Major leaguers still better than college players

There were sort of real exhibition baseball games today in Florida.
The Tigers and Yankees each took on a college team that posed new threat. All four lineups were littered with no-name players. In fact, the most recognizable might have been Jameis Winston, who played for Florida State in its 8-3 loss to New York.
A guy named Ramon Flores homered for the Yankees. Their starting and winning pitcher was LHP Vidal Nuno, with two scoreless inning.
For Detroit, Steven Moya, who has been hanging around Lakeland for the last four late winters/springs, drove in four runs with a double and a triple. LHP Robbie Ray, the winning pitcher, struck out five Florida Southern batters in two innings of a 12-0 shutout. The Tigers' starter, RHP Drew VerHagen, struck out two in two perfect innings. He no doubt faced tougher batters when he was at Vanderbilt, and again last season in the Double-A Eastern League.
Elsewhere,
-- The biggest news, probably non-news in the long run, came from the Angels' camp. LHP C.J. Wilson was hit by C Yorvit Torrealba's batted ball during batting practice, and OF Josh Hamilton was on crutches because of a strained left calf. Neither injury is expected to affect regular-season playing time.
-- Free-agent LHP Johan Santana threw for seven teams in Florida. His fastest pitch hit 81 mph. That means for his changeup to remain effective he'd have to dial it down to about 65.
-- For openers: LHP Madison Bumgarner would start the Giants' first regular-season game.
-- Baltimore. OF Nelson Cruz passed his physical, and now is officially an Oriole.
-- Washington. RHP Ryan Matheus was scheduled for an MRI exam to determine the cause of chest pain that has kept him from throwing for six days.
-- Pittsburgh. For some reason, the Pirates claimed 3B Brent Morel on waivers from the Blue Jays. Because he's a Steelers fan, perhaps?
On Wednesday, there will be slightly more real games, at least between two teams wearing major league uniforms: Tigers-Braves, Yankees-Pirates, Blue Jays-Phillies in Florida, and Reds-Indians, Athletics-Giants and Dodgers-Diamondbacks in Arizona. There also will be a Miami vs. Miami game. In that one, my money is on the Marlins over the Hurricanes from The U. I think.
 * * *
Basketball. Not a good start for my fantasy team this week. I couldn't get on to the ESPN.com site earlier Tuesday. By the time I could, about 7:30 p.m. EST, I wasn't able to put Tyler Zeller into the starting lineup. Not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing.
Worse news: I was trailing this week's competition 5-3. I'm going against the team in second place overall and leading the other division. If he keeps that advantage, he would stay alive for at least another week. Going by the early (small-sample-size) results, two other teams would remain alive in the fantasy regular season.
The oddity is that I was leading in the categories that usually give me trouble: the two shooting percentages and 3-pointers. I trailed by two steals and three blocks, so I'm not entirely pushing a panic button.
Even worse news: The newest addition to Team Fresh Prints, Knicks G Raymond Felton, was arrested in the wee hours of Tuesday on weapons possession charges. He won't be back in court until June 2, which would be long after the Knicks are finished for the season, so I wouldn't be without him -- if I decide to keep him on my roster.
Updating an hour later: The Zeller non-move is paying off. He has 0 points in the third quarter. Despite a double double already by David West and 20 points from Victor Oladipo, the score is down to 4-4. No more posting partial scores.
* * *
Hockey. I currently have nine skaters listed as playing Wednesday. That means I'll have to get up early and make sure I have the right players in my lineup each day through the end of the week, and that I've made all the moves that need to be made. Should I waive my two players on IR: Henrik Zetterberg and Valtteri Filppula? I'll let you know.

Some teams aren't getting the new emphasis on defense

I've written about some teams with position battles at second and third base.
This installment includes a look at some teams with options, or should I say problems, at first base -- and how they're solving those.
The White Sox and Mariners seem willing to go the route of weakening their defense in exchange for the possibility of increased offense. The Pirate no doubt will have their eyes on the waiver wire or trade possibilities.
Chicago signed Cuban 1B Jose Abreu, possibly expecting 1B Paul Konerko to retire. His decision to return for a farewell season created a logjam at first base/DH, with Adam Dunn already there. The proposed solution is to have Dunn play left field. Sox pitchers no doubt are overjoyed.
Seattle's taking a similar tack. 1B Justin Smoak might have saved his position with a strong second half in 2013. But then they traded for 1B/OF Corey Hart, whose outfield days are numbered at best. The Mariners also are working failed C Jesus Montero at first base. So there could be something like Smoak at first, Montero as a shaky DH and Hart as a shaky outfielder in a big outfield. Sure, Seattle has added 2B Robinson Cano to RHP Felix Hernandez and 3B Kyle Seager, but what else is there?
Pirates 1B Gaby Sanchez is making noise about being a full-time player this year. The right-handed batter wasn't very effective in just a platoon role against lefties last season, so how can he really be expected to produce every day. The alternatives or possible platoon players are left-handed batters Travis Ishikawa, who has been found wanting elsewhere, and the unproven Andrew Lambo and Chris McGuiness.
-- Reports say the Red Sox are close to signing LHP Chris Capuano to fill the rotation spot that would have gone to RHP Ryan Dempster except that he decided not to pitch this year. They're interchangeable fifth starter at this stage of their careers, and probably average of below-average among fifth starters.
-- For starters: No surprise, RHP Adam Wainwright will start the opening game for the National League-champion Cardinals.
New Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he hasn't decided among his wealth of right-handed talent: Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez. I'd rank them in that order. If Scherzer couldn't get the Opening Day start after the season he had in 2013, when would he? Verlander is 31, so logic tells us he isn't likely to have another year as good as his glory days. Sanchez can be unhittable; the inconsistent one can also be hittable.
Detroit has decided on a starter for its opening exhibition game Tuesday against Florida Southern College, and its Ver ... no, not Verlander, but rookie RHP Drew VerHagen, who finished last season at Double-A Erie. I saw VerHagen on a few occasions when he was at Rockwall-Heath High School in Texas. He was drafted in the fourth round out of Vanderbilt in 2012.
* * *
Basketball. Team Fresh Prints maintained its 7-1 lead for this week. Friday's games could be the key to protecting that lead or even going ahead in free throw percentage for an 8-0 sweep. It appears that I'll have nine players to my opponent's two. If my starting nine can shoot well at the foul line, they could put a big dent in the .050 by which they trail in free throw percentage. The downside is that a bad shooting night could all but eliminate the chance of leading in free throws and could also drop the field goal percentage behind. The six other counting categories should be all but wrapped up Friday night.