[jinxy]

Alright guys, its time to start the chatter for some baseball with basketball seemingly dead in the water. I'll admit i dont know what to expect from the team this year. There will be a lot of new faces but a lot of talent coming back.

Rotation wise are we looking at Niggs, Forslund...????? who's the 3rd guy. That's hoping Blake bounces back

Closer- Any update on Josh, is he healthy and ready to go i know he had major surgery.

Lineup- OF has Mrob, Parmley and Cordell who hit 2 bombs against the gamecocks seemingly set up. Probably Sizemore at 1st or DH, Wimmer at 1st or C. Haley was playing 3b in a scrimmage i watched in the fall, so that leaves SS and 2b and DH. I read two of the JUCO guys (Cox) had a lot of thunder so probably plug in one of them there. Also read that Mcclendon was hurt last year and redshirted after struggling the first 2 weeks. He was drafted out of High School so maybe he factors in.

Thoughts?

[bigsmooth]

i would say the weekend starters will be Niggli, Forslund, and Kemmerer. The weekday starters Brown and Dudley. the set-up guys martin and ecklebarger, and i would throw richardson as the closer though he could start in the infield. we return a lot of experience in the infield and outfield. i think its going to be a good year. i feel like we are a solid second, if we can just get over the coastal hump.

[jinxy]

I wasn't blown away with Kemmerer, he was OK i guess, but that was last year. Any new arms making an impact this year? What's out options up the middle smoothie, have you heard anything? I think Blake is the key to the team, if he pitches like he's capable then we have 2 studs to build upon. The offense has enough coming back and with the return of Wimmer and the 2 juco kids we should be OK. Bullpen is a work in progress im sure.

[bigsmooth]

I hear the transfer andarud will be at 2nd and I think josh will end up at SS and Haley at 3rd. Winner at first and Sizemore the DH. Im not too impressed with kemmerer either but he logged a lot of innings. Blake is indeed a key cog because we need a good 2nd starter to compliment niggli but we also need good midweek help. Willi Marin is also a hard thrower but needs control.

[sporter]

We will find out soon enought but based on how they used Blake in a couple of Fall scrimmages and a recent article on a baseball website, they may have him slotted for a closer role. You could see Dalton Sype in the infield mix as well and as far as pitching Toman said they may use as many as 10-12 pitchers early - hopefully they will all contribute but a few need to rise to the top as reliable starters - definately different than having 3-5 last year that were the clear workhorses.