The Lansing Lugnuts and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats have announced their opening day minor league rosters and from that we can make some assumptions about the Syracuse and Dunedin rosters.
Travis Snider appears to be headed to Dunedin to start 2008.
Summary:
Travis Snider appears headed to Dunedin; David Purcey looks to be headed to AAA; Ricky Romero is back to AA; David Smith wins the last putfield spot in AAA, Ryan Patterson and Aaron Mathews head back to AA; Chip Cannon looks to be heading to AAA; Ahrens, Tolisano and Jackson to play in Lansing; Kyle Ginley returns to Lansing; Brett Cecil and Marc Rzepczynski appear headed to Dunedin.
Details:
The New Hampshire roster has been released on the Fisher Cat web site. As expected Brain Jeroloman, Josh Kreuzer, Ryan Klosterman and Anthony Hatch anchor the infield. Chris Gutierrez starts the year on the DL so Scott Campbell makes the unexpected jump to AA to handle second base. The outfielders include returning players Aaron Mathews and Ryan Patterson as well as promoted players Jacob Butler and Eric Nielsen. That means that David Smith is the only one of New Hampshire's 2007 infielders to make the jump to AAA and that is not really a big surprise.
By deduction the Dunedin roster would include JP Arencibia, Jonathon Diaz, Sean Shoffit, and the Canadian kids Chris Emanuele and Jon Baksh. There appears to be six potential starters to pick from, Brett Cecil, Marc Rzepczynski, Julio Pinto, Robert Ray, Adrian Martin and Reidier Gonzalez. Billy Carnline, Zach Dials, Paul Philips and Conor Falkenbach appear to be in the bullpen.
My latest guess at the rosters can be seen here. Stay tuned for more news coming soon.
It also looks like Chip Cannon will play in AAA. Joining Cannon will be Russ Adams, Joe Inglett, Hector Luna, Sergio Santos and Pedro Lopez. Adam Lind, Wayne Lydon, Matt Watson and Smith will handle the outfield.
The New Hampshire rotation includes Ricky Romero, Jean Machi, AJ Wideman, Brandon Magee and Scott Richmond who is the big suprise in that group. The bullpen includes returning pitchers Kyle Yates, Seth Overbey and Sean Stidfole as well as Michael MacDonald now a bullpen pitcher. Mike Gallo who pitches in the major leagues for Houston a few years ago is also in AA.
By deduction the AAA rotation looks like Josh Banks, Kane Davis, John Parrish, Gustavo Chacin and David Purcey. There are ten possible bullpen pitchers by my count, some will have to be "injured" or released.
Lansing Lugnuts roster is available here. 2007 draftees Kevin Ahrens, John Tolisano, Justin Jackson, Trystan Magnuson, Brad Mills, Alan Farina, and Michael McDade joins Yohermyn Chavez, Moises Sierra and Wesley Stone in Michigan. Eric Eiland is the highest drafted 2007 player to return to extended spring training. Kyle Ginley makes a surprise return to A ball, Ginley must still need to work on his off-speed pitches. Chi-Hung Cheng also returns after being injured for most of 2007. Brian Pettway is now a pitcher on the Lugnuts.
We can then guess at the Dunedin roster. JP Arencibia, Jon Diaz and Sean Shoffit are in the infield with Canadian kids Chris Emanuele and Jon Baksh in the outfield. There are six possible starting pitchers Brett Cecil, Marc Rzepczynski, Julio Pinto, Adrain Marin, Reidier Gonzlaez and Robert Ray. Billy Carnline, Zach Dials and Conor Falkenbach anchor the bullpen.
My estimate of the opening day rosters can be seen here. Stay tuned for more details.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20080329220717711