Questions and answers from spring training camps

With spring training half over and three weeks until opening day, here are questions and answers regarding some of the storylines from Florida and Arizona:

Question: Will the Cubs have power-hitting third base prospect Kris Bryant in the lineup when they open April 5 in Wrigley Field against St. Louis?

Answer: Bryant, who hit 43 home runs at two minor league levels last season, has been blasting away in the Cactus League and into the headlines this spring, but the chances of the Cubs having him start the season seem remote.

The Cubs will be called cheap for starting Bryant in the minor leagues, but they'll deal with it. Even though the Nationals' Bryce Harper is calling for Bryant to make the Cubs roster, there's no need to start his service time for the sake of having him play the first two weeks in April.

Here's why: There are 183 service days in a big league contract, 162 games and 21 off-days. If a player is on the roster for 172 days, he gets credit for an entire year, moving him closer to arbitration eligibility and free agency. If the Cubs keep Bryant in the minors for 12 days and reduce his service time this year to 171 days, they get him for an extra year and save a ton of dough.

Question: Comedian Will Ferrell raised $1 million for cancer research by playing every position for several different teams in games in Arizona. Was that a good promotion for baseball?

Answer: Yes and no. Ferrell's antics were funny and original, especially when he was a third base coach for the Cubs and held up a sign that read, "Swing as hard as you can.''

Ferrell was funny because his act was a once-a-year thing; remember when guys like Billy Crystal and Garth Brooks were living the dream and coaxing their way into lineups into spring training?

That's too much.

But Ferrell was so successful - he even has his own page on Baseball-Reference.com, another promotion gimmick for the Web site - you have to wonder if baseball will allow more celebrities to market themselves at spring training games. Why not let an actor or actress promote a movie by letting them hit leadoff in a game? I would assume other celebrities are thinking of ways to do similar promotions in future years.

Stick in the mud? No. I just think it is a legitimate concern to wonder if baseball will turn spring training into another vehicle of promotion.

Question: What does Nationals closer Drew Storen have to do to earn the trust of Nats fans?

Answer: This issue came up several times on an XM radio show I was doing over the weekend. Fans remember that Storen has blown two saves in the postseason, one in 2012 versus St. Louis and the other last October against San Francisco.
The best thing to do with Storen is take the big-picture view: Storen is a confident closer with electric stuff. He has saved 43 games in a season and has overcome adversity and injury. He made adjustments with a trip to the minors. He's added a changeup to a first-class slider and a fastball that's 93-94 mph. And he had a 1.12 ERA in 65 games last season.

Storen has earned the closer's job. The only he can do is be patient and wait to redeem himself in the postseason.

Question: Will Ubaldo Jimenez ever turn it around for the Orioles?

Answer: Yes, he will. And then he will fall back into a slump. Inconsistent pitching is Jimenez's trademark. His history is that he has spurts of success. For Cleveland in 2013, he was awful for the first four months, and hit a low point on Aug. 2, giving up nine hits and two walks in four innings in a 10-0 loss to Miami.

You would think that would shake his confidence, but it didn't.

His next start, he turned it around and, for the final two months, he was one of the best pitchers in the American League.

In dominated his final 10 starts, with three games of 10 strikeouts, two with eight and another with nine while taking over as staff ace with Justin Masterson on the disabled list. The Indians wouldn't have been in the postseason without Jimenez. The prediction here is that there will be similar spurts with the Orioles.

Question: How will the Twins use Alex Meyer, the 6-foot-9 pitcher they got from the Nationals in a trade for Denard Span?

Answer: Meyer has been bothered by shoulder soreness in the last two seasons, so the Twins have been careful with him. However, Meyer, who can hit 100 mph and struck out 10.6 batters per nine innings at Triple-A last season, has a chance to be in the majors sometime this season. The Twins like his poise and stuff, but having a body that big makes it difficult to find consistent rhythm in the pitching motion. That's why baseball doesn't have a lot of tall pitchers in the game. Meanwhile, another former Nat, soft-tossing lefty Tom Milone, has a chance to stick in Minnesota's rotation.