(Intro music: Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” plays over opening credits)
Mandy Anderson: Good evening, and welcome to “Phantoms Tonight,” your source for news, analysis and the inside dope on your Huntsville Phantoms!
Mandy Anderson
Bill Greenwald: Hi Mandy!
Beauregard Sawyer IV: Thanks for having us!
Anderson: So, on the night before Opening Day, what do we think of the team?
Malcolm Wilkes: I think it’s a good idea.
Anderson: Think what’s a good idea?
Wilkes: That they get a team!
Anderson: Wow. That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?
Wilkes: How is that harsh? This is the same team that finished 14 games under .500 last year and their big offseason moves seemed to be getting rid of decent players.
Greenwald: Well, they added Hotha Popo behind the plate. He’s decent.
Bill Greenwald
Greenwald: I think they’re comparable – Popo gets on base more and he’s better behind the plate.
Wilkes: He’s a little better behind the plate, but Barrera hits for power, which Popa doesn’t. At all.
Sawyer: Yeah, but the Phantoms have other home run hitters. What they don’t have is anyone who gets on base so all those homers are something other than solo shots.
Greenwald: And you’re forgetting one other thing about Popo.
Wilkes: What’s that?
Greenwald: He’s about $7 million a year cheaper than Barrera. With a new owner coming in, that’s probably a smart move.
Sawyer: Yeah. Now the word on Vinnie Vitale, the new owner, is that he’s a little more generous with the payroll …
Wilkes: Except I hear he told the GM (Vic Caleca) that he wanted to see a year-end balance of about $20 million. They ended last year in the hole and had to dip into their reserves to make this season workable.
Anderson: Is that why they haven’t gone after someone like Jared Gillstrom in free agency? He seems like he’d fit their needs pretty well – he could play a decent third for them, gets on base a ton …
Malcolm Wilkes
Anderson: Yes, Bo?
Sawyer: I know a little about this, because I interviewed John Pruitt, the assistant GM about this very question this morning. I have a column on it in tomorrow’s Times.
Anderson: OK, spill!
Sawyer: As you know, the fan blogs have been roasting Caleca and the Phantoms alive for not going after Gillstrom, but Pruitt said they have. He said that he, personally, has talked to Gillstrom’s agent three times, but Gillstrom is absolutely firm that he doesn’t want to play in Huntsville.
Greenwald: What is he, some kind of Yankee?
Sawyer: No, he’s from New Orleans. But I think all the upheaval here, the talk that Vitale wants to move the team back to Chicago, and the fact that the team isn’t very good turned him off. He’s older – I think the only things he wants are to go to a team that’ll pay him and has a shot at a Landis.
Wilkes: Which lets Huntsville out, for sure.
Anderson: OK, well, that’s disappointing to hear.
Wilkes: If you’re a Phantoms fan, you should be used to disappointment by now …
Anderson: Malcolm …
Wilkes: I’m a truth-teller, Mandy. What can I say?
Anderson: Fine. Well, let’s move on. How do we see the lineup and the pitching staff taking shape now? Will Amayas Moelling break camp with the team?
Greenwald: No, in fact I think they shipped him back to Carolina this afternoon. I know Art Messer, the pitching coach, thinks he’s almost ready, but wants to see him fill in that “stuff” potential a little bit more and develop his fastball a little bit more.
Wilkes (Snorts): Plus, they want to stash him until May so they can get an extra year of team control on his contract.
Greenwald (smiles): And that, too. We’ll see him in the starting rotation before June, though, I’d bet.
Anderson: One other story line I’ve seen talked about is that Esteban Velásquez seems to be out of the closer role.
Sawyer: You can see he isn’t the same pitcher he was last year. He’s lost a couple MPH off his fastball, and the scouts have downgraded his “stuff” and “control” ratings …
Beauregard Sawyer IV
Wilkes: I’m told they won’t be using a closer, as such, anyway. Andrej Steijnis, the bench coach, says they’ve decided to tab Frits Brinson and Justin Archer as stoppers and step away from the traditional “setup” and “closer” roles.
Greenwald: Makes sense.
Anderson: Speaking of Archer, is anyone here reading his journal?
Wilkes: Yeah. Of course, I have to – it’s on the BBA Weekly site …
Greenwald: I think it’s interesting, but I wonder if his teammates are a little wary of him now.
Sawyer: Most of them seem to think it’s pretty cool and hope they show up in it, but there are definitely a few old-school types who are pretty unhappy about it. They worry about him violating the sanctity of the clubhouse …
Wilkes (snorts): If you’re talking about (Norris) Rutledge, he should worry about violating a few more baseballs into the seats …
Anderson (laughs): Ok, one more thing I wanted to ask about, and that’s the shortstop situation. I think coming into Spring Training, everyone thought it would go to Hakim Ngowa. But now …
Sawyer: Yeah, I think Fernando Navarro probably wrapped that up for himself, at least for an extended look, with how he played in Sarasota this spring. He slashed .397/.417/.845 and led the team in homers with 6. If anyone tells you they saw that coming, they’re lying.
Wilkes: I’m skeptical he keeps up anything close to that once the season starts for real, but I agree they’ve gotta him a shot.
Greenwald: Hey, and one other thing, speaking of getting a shot. I assume you all saw Huntsville signed José Carlos Solíz to a minor league contract. He’s a guy who went 20-5 a year ago in Jacksonville … do we think we’ll see him in the majors for Huntsville this season?
Sawyer: Wouldn’t surprise me, although there’s a reason Jacksonville cut him: the scouts say his skill ratings have fallen off big-time. Just like Velasquez, he lost some velocity and there’s talk his “stuff” rating dropped. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him by the summer – especially if he does well in Carolina.
Anderson: OK, final question: Huntsville Phantoms: Over, at, or under .500 this year?
Greenwald: At.
Sawyer: At.
Wilkes: Under. Way under.
Anderson: Well, call me a cock-eyed optimist, but I say over …
Wilkes: Optimist? Try drunk!
Greenwald: When did you take up Prozac, Mandy?
Anderson: All right, all right. That’s all we have time for in this segment. Next up on Phantoms Tonight: Bret Richards … why only one “t” in Bret?
(Sweet Home Alabama plays them into commercial break …)