Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Catching Up With the Bulls



The big news, so far, is that Craig Albernaz, one of our all-time favorite Bulls, will be back with the team as a coach. For example, there's this post from back in 2013.

Otherwise, not much change in the coaching staff.

Here's what we've heard about the players (and we have probably missed some of them).

The Hit Bulls Win Blog has provided a solid summary of players departed here. Notable are hitters/position players Richie Shaffer, Taylor Motter,  Jaff Decker, and Juniel Querecuto (which means I won't have to fumble around trying to type his name any more).

Among the pitchers, Adam Kolorek and Parker Markel are gone for sure.

For our comments about their 2016 year see our links to 2016 hitters and pitchers.

Since the HBWB item, reliever Steve Geltz has gone to Milwaukee.

Overall, it will be good to see some fresh faces. Here's hoping that they land on their feet with their new organizations.

The Rays are beginning to sign players to minor league contracts, adding players to their 40-man roster, and issuing invitations to spring training. Names we recognize are pitchers Dana Eveland, Justin Marks, and Neil Wagner and hitters Ryan Brett, Johnny Field, Jake Hager, Patrick Leonard, and Dayron Verona.

Overall, the Rays have not created a lot of excitement so far in the off-season, so it's hard to tell if 2017 will be a better, or at least more interesting, year for the Bulls.