Posted by Joe Hamrahi on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 11:58 pm

By now, I’m pretty certain that anyone who pays even the slightest attention to BDD knows that I’m in Arizona this week for Spring Training. Before I crank out some notes and observations, let’s get some links out of the way…

- I was on Baseball Digest Live radio today with Mark Healey. We covered a good amount of Cactus League baseball, especially updates on the Padres, Royals, A’s, and Indians. Click on the link to listen to the recorded show.

- I managed to take some video of the Royals minor league game with the Mariners today as well. You’ll get a chance to see top prospect Mike Moustakas up close and personal. The videos can be found at my Vimeo site.

- If you are a friend of mine on Facebook (and why wouldn’t you be??), you got to see two new photo albums I posted from Goodyear and Surprise yesterday. The Indians new park in Goodyear is gorgeous!

- If you’re into the Grapefruit League, make sure you check out the fabulous photographs by Bill Richardson at the BDD Photo Site.

Ok, now onto observations, news and notes…

- The Indians new ballpark should be the model for all new Spring Training facilities. It’s better than many Major League parks.

- Speaking of Cleveland, Fausto Carmona looked solid on the hill on Tuesday. He struggled a little with his control, but he got out of trouble. Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner also played and appeared to be healthy.

- The White Sox Josh Fields made a great barehanded play coming in on a ball to rob a hit.

- As luck would have it, the day I headed to Goodyear was the same day the Indians decided to send Matt LaPorta to minor league camp. So I didn’t get a chance to talk with Matt.

- The attendance at the Padres – Royals game on Monday was beyond sad. I don’t know the “official” attendance figures, but I have to believe there were no more than 2,000 people at the contest. A lot of that has to do with the competition on the field, but I can’t help but think the economy and the day of the week played roles as well.

- I will go on record right now and say, from what I saw of the Padres in Peoria, San Diego will finish dead last in offense in the Major Leagues this season.

- Kyle Davies gave the Royals a strong start on Monday, but then again, I probably could have pitched a solid game against the Padres.

- Padres starter Chris Young seemed to be in control for San Diego, but he looked like he ran out of gas early. It’s probably just conditioning.

- Had my first chance to see Joakim Soria…simply awesome!

- In action last night, the A’s came to Surprise and brought Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Giambi with them. Seemed a little strange seeing Nomar in green. Giambi looks the same in any color uniform.

- Bobby Crosby, now the Athletics 3rd baseman, laced a rocket off Royals starter Zack Greinke. In fact, all of Crosby’s swings seemed to be right on.

- Speaking of Greinke, his stuff looked good but he did give up a 3 run inning.

- KC’s Mike Aviles hit a 3-run home run to dead center field that just seemed to keep going.

- I spent some time talking with Royals GM Dayton Moore and Assistant GM JJ Picollo…I consider both my mentors. Dayton expressed his concern about the depth of the team’s starting pitching, but overall seemed optimistic. JJ focused on the minor league players, and seemed relieved that the organization has stayed pretty healthy to this point of the spring.

- Had a chance to watch the minor league players from Seattle and Kansas City today. If you’ve been to Spring Training and haven’t been to the minor league fields, you’re REALLY missing out. It’s like watching professional players on your high school field. Cool stuff.

- I forgot it gets a little chilly at night in the desert…I mean, it’s in the 50s in the evening!

- The days are great though…sunny, in the 70s…perfect weather to work on my tan! Ha!

Well that’s about all for now. I’ll be in Scottsdale tomorrow to watch the Giants and Cubs, say hello to Giants 1B. our friend, and former BDD writer, Travis Ishikawa, and catch up with my brother for dinner. Yep, he’s here too. He just doesn’t consider the Royals a real team so he stays on the other side of town. I’m working on him. Don’t worry.

Thanks for reading. See you all again soon.

Joe