Brandon (Gomes, that is) We Hardly Knew Ya’

Rays reliever, sometime starter, and former Bull, Jeff Niemann is going on the disabled list. Brandon Gomes left Norfolk for St. Pete after dinner last night.

As much as I wish Brandon well (I thought he should have stayed with the Rays out of spring training), this early shuffling does not bode well for the Bulls. What do the Rays know now that they didn’t know several days ago?

Have not heard if someone is on his way over from Montgomery.

Maybe Tonight

Harbor Park, Norfolk, VA courtesy LittleBallParks

A rainout last night, but if the weather maps and predictions are right the season should begin tonight. Looks like they are going to try to have a double header tomorrow (Saturday) to get back on track.

It wasn’t at all clear last night how to get to either gameday or audio through the website. I’m hoping that was because I checked in at 7:15 and everybody had already gone home.

By the way, here’s my guess on the rotation:
Archer, Colome, Montgomery, Odorizzi, Torres.

As we wait for the season to start, here’s some interesting stuff.

• The Bulls are playing in Harbor Park (photo above) a place for some reason not much loved by the folks who roam around watching baseball. Stadium Journey considers it “not remarkable.” Amanda Lippert, who has the good judgement to name the DBAP her favorite park of 2013, wasn’t much impressed back when she visited Harbor Park a few years ago. Indy Week reporter, Adam Sobsey had some positive thoughts on the park in his visit back in 2011 (scroll about halfway down).
• The MiLB website has picked the top hitting lineup in the International League, the Reds affiliate, the Louisville Bats.
• And they’ve picked the team with the best pitching rotation and that would be our Durham Bulls.
• The first time the Bulls and Bats meet this year will be June 8th, in Louisville.
• Stacy Long, blogger and reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser, has a very interesting piece on how the Rays have assembled the players in their system.

Opening Day

Local media has some good coverage of this Bulls this morning

• Steve Wiseman and Harold Gutmann over at the Durham Herald Sun have this story;
• Then Cory Smith from the Raleigh News & Observer has this piece;
• Most impressive of all is Aaron Schoonmaker's piece for WRAL that has a solid story to go with video interviews of Chris Archer and Wil Myers.
• Down in Norfolk, the Virginia Pilot looks at the Tides.
• Can't wait until Monday? The Mudcats (now Single A team of the Cleveland Indians) open over in Zebulon on Friday.

While We Wait

• The buzz on Twitter is that the Bulls had a "media day" today, but WDBB doesn't count as "media" so we weren't there. Look to the Herald-Sun, News & Observer, and Indy Week for articles tomorrow.
• Several times a year the question comes up, “How much do these guys make?” Unlike in the majors, however, the answer isn’t all that simple. Over at Rays Index we have a starting point. He has recently posted a chart that estimates the salaries of all the players on the 40-man roster. A player not on the 40-man can be expected to be making something less that $80,000 per season. But there’s a catch. Almost all of them have individual contracts and the terms of those contracts aren’t always available.
• Why do minor leaguers make so little money? You may ask. Well, mostly because minor leaguers don’t have a union. And why is that? Because they are all living the dream of someday being a major leaguer and diving into the swimming pool of cash the major league players' union has built for their members. For a slightly less cynical view, take a look at this article from a while back.
• And then there’s this terrific piece from yesterday's Slate magazine. It seems that in 1945 there was a World Series played in Germany between teams made of of major leaguers, minor leaguers, and Negro leaguers. Guess what? Nobody seemed to care that the black players were playing. The soldiers just wanted to see some baseball.

Opening Day Lineup?

I doubt that the status of either Steven Vogt or Robinson Chirinos will be settled before Thursday. That gives us this roster to work with. So here’s my guess. Jump in folks.


SS - Hak-Ju Lee
CF - Rich Thompson
RF - Wil Myers
1B - Leslie Anderson
C - Chris Gimenez
3B - Cole Figueroa
LF - Brandon Guyer
2B - Tim Beckham
DH - Jason Bourgeois

Starting Pitcher: Chris Archer

Bench: Craig Albernaz, Vince Belnome, Mike Fontenot, Cody Rogers

I see three former Durham Bulls on the Tides roster, Russ Canzler (2011), Jason Pridie (2007), and RHP Adam Russell (2011). Any others?

Remembering Sidd Finch

Photo Courtesy Sports Illustrated

Once each year Watching Durham Bulls Baseball invites all of our readers to take a moment to recall the all too brief career of an extraordinary baseball player, and horn player of some note, Sidd Finch.

Photo Courtesy Sports Illustrated

For those unfamiliar with Mr. Finch's contributions to the game back in the Spring of 1985 we commend to you the Sports Illustrated article that first brought the young man to our attention. Also see our previous comments from 2011.

Durham Bulls Roster Set ... Sort Of ...

Stacy Long has the Durham Bulls roster on the web, and here it is:

Pitchers
Chris Archer, Alex Colome, Frank De Los Santos, Steve Geltz, Brandon Gomes, Will Inman, Josh Lueke, J.D. Martin, Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi, Jim Paduch, Alex Torres, Kirby Yates

Catchers
Craig Albernaz, Chris Gimenez

Infielders
Leslie Anderson, Tim Beckham, Vince Belnome, Cole Figueroa, Mike Fontenot, Hak-Ju Lee

Outfielders
Jason Bourgeois, Brandon Guyer, Wil Myers, Rich Thompson

But there's a problem. You will notice several differences from our previous work-ups, but let's just point out the key ones for now and wait for the dust to clear for the rest.

Shelley Duncan is with the Rays because of the Rays' Luke Scott going on the disabled list for a couple of weeks, and, because he and a pitcher named Jamey Wright were added to the 40-man roster, two guys had to be dumped (aka, "designated for assignment"). They would be Robinson Chirinos and Steven Vogt. They will have to clear waivers before they can be assigned to the Bulls. If they do make it through then we'll see more changes. Before Thursday? Don't know. In the meantime, you will see that Craig Albernaz is on the roster.

Expect the roster to be available on the Bulls website within the next few minutes.