A NEW HOPE: PART VII

Full Name: Omar Quintanilla

Position: Shortstop

Born: October 24, 1981

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 190 lbs.

How acquired: Signed as a free agent from the Texas Rangers.

Uniform number: 6

MLB experience: 6 seasons, with Colorado and Texas.

Best season: 2008, when he posted a slash line of .238/.288/.348 in 234 plate appearances for Colorado. Ye gods.

Injury history: Elbow surgery (2010); Lower leg strain (2010); Elbow strain (2010)

2012 salary: Non-roster invitee. What do they get, Port St. Lucie Pizza Hut vouchers? I have no idea.

Actual scouting notes: Quintanilla raked in the minors (how does .308/.370/.445 grab you?), but has never been able to translate that to major league success. He’s never had much power, but he’s been a singles and doubles machine throughout his minor league career (a good portion of which was in the altitude of Colorado Springs). His defense is so-so, but he can play second, short, and third about equally well. With Ronny Cedeno, Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, and Ruben Tejada already ensconced in the middle infield rotation, it would take a huge spring for Quintanilla to make the club. It’s likely he’ll bide his time in New Orleans this summer, waiting for an injury to one of those four. I wouldn’t mind playing ball and hanging out in the Big Easy, but I’m sure he has bigger plans. I guess the brain trust’s thinking here is that he’s a decent stopgap option if someone goes down, and they could get lucky and he could start hammering major league pitching the way he has minor league pitching.

Weird, wild stuff: Omar went to the University of Texas after growing up in El Paso. Unlike Jon Hamm, he stuck with it. No word as to whether Roger Clemens attempted to discourage him, in person or otherwise. In 2010, amid a season nearly lost to injury, Omar was suspended 50 games by the Commissioner’s office for testing positive for Methylhexeanimine, a banned stimulant. This season, try the chicory coffee from Café Du Monde, Omar. It’s awesome.

A NEW HOPE: PART VI

Full name: Ramon Santo Ramirez (not Ramon A. Ramirez)

Position: Relief Pitcher

Born: August 31, 1981

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 200 lbs.

How acquired: Obtained in a trade with Andres Torres from the San Francisco Giants for Angel Pagan.

Uniform number: 52

MLB Experience: 6 seasons, with Colorado, Kansas City, Boston and San Francisco.

Best season: 2011, when he appeared in 66 games for the Giants, with a 2.62 ERA and a 1.165 WHIP.

Injury history: Elbow sprain (2007); Shoulder inflammation (2007).

2012 Salary: $2.65 million

Actual scouting notes: Santo, as I like to never call him, has a 92-95 mph fastball, a nasty slider, and a curve that are all effective in small doses. He began his career as a starting pitcher in Japan, returned west and entered the Yankees system, and then was traded to Colorado for Shawn Chacon. At Denver, he had one good year in the bullpen before losing most of 2007 to arm problems. He was traded to KC, and then to Boston (for Coco Crisp), where he had a nice 2009 season, and then was shipped off to the Giants for spare parts. I'm not sure why other GM's don't like this guy, other than he is a standard fungible righty reliever. He's been extremely solid since going to the bullpen full-time. His BABIP in San Fran went from .152 in 2010 to .280 in 2011, and he still managed pretty similar ERA and WHIP numbers, which is amazing. AT&T Park is death on homers, and Ramirez has been stingy with the long ball generally. We'll see how the new fences affect his pitching at Citi Field. He should be a 7th or 8th inning guy, depending on who else is available and effective, and could close in a pinch. Considering he was an afterthought in the Angel Pagan-for-Andres Torres trade, I really like this pick-up.

Weird, wild stuff: He shares a name with another sort-of active bullpen guy as noted above. That one last pitched for Cincinnati in 2009, but is in the Red Sox camp this spring. I wonder if John Henry is sending paychecks to the wrong guy. Wikipedia says Ramirez learned to pitch at the Coca-Cola bottling plant near his home in the Dominican Republic. He took a job there at age 16 after he was released by the Texas Rangers for giving them a bogus birth certificate and being a lousy outfielder. When Terry Collins signals to the bullpen to bring him in, will this be the pause that refreshes? Is he the real thing? Will he add life to the team? Will we enjoy his tenure? Okay, I have to go teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.