uneasy feelings

Reports say that the Texas Rangers met with Prince Fielder today. If they sign the free agent first baseman, former Mississippi State standout Mitch Moreland is essentially out of a job in Texas. He'd likely be traded, and, coming off a pretty good first full season in the big leagues (.259, 16 homers, 51 RBIs), it figures there'd be some interest. But rosters are filling up. Miami is one of the six alleged suitors for Cuban sensation Yoenis Cespedes. He's a center fielder. If he signs with the Marlins, that would make it all the more problematic for Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan to stay with Miami. Coghlan, the 2009 National League rookie of the year, was the Marlins' opening day center fielder in 2011. He slumped (.230 in 65 games), got hurt and wound up in the minors. There may be a trade in his future, too.
P.S. Spring training is fast approaching, and the likes of Roy Oswalt, Fred Lewis, Marcus Thames, Matt Tolbert, Bill Hall and Joey Gathright are unsigned. Stay tuned.

those boys of winter

There's never a dull moment in the Caribbean, it seems. Former Mississippi Braves infielder Luis Hernandez (now in the Texas organization) homered on Thursday to help Aragua win in the Venezuelan playoffs. In the Mexican Pacific League postseason, ex-Jackson Generals star Daryle Ward went deep in a victory for Guasave, and ex-M-Brave Barbaro Canizares and Alcorn State product Corey Wimberly (recently signed by the New York Mets) had three hits each in Obregon's win. On Wednesday, onetime M-Braves lefty Francisley Bueno threw five shutout innings a win for Licey in the Dominican Winter League postseason, and ex-General Julio Lugo had a four-hit night for Escogido.
P.S. West Lauderdale High and Meridian Community College alumnus Paul Phillips has signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee. The well-traveled catcher spent last season in Triple-A with Cleveland. He has played 91 big league games over the last eight years, including 12 with Colorado in 2010.

transaction watch

Noticed on a perusal of the Baseball America minor league transactions chart that former Alcorn State star Corey Wimberly has signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets. Wimberly, who can play second base or the outfield, is a .297 career hitter with 274 steals in seven minor league seasons. He spent 2011 at Triple-A in the Pittsburgh system, hitting .228 in an injury-shortened campaign. Now 28, he is still looking for that first big league shot. The Mets released former Mississippi State infielder Jet Butler, who bogged down in A-ball. A more noteworthy release: Atlanta cut loose outfielder/second baseman Willie Cabrera, who spent parts of four seasons with the Mississippi Braves and was something of a fan favorite. He hit .306 in 2010 but wound up back in Double-A again last summer after an all-too-brief trial in Triple-A. Two other ex-M-Braves have found new homes: Baltimore signed outfielder Antoan Richardson, who got a big-league cup of coffee with the Braves last season, and reliever Stephen Marek, who has a 3.44 minor league ERA but can't seem to stay healthy, inked with Toronto.

totally random, vol. 2.1

Today’s subject: Cleo James. The Clarksdale native had a largely undistinguished major league career, batting .228 in 381 at-bats over parts of four seasons. Born in the Mississippi Delta, he grew up in California and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1961. It took him seven years to make the big leagues. The Chicago Cubs drafted him from the Dodgers and he played somewhat regularly for them in 1970 and ’71, batting .287 in the latter season as a platooning outfielder on a star-studded club with Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ole Miss alum Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckert, Ferguson Jenkins, et. al. James hit .296 in his minor league career, stealing as many as 46 bases in a season and hitting 11 homers in another. He just couldn’t reproduce those numbers in The Show. But James can claim this bit of trivia: He is one of only two players in MLB history to go by the name Cleo. The other was Cleo Carlyle, who played for the Boston Red Sox in 1927.

still closed

His numbers improved (a little), but former Mississippi State standout Rafael Palmeiro is still locked out of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Palmeiro, whose otherwise stellar career was tainted by a failed drug test near the end, was named today on 13 percent of the writers' ballots. That's up from 11 percent last year in his first time on the ballot. It takes 75 percent to make the Hall; former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was the only player to make the cut this year. Palmeiro topped 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, Hall of Fame numbers, to be sure. But the suspicion about how much those numbers were boosted by illegal performance enhancing drugs may be too much for Palmeiro to ever overcome.
P.S. Former Bulldogs left-hander Paul Maholm reportedly is close to signing with the Chicago Cubs, a team he pitched against many times as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Maholm is 53-73 with a 4.36 ERA for his career, all of which had been spent with the lowly Bucs. He would be a good No. 4 or 5 starter for the rebuilding Cubs.

more fun in the sun

The winter league news keeps rolling in (thank goodness): Former Mississippi Braves left-hander Francisley Bueno out-pitched big leaguer Francisco Liriano in a Dominican Winter League postseason game on Wednesday. M-Braves alumnus Donell Linares backed Bueno's six shutout innings with an RBI double in Licey's 3-0 win. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, ex-M-Braves center fielder Gorkys Hernandez homered in a playoff win for Caribes. And in the Mexican Pacific League postseason, Alcorn State product Corey Wimberly scored twice and drove in a run to fuel Obregon's 9-8 win over Guasave, which got a homer from former Jackson Generals star Daryle Ward.
P.S. On the subject of ex-M-Braves, lefty Jo-Jo Reyes has signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh. Reyes, who first made The Show with Atlanta in 2007, has bounced around the past couple of years, including big league stints with Toronto and Baltimore.

warming up

Blasts from the past are everywhere in the Caribbean, where the winter leagues are winding up. Former Jackson Generals standout Julio Lugo delivered a walk-off hit for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League playoffs on Tuesday, and ex-Mississippi Braves star Gregor Blanco hit a three-run homer to help La Guaira win in the Venezuelan Winter League postseason. On Monday, M-Braves alumnus Diory Hernandez picked up a couple of RBIs in Cibao's victory in the DWL, and Donell Linares, the M-Braves third baseman in 2010-11, drove in a run for Licey in a losing cause. Former M-Braves slugger Matt Esquivel homered on Monday in a loss for Navojoa in the Mexican Pacific League playoffs, and M-Braves alum Iker Franco scored a couple of runs in a win by Obregon. Antoan Richardson, who played outfield for the M-Braves in 2010-11, leads the Puerto Rican Winter League in stolen bases (with seven), while ex-M-Braves masher Barbaro Canizares tops the Mexican league in homers with 20.