Miami Palms Blog

Steve Drysdale, Miami's designated hitter last season, has made it very clear to team officials that he has no intention of re-signing with the team this offseason. Miami has already added a replacement in John Jaso. Speculation is strong that when the World Series ends, there would be mutual interest between Drysdale and the Kansas City Royals, where Drysdale's mentor, Ayoz Sadan already plays.

The World Series isn't over yet, but Miami is already getting active. Today, they acquired John Jaso from the Oakland A's to replace the likely to depart Steve Drysdale as a designated hitter. Jaso started his career as a catcher, and he still may fill in that role, despite having Carlos Ruiz and Brett Hayes already stationed there, but the Palms added him for his knack for getting on base. Miami needs some more base runners in order to score even more runs. Next for the Palms is acquiring some more pitchers, in addition to the recently acquired Eric Bedard.

In Miami's attempt to get better with their pitching staff, they needed to jettison some arms. One of the players not coming back next year is Felix Gonsales, who started his career as a reliever with some promise. The Palms tried to move him to the rotation with limited success, and then he failed in his return to the bullpen. He will ply his wares in Tampa next season, a team that thrives on reclamation projects. The Palms wish him all the best.

The deep farm system possessed by the Minnesota Twins and their need for starting pitching made them perfect trade partners for Kyle Blume. Blume, a native Minnesotan, was the opening day starter for the Palms this year, and figures to step in as the Twins' #2 man behind Phil Hughes. Blume went 12-11 with a 4.05ERA this season, thanks in no small part to his ability to induce poor contact on balls in play. The Palms have announced that they intend to transition Manny Parra back into a starter as a replacement for Blume.

The Palms haven't waited long to ensure that they can replenish their pitching staff. The team needs to replace Troy Munoz, and wanted a veteran arm too fill his leadership role. They have opted for the recently released Eric Bedard. Bedard is a 12 year vet in the league, most recently with the Tampa Bay Rays, where he was a back of the rotation starter. He is definitely not the same pitcher he once was, striking out fewer batters than he once did, but he does maintain a low HR rate, which is undoubtedly appealing for the Palms after watching John Danks last season. His biggest issue is with his command, but he does make up for it by striking out about 7 1/2 batters per 9 innings. He is expected to fill a spot towards the back of the rotation with the Palms, just as he did with the Rays.

The Palms had only two option decisions this year, and they were both relievers. They announced today that they would not be picking up the option of righty Felix Gonsales, ending a lengthy tenure with the team on a somewhat sour note. He'd been having a decent season until he collapsed late in the year, giving up, for example, a grand slam to Paul Konerko in the final week of the season. Gonsales is now a free agent. The Palms picked up Pete Otterloop, who had a similar ERA to Gonsales, but he had a much better K/BB rate and fewer home runs than Gonsales. Not only that, but he s younger and more likely to develop into a better long term option. Otterloop, through much of the year, was victim to bad defense behind him. Lastly, the Palms will be losing another arm, perhaps te best reliever (non-closer category) the Palms had this year. Tim Byrdak has announced that he intends to hang up the cleats now that the season is over. He had a long career, and his leadership will be missed...

The Palms today released their 2015 schedule. They will open at home against the Derek Jeter-less Yankees on April 6th. Their first trip on the road will be against the White Sox on April 10th. They will have holiday games against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Memorial Day, the Phillies in Miami on the 4th of July and the Mets in New York on Labor Day. As you may determined, the Palms will be playing AL East teams in interdivision games. They actually play the Marlins in their home and home series, as well as home and away against the Braves and Nationals. In full, here is the schedule for 2015. Yankees Home 3 April 6-8 White sox Away 3 April 10-12 Braves Away 4 April 13-16 Angels Home 3 April 17-19 Rays Home 3 April 21-23 Red Sox Home 3 April 24-26 Orioles Away 3 April 27-29 Rays Home 3 May 1-3 Red Sox Awa...