Notes: Spring Training, Cunningham, Top Prospects, Signings

This morning when I left the house, it was snowing a bit, a cold reminder that winter was still around.  It was not enough to accumulate on the roads, but enough to cover the grass which finally appeared in my yard over the last few days for the first time since December.  When I got home this afternoon to turn on the Pirates, it suddenly felt like Spring.  Well, maybe mentally.  I could still see my own breath, and while the snow from the morning had stopped, and my grass started to reappear, there was still snow to be seen.  However, the sight of baseball on TV was a welcome sign.

For those of you who stopped by the live blog today, thanks for joining us.  Word is we might have another one next Wednesday, and for those of you who are new to this, we usually do one for every game of the regular season.  Now, let’s close out the day with some notes:

-First, a few observations from the game, although I didn’t really pay attention much.  I was mostly caught up in getting home, talking about the upcoming season on the live blog, and making/eating my daily cajun turkey sandwich for lunch.

• I did pay attention to Jean Machi, who looked good, and could be a darkhorse candidate for the bullpen out of Spring Training.
• The defense didn’t look sharp at times, especially in the inning in which Steven Jackson took the mound, but I’m not making any lasting impressions based on one game.
• I was impressed with Erik Kratz on two plays in particular.  The first was a throw to second, which just missed nailing the base runner.  The impressive part was that Kratz threw the ball from his knees, and in the process made an excellent hard and accurate throw.  The second play was a double to the gap in which Kratz advanced to third on a smart base running move when the ball rolled past both cutoff men.  Just like the poor defense, I’m not making any lasting opinions on one game, but Kratz might prove to be a major league caliber backup catcher if he continues this type of play, especially the defense.
• The YES Network announcers are incredibly annoying.