I’ll have a more in depth piece on this later, but I have ot run out the door in a few minutes to attend a church service. Here’s the Starting 25 for opening day:
Pitchers (12): Carlos Almanzar, Doug Brocail, Ryan Bukvich, Francisco Cordero, Ryan Drese, R.A. Dickey, Ron Mahay, Chan Ho Park, Matt Riley, Kenny Rogers, Brian Shouse and Chris Young.
Catchers (2): Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Rod Barajas.
Infielders (6): Hank Blalock, Mark DeRosa, Adrian Gonzalez, Alfonso Soriano, Mark Teixeira and Michael Young.
Outfielders (5): Chad Allen, David Dellucci, Richard Hidalgo, Gary Matthews, Jr. and Kevin Mench.
Here’s all the moves that had to be made to get the roster to look this way:
• Optioned catcher Gerald Laird, outfielder Laynce Nix and RHP Nick Regilio to Triple-A Oklahoma.
• Assigned outfielder Andres Torres, infielders Ian Kinsler and Cody Ransom, and pitchers Vlad Nunez and Keith Stamler to the club’s minor league camp.
• Purchased the minor league contracts of infielder Mark DeRosa and outfielder Chad Allen.
• Designated RHPs Travis Hughes and Agustin Montero for assignment.
• Placed the following players on the disabled list (all retroactive to March 25) – RHP Pedro Astacio (groin strain), RHP Joaquin Benoit (shoulder), RHP Frank Francisco (elbow) and LHP Erasmo Ramirez (tendon strain in left middle finger).
• Placed INF Greg Colbrunn (right wrist) on the disabled list retroactive to March 29.
There’s one exception to all this. Carlos Almanzar’s mother died earlier today, and because of this Carlos was placed on the bereavement list. Nick Regilio, who was technically sent to AAA, was technically recalled and will be with the club on Tuesday in Anaheim.