Shortstop Anthony Volpe deserves to be a starter after posting a 1.000 OPS and showing he can provide a spark.
A lot of Yankees types favor giving him a shot, but there’s still a little debate about Volpe vs. Oswald Peraza.
My Thought: The only thing that would stop him from being Volpe is overkill.
There is a lot of debate for a division favorite. Rafael Ortega and Willie Calhoun is an outside debate.
It would be better to have an infielder against a left fielder, but there is no evidence that anything is in the works.
Of course, Bryan Reynolds would be the best solution. As for any talk from Reynolds, it’s quiet in the Pirates camp. …
Anthony Volpe steals second base during a Yankees spring training game early in the season.AP
Yuli Gurriel (.301 OPS) is having a rough spring after a late start, and some believe he could return to the Astros, if not the Marlins.
Houston has injury concerns with three stars — Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Michael Brantley — and Dusty Baker loves Gurriel.
Astros owner Jim Crane told Altuve he wanted to extend him, but there have been no negotiations to this point.
The Astros never approached elite young pitchers Framber Valdez (their World Series Game 1 starters the last two years) or Kyle Tucker in contract talks.
The Astros hedge against ultra-long deals, but the minors pipeline looks weak right now. …
While the Marlins rank 30th in most offensive categories (hits, homers, walks, BP, SLG, OPS), they are only 29th in batting average. …
It’s good for the Cardinals to send 17 players to various WBC teams, including Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas and Japan’s new folk hero Lars Nootbar.
Good for the Angels to send their two most important players.
For those who didn’t watch Shohei Ohtani’s batting practice, it was almost as exciting as his ending.
He was hitting balls by the back wall/window at LoanDepot Park, no one ever hit them. …
Ronald Acuña Jr. had the second most impressive BP in the WBC. But no one is in Ohtani’s league. …
Agent Scott Boras traveled to the WBC in Miami to make sure Julio Urias didn’t throw more than 60 pitches in his outing for Mexico. He threw 58…
Japanese starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be a big free agent after the year.