Cactus League Opener Eve

Hey guys, short post tonight.

BA top 100 prospect list came out today as everyone already knows.  I'll probably comment further in the future, but in case you didn't read it elsewhere, 3 royals were in top 100, including Mike Moustakas at 13.  Also in top 100 are Hosmer at 25 and Dan Cortes at 90.  I'll go into better detail probably tomorrow or Thursday, but Cortes is probably a little high.  Also, from what I've read Melville and Duffy barely missed the list and landed in the top 100-125 somewhere.

Another piece of news that came out today was the lineup for the cactus league opener tomorrow.  The Rangers decided Anna Benson's husband was going to start, so Hillman saw it fit to tweak his lineup.  Anyway, here it is:

Coco Crisp - CF

Mike Aviles - SS

David DeJesus - LF

Mike Jacobs - DH

Billy Butler - 1B

Alex Gordon - 3B

Mark Teahen - 2B

Miguel Olivo - C

Willie Bloomquist - RF

Obviously this is a very similar lineup to opening day, with the exception of Bloomquist for the injured Jose Guillen in right.  One thing I was wondering about today is who is going to get the majority of time at SS once Mike Aviles leaves for the WBC on Sunday.  One would think it would be Bloomquist, but I'm afraid it will be TPJ.  Ugh.  I really like the lineup like this, except for Jose in RF and further up the order.  The more I read about Coco and the more I look at his stats the more excited I get about him.  Add in the fact that he hustles and loves the game and he is quickly turning into my 2nd favorite player.  A Mark Teahen sidekick, of sorts.

The pitching should look something like this:

Horacio Ramirez

Brandon Duckworth
Lenny DiNardo

Henry Barrera

Yasuhiko Yabuta

As I stated previously I think it's good that Horacio is starting, as it will give us the most opportunity to see if he is qualified for the rotation.  I am also very excited to see Lenny DiNardo pitch.  I'm really pulling for him to make the club possibly as a long reliever out of the pen.  Henry is really the only prospect who will pitch, so of course I'll have to pay attention to him.

Well, as I said, short post tonight.  I'll continue the look at our 40 man tomorrow probably, along with a breakdown of the game.  Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you wish.