Hunter Was Right...sort of, Abreu At It Again: Halolinks

Reds 6, Angels 0 -  CBSSports.com
TEMPE, Ariz.-Reds prospect Mike Leake threw two crisp innings in Cincinnati's 6-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

Leake was the eighth overall pick in last year's draft.

Hunter made a valid point -  FOX Sports on MSN
One point from the USA Today roundtable deserves more attention than Hunter’s comments: The low number of baseball scholarships — 11.7 per season — permitted for each Division I team. The scholarship limit in football is 85. In basketball, it’s 13 — and a basketball team uses only five players at a time. On the other hand, football and basketball are revenue-producing sports and baseball is not. "The colleges have corrupted baseball because they’ve taken away the scholarships," agent Scott Boras said during the roundtable. "They’ve taken away America’s pastime from the grassroots level of homes."

With all of the publicity Hunter's comments have received, hopefully it puts more focus on increasing baseball's reach to young players and fans.  Baseball needs to return to the grassroots level to improve its standing with everyone...not just African-American, Latin-Americans, European-Americans, etc.

Panel Part IV: A less-costly process discussed for draft - USATODAY.com
"There's no question," Boras says, "the draft needs to be completely redone. It's not working." Major League Baseball can't agree more. But the $7 billion industry question is, how can it be changed? There has been talk of a hard slotting system similar to the NBA's or an international draft. Key ideas USA TODAY's eight-person committee emerged from a four-hour roundtable discussion with imaginative solutions.

I find this comment from Boras as semi-hypocritical.  He seems to have no problem taking advantage of the broken system when it suits his clients needs, yet he wants to fix it so those advantages no longer exist.

Los Angeles Angels Bobby Abreu turns patience into power - ESPN Los Angeles
"You can see it on their face sometimes. I take a lot of pitches. I hit whatever I want to hit, not what they want me to hit. "They get a little irritated. You see some guys give you that look like, 'Swing the bat.' "But I don't care what they do. I have my plan; it doesn't matter what they do. If they get mad, they lose their concentration. They make mistakes, then you take advantage of that."

There was some debate about how Abreu's hit approach rubbed off on his teammates.  I was in the belief some of the other Angel players benefited from watching Abreu and talking with him about hitting, while others thought there was no "Abreu Effect".  I want to read often that Brandon Wood and Abreu spend a lot of time together.

Wood's hard knocks might be ending - Yahoo! Sports
"I feel my time has come to go out and play the game and be able to take those minor league numbers and transfer them over to the big leagues. I’d like to relax and find out what a full year will do, see what it’s like just going out and playing baseball."

Another "Wood's time has come" story.  This one talks about him and his dad, Kerry.  Yeah, Kerry Wood.

Glaus keeps 8-for-8 streak in perspective - Atlanta Braves with David O'Brien
The former American League home-run champion is 9-for-12 with one double and three walks this spring. He doesn’t have a homer, but also has no strikeouts. Glaus and the Braves are confident that he’ll supply plenty of power from the cleanup spot, long as he stays in the lineup. Health has been the only question mark for the 33-year-old former All-Star. He’s hit at least 20 homers in all eight seasons when had at last 385 at-bats, including 38 homers in 540 at-bats with Toronto in 2006.

Good luck Troy.  I hope you win Comeback Player of the Year.

Math geek picks 2010 MLB winners -  FOX Sports on MSN
In the American League, the New York Yankees should blow away the competition, winning in the East, and the Minnesota Twins will repeat as winners in the Central. But the American League West is too close to call, with all four teams within five wins and the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim expected to win 82, 81 and 80 games respectively. As for the wildcard, Bukiet says it's a toss-up between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox from the East.

Ya know, I hope the A.L. West is really competitive this season.  An excitingly tight pennant race would be fun to watch, plus I think when the Angels win the division, they'll be "sharper" in the playoffs.  I dunno, maybe I'm full of crap.

Hendry: Bradley needs to 'look in the mirror' - Chicago Breaking Sports
Hendry called Bradley's implication to ESPN that he received hate mail from within the organization "absolutely ridiculous," and said Bradley needs to look "in the mirror" and accept responsibility for his poor 2009 numbers. "We're all brought up in life to accept responsibility when we fail, and to judge people by how they act and how they carry themselves when things don't go well," Hendry said. Bradley told ESPN some of the hate mail he received had no postage, suggesting it could've been in-house. "Obviously, that couldn't be further from the truth," Hendry said. "I think maybe it's time Milton looks at himself in the mirror. It is what it is. He just didn't swing the bat. He didn't get the job done. His production, or lack of (production), was the only negative."

Have fun this season Seattle!