Mar 4, 2009

2009 Spring Training underway; WBC Roster announced

Alright, things are ramping up for the 2009 season, teams are playing again, roster battles are underway and Topps and Upper Deck are battling it out to see who can have the worst gimmick. It's an exciting time.

After much thought, I am going to try and post a lot again this season. I have started a new job this year and am working a lot longer hours. So that makes it tough, but I will try and post at least once a week. I also want to get more into the card side of things - something I didn't really do last year.

The rosters for the World Baseball Classic have been announced, with games set to commence in a couple of weeks. Both Grant Balfour and Ryan Rowland-Smith opted out of the WBC, which is not really a surprise. Balf is a genuine contender in the Rays bullpen this year, and RRS is battling it out to make the Mariners' rotation for opening day. It seemed that RRS was genuinely tossing up about playing the WBC, but in the end he chose to give Spring Training his full attention. I think this is a smart move. No matter what happens this time round, he should be in a good place to play the WBC next time. It makes sense for him to capitalise on the success he had at the end of 2008 and really stake a claim for the Seattle rotation.

There are stacks of Aussies in and about Spring Training. We have:
  • Pete Moylan and Phil Stockman at the Braves: with Moylan looking real good, and possibly set for an early return after his surgery last year. The two Aussies met up with Marcus Ambrose at the Nascar Daytona 500, which sounded like a hoot.
  • Ryan Rowland-Smith with the Mariners
  • Trent Oeltjen has backed up with the Diamondbacks again this year, and Travis Blackley has also signed with them. With some injuries to some of Arizona's regular bullpen arms, Blackley is apparently a bit of a good shot - although it seems he may have done himself no favours by showing up late one day
  • Luke Hughes is back with the Twins, although his chances of cracking the bigs at third base were dealt a blow when they signed Joe Crede recently - although Luke will be looking to repeat his 2008 successes. Justin Huber will join him in the Twins organisation after the WBC, after signing a minor leauge contract
  • Brad Harman is on the roster for the Phillies spring training, and
  • Rich Thompson is back in action for the Angels, and
  • of course Grant Balfour is back with the Rays.

So that makes TEN Aussies in or about the mix at this time of the year. That's good stuff. And there were truckloads of Aussies in the minors last year, so there seems to be a steady supply of young Aussies headed to the show. There were some awesome results last year, and hopefully 2009 can offer some more great stories.

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