Apr 13, 2010 10:21 AM EST
Each AL team is represented below, marked by a not-so-subtle nod to the general managers we focus so much of our site's attention towards and our namesake.
The Brian Cashman
? Harvey Araton of the New York Times: "Like the core Yankees, Brian Cashman, the general manager, will get his fifth ring Tuesday. He does wear one, but only for baseball occasions. ?Dinners, charity events, things like that,? Cashman said. About 20 nights a year, he will unlock the safe and reach inside for his 2000 ring. Rivera described that ring as the most ostentatious of the previous three, but that is not what makes it Cashman?s choice. ?We had to turn that team around in-season, a great deal of roster management,? he said. ?We also had a lot at stake that year with the planning of the YES Network, and then there was the Mets in the Series. If we had lost, George would have been pretty loud.? "
The Theo Epstein
? Amalie Benjamin: "The baseballs weren?t coming out of (Jon) Lester?s hand well, either. They were heading toward all sorts of unlikely locations, his command nearly nonexistent. And his April struggles continued. The month has become a black mark on a lefthander with otherwise otherworldly stuff. Including yesterday?s outing, Lester has a 5.08 career ERA in March and April. His career ERA the rest of the year? It?s 3.50. ?I don?t think April has anything to do with it,?? Lester said after the opener of the Twins? gem of a new park. ?Today I just stunk. Didn?t make pitches. I don?t really know what else to say.?? In a whopping 107 pitches, Lester threw just 59 strikes, sprinkling three walks among the nine hits he allowed, though he struck out five. And then there was the bad luck. For example, the infield single by Joe Mauer in the fourth inning, when the ball missed Lester?s glove, hit the second base bag, and missed Marco Scutaro?s glove. It scored a runner from third."
The Alex Anthopoulos
? Robert MacLeod of the Globe and Mail: "The players were certainly looking forward to showing to a large gathering pumped up for opening day that their early strong showing is nothing to be sneered at. ?We don?t see 50,000 here at SkyDome very often,? Jason Frasor, the newly-minted closer, said before the game, referring to Rogers Centre by its old handle. ?That?s what makes it special. We?re playing good ball, that?s what makes it more fun. ?And I think we?re all looking forward to seeing this place packed and trying to continue this little hot streak we?re on.? These kind of 40,000-plus gatherings used to be commonplace for the American League club back in the early 1990s when the Blue Jays were building toward their two World Series titles in ?92 and ?93. Last season Toronto only averaged 23,162 per game and the organization realizes it might be a struggle to even approach those modest totals this year."
The Mike Flanagan
? Stacey of Camden Chat: "Jeremy Guthrie had a pretty good outing. I'll take 7 innings and 3 runs any day, especially with no walks. Felix Pie hit a leadoff home run and added a single and walk, and he threw a guy out at the plate. That's pretty much it for the good."
The Andrew Friedman
? Marc Tomplin of the St. Petersburg Times: "Matt Garza overcame another shaky beginning to post a second strong eight-inning start and improve to 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA. And Carl Crawford had a huge night, going 4-for-4, including a double that sparked the go-ahead rally and a home run, and making another spectacular diving catch.. Garza sputtered a bit early ? allowing a homer to Felix Pie on his second pitch of the night, a pair of singles in the second, a couple of walks in the third ? then started attacking. He retired the next 11 and allowed just two singles and a walk while getting through eight with 103 pitches.
"Seeing what my defense does and the way they play, there's no reason to be nibbling," he said."
The Dave Dombrowski
? Mike McClary of the Daily Fungo: "The Tigers were in this one until Miguel Cabrera dropped a two-out popup in foul territory giving Jose Guillen the chance to hammer a three-run two-run homer. Max Scherzer allowed five runs in as many innings but only two were earned."
The Mark Shapiro
? Sheldon Ocker of the Beacon Journal: "Triple-A Columbus catcher Carlos Santana has been named Batter of the Week in the International League for batting .438 with four home runs, eight RBI, two doubles and a 1.313 slugging percentage."
The Bill Smith
? Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune: "It looked like the day might end without a home run, but (Jason) Kubel took care of that in the seventh inning, when he drilled a pitch from Red Sox reliever Scott Atchison into the right field seats. "I told [Justin] Morneau and Cuddy before the game, you guys better do it before I get up there," Kubel said. "And I gave them a couple at-bats, and now I'm thrilled that I did it. It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life." "
The Kenny Williams
? South Side Sox: "Jake Peavy wasn't sharp for the second straight start, and it might be time to start getting worried about his longer term effectiveness; not because of two straight sub-par starts, but because his fastball velocity is down. I wasn't expecting the guy who sat at 94 MPH from his Cy Young year, but I did expect a guy who would have a?max velocity?greater than that of Freddy Garcia. I'm not panicked yet, but I've got the antacid on hand for his next start."
The Dayton Moore
? Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star: "Remember the Royals? off-season priority to add speed to their lineup? Early returns couldn?t be more encouraging: They entered the week leading the majors with 10 steals and have yet to be thrown out."
The Billy Beane
? Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Two starts into the season, Justin Duchscherer has regained his All-Star form, and with some strong pitching and a grab bag of scrappy low-profile players, the A's are continuing to tear through the AL West to start the 2010 season.. Duchscherer missed the last six weeks of the 2008 season with a hip injury, then last season with an elbow injury and then treatment for clinical depression. Monday was his first victory since July 8, 2008, also against Seattle.. uchscherer said he established his fastball early, which he didn't do last time out, and that enabled him to use his off-speed stuff later. He said he believes he still can add a bit of velocity, too, maybe up to 88 mph. A's manager Bob Geren pointed to Duchscherer's location, hitting the corners with everything, for his excellence."
The Jack Zduriencik
? Dave Cameron of USS Mariner: "I?ll probably talk about this more in the next day or two, but I?m officially ready to be done with the Bradley-as-LF experiment. He?s not running around with a piano on his back like Raul was, but he?s not exactly fast, he doesn?t take great routes, and the effort level leaves too much to be desired. You could probably live with the miscues if the M?s had a lumbering slugger at DH, but they don?t ? they have the worst DH combination in baseball. At this point, the logical move is to move Milton to DH full time and find a new left fielder, as there?s no point in having a left fielder who can?t field and a designated hitter who can?t hit. The longer the team stalls on making that decision, the fewer games they?ll win this season."
The Tony Reagins
? Doug Padilla of the Los Angeles Daily News: "Howie Kendrick feasts on Yankees pitching, and when he takes his hacks at Yankee Stadium over the next three days he will do so as an even more mature player. It was a trying time in 2009 for Kendrick, whose early-season struggles were so pronounced he was sent back to the minor leagues for a spell.. He was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake on June 13 last year, struggling with a .231 batting average. With Torii Hunter in the locker next to him, letting him know the move could turn into a good thing, Kendrick stayed positive. Kendrick returned less than a month later a different player. Even though he still had to split time at second base with Maicer Izturis, Kendrick kept his focus. His .351 batting average from July 4 until the end of the season was second best in the American League over that stretch. By the end of the year he had raised his batting average to .291.. Through the first week of the season, Kendrick has started hot with a .320 batting average. He has just two walks, but only has three strikeouts in 25 at-bats. Next up is a Yankees team that can't figure out what to do with Kendrick. His .426 batting average against the Yankees is his best against any American League team. He has a .409 batting average at old Yankee Stadium and a .357 mark in four games at the new park, good for an overall batting average in the Bronx of .359. The biggest sign of respect the Yankees have shown Kendrick are the 12 walks they have given him in 29 games."
The Jon Daniels
? Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram: "(Nelson)Cruz went deep for the fifth time in seven games this season, launching a sinker from former Rangers reliever Jamey Wright into the standing-room area in the left-field corner. At game's end, Cruz held the league lead in homers, RBIs (11), slugging percentage (1.250) and was third in batting average (.458). Remarkably, he said his shoulders aren't tired from carrying the team. "The group of guys here can carry the team," Cruz said. "It's my time, but everybody is doing their job. We have great pitching and great defense, too."
Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. Click here to follow his Twitter feed.
Via Christopher Reina/RealGM
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