RealGM Wiretap
Each NL 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 Sabean
? Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News: "Zito appreciated all the support in his 100th start as a Giant. Although he had to battle in four of his first six innings and didn't retire a batter in the seventh, he improved to 2-0 for just the second time in his 11 seasons. "I'm definitely not happy with how I threw the ball," said Zito, who moved his locker to the other side of the clubhouse and is determined to shake off his first-half doldrums. "My goal is to bring that second-half guy into the first half." The Giants have supported Zito with four runs or more in 26 of his 100 starts. He is 21-2 in those outings." The Ned Colletti
? Mike Waldner of the Daily Breeze: "Their start could be an early signal that the club, winner of the past two National League West pennants, is in trouble this season because the player payroll has been slashed. The Dodgers deny this contention, insisting Ned Colletti, their general manager, had the green light to spend the money required to sustain a championship team. At the risk of being rude, it is necessary to say this is not true. USA Today tells us the payroll is $95,368,016. That's down from $100,414,592 in 2009. That was down from $118,588,536 in 2008. That's not half the $206,333,369 the Yankees have committed to winning this season. That's not even as much as the $104,963,566 the Angels, who do not match the Dodgers' revenue streams, are paying their players." The Dan O'Dowd
? Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post: "Ask (Ian Stewart) what he wants to improve on after last year's .228, 25-homer, 70-RBI season, and he doesn't have any numbers in mind. Well, other than one: 138. That was his strikeout total in 425 at-bats. "There are a lot of areas where I can improve, but cutting down on my strikeouts would be big," said Stewart, who last week turned 25. "Taking that walk instead of swinging at a ball outside the strike zone. When you take walks and swing at better pitches and put the ball in play more, your average is going to go up." His experiences are typical of a young power hitter. He isn't the first major-leaguer to work with his hitting coach ? in Stewart's case, Don Baylor ? to shorten his swing. But it's more than that. Like countless other big-leaguers whose raw talent enabled them to dominate lesser competition, he has had to adjust to life with two strikes at the major-league level." The Josh Byrnes
? Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic: "have made several spectacular defensive stops in a year when their manager demanded better glove work all around. It's a trend A.J. Hinch hopes continues this week during the Diamondbacks' first road trip, which begins Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers and continues Friday at San Diego. "It's been clean. We've played pretty good baseball," Hinch said. "Actually, I'd like for our defense not to be noticed. That would be a good thing." .. The Diamondbacks bumbled and stumbled their way to 124 errors in 2009, the second most in franchise history and the second most in the National League. Before the season was over, Hinch had his players regularly taking extra fielding practice before games. And when they reported to spring training, the extra work was waiting for them again.. The Diamondbacks tied with the Mets and Phillies for the fewest errors (22) among National League clubs in spring training. Their .990 fielding percentage entering the week ranked second in the league." The Jed Hoyer
? Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "In the course of his marathon career as a major league hitter, 42-year-old Matt Stairs has been in the same lineup as a few cleanup hitters of note. Mark McGwire. Jose Canseco. Mo Vaughn. Sammy Sosa. Richie Sexson. Ryan Howard. Stairs may ? let us emphasize, may ? be seeing another in the making. In person. ?Potentially, yes, but it?s wayyy too soon to be pinning that on Blanksie,? said Stairs, referring to young teammate Kyle Blanks. ?But, yes, he looks the part of what you want in a No. 4 hitter, the size and the raw power that can change a game. Plus, he has great speed for a big man. ?The biggest thing is just to not put too much pressure on him. The potential is definitely there, but it?s really unfair to him to put him in that category yet.? " The Doug Melvin
? Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel: "When?Brewers manager Doug Melvin brought left-hander Doug Davis back to the club as a free agent over the winter, he noted that Davis ?is going to have some ugly games from time to time.? Davis is 2-for-2 in that category, which he figures is enough to last him for awhile. ?It?s going to take a couple of good quality starts to make up for these two,? Davis said Monday after getting cuffed around for seven hits and six runs in 3 1/3 innings in a 9-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Then, referring to manager Ken Macha, Davis added, ?I?m not making Macha?s job very easy. Hopefully, he?ll back me until he can?t any more. That?s all I can ask of a manager.? Two starts do not a season make for a pitcher but Davis realizes the early returns on his second go-round with Milwaukee have not been good. In only 7 1/3 innings, he has surrendered 13 hits and 10 runs (12.27 ERA), with five walks and eight strikeouts." The Jim Hendry
? Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune: "The Cubs appear to be a one-dimensional flashback to the days of Sammy Sosa ? all power and no speed. Nineteen of their 27 runs have come on 11 home runs." The John Mozeliak
? Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch: "In his second consecutive home-opening start, St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright pitched like it was 2009. The Cy Young Award finalist who had a 2.05 ERA at Busch Stadium last year, threw eight shutout innings against Houston and collected his second win of the season.. Wainwright struck out seven and allowed six hits. Two of his strikeouts were on biting sliders that baffled Houston cleanup hitter Carlos Lee. The only runner to get to third base on Wainwright was leadoff hitter Michael Bourn who had to tag up on a flyball to reach third in the first inning. Wainwright retired the final nine batters and 12 of the final 14 batters he faced." The Walt Jocketty
? Mark Sheldon of MLB.com: "Reds starter Johnny Cueto had an erratic evening as he pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs on nine hits with one walk and two strikeouts. A particularly rough 33-pitch bottom of the third spiked Cueto's pitch count and he finished with 110." The Ed Wade
? Austin Swafford of Astros 290: "Brad Mills continues to refuse to start Chris Johnson.? Seven games, two starts.? And it?s not exactly like Geoff Blum is tearing it up.? Blum went 1-for-4 to raise his batting average to .190.? Yes, going 1-for-4 actually increased his batting average.? It?s an understatement to say that?s not good. And, yet, it?s pretty emblematic of how the heart of the Astros order has been hitting through the first seven games.? Houston?s 3-4-5 hitters are batting .143 (12-for-84) with 15 strikeouts and just one walk.? They are hitless in 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position.? The middle three are hitting like you?d expect the bottom three to hit, and one of those is a pitcher." The Neal Huntington
? Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Except for Zach Duke and the back of the bullpen, the pitching has been abysmal, with a team ERA of 7.82 and 31 walks in 61 innings. Only twice has the starter lasted six innings. How imperative is it to get some quality starts soon? Manager John Russell laughed softly at the question. "It's pretty imperative," he replied. "That's three of the last four games where we've really taxed the bullpen. We need to settle down and start being more consistent." " The Frank Wren
? David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "It was that kind of day for the Braves' Jair Jurrjens and Jo-Jo Reyes, who got rocked in a 10-run fourth inning that sent the San Diego Padres to a startling 17-2 win in Monday's series opener at ?Petco Park. "Today was just a bad day;I was horrible," said Jurrjens, charged with eight runs and eight hits in 3-1/3 innings, the worst start of his young career. "Everything I threw up there was like a ?hit-me' ball, I guess ? it was big, and everything was up. They're professional hitters, a professional team, and they're going to make me pay if I keep making mistakes like that." Said manager Bobby Cox, "That's the worst game I've ever seen him pitch." Reyes was even worse statistically, allowing nine runs, 10 hits and three walks in 3-1/3 innings in his first game of the season." The Omar Minaya
? Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News: "The Mets have stumbled in situational hitting. They are 10-for-53 (.189) with runners in scoring position. They are hitting .233 as a team with a .319 on-base percentage and a .369 slugging percentage and have outscored opponents, 27-22." The Ruben Amaro
? The Good Phight: "There?s a third Phillies factor to consider, though: the potential weirdness of having Halladay and Lee in the same rotation, with the new guy inked to a long-term deal while the 2009 post-season hero was almost certainly ticketed for free agency after 2010. Unless oil was discovered under the minor-league fields in Clearwater, the Phils couldn?t have afforded both Halladay and Lee for the long term?even if Lee took a deal as far below his likely open market value as Halladay did. Maybe he would have shrugged it off and turned in another season like his 2008-2009 work; maybe he wouldn?t have. How all this?dealing Hamels, extending Halladay, treating Lee like a mercenary?would have played in the clubhouse is tantalizing question we can?t answer." The Larry Beinfest
? Aiden Gonzalez: "Chris Coghlan's batting average through the first six games sits at .185, but the left fielder refuses to make any excuses. And sure, 29 plate appearances may be too small of a sample to even begin to raise questions about his production. But Coghlan welcomes it. "I'm glad that people expect high things out of me," Coghlan said prior to Monday's series opener against the Reds at Sun Life Stadium. "I do, too. And so, for me, it's the same thing. It's just the first six games. And I'm not worried. I do want to perform, and I know it's going to be there. It's just a matter of time." The Mike Rizzo
? Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post: "The Nationals staff has thrown 32 1/3 innings, fewest in the majors despite five teams having played just six games." Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. Click here to follow his Twitter feed.
? Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News: "Zito appreciated all the support in his 100th start as a Giant. Although he had to battle in four of his first six innings and didn't retire a batter in the seventh, he improved to 2-0 for just the second time in his 11 seasons. "I'm definitely not happy with how I threw the ball," said Zito, who moved his locker to the other side of the clubhouse and is determined to shake off his first-half doldrums. "My goal is to bring that second-half guy into the first half." The Giants have supported Zito with four runs or more in 26 of his 100 starts. He is 21-2 in those outings." The Ned Colletti
? Mike Waldner of the Daily Breeze: "Their start could be an early signal that the club, winner of the past two National League West pennants, is in trouble this season because the player payroll has been slashed. The Dodgers deny this contention, insisting Ned Colletti, their general manager, had the green light to spend the money required to sustain a championship team. At the risk of being rude, it is necessary to say this is not true. USA Today tells us the payroll is $95,368,016. That's down from $100,414,592 in 2009. That was down from $118,588,536 in 2008. That's not half the $206,333,369 the Yankees have committed to winning this season. That's not even as much as the $104,963,566 the Angels, who do not match the Dodgers' revenue streams, are paying their players." The Dan O'Dowd
? Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post: "Ask (Ian Stewart) what he wants to improve on after last year's .228, 25-homer, 70-RBI season, and he doesn't have any numbers in mind. Well, other than one: 138. That was his strikeout total in 425 at-bats. "There are a lot of areas where I can improve, but cutting down on my strikeouts would be big," said Stewart, who last week turned 25. "Taking that walk instead of swinging at a ball outside the strike zone. When you take walks and swing at better pitches and put the ball in play more, your average is going to go up." His experiences are typical of a young power hitter. He isn't the first major-leaguer to work with his hitting coach ? in Stewart's case, Don Baylor ? to shorten his swing. But it's more than that. Like countless other big-leaguers whose raw talent enabled them to dominate lesser competition, he has had to adjust to life with two strikes at the major-league level." The Josh Byrnes
? Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic: "have made several spectacular defensive stops in a year when their manager demanded better glove work all around. It's a trend A.J. Hinch hopes continues this week during the Diamondbacks' first road trip, which begins Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers and continues Friday at San Diego. "It's been clean. We've played pretty good baseball," Hinch said. "Actually, I'd like for our defense not to be noticed. That would be a good thing." .. The Diamondbacks bumbled and stumbled their way to 124 errors in 2009, the second most in franchise history and the second most in the National League. Before the season was over, Hinch had his players regularly taking extra fielding practice before games. And when they reported to spring training, the extra work was waiting for them again.. The Diamondbacks tied with the Mets and Phillies for the fewest errors (22) among National League clubs in spring training. Their .990 fielding percentage entering the week ranked second in the league." The Jed Hoyer
? Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "In the course of his marathon career as a major league hitter, 42-year-old Matt Stairs has been in the same lineup as a few cleanup hitters of note. Mark McGwire. Jose Canseco. Mo Vaughn. Sammy Sosa. Richie Sexson. Ryan Howard. Stairs may ? let us emphasize, may ? be seeing another in the making. In person. ?Potentially, yes, but it?s wayyy too soon to be pinning that on Blanksie,? said Stairs, referring to young teammate Kyle Blanks. ?But, yes, he looks the part of what you want in a No. 4 hitter, the size and the raw power that can change a game. Plus, he has great speed for a big man. ?The biggest thing is just to not put too much pressure on him. The potential is definitely there, but it?s really unfair to him to put him in that category yet.? " The Doug Melvin
? Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel: "When?Brewers manager Doug Melvin brought left-hander Doug Davis back to the club as a free agent over the winter, he noted that Davis ?is going to have some ugly games from time to time.? Davis is 2-for-2 in that category, which he figures is enough to last him for awhile. ?It?s going to take a couple of good quality starts to make up for these two,? Davis said Monday after getting cuffed around for seven hits and six runs in 3 1/3 innings in a 9-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Then, referring to manager Ken Macha, Davis added, ?I?m not making Macha?s job very easy. Hopefully, he?ll back me until he can?t any more. That?s all I can ask of a manager.? Two starts do not a season make for a pitcher but Davis realizes the early returns on his second go-round with Milwaukee have not been good. In only 7 1/3 innings, he has surrendered 13 hits and 10 runs (12.27 ERA), with five walks and eight strikeouts." The Jim Hendry
? Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune: "The Cubs appear to be a one-dimensional flashback to the days of Sammy Sosa ? all power and no speed. Nineteen of their 27 runs have come on 11 home runs." The John Mozeliak
? Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch: "In his second consecutive home-opening start, St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright pitched like it was 2009. The Cy Young Award finalist who had a 2.05 ERA at Busch Stadium last year, threw eight shutout innings against Houston and collected his second win of the season.. Wainwright struck out seven and allowed six hits. Two of his strikeouts were on biting sliders that baffled Houston cleanup hitter Carlos Lee. The only runner to get to third base on Wainwright was leadoff hitter Michael Bourn who had to tag up on a flyball to reach third in the first inning. Wainwright retired the final nine batters and 12 of the final 14 batters he faced." The Walt Jocketty
? Mark Sheldon of MLB.com: "Reds starter Johnny Cueto had an erratic evening as he pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs on nine hits with one walk and two strikeouts. A particularly rough 33-pitch bottom of the third spiked Cueto's pitch count and he finished with 110." The Ed Wade
? Austin Swafford of Astros 290: "Brad Mills continues to refuse to start Chris Johnson.? Seven games, two starts.? And it?s not exactly like Geoff Blum is tearing it up.? Blum went 1-for-4 to raise his batting average to .190.? Yes, going 1-for-4 actually increased his batting average.? It?s an understatement to say that?s not good. And, yet, it?s pretty emblematic of how the heart of the Astros order has been hitting through the first seven games.? Houston?s 3-4-5 hitters are batting .143 (12-for-84) with 15 strikeouts and just one walk.? They are hitless in 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position.? The middle three are hitting like you?d expect the bottom three to hit, and one of those is a pitcher." The Neal Huntington
? Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Except for Zach Duke and the back of the bullpen, the pitching has been abysmal, with a team ERA of 7.82 and 31 walks in 61 innings. Only twice has the starter lasted six innings. How imperative is it to get some quality starts soon? Manager John Russell laughed softly at the question. "It's pretty imperative," he replied. "That's three of the last four games where we've really taxed the bullpen. We need to settle down and start being more consistent." " The Frank Wren
? David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "It was that kind of day for the Braves' Jair Jurrjens and Jo-Jo Reyes, who got rocked in a 10-run fourth inning that sent the San Diego Padres to a startling 17-2 win in Monday's series opener at ?Petco Park. "Today was just a bad day;I was horrible," said Jurrjens, charged with eight runs and eight hits in 3-1/3 innings, the worst start of his young career. "Everything I threw up there was like a ?hit-me' ball, I guess ? it was big, and everything was up. They're professional hitters, a professional team, and they're going to make me pay if I keep making mistakes like that." Said manager Bobby Cox, "That's the worst game I've ever seen him pitch." Reyes was even worse statistically, allowing nine runs, 10 hits and three walks in 3-1/3 innings in his first game of the season." The Omar Minaya
? Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News: "The Mets have stumbled in situational hitting. They are 10-for-53 (.189) with runners in scoring position. They are hitting .233 as a team with a .319 on-base percentage and a .369 slugging percentage and have outscored opponents, 27-22." The Ruben Amaro
? The Good Phight: "There?s a third Phillies factor to consider, though: the potential weirdness of having Halladay and Lee in the same rotation, with the new guy inked to a long-term deal while the 2009 post-season hero was almost certainly ticketed for free agency after 2010. Unless oil was discovered under the minor-league fields in Clearwater, the Phils couldn?t have afforded both Halladay and Lee for the long term?even if Lee took a deal as far below his likely open market value as Halladay did. Maybe he would have shrugged it off and turned in another season like his 2008-2009 work; maybe he wouldn?t have. How all this?dealing Hamels, extending Halladay, treating Lee like a mercenary?would have played in the clubhouse is tantalizing question we can?t answer." The Larry Beinfest
? Aiden Gonzalez: "Chris Coghlan's batting average through the first six games sits at .185, but the left fielder refuses to make any excuses. And sure, 29 plate appearances may be too small of a sample to even begin to raise questions about his production. But Coghlan welcomes it. "I'm glad that people expect high things out of me," Coghlan said prior to Monday's series opener against the Reds at Sun Life Stadium. "I do, too. And so, for me, it's the same thing. It's just the first six games. And I'm not worried. I do want to perform, and I know it's going to be there. It's just a matter of time." The Mike Rizzo
? Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post: "The Nationals staff has thrown 32 1/3 innings, fewest in the majors despite five teams having played just six games." Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. Click here to follow his Twitter feed.