Tag Archives: Pacific Coast League

Mar 17

D’Backs To Go With Owings At Short

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Jim Bowden of ESPN is hearing that Chris Owings will be the everyday shortstop for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Although it hasn’t been officially announced yet, Bowden reports they are going to start him over Didi Gregorius because of his bat.

As a result, Gregorius should now be a good trade piece for the D’Backs at some point this summer and Bowden expects Owings will be a Rookie of the Year candidate.

John Sickels profiled Owings a couple of months ago and said he was supposed to open 2013 at Double-A, but after a solid spring training, the D’Backs sent him to Triple-A Reno.

He responded with a .330/.359/.482 line, with 31 doubles, 12 homers, 22 walks, 99 strikeouts in 546 at-bats. He also set a career high with 20 stolen bases, and was named to the All Star Futures Game roster.

The 21-year old phenom was named the Topps 2013 Pacific Coast League Player of the Year and will be looking to impress again this season with his team who are not exactly seen as potential contenders for the title.

There has been a some buzz about the Mets monitoring the shortstop situation in Arizona in the past two weeks, but neither team has confirmed any interest in making a deal.

Sandy Alderson continues to hold firm on his position that there will not be any changes at shortstop between now and opening day.

Additionally, two other team sources told the NY Post that despite his spring performance, Ruben Tejada will be the shortstop and “he’ll be fine.”

Oct 21

Will new GM consider Sandberg?

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Whomever the Mets choose as their general manager –  indications are Sandy Alderson has the inside track – he’ll have a long list of managerial candidates to consider.

SANDBERG: Could be considered for manager job

Add Ryne Sandberg to that list. The Cubs bypassed Sandberg for Mike Quade, and the Hall of Fame second baseman is not pleased and he’ll obviously listen to other offers.

He’s done everything the Cubs asked of him in preparation for the opportunity to manage in the major leagues, including working his way up the minor league chain, from Single A to Triple A, with success, including being named Pacific Coast League manager of the year.

Sandberg does not have the major league experience advocated here and in other forums, but we don’t know how much that criteria will be weighed by the new general manager. If that is lower on his priority list, Sandberg would undoubtedly receive consideration, as will Wally Backman.

It’s all speculation for now, and some of it will fall on Sandberg.