A Saturday look

Two days into the season, every team has played at least once and some things are coming to the forefront right off the bat....

- Defense is seriously lacking right now. The Athletics committed five errors last night in their loss to the Mariners and other teams can't seem to pick up the ball on a regular basis. Pitching and defense is the name of the game.
- Question for Seattle management....why is King Felix pitching a complete game in his first start of the year. While he may have only thrown 108 pitches, why risk it this early in the season. Eight innings would have been just fine, save some bullets for later.
- If you are a Cubs fan, didn't the Neil Walker grand slam bring up deja vu for you? Same inning, same score, same situation, same pitcher as Game 1 of the 2008 NLDS and instead of James Loney hitting it out, it was Walker. Walker is going to be a very solid player for the Pirates this season. They may even win over 70 games but they can't seem to beat anyone but the Cubs so maybe they should schedule them some more.
- Closers have issues all over as well from John Axford to Brandon Lyon to Ryan Franklin, the closer position is always a revolving door unless you have a shutdown guy at the back end. If these three don't pitch better next time around, the door begins to move a little quicker for the way out.
- Also we were all meant to believe home runs were going to be down with the steroid era ending, I guess that memo didn't get across the border to Toronto. The Blue Jays knocked around Twins' starter Carl Pavano and company for four dingers in their 13-3 win Friday night. A scary team that can really hit the ball and is starting to get their pitching figured out.

Time for some games now for the Manager, we'll write out the lineup card again later

The Saga Continues

As we reach the middle of the first week of spring training as pitchers and catchers report and their rest of the teammates are sure to follow, here's a look at what is happening and what to look for.

- The deadline has been set for today with the Cardinals and Albert Pujols. I talked about this at length yesterday but you have to believe a deal isn't happening and Pujols will believe a free agent. It doesn't mean he is leaving St. Louis and the chance is there for a number of teams to sign him, even ones who have top-flight first basemen who could be traded to clear room for Pujols. Keep an ear open and your eyes locked down to see where this goes.

- As pitchers and catchers continue to report, it will be interesting to see what the Reds will do with Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman. Last season in his brief stay in Cincinnati, the lefty had pitches clocked at 105 MPH out of the bullpen. Will the Reds keep him in the bullpen? You would have to assume for this season they would and get him prepped for a spot in the starting five in 2012.

- The Mariners announced on Tuesday that Ken Griffey, Jr. has been named a special consultant to the team and will be at spring training. This is an obvious first step for the certain Hall of Famer in helping the team that drafted him over 20 years ago get back on the winning track again. Maybe Griffey has some ideas on how to find more runs in the Pacific Northwest.

-  Michael Young is still in Texas as of today and it looks more and more likely he is staying there this season. While Young is going to be used as mostly a super utility player and DH, Young has been a loyal soldier to the fans in Arlington and should be treated that way. However, it looks like there is no room for him in Texas and a bad contract swap is going to have to happen for Young to leave. A lot of teams could use him in their lineup and in the field but Young will need to extend on his eight teams he agreed to be traded to.

The lineup is set for today. Tomorrow, we'll look at the Pujols aftermath and other MLB stories as we trek our way toward Opening Day.