Call-ups from the minors for April 7, 2012

Alfredo Aceves closing? BaseballHQ.com Managing Editor Ray Murphy talks about that, roster management and more on this week's edition of BaseballHQ Radio.

New manager Robin Ventura announced that his 2012 lineup would include Brent Morel (3B, CHW) batting second and A.J. Pierzynski (C, CHW) in the five-hole. While Morel showed improved contact skills (86%) in 2011, the extra plate appearances may not result in much added production.

This is the 20th anniversary of us running this feature—comparing our projections on a group of players to those of other touts.

Earlier this year we reviewed historical performance (in the form of RC/G and xERA) across each division and created a strength of schedule metric at the division level (i.e. an average for all teams in a division). In this article, we tackle two refinements to that approach—one improvement is the inclusion of projections (from BaseballHQ.com) to make it a forward-looking indicator. The other is the calculation of the metric at the team level to enable more detailed analysis and better insights.

Brad Brach is a surprise cut as SD pares down for Opening Day. Pre-season sleeper Everth Cabrera's demotion is less of a shock, but don't sleep on Jesus Guzman. Boston's new closer and more ...

Freddie Freeman (1B, ATL) delivered a solid rookie season, mixing a decent batting average with good power and run production. If not for teammate Craig Kimbrel (RHP, ATL), he'd have a Rookie of the Year trophy to show for his work. Now Freeman has established a baseline for expectations. Is there also room for growth?

This is the last of the positional reviews. Up until this point we have not seen a group that should cause anyone to make significant changes to your draft list. There are a lot of names on this list; does it mean it will be tougher to avoid injury risk for National league starters in 2012?

AL season continues stateside with Thursday openers.

Welcome to Ron Shandler’s weekly chats on USA Today. He’ll be answering your questions every Wednesday from 11:00 AM EDT until noon..

Kyle Farnsworth (RHP, TAM) was scheduled to see a doctor about his ailing elbow April 4, which obviously puts his availability for Opening Day very much in doubt. While nothing is official yet, all reports and signs are suggesting that the Rays will be looking for someone else to handle ninth inning duties to begin the year. Joel Peralta (RHP, TAM), who saved six games last season, including four in September while Farnsworth was sidelined, appears to be the most logical candidate.