“Same as he’s been for the past 15 years — as incredible as that may sound,” one veteran scout said. “He has a chance to pitch in the big leagues as a fifth starter and win 10 or 12 games. He’s throwing 81 to 83 miles an hour, but he still knows how to make you look like an idiot. He doesn’t need the money. But I think he has that fire burning in his belly.”

Another scout observed: “It was amazing. He looked as loose, limber and free as he ever has.”(Jon Paul Morosi, Ken Rosenthal – Fox Sports)

In 2010, he went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA over 19 starts at the age of 47!! If he’s indeed healthy I don’t see how a team close to contention doesn’t take a chance on him.

Morosi and Rosenthal list a few potential suitors (aka teams who sent scouts) and like I said some are teams that are either close to contention or already competing. “Sources say the Mariners, Rangers, Royals, Rockies, Orioles, and Pirates are among the teams that have sent scouts to see Moyer.”

With him being a left-handed pitcher and a crafty veteran who knows how to get the best out of his limited arsenal then why not give him a chance.

Here’s another Phillies article that may interest you, the Phillies have resigned Jim Thome.

“With our current roster issues,” general manager Dayton Moore said, “we had to do something. He probably not going to pitch for the rest of the year, and we didn’t want to take anybody else off the roster at this point.” (Bob Dutton – Kansas City Star)

The roster move Moore talks about was the promotion of catching prospect Salvador Perez.

I give the Royals credit for trying to turn the career of Davies around but this move has been a long time coming. For his career, Kyle is 43-65 over 144 starts with a 5.59 ERA. He’s given up 99 homers while striking out 545 batters but walking 367. Hitters have hit a lofty .288 off him.

His 2011 season has been even worse. He’s made 13 starts and has a 1-9 record with an ERA of 6.75. Hitters are batting an insane .333 and they’ve walked 26 times. Granted he has had injury issues, he’s currently on the disabled list for a second time because of arm issues.

Those issues are part of the reason he’s never fulfilled his potential. He’s only started more then 30 games once and only crossed the 20 start mark three times during his eight year career. The other thing that’s held him back is consistency issues, he’s shown flashes of brilliance but it was very rare to see.

Moore thinks Davies still has a future ahead of him and so do I.

“The thing about Kyle Davies,” Moore said, “is he has very good pitches. It’s all in there, and he’s only 27 years old. He’s got better days ahead of him. As long as he stays healthy, he’s got better days ahead of him. (Bob Dutton – Kansas City Star)

I just don’t think that future will be in a big league starting rotation. If he wants to stay a starter he’ll never be more then a Triple-A starter making the occasional MLB spot start. I think he’ll need to become a relief pitcher if he wants to stick around but even then he’ll just be a 6th inning middle relief type guy.

@SI_JonHeyman: #yankees still in contact with millwood. does this mean they’re growing more worried about pettitte’s decision?

Heyman brings up a great point about this possibly meaning the Yankees are getting more worried about Andy Pettitte’s retirement decision. Me? I’m not so sure if it really shows that. It truly feels like every 20 minutes we hear something different about Andy’s mine set. No one really knows what he’s thinking; even Heyman himself said yesterday that the Yankees were hearing Andy would return.

@SI_JonHeyman: #yankees people keep hearing from friends of pettitte they think he will pitch this year. still no word from andy, tho.

So basically, no one knows anything, the Yankees included. What I think is that the Yankees are just covering their butts by keeping in contact with Kevin Millwood. There aren’t any prizes left on the free agent market, so what they’re doing is keeping in contact with them all, sign what they can cheap while hoping one of them surprises them.

Now would Millwood help them? I highly doubt it; I doubt they’ll get any surprise success from him, not after his 4-16 record and 5.10 ERA in 2010. Yea, that came with the Baltimore Orioles but he hasn’t been productive in many years.

Over the past five seasons, he’s only had one with a sub four era and that was in his contract year of 2009. So yea, I’d take that season and toss it. Outside of that he’s been a hit magnet, especially when it comes to the long ball. During that span, hitters have averaged 23 a season against him.

That number ballooned to 30 in 2010 while playing in the American League East. Looking deeper into that number you’ll see that 17 of those came against divisional opponents. That’s not a number you want to see if you’re a Yankees fan.

I can’t blame the Yankees for keeping in contact. They have to do what they can in case Pettitte doesn’t return. Personally thou I feel they have much better options for the fifth slot in the rotation then Millwood. Shit, I’d even got with Sergio Meatre over him. Let the bottom feeders like the Orioles, Kansas City Royals or Cleveland Indians take him, he’ll fit better.

@StevePopper: As we reported earlier today – Mets expecting to add Chris Young to the rotation – just pending physical now.

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With the budget shopping teams finally acquiring pitchers will the New York Mets ever pull the trigger on Chris Young? The Mets have been dragging their feet with their insistence on not wanting to pay a pitcher more then $1.5 million maybe with all the moves that will pay off soon. Steve Popper of the Bergen Record and Adam Rubin of ESPN both think it will.

@StevePopper: Mets exec says – no surprise – expects Chris Young will get done eventually. But no timetable yet.

@AdamRubinESPN: With the Nats and Royals having added starting pitchers, you have to believe Chris Young and Mets eventually should happen.

Popper’s tweet was this morning well before the Chicago Cubs dealt Tom Gorzelanny to the Washington Nationals (one of the teams close to signing Young). Rubin’s was obviously after, so one would think after the trade things are more likely.

Me, I’m actually not sure the Nationals are out of the Chris Young running. Think about it, the Nats were willing to go all-in on Cliff Lee, even after signing Jayson Werth. So they’ve got money to burn. Young is a low-risk, high-reward guy who would definitely take a very incentive driven contract, with a reasonable base.

In 2010, after returning from injury, Young went 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 20 innings pitched, with 15 strikeouts. The one knock was his control, walking 11 batters but you know what that will get better as he gets more time on the mound. If Young could stay healthy, there is no reason to believe he won’t pitch near his career 3.80 ERA.

Young is without a doubt the best pitcher left on the market, after Carl Pavano of course. For the Mets or Nationals, he’d be a huge addition. Will the Mets pull the trigger now before they lose out on another off season?

@jcrasnick: Free agent P Jeff Francis still drawing interest from 7 clubs — Nationals, Royals, Pirates, Rangers, Rockies and both NY teams

When you look at the list you pretty much have your small market teams that need to buy cheap and then a couple big name teams who missed out on the free agents they desired. For a player like Francis it’s not a bad group to choose from, he can choose a team who gives him the best chance to get his career back on track.

Some will argue with me on this but I’ve never felt that Francis was that great of a pitcher, maybe a middle of the rotation guy. A third or fourth starter. His career ERA in 149 starts is a 4.77, obviously skewed some by the injury to his shoulder but still, numbers you’d expect from a middle of the road kind of guy.

His best season came in 2007, where he threw for 200+ innings and earning himself a 4.22 ERA on his way to 17 wins. In 2008, he started 24 games before needing surgery on his left arm, his throwing arm and then missed all of 2009.

He returned in 2010 to start 19 games and well he was up and down, something you’d expect from someone off shoulder surgery. He had some amazing starts, including his one run in seven innings debut. On the flip side, he had some real duds. He ended the season with an ERA of 5.00.

Some will argue that number doesn’t show how he improved over the season. If you look at his post-All Star break numbers, he struck out 36 batters and walked only six over 41 innings. Not bad, right? His ERA in the second half was also 4.79 and his BAA against dropped about 30 points from his pre-All Star numbers.

Basically what Francis showed is that he was improving as he worked himself back into game shape. He showed that he can still be a major league pitcher and effective at it. For a team looking to take a chance on him then they could be well rewarded. There’s just one thing that concerns me.

Francis has always been a pitcher at HOME! Yes, that’s right he’s always had better numbers pitching at Coors Field. His ERA on the road has been almost a half a run higher on the road. Even more surprising? His homerun totals are slightly higher on the road as well.

Regardless of that fact, I’d take a chance on him if I were any of the seven teams interested. The reason being is he’s a lefty. Teams like the Rangers and Yankees need another lefty in their rotation to try and compete with that lineup of the Boston Red Sox. If he stays healthy, he could be a huge asset.

“We haven’t had any specific talks,” general manager Dayton Moore admitted. “We’re still trying to figure out what opportunities are present for us. He is as well.”

Chen led the Royals in victories last season, going 12-7 with a 4.17 ERA, his best season since 2005. What’s even more impressive is that Chen didn’t become a starter till late-May and that was only because of an injury to Gil Meche. Chen has expressed his interest in testing the market, who wouldn’t after having a rebound season?

“I would like to see what’s available,” Chen said, “but it’s not always all about money. I like this organization, and I like this team. The contract will take care of itself.”

I think the deciding factor on whether or not Chen returns to the Royals will be; do teams think Chen can duplicate those numbers? Personally, I think there is a chance that he can and here’s why.

It seems as if he is fully healthy after the reconstructive elbow surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2007 and 2008 seasons. They always say it takes over a year to recover, but could take two to feel like yourself again. By his performance this season I’d have to say he’s closer to that 2005 Chen, the one who had a 3.83 ERA over 34 appearances.

“Obviously, I worked real hard,” he said, “and I would like to be rewarded for the things I’ve done. That will take care of itself.”

Again, I think he will be rewarded for his hard work, how much I’m not sure thou. Chen has been working off minor league deals the past couple seasons, so he’s due a real paycheck. Will he get the couple year deal that he desires? Probably not but could he get a decent sized, incentive laden one year deal? I definitely think so.

Will he sign with one of those teams who believes he is healthy? I don’t think so. I think if it comes down to a one year deal, he’ll show some loyalty to the Royals for taking a chance on him.

“I would really like to be back,” Chen said. “This organization gave me an opportunity when nobody else did. Let’s see what happens.”

@HoltzyKC: #Royals announce club has picked up 2011 option on outfielder David DeJesus.

There’s two reasons why picking up this option was a smart decision for the Royals.

One, DeJesus is a player close to stardom, if he could stay healthy. In 2009, he was batting .318 with 5 homers, 37 rbis and 46 runs scored in 352 at-bats before the injury. He was subpar in the leadoff spot but turned into a solid middle of the order guy once plugged into the three hole, batting .358 out of the spot. With production like that he could be an anchor to a young, improving team.

Two, he could be valuable trade bait. Before his thumb injury, DeJesus was one of the most sought after players at the trade deadline. Any contender who needed outfield help was calling and willing to pay for his services. One of those teams was the Boston Red Sox, who I’m sure would be willing to pay again this off season if he’s healthy.

So yea like I said the Royals made a good move by picking up DeJesus’ option. I highly doubt they’d be sitting at 67-93 right now if DeJesus stayed healthy. Hopefully they can put some pieces around him and Zack Greinke because this team does have some potential.

So what’s this tell us? Baseball does not belong in the Northeast or Mid-West during the early part of April. It just doesn’t. Every year now there are teams who are forced to postpone games due to snow. It’s ridiculous. Fans are forced to sit in games in the 20s, 30s and 40s all because Major League Baseball wants to spread around season openers. You know what? SCREW THAT!!! First week in April belongs on the West Coast, the Gulf Coast and any dome in site!

I’m a Yankees fan and fine with waiting till the second or end of the second week for my team’s home opener. I actually prefer when they play out west to open the season. The weather is more consistent with what they just had in Spring Training. And you know what else? They get a West Coast road trip out of the way early. And when they get back to the stadium the temps are typically warmer and the weather nicer in general.

MLB needs to address the issue with weather and early April games. At least the White Sox had the decency to postpone the game a full day in advance.

“This is completely catching me by surprise,” Guillen said. “This isn’t coming from me. Trey and I are fine right now, and I’ve never said I wanted out of Kansas City.

Enrique Rojas is the reporter in question, and he quotes an unidentified source (always a red flag to me) that Guillen is no longer on speaking terms with manager Trey Hillman. “Guillen and Hillman are not on speaking terms, they don’t talk,” said the source. “Guillen is definitely not happy, he’s not comfortable and he would do anything he can in economic terms to ease his way out of Kansas City.”

Rojas also goes on to also say that part of the problem is the Royals are not fulfilling the promises made to him when he signed as a free agent this past winter. Looking at Guillen’s own comments thou that wouldn’t be completely true. Guillen was initially told the team would do what they could to try and become a winner in 2009 and he knew 2008 would be a loss. Well guess what it’s still 2008, did he forget that? I doubt it. The Royals aren’t going to become buyers when in the midst of another losing season, if they want to become contenders they’ll spend the money in the off-season.

Guillen said, “This is the team that is paying me a lot of money, and this is where I want to be. I don’t know where all of this stuff is coming from. I hate to be put in this situation, and now I look like a bad guy again.”

Guillen goes on (in the KC Star report) with quite a few other quotes and he sounds generally upset about this whole thing. He’s been pretty much a straight shooter throughout his career telling the media exactly how he feels, so one would almost think he’s telling the truth. Remember he did call his own teammates babies after a loss to the Minnesota Twins and even lashed out at the fans.

General Manager Dayton Moore is even surprised by this report. “This is puzzling to me because I tried to stay tuned in,” Moore said. “Unless he’s telling me one thing and saying another, I’ve been under the understanding that he and Trey are getting along well.”

Now in reality, Kansas City and Guillen could be covering up what’s really going on. But with Guillen’s history of speaking his mind, I’m inclined to believe that he wants to be a Royal. Granted they break their promise this off-season things may change.

DeWitt played at AA – Jacksonville last season but only logged 168 plate appearances there, with a .281 avg 6 hr and 20 rbis. No doubt, the guy put up some decent numbers but with so little experience there the plan was to start him off there and let him to continue progress. General Manager Ned Colletti has conceded he won’t be an offensive threat at all but should play good enough defense to warrant him being at third till players start to return from injury. The Dodgers wounded include Nomar Garciaparra, Andy LaRoche and Tony Abreu.

Due to the injuries the team has been exploring trade options. They’ve tried to contact the Houston Astros but were told Mark Loretta was unavailable. They’ve also contacted the Kansas City Royals regarding Esteban German. The Dodgers were willing to move pitchers Jonathan Meloan and Miguel Pinango for German, but the Royals held out and demanded Chin-Lung Hu. Thats a price the Dodgers weren’t willing to spend for a stop-gap third baseman. Especially, with German being more of a second baseman and Hu being a valuable back-up for the shortstop position.

This doesn’t look good for the Dodgers who have high hopes this season. The first one expected back is LaRoche but thats not till early May as he recovers from surgery on his right thumb. DeWitt did flash some power Saturday night homering off Jonathan Papelbon at the Colisseum, but don’t expect much of that yet from the 22-year old.