Prior, Cramer Draw Early Attention Among Indy Players

     When it comes to what could be significant news in major league spring training camps, some of those in the spotlight include pitchers Mark Prior and Bobby Cramer, both off stints with the Orange County (Fullerton, CA) Flyers of the Golden League, as well as catchers Mike and Rene Rivera.

      Prior is getting the attention from the New York Yankees one expects to give a onetime No. 2 selection in the entire free agent draft and the No. 3 ranking vote-getter for National League Cy Young Award honors when he won 18 games for the ’03 Chicago Cubs even though he has not been in the majors since 2006.  “He is competing (for the last spot in the bullpen) and we’re going to watch him,” Yankees Manager Joe Girardi told The New York Post recently.  “I think the biggest thing with Mark is you just have to see how his body’s holding up, physically how he feels.”  Prior has had all sorts of injuries the last four years before starting a comeback with 22 strikeouts in only 11 innings (0-0, 0.00) late last season in the Golden League.

      Cramer could be one of the bright lights for Independent Baseball this season since he is widely acknowledged to be one of the candidates for the No. 5 slot in Oakland’s rotation based on his 2-1, 3.04 trial in four starts late last season .  The 31-year-old southpaw turned in two shutout innings to start the Athletics’ 4-3 win over Cleveland Wednesday, a contest that saw the victory credited to Gabe DeHoyos, who spent the first two and a half years in his nine-year minor league career in the bullpen for Schaumburg, IL (Northern League).  Cramer has allowed one run in his first four spring innings.

       Mike Rivera, who has had his best major league success with Milwaukee, saw his chances of opening the season with the Brewers once again improve when regular catcher Jonathan Lucroy went down for about a month with a fractured pinkie finger.  This leaves Rivera, who played for a time in the Atlantic League (Atlantic City, NJ), in position to battle holdover George Kottaras and Wil Nieves for the catching jobs until Lucroy returns, which likely will be in the first few days of the regular season.

     Meanwhile, media speculation in the Minnesota camp is that Rene Rivera, who has only 53 major league games in his decade as a pro and was at Camden, NJ for the early part of last year’s Atlantic League season (.280-7-19), is the most likely candidate should the Twins need a third catcher behind All-Star Joe Mauer and backup Drew Butera at any time this season.

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From the American Association to Champion Quipster

      The best line I have seen come out of a spring training camp was credited to onetime Fort Worth, TX (American Association) hurler Luke Hochevar, who could be the ace this season for the Kansas City Royals.

       Speaking of 5-foot-7 left-hander Tim Collins, who has a 95-mile-per-hour fastball and sharp-breaking curve on his side as he attempts to break into the Royals’ bullpen, the 6-foot-5 Hochevar was quoted by The Associated Press:

      “I just want to pick him up and burp him.”

         (This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.  Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com, or comment to RWirz@aol.com.  The author has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)