Inside Pitch

Let's go to the video

Courtesy of videographer Dan Kirchberger, head to this link for a look at the Bisons' "What's New at the Ballpark" gathering Tuesday in Coca-Cola Field.

---Mike Harrington

Herd grapevine II

More news Tuesday afternoon out of Dunn Tire Park, er, Coca-Cola Field:

----P Tony Armas Jr. and IF Junior Spivey were released by the Mets Tuesday so scratch them off as potentials in Buffalo.

----Some scuttlebutt out of Florida is that the Mets may keep top OF prospect Fernando Martinez in extended spring training for a week or two because they don't want him in the cold of Buffalo from the top of the season. He's coming back from an elbow problem suffered during the Caribbean World Series. Injuries have been the rap on him thus far in his career. Bad start in Triple-A.

---Chow report from today's "What's New at the Ballpark" presentation: Famous Dave's has some fabulous (but spicy) chili and awesome pulled chicken/pork and ribs...Tim Horton's has signed on (but I'm the rare sportswriter that doesn't drink coffee)...Other new items include a NY style pretzel reuben, hot dog sliders (big thumbs up), a peanut butter and jelly pocket for kids, funnel cake fries, Barq's Root Beer frozen push-ups and Minute Main Lemonade push-ups...At Pettibones, you'll find a Buffalo chicken salad and mini beef sliders. The team will also unveil a newly designed B-NY deli at Section 100 with some of the above choices as well as meatball hoagies, honey mustard ham wraps and more.

Yes, as the above indicates, sometimes there can be perks in this gig. You need the info about what's good and what's not, right?

---Mike Harrington

Herd through the grapevine

---Looks like 22-year-old Dillon Gee is rocketing through the Mets' system and has forced his way into the Bisons' rotation, as this New York Daily News story indicates.

---The Mets have signed 39-year-old Japanese veteran pitcher Ken Takahashi to a minor-league deal. Yes, I said 39. He was cut by Toronto this spring after hamstring problems and has pitched the last 14 years with Hiroshima, the team managed by former Buffalo skipper Marty Brown.

---If you're driving by the ballpark downtown and wondering about when you'll see signs that say "Coca-Cola Field", I'm told all the signage should be ready to go by Opening Day (April 9).

---The Bisons are entertaining the media Tuesday afternoon with their "What's New at the Ballpark" presentation. One thing that's already leaked out is that Famous Dave's BBQ will be at the ballpark in 2009. 

---In yet another addition to the team's burgeoning broadcast schedule, five Bisons games will air live on SNY, the Mets' flagship television network. That's HUGE exposure for the Herd. The first SNY telecast is May 28 against Lehigh Valley.

---The team is sponsoring its annual MLB opening night party Sunday in Pettibones Grille beginning at 7 p.m. for the Braves-Phillies game that airs at 8. A $5 donation to Bisons charities gets you unlimited Coke products and chicken wings. RSVP by calling 846-2011.

---Mike Harrington

Division a Day II: NL East

Will Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz be all the Mets need to wipe out the memory of two straight September swoons and make the first year in Citi Field a winner of a season? It certainly seems like that should be the case. Nothing wrong with the lineup. Nothing wrong with the top of a rotation led by Johan Santana (right), although it's a little thin at the bottom. And now, nothing wrong with the bullpen. Should be a  nother interesting summer between the Bisons' new parent and the Phillies.

Speaking of the Phils, they're going to be fiercely defending that World Series title. Have to wonder about them however. Cole Hamels was amazing in October and Brad Lidge was perfect all year. That can't really happen again and Hamels' elbow remains a question mark. I like Raul Ibanez in place of Pat Burrell. They might win 93-95 games but I don't think that will be enough.

The Marlins are a young team on the rise with a new ballpark in the Orange Bowl district finally on the horizon and Hanley Ramirez again has MVP potential. The Braves should be better with the additions of Derek Lowe and Tom Glavine and are also starting to develop a new wave of prospects. And what about the Nationals? May as well call them the Washington Generals. They're just fodder for the rest of the division.

So my picks are: 1-Mets; 2-Phillies; 3-Marlins; 4-Braves; 5-Nationals.

Choose your NL East winner below. Next: AL Central.

---Mike Harrington

Division a Day I: AL East

Welcome to this week's daily division previews on ye olde Inside Pitch blog. Each day we'll provide you some nuggets on each team, make our own selection and then give you a chance to cast your vote on the division winner. We start in the AL East, the division where so many Buffalo fans are focused every year.

The Rays won it last year and went to the World Series. Remember that? All the Yankee-Red Sox talk that goes on every year seems to overlook that point heading into '09. And Tampa Bay is no fluke either. A great lineup and some terrific pitching mean Joe Maddon's club is no fluke. Still, B.J. Upton's shoulder is an early-season trouble spot, the bullpen overachieved last year and can't possibly be that good again and I hate starting David Price at Triple-A Durham to keep his innings down (I still think it's a money move to slow his arbitration clock).

So I think the Rays take a step back this year and the Red Sox are primed to make another run. They lost Game Seven of the ALCS last year at Tampa or we could be talking about three World Series titles in five years after none in the previous 86. You have to love how the Sox are reinventing themselves from within: Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon are stars and none of them were around in '04.

Then there's the Yankees. I love the signing of CC Sabathia (although he's done nothing in October). I'm OK with Mark Teixeira and I don't think much of A.J. Burnett, who had one good year in Toronto. There are still questions about injuries in the rotation and about A-Rod's status. How good a shortstop can Derek Jeter still be and is Brett Gardner really the starting center fielder? It all figures to be a pretty interesting inaugural year in the new Yankee Stadium. 

Only because duty calls do we even bother with the Orioles and Blue Jays. I do think Baltimore will be improved this year and the O's are trying to do it through the farm (catcher Matt Wieters is a keeper). Ex-Bison Jeremy Guthrie is the Opening Day starter for the second straight year. The Blue Jays lost Burnett and injuries have shelved Shawn Marcum (for the season) and Dustin McGowan (at least until May). This might be the year Roy Halladay is dealt at the deadline.

So my picks are 1-Red Sox; 2-Yankees (AL wild card); 3-Rays; 4-Orioles; 5-Blue Jays.

Choose your AL East winner below. Next: NL East.

---Mike Harrington

Fargo flooding worries Coste

Looks like old friend Chris Coste is going to make the Phillies' roster again as the backup catcher but it would probably be wise to keep the ex-Bison in your thoughts for other reasons as the historic flooding of the Red River strikes his hometown of Fargo, N.D.

In this Philadelphia Daily News story, the 36-year-old says things seemed to be in control back home and he's hoping there won't be a power loss in the 30-degree temperatures as the waters rise.

Coste got a World Series ring last year backing up Carlos Ruiz and there's some poetic justice in his apparent victory for the backup job this year. He's going to beat out former Pirates farmhand Ronny Paulino and that will make hardcore Bisons fans happy.

Paulino hit the three-run home run in the eighth inning to beat the Bisons for Indianapolis in Game Five of the 2005 IL semifinals, the series that Buffalo won the first two games on the road but lost all three at home.  The Bisons haven't been to the postseason since.

---Mike Harrington

Sowers, Laffey back to Triple-A

Jeremy Sowers got the bad news Tuesday and Aaron Laffey got it Wednesday afternoon: The Cleveland Indians have decided to send them back to Triple-A to anchor the rotation for the Bisons Columbus Clippers (sorry, that's going to take a while to get used to!).

All the good news went to Scott Lewis, who was named the Tribe's No. 4 starter Wednesday. That means the Cleveland rotation will be Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Carl Pavano (hold your laughter if you're a Yankee fan), Lewis and Anthony Reyes.

Lewis was 2-2 in four games with the Herd last year and then went 4-0 in a September stint in Cleveland. He's 1-1, 3.52 this spring for the Tribe. Sowers was 0-2, 4.91 and Laffey was 1-2, 6.92 and also got hit hard in a minor-league game.

Sowers spent the last three years shuffling between Buffalo and Cleveland while Laffey did likewise the last two seasons. Have to wonder how much longer the Indians will keep trying to see if they'll make a breakthrough.

---Mike Harrington

Herd rotation shaping up

Jon Niese (right), Nelson Figueroa, Brandon Knight, Tony Armas and Casey Fossum. Heading into the final 10 days of spring training, that's the early line on what the Bisons' rotation might look like to start the season.

That's the latest news coming out of Mets camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Adam Rubin of the Daily News talked about the rotation in his live chat Tuesday. The one variable is veteran Freddy Garcia, who accepted a minor-league deal Tuesday night. He's going to initially stay in extended spring training and will likely join Buffalo in mid-April. But after shoulder surgery, Garica's velocity has been well below par thus far and the scuttlebutt was that Garcia was a candidate to be released.

Here's hoping Garcia doesn't become the Bisons' latest version of what we saw last year from Jeff Weaver, another former World Series hero who had nothing left.

Niese, a 22-year-old left-hander, almost certainly figures to get the call for Buffalo's season and Mets' affiliation opener April 9 against Pawtucket in (remember this one) Coca-Cola Field. Figueroa, who has won 64 games in Triple-A the last 10 years with five teams, could still figure into the Mets' long relief plans. He tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic -- including 3 2/3 against Team USA.

---Mike Harrington

(Photo: New York Daily News)

Schilling calls it quits; will the Hall call?

Curt Schilling announced his retirement today on -- where else? -- his blog. That's certainly a first for a potential Hall of Famer. (The link to his announcement is down, clearly because of capacity problems. But keep trying it.)

As for the Hall, that's an interesting question. Schilling is perhaps the greatest postseason pitcher of this generation. He willed two teams, the Diamondbacks and Red Sox, to World Series titles and won three in a seven-year period. And don't forget that clutch Game Five shutout for the Phillies in 1993 against Toronto too.

But do 216 wins, 3,116 strikeouts and a 3.46 ERA put you in the Hall? Wow, that career resume is going to make for a tough call. He really had four great years (1993, 2001, 2002 and 2004) where his combined record was 82-26. The other 16 years of his career? An underwhelming 134-120.

So I don't know. Sandy Koufax got in with basically four good years but he was Sandy Koufax! Does Schilling rate that kind of status?

---Mike Harrington

Bad news for ex-Bison Miller

Bad news out of Arizona for former Bisons pitcher Adam Miller, who is now facing career-threatening surgery on his troublesome right middle finger (hold the jokes, please). Miller has never been the same since the injury first cropped up with the Bisons in May, 2007, when he was 4-1 and had the look of a longtime future starter in the big leagues.

The Indians have since tried to harness his raw power as a setup man or future potential closer. But now? Sounds like Miller needs a bizarre form of tendon transplant into his finger to save his career. We should know in the next week or so if he can change his delivery but if he can't, his '09 season will be gone and he might not pitch again. Shame. A power arm derailed by a middle finger.

---Mike Harrington