Making the grade

I never get too excited about spring training games, especially on days like today when the competition is college teams, but I am encouraged by the performance of top prospect Casey Kelly in today's 15-0 win over Northeastern:

It's Casey Kelly's world and we're all just living in it. The phenom retired the side on 10 pitches, seven strikes. After falling behind leadoff hittr Tucker Roeder 2-0, he threw three straight strikes. Then came a grounder to second and another swinging strikeout.

That'll be it for Casey, he'll finish his day in the bullpen.

His catcher, Victor Martinez, was impressed:

Victor Martinez said he was shocked when he learned Casey Kelly was a part-time shortstop last year. "You can't tell," he said. "He's very refined."

That's what I like to see. I also like to be reminded of where our teams have come from. When I saw the Daily News feature on the Phillies progress over the last decade, I clicked on the sidebar first that was just a list of their payrolls over the years. I couldn't believe that it was as low as $27 million in 1999, but then I saw that was the gist of the main story:

Curt Schilling and Paul Byrd each won 15 games in 1999, tying for the club lead. Chad Ogea, however, went 6-12. Bobby Abreu was tops in batting average, Mike Lieberthal in home runs and Rico Brogna in RBI. Wayne Gomes was the closer in a bullpen that included Steve Montgomery, Amaury Telemaco, Jim Poole and Yorkis
Perez.

A lot has changed in just 11 years.

Then: Veterans Stadium. Now: Citizens Bank Park.

Then: 77 wins. Now: A team with a roster full of All-Stars that is gunning for its third straight World Series appearance.

Then: An Opening Day payroll of $27,297,000, parsimonious even for that era. Now: A projected payroll of $143,502,500 when the Phillies start the season on April 5.

A lot of change, indeed.

Other games: The Red Sox beat Boston College in a nail biter, 6-1.

Phillippe Aumont isn't helping to quell the fans' pining for Cliff Lee, giving up a three-run homer. He couldn't finish his inning, and the Phils trail Florida State University 5-4 in the 4th.

I miss real games. I don't miss trying to post as they occur.

Prospectin'

I still have Disney World on my brain. One of the nicest rides we had this weekend was on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We really had fun on that one - plus, there was no line so we pretty much walked right on.

The train is in Frontierland, which sets the mood for Baseball America releasing its list of top 100 prospects. I'm pleased with the SoxandPhils representation. I get just as proud with the organizational success of our teams as their on-field accomplishments.

The Phillies Domonic Brown (15) tops the SoxandPhils contingency, followed by the Red Sox quartet of Ryan Westmoreland (21), Casey Kelly (24), Josh Reddick (75) and Lars Anderson (87).

The Phillies also have Phillippe Aumont (93) on the list.

What's more impressive is that they had a decent showing on the list when each team has dealt away prospects in recent years. Former SoxandPhils farmhands include former future Phils Kyle Drabek (25), Michael Taylor (29), Jason Knapp (64) and Travis d’Arnaud (81), and former future Sox Nick Hagadone (44).

Not on the list is Brad Wilkerson, although he was ranked in 2001 (35) and 2002 (63) when he was an up-and-coming Expo. He was in Red Sox camp last year, but retired after two games in the minors. Now, he's with the Phillies. Christine thinks this line explains the move: Wilkerson is "a close friend of Phillies backup catcher Brian Schneider."

In my Baseball Mogul game, team happiness matters, and sometimes you have to acquire a player's friend to make him happy and improve team chemistry. We hope Brian Schneider is happy now.

[Photo credit: CoasterGallery.com]

Spring is on its way

We still have to get through the Super Bowl and some more cold weather, but there are some signs of spring today - 67 days before opening day.

Most notably is the fact that several of the SoxandPhils media have features on young players poised for a bigger role in 2010 or prospects who are a bit further away.

The Daily News took the first in-depth look at Phillippe Aumont, who will be compared with Cliff Lee and Kyle Drabek for the rest of his career. Also acquired with Aumont was Tyson Gillies - how did we not know before that he was deaf? Good human interest story. But Gillies isn't the top outfield prospect on the Phillies - it's still Domonic Brown, who told CSNPhilly.com that this will be the biggest year of his career.

For the Red Sox, Daniel Bard also has big aspirations, but he's glad to serve another year of apprenticeship under Jonathan Papelbon. And he knows the way to a Red Sox fan's heart is by a subtle-but-gratuitous shot at the Yankees:

Papelbon's crazed alter ego is known as "Cinco Ocho." Bard has one, too, but he's not sharing the name. Besides, his mound demeanor probably trends more toward the Mariano Rivera, keep-it-cool end of the spectrum.

"I don't show a ton of emotion," Bard said. "It's more of a focused intensity; not so much Joba Chamberlain-esque. Whatever works for you."

I bet Christine points out that he's also taking a shot at Papelbon.