Miami Palms Blog

After reaching success with a fairly young pitching staff, the Palms made a splash by bringing in a proven veteran in Javier Vazquez, who had been with the White Sox the previous season. Vazquez has been a quality strikeout guy, but has a tendency to give up a few runs because he throws so many strikes. Many players on the team have the playoff experience to work with from last year, but Vazquez will supplement that. He'll be the #2 starter behind Troy Munoz.

The Palms made a move in the offseason to acquire young shortstop Troy Tulowitzki who promises to be a fixture in Miami for years to come. After he became a cornerstone to the Rockies' World Series run in 2007, he was hobbled by injury through much of 2008. Despite this, he will likely be a good power threat for the back of the order for the Palms. With a couple other options for the infield, no doubt he will get plenty of rest in order to prevent future injuries.

Tiropes hopes to improve his showing this year as compared to his run in 2007. He hit barely above the Mendoza line and wasn't much of a threat to go long either. He spent all of 2008 in the minors with Jackson, but he will make a new appearance with the Palms He'll be the 5th outfileder for this team, but surely hopes his previous experience will serve for something.

Frank Sohn was the starting center fielder for the Palms in 2007. He was lackluster, demonstrating little power, a low average, but blinding speed and a good glove. They got essentially the same package, but a better bat when they signed Coco Crisp in 2008, and Randy Winn's presence off the bench drastically reduced Sohn's role. Now with the departure of Joe Gras to Kansas City and Scott Hatteberg's retirement, the Palms had two holes to fill. They failed to add free agents at those positions, so instead they shifted another benchwarmer from seasons past, Billy Dupont to first and put Sohn's excellent glove in right field. The good news is, last season Sohn saw both his batting average and power numbers come up slightly in more limited appearances. The Palms will hope that translates for the entire season.

The rookie utility man Breck Smythe sounds as though he was raised either in Britain or a country club, but in fact is a gritty player first noticed for his glove coming out of high school in Arkansas. He immediately made it to AA Boise but was stuck there as he worked on his hitting. He eventually developed a more respectable bat and quickly blew through Jackson before making it onto the Palms' opening day roster. He will spend a lot of time filling in for Troy Tulowitzki at short and Martin Prado at third through the season