• It looks like the Mariners have another good young catching prospect on their hands. Last year, Seattle grabbed Jeff Clement with its first round pick, and he’s already ascended all the way to Triple-A. This year, the first position player the Mariners chose was in the sixth round when they selected Adam Moore from the University of Texas-Arlington. Having transferred from Nebraskra this year, Moore led the Mavericks in hitting (.350), homers (10) and RBI (50). He was assigned to Everett and made a quick adjustment to wooden bats, going 12-for-24 through his first six games. Within two weeks, still batting a robust .317, Moore got a promotion to Wisconsin. He’s found the going a bit tougher there, but is starting to come around. The 22-year-old, 6′3″, 215-pounder can also apparently play first and third should he wind up getting blocked in the organization, but for now his focus is on catching.

I know, I know. You’re really not supposed to pay too much attention to the standings until Memorial Day. But when the Giants sat at 14-17 on May 7, dead last in the NL West, things looked grim. Barry Bonds couldn’t hit a ball out of a laboratory, never mind into McCovey Bay; big off-season free [...] more

When Leo Mazzone took over in Baltimore as pitching coach, there was much excitement over what he could do for some of the young Orioles’ starters, specifically Daniel Cabrera and Erik Bedard. Well, Cabrera was rancid and had to be demoted 10 days ago. Bedard also struggled at the outset, and his ERA was pretty [...] more

Thomas could be a shot-blocking machine ‘ Not many players can offer the mix of athletic tools and length that Tyrus Thomas brings to the table. Small wonder, then, why the power forward from LSU was taken fourth overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. However, Thomas will never toil for the Jail Blazers, because as part of their draft [...] more

My newest Spikes Up is now up at www.CREATiVESPORTS.com. This week, I did an in-depth analysis of the first 10 picks of the second round of the 2000 MLB Draft. There wasn’t a hell of a lot of lasting talent among those picks, but among those that did break through are Bobby Hill and Xavier [...] more