob Carpenter.

This makes three color analysts (Ron Darling and Tom Paciorek came before Sutton) and two play-by-play men (Mel Proctor handled the duties in 2005) in three seasons for the Nationals.

Don't get me wrong: I think Sutton is strong and he'll form a solid team with Carpenter. But at some point a little continuity might be in order for the fans' sake...

Now on to some observations from today's telecasts...

* Washington starter (likely the only Nats' starting pitcher you can name) looked good in his first two innings of work this spring. He allowed three hits in the first inning, but he kept the Orioles' hitters off balance; those three hits weren't exactly hit hard. In the second inning, Patterson looked especially strong...and that's a good sign considering his injury troubles in 2006.

* New Orioles' outfielder Jay Payton went the opposite way for an RBI single in the first and then grounded up the middle for another RBI single in the third. In his next at-bat, Payton flew out to left -- proving that he could, in fact, hit the ball in three different directions in three straight at-bats.

* Joel Hanrahan took over for Patterson in the third, but he'd have been better off had he not shown up at the ballpark. Hanrahan looked terrible, allowing three hits, three walks and five earned runs while retiring just one batter.

* Baltimore right fielder Nick Markakis looks like he wants to put any talk of a sophomore jinx to bed immediately -- he went 3-for-4 with two singles and a double; he still looks like a star in the making to me.

* Nats' third base prospect Kory Casto had a single up the middle off of lefthander John Parrish in the eighth. I've seen Casto play in the minors a few times and he still has that good-looking swing I remember. Only problem is...there's a fellow named Zimmerman blocking his path in Washington.

* Directv screwed up again today, causing out-of-market fans to miss the first three innings of the Phillies-Red Sox game. So I got to see none of Tim Wakefield's outing. Directv does this every spring; they incorrectly make spring games unavailable...then they realize their mistake an hour or so into the broadcast. It's incredibly frustrating, and their customer service department provides absolutely zero assistance.

* From what I did see, however, Jonathan Papelbon was very impressive. His fastball looked strong, and he used it to strike out Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Aaron Rowand and the immortal Greg Dobbs in his two perfect innings.

* Joel Pineiro isn't having the kind of spring that will help him win the Red Sox closer's job. Pineiro came on in the fifth for Boston and -- with a runner on first -- left an 0-2 pitch to the aforementioned Dobbs right in the middle of the plate. Dobbs smacked it over the right field wall for a two-run homer.

* Pineiro was lifted after allowing four hits, four earned runs and two walks in just 1 1/3 innings. Not good.

* Even though it's only spring training, Mike Lowell still murders the Phillies. Lowell went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer in the fifth.

* It looks like tomorrow will bring us telecasts of the Red Sox-Twins game from Fort Myers as well as the Cubs and White Sox from Arizona. I'll see you after tomorrow's games...

Daisuke Goes to College

There was only one full spring training game televised today (and that was rather uneventful) to go along with the NESN coverage of Daisuke Matsuzaka's start against Boston College.

Let's get right to what we learned...

* Atlanta starter John Smoltz was snapping off some mid-season curveballs in the first inning and making the Pirates' hitters look foolish. In the second, Smoltz threw a first-pitch knuckleball to good friend and former teammate Adam LaRoche...but I don't think Tim Wakefield has anything to worry about. Smoltz's knuckleball didn't look like the kind of pitch you'll see in the regular season.

* In the fifth inning, Bob Wickman came on to pitch for the Braves. I don't want to sound rude here, but I actually started to wonder if ESPN was showing a replay of a game from the mid-'80s with Terry Forster on the mound. Wickman is not quite as wide as Forster at this point...but he's getting close.

* Braves right fielder Jeff Francouer got a fat fastball from Pirates prospect Franquelis Osoria in the bottom of the fifth and crushed it over the left field fence.

* Former Pirate Mike Gonzalez pitched the sixth for Atlanta, and he didn't look good. Gonzalez walked the first hitter and then allowed a wind-blown home run to Brad Eldred before settling down.

* In the seventh, Pirates shortstop Brian Bixler (the team's #8 prospect, according to Baseball America) crushed a high fastball from Oscar Villareal. There's no doubt the home run was wind-aided, but still...it cleared the fence with plenty to spare.

* Josh Sharpless, Pittsburgh's #6 prospect according to BA, pitched the eighth inning but doesn't look overly impressive. His fastball topped out at 90 mph and he doesn't appear to have anything more than an average breaking ball.

* Aside from the few highlights listed above, today's game between the Pirates and Braves was one of the more uneventful spring games you'll see -- very few top prospects and nothing noteworthy from any superstars.

* NESN provided live coverage of Daisuke Matsuzaka's first start in a Red Sox uniform, although they cut away from the game after Matsuzaka departed.

* Daisuke's first pitch was a 91 mph fastball that was slapped the opposite way for a double by the B.C. leadoff hitter. That, however, would be the last hit Matsuzaka would allow.

* Matsuzaka finished up the first inning strong -- striking out the last two hitters to strand a runner at third.

* As for Matsuzaka's stuff, his fastball topped out at 92 mph on the NESN gun, and he displayed a sharp, downward-breaking curveball. He also threw at least one slider and may have even mixed in a changeup (although I didn't notice one.)

* In the second, Matsuzaka was perfect...and then his night was over. He certainly benefited from two "generous" (according to one B.C. player interviewed in-game) third strike calls during this outing. All in all, Matsuzaka threw 25 pitches (19 strikes), struck out three and allowed just one hit.

* Tomorrow (Saturday) looks like a much better day, with three games available via satellite and one more via MLB.TV. I'll post items of note from those games tomorrow evening.

* Before I wrap up today's entry, though, I wanted to comment on the news reports suggesting that the MLB Extra Innnings deal with Directv may soon be announced. A story hit the wires earlier tonight about a letter sent by Directv to the FCC in response to their inquiry. What's interesting about this is the fact that Directv spelled out some of the improvements to the E.I. package, which include more games in hi-def and a channel that features live cut-ins to games (similar to the NFL's "Red Zone" channel.) Now if only they could figure out a way to include Phillies, Padres and Blue Jays games in the package on a regular basis...