MVN - Most Valuable Network

To pass a winter’s day

I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but it is pretty damn cold here today. Heaters can only do so much. So, in an effort to keep my thoughts trained on warmer, sunnier days to come, here are a few articles to keep your mind on the Diamondbacks and the season ahead:

-The MLB Source is naming five players they expect to have a breakout season in 2008, and their #2 candidate: Stephen Drew.
-For those of you living in (or planning to visit) warmer climes in March, Diamondbacks Spring Training tickets go on sale Saturday. Notably, those games include a showdown with the Dodgers, who will be playing 6 games against the Cactus League, before they move to Glendale next year, along with the Indians and Possibly the Reds. While I’m glad to see more games in Arizona, Spring Training in Florida seems traditional for some of these teams. I’ll be sad to know that Vero Beach isn’t seeing the Dodgers in 2009.
-Micah Owings was honored at his high school recently, where they retired his number. It’s kind of amusing to look at the numbers Owings had in high school: .446 batting average, and 69 home runs. So I think we all know he can do better than a paltry .333 he put up last season- maybe it was an off-year for him.
-KFFL.com has a list of big-name players in the final year of their contracts this season. Orlando Hudson and Randy Johnson are the only D-backs on the list, but you might see a few names that you can imagine being the subject of a big free agent signing by Arizona next December.
-The Sidewinders are moving to Reno next year, but does that mean the Diamondbacks farm team will be? The contract between the Diamondbacks and the Sidewinders runs out at the same time, so there’s a chance another team might decide they want a new AAA affiliate and jump in.
-MLBTradeRumors.com mentions that the Rockies are having problems coming to an agreement with Matt Holiday. Holliday’s under contract until the end of 2009, so it’s a little early to think much about it now, but it’d be nice to see one more weapon out of our division rival’s arsenal. Or them over-paying another Boras client, and having less cash for other players.
-The Diamondbacks are running their Fantasy Camp down in Tucson this week, and Steve Gilbert is taking part and writing about it: Day One and Day Two are up. Some nice stories about some of the fans who are involved (enrolled?) this year.

Well, not much, but hopefully enough to make you stop thinking about snow, and start thinking about grabbing nachos between innings as you revel in how great it is to watch baseball in an air conditioned stadium. Only 31 days until pitchers and catchers report!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.