Break Up the Baysox: An Introduction
spring breeze
the green field
tempts me to play catch
-Masaoka Shiki
Pitchers and Catchers is one of my favorite days of the year. Even after all of the losing, and the poor management, and the Angelos ownership, and the steroids, and whatever horrible secrets players have in their closets, and disturbing Yankee signings – nothing rejuvenates me like Pitchers and Catchers. It’s the start of Spring, and a new season, that is very encouraging indeed.
Here at The Loss Column, something new is starting, too. For so long we’ve talked about our hope resting in the farm system. Andy MacPhail has preached that the Orioles need to build “from the ground up”, and we’ve all agreed. But what do we really know about the rebuiliding process? We have this vague notion that the farm system is strong, and help is on the way, but we don’t really know very much about our minor leaguers. We don’t talk about them regularly. We don’t follow their progress nearly closely enough. But that changes today.
I’m pleased to introduce “Break up the Baysox”, a new recurring column here at The Loss Column. Here is where we’ll talk Minor League ball. Throughout Spring Training, I’ll be previewing several of our top prospects, letting you know more about the big guys like Jake Arrieta, but also shedding some light on the lesser guys you might not know too much about like Wilfredo Perez.
When the season begins, we’ll keep following the games on a weekly basis, right through the Arizona Fall League. We’ll do a greater focus on the draft than we’ve seen here previously. In short, we’re going to put the Minor Leagues closer to front and center.
I’m excited, and I know Neal is, too. I’ve long had a soft spot for Minor League Baseball, and anyone who’s sat in Prince George’s County Stadium will understand this feeling. It’s my hope that this column becomes as integral to the site as anything else, so keep the feedback coming my way, good, bad, and otherwise.
By the way, just so nobody missed it: this post is by Andrew, not me. He approached me with the idea of devoting more space to the minor leagues and prospects, and he wanted to head it up. The decision to say “yes” was kind of a no-brainer from there.
And just so you know, one of the conditions I placed on Andrew’s involvement was that he continue to be a regular commenter.
So join me in welcoming him to the main page. I’m looking forward to reading his stuff.
Hey, I’ll respond to Dan in the previous thread: if Arrieta (who didn’t see Bowie last year) or Tillman or Matusz gets a serious look in Spring Training, someone should be getting fired…
don’t…rush…prospects.
Anyway, I’m happy to be here contributing in a useful way. I guess if anyone wants any “deep cut” looks at prospects, let me know and I’ll see if I can sneak in anybody. No promises though.
Sorry for this unrelated comment but I believe your blog has spam links that have been inserted into it without your consent or knowledge. I’ve found this problem with WordPress blogs hosted on Dreamhost.
More info:
http://boxofjack.com/articles/2009/02/09/spam-links-injected-into-wordpress-27/
Cool. I’m looking forward to this (the minor league coverage, not the spam links that may or may not be inserted without your consent).
Thanks a million, Jack. Problem has been corrected but please let me know if you notice any other weirdness.
Which goes for everyone else, as well. Thanks for your help.
That’s an odd name for a headline. Break up the Baysox?
Is this going to be strictly Baysox related? Either way, reading about minor league Orioles is always exciting and interesting.
Grats on the column. Looking forward to it.
Yeah, just so we’re clear: that spam link problem wouldn’t have affected any of you. It wasn’t a virus or malware situation, just someone hijacking one of the files to distribute links. Ugly bullshit on my end, but pretty much a non-issue for you guys. I took all the necessary steps to secure it, and unless something new pops up it was nothing more than a blip on the radar.
Dan: No. Everything gets covered. Its just a name, which I like (I’m a sucker for all things alliterated)
This is cool and I’m looking forward to it – but I’m confused. Did Andrew drop the “in Rochester” like Prince or something? Or this is a different guy?