Article:1200th Baseball Notebook: Bonds: Man Without a Team

= 1200th Baseball Notebook:Bonds: Man Without a Team =

1200th Baseball Notebook

This post is the 1200th Baseball Notebook posted on Baseball Etcetera. The first post was in May of 2004 after David Pinto the owner of Baseball Musings website suggested I start posting online. Due to my present schedule I can only post during weekday mornings since I work 24 hours combined over Saturday and Sunday. This schedule is subject to change but for now it can save readers a visit to the site on weekends. Since installing a counter from sitemeter.com on May 20,2006 there have been 16,362 visitors to the site. Thank you to the readers who have read the posts since 2004 and I hope to continue the posts for years to come.

Barry "Balco" Bonds: Man Without a Team

There are less than two weeks left before the 2008 baseball season starts and so far Barry "Balco" Bonds is a man without a team. He has burned his bridges behind him and now no team wants him in their clubhouse with his performance enhancing drugs baggage not to mention the legal entanglements he finds himself in presently.

He probably could help a team offensively but no team is willing to endure the media circus that follows Bonds. Bonds is desperate to get his 3000th hit but no team apparently is interested in helping him achieve that goal so unless a team signs him soon he will finish 31st on the career hits list with 2935. The players above him on the list who never reached 3000 hits are Frank Robinson with 2943, Sam Crawford with 2961 and Sam Rice with 2987.

The San Francisco Giants are the worst team in the exhibition season with a 4-11 record but they would rather have a bad season than sign Bonds again. They finally tired of paying him exorbitant salaries like the $15 million they payed him last season.

Mets are looking for a leftfielder to replace Moises Alou but still aren't desperate enough to sign Bonds. With Bonds being another year slower and with no designated hitter rule in NL he would be forced to play in the field instead of sit on the bench like he would if signed by an AL team.

Time is running out on Bonds but I still wouldn't be surprised if some team signs him the last minute but hopefully the 2008 season will be played with Bonds watching the games on television in between court appearances.

Looking at Statistics Hitting

Angel Pagan a .255 lifetime hitter is leading in hits this spring with 18 and hitting .419. In second place is Brian Anderson who is a .216 lifetime hitter and hit .118 last season. Anderson has 16 hits and is hitting at a .381 clip.

Torii Hunter is leading all hitters this spring with a .571 batting average among players with at least 20 at bats. Aaron Hill is next with a .550 average.

Wladmir Balentien is tied with Jorge Cantu for the lead in doubles with 6 each. Balentien is a player to watch. He had 24 home runs and 84 runs batted for Tacoma in the Pacific Coast League then was called up to Mariners and had 2 hits in 3 at bats including a home run and drove in 4 runs. He has a shot at making the Mariners roster for opening day but may not be an everyday player.

Rafael Furcal leads all players in triples with 3.

Ivan Rodriguez hit two more home runs yesterday giving him the lead with 6 with teammate Carlos Guillen and Albert Pujols next with 4 each.

Chase Headley tied Josh Hamilton for the spring runs batted in lead with 11 each. Headley of the Padres is making a strong bid to make the team this season. He has a .414 on base percentage and a .840 slugging percentage while hitting .400.

Brian Anderson and Ivan Rodriguez lead the majors in total bases with 30 each with Nick Swisher next with 28.

Delwyn Young of Dodgers continues to lead in strikeouts with 13 in 29 at bats and is hitting .138.

Torii Hunter is leading players with at least 20 at bats in slugging percentage with a 1.238 mark.

Nick Swisher leads in extra base hits with 9 while Wladimir Balentien, Torii Hunter and Ivan Rodriguez are in second place with 8 each.

Pitching

Jered Weaver still leads in wins with 3 and 17 pitchers are second with 2 wins each.

Barry Zito leads in losses with 3 with 13 pitchers having 2 losses each. The Phillies have three pitchers with 2 losses in J.D. Durbin, Adam Eaton and Kyle Kendrick.

Buddy Carlyle, Woody Williams and J.D. Durbin lead in home runs allowed this spring with 4 each.

Noah Lowry leads in walks with 12 in 2 1/3 innings while striking out only one batter. Mark McLemore has 11 walks in 7 innings while also striking out only one batter.

Edinson Volquez of the Reds leads in strikeouts with 13 in 8 innings and 2 walks.

Looking at the Standings

Tampa Bay is the only team in majors this spring to be playing .700 baseball with a 9-3 record and a .750 winning percentage. Detroit and Florida have the most wins this spring with 11 each with Oakland next with 10 wins.

Tampa Bay and Florida both finished last in their divisions last season so it is interesting that they are both first place in their leagues this spring.

Giants in last place in NL with a 4-11 record also lead in losses with 11 while Astros, Cubs and Phillies have lost 10 games this spring.

Ichiro Suzuki Hitless This Spring

Ichiro Suzuki is hitless this spring after 7 games and 21 at bats. He is listed 31st of 32 hitters who have batted for Mariners this spring at mlb.com. It only shows that Suzuki is human but I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks out of this slump with a two or three hit game.

Blue Jays Hitters Struggling

The Blue Jays are last in the AL standings in spring training and a big part of it is the anemic hitting of their hitters. They have a 5-9 record and have hit only 6 home runs in 14 games. Three of those home runs were hit by Joe Inglett, Buck Coats and David Eckstein. It is not a good sign when Eckstein is tied for the team runs batted in lead with Vernon Wells.

Wells is hitting .261 only 15 points higher than his career low .245 last season. Frank Thomas has 2 hits in 24 at bats for a .083 batting average. Geoff Zahn is 1 for 14 with a .071 average. Alex Rios is 3 for 22 with a .136 average. Eckstein is 4 for 20 with a .200 average. Thomas, Zahn, Rios and Eckstein are a combined 10 for 80 this spring.

On the positive side Aaron Hill is hitting .550 while Lyle Overbay, Scott Rolen and Matt Stairs are all hitting .333.

Capuano At End of the Line?

Chris Capuano gave up 5 unearned runs and blew a save for the Brewers yesterday. It is looking like the Brewers have no choice but to send Capuano to the minors if they have any options left or release him. He has pitched 7 2/3 innings this spring and has given up 13 runs with 8 of them being earned and 16 hits. He hasn't even pitched 8 full innings and yet he has pitched the equivalent of a 16 hitter. I will be surprised if manager Ned Yost brings Capuano north but I didn't expect him to leave Capuano in starting rotation as long as he did last season so it won't be a total surprise if he is pitching in Milwaukee again in 2008.

Cardinals, Marlins Combine to Hit 9 Home Runs

The Cardinals couldn't hold a 6-0 lead against the Marlins yesterday as the Marlins came back to win the game 13-7. The Marlins hit 5 home runs and the Cardinals hit 4 of their own. Albert Pujols hit his 4th and Troy Glaus hit his 1st for the Cardinals. Cameron Maybin led the home run barrage by the Marlins with 2 home runs and is hitting .304 and may be ready to have a breakthrough season in 2008.