Angels righty Shohei Ohtani, who appeared first overall on our recent top-100 prospect list, made his spring debut on Saturday at Tempe Diablo Stadium against the Milwaukee Brewers. He threw 1.1 innings, surrendered two hits (including a solo homer to Brewers OF Keon Broxton on a fastball, up), walked one, and struck out two. Ohtani was removed after he threw 31 pitches (17 for strikes) because he had reached his pitch-count limit.

Ohtani struggled to find a consistent release point during his brief outing, which is of little concern given that he barely pitched last year and this was his first spring-training appearance. A source at the game had Ohtani’s fastball ranging 91-97 mph. He threw all of his secondary pitches, the best of which was a plus to plus-plus splitter in the 84-88 mph range. He also threw one knee-buckling, change-of-pace curveball at 70 mph and a few sliders in the 79-80 mph range.

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Other pro scouting notes

Rockies SS prospect Brendan Rodgers homered in the big-league spring-training game Friday on a ball that left the bat at 102 mph. He hit a ball 105 earlier in the game.

Cleveland 1B prospect Bobby Bradley singled today on a ball that left the bat at 109.5 mph.

D-backs righty Taylor Clarke was 91-94 with an average curveball in a scrimmage against Arizona State on Wednesday.

So far, at least, Jeffrey Loria’s defense against the suit filed by Miami-Dade related to his claim of no net proceeds in his sale of the Marlins isn’t going so well. Loria’s lawyers attempted to argue that the summary they turned over to Miami-Dade was legally sufficient under the stadium contract and that no further explanation was necessary. Judge Beatrice Butchko disagreed, contending that Loria’s summary was “a problem.”

Here’s why that matters: because, on a basic level, it’s never a good sign for a defendant when the judge suggests that his case has “a problem” at the beginning of proceedings. And here’s why else: the court also vacated the previously set deadline for Miami and Miami-Dade to object to Loria’s numbers — and, more importantly, opened discovery. Which means Loria now has to start turning over his financial and supporting documents to Miami-Dade attorneys.

Below are scouting reports on the prospects who changed hands in the three-team trade on Tuesday night that sent OF Steven Souza, Jr. from Tampa Bay to Arizona and INF Brandon Drury from Arizona to the Yankees.

Anthony Banda, LHP
In 2017, Banda struggled at notoriously unforgiving Triple-A Reno, where he posted a 5.39 ERA. He made a spot start in Arizona in July and then was up again in August for a three-start look before he finished the year in the D-backs bullpen. Despite his poor on-paper production in 2017, his stuff remains intact and he profiles as a No. 4 starter. Banda sits 92-95 and will touch 96 with his fastball. He has an above-average changeup that he should probably throw more often and an average curveball in the 77-82 mph range. In light of what’s going on with Tampa Bay right now, he’ll probably exceed rookie limitations in 2017. He’s a 50 FV prospect who appeared within the honorable-mention section of our top-100 list.

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Position: New York Mets Intern, Analytics

Location: New York

Description:
The New York Mets are seeking an intern to work with the club’s Research and Development team. The employee will analyze baseball data and use their findings to support different areas within Baseball Operations. These may include player development, amateur and international scouting, and Major League advance scouting.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct research in the field of baseball analytics and communicate insights with Baseball Operations department.
• Research, develop, and test predictive models to support Baseball Operations decision-making (i.e., player evaluation, roster construction, player development, in-game strategy).
• Assist development team in creating new analyses and tools and integrating with existing Baseball Operations web application.
• Write scripts for the purposes of data collection, automation, and report generation.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree (applicant may be a current upperclassman pursuing degree) or equivalent experience in Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Operations Research, or similar quantitative field.
• Strong experience querying and managing data with SQL.
• Demonstrated experience using statistical tools and packages in R or Python.
• Strong understanding of baseball specific datasets (i.e., Trackman, Statcast, PITCHf/x) and knowledge of current baseball research. Please provide a sample of your work.
• Preference for candidates who have demonstrated experience building web applications in Python, Java, PHP, Javascript, etc. Please provide a link to the application and/or codebase (Github) if possible.

To Apply:
Interested applicants should apply through this link by March 18, 2018.

At the end of last week, I explained how Miami could possibly get back some money from Jeffrey Loria by filing an accounting suit and seeking to freeze the $50 million still escrowed from the sale of the club. On Friday, Miami-Dade County did exactly that, asking for Loria to explain his “fuzzy math” and asking the court to freeze the escrowed monies.

It’s still not terribly likely that Miami-Dade gets back anything close to its investment, although there is a good chance that the County could get something. And depending on what the protective order in this case looks like, it’s possible that Jeffrey Loria could be compelled to open his books.

Late Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired SS prospect Jermaine Palacios from Minnesota in exchange for RHP Jake Odorizzi. Palacios has a fairly long track record of offensive performance — he’s a career .290/.345/.426 hitter over four pro seasons — and is a viable defensive shortstop, but his game has some blemishes that may be exploited at the upper levels of the minors.

Chief among those is Palacios’s approach. He is not a selective hitter. Palacios has a quick bat, is loose-wristed, and has terrific hand-eye coordination, but his propensity to swing at just about everything is likely to be exploited as he reaches the upper levels of the minors. The physical tools to hit are here and, after flopping at Low-A in 2016, Palacios seemed to adjust to full-season pitching last year. (Nothing obvious changed mechanically, he just looked more comfortable than he did the year before.) This might be something he’s slow to do at each level. It’s tough to project Palacios’s hit tool because his barrel quickness and bat control are both excellent, but his on-paper production is going to play down unless he starts hunting driveable pitches.

Defensively, Palacios has a 55 arm, enough to play the left side of the infield, and average range, hands, and actions. He makes the occasional acrobatic play but he’s also a bit prone to mental mistakes. He’s a shortstop prospect but isn’t such a good defender that he’ll profile without providing dome offensive value, too. Whether or not that happens will depend on how his approach and general baseball acumen matures. If it doesn’t, he looks more like a utility guy, and he might be that anyway with Willy Adames in the farm system. Look for Palacios to start playing positions other than shortstop, which he hasn’t done since 2015.

Earlier this month, Craig Edwards contended in a post at this site that the Twins really needed starting pitching. Actually, “really, really” was the precise verbiage he used. That’s two reallys. The addition of some rotation depth was an urgent matter for the Twins’ success, Edwards claimed.

The timing of his post helps to explain the urgency. Just the day before, reports indicated that Ervin Santana would miss roughly the first month of the season. Santana was an important part of a Twins club that unexpectedly qualified for a Wild Card game last season. For a team that entered the offseason with something less than a full complement of major-league starters — and which had little margin for error in a division also featuring the Cleveland Indians — the loss of the staff’s nominal ace for any amount of time would be damning.

Last night, the Twins went some way to addressing their lack of rotation depth. Marc Topkin gets right to the heart of the matter in this post on social-media platform Twitter dot com:

By the version of WAR calculated with FIP, Odorizzi produced just one-tenth of win last year in 143.1 innings. He didn’t fair much better by the run-allowed version of that metric (1.1 RA9-WAR). He had also just won his arbitration case against the Rays, entitling him to $6.3 million in 2018. For a Tampa Bay club that appears to have no interest in adding — and, in fact, appears intent on subtracting — payroll.

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Tim Lincecum was once one of the joys of baseball.

At just 5-foot-11, 170 pounds and with hair past his shoulders, he could be mistaken for someone at your neighborhood skate park, only he could also throw 98 mph. His frame dropped him to the 10th pick of the 2006 draft even after he struck out almost all of Division I while pitching for the University of Washington. The Giants took the risk and were rewarded for betting on his unorthodox delivery and build. His mid-90s fastball, sharp-breaking curve, and elite changeup led him to two Cy Young awards. He was part of three world-championship clubs.

Then Lincecum and his velocity went missing before resurfacing this winter.

Now 33, Lincecum has been quietly working out at Driveline Baseball with the hope of rediscovering some of his stuff and returning to the majors. He worked out for MLB teams on Thursday, and the results are reportedly encouraging.

This is an instance where the radar-gun readings really mean something.

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Position: Pro Scouting Trainee

Location: Atlanta, GA

Description:
Assist and provide support to the Atlanta Braves Professional Scouting Department and Staff, and gain exposure to a MLB Baseball Operations department.

Position responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Organize information on all Professional players including Depth Charts, Player Lists.
• Coordinate stats, video, and other information on Major and Minor League players
• Read and think critically about submitted Scouting Reports
• Provide written and verbal assessments on Major and Minor League players
• Assist with day to day administrative needs of Professional Scouts

In addition to the general requirements, the ideal candidate will possess:

• Strong foundation in the application of statistical concepts to baseball data and the translation of data into useable scouting information
• An active listener – ability to quickly discern the information needs of Scouting Staff
• Experience producing a reliable work product under stressful circumstances
• Experience working with individuals of a wide variety of backgrounds and beliefs
• Demonstrated track record in role as a self-starter
• Ability to work extensive hours as dictated by the Major League season schedule (including weekends and holidays throughout the season)
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Familiarity with programming language SQL is a plus
• Preferred: Professional/collegiate playing experience
• Must be detail oriented with excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Must be able to work in a team atmosphere and handle multiple projects at one time
• Must complete a successful background check

To Apply:
Qualified candidates can apply online at www.braves.com/employment

The Atlanta Braves are an Equal Opportunity Employer

Position: Business Development Associate

Location: Lehigh Valley, PA

Position Overview:
Would you be interested in working closely with a small team to bring sabermetrics to a larger audience? Baseball Info Solutions is seeking a full-time Business Development Associate to work out of their Lehigh Valley, PA office. This is a great opportunity in a casual office environment with the leading provider of in-depth sports analytics.

The candidate will develop new sales opportunities as well as help maintain existing client relationships. Strong candidates will possess a self-motivated attitude, great communication skills, and be able to work in a collaborative team environment or independently as needed.

Responsibilities:

• Build new business relationships independently or as part of a business development team
• Maintain and expand existing client relationships
• Assist with marketing efforts and represent the company in professional settings
• Communicate with clients and prospects in-person, over the phone, and via email
• Educate current and future clients on cutting-edge data and analytics from SIS
• Collaborate with BIS Operations, R&D, and IT colleagues to build new products and fulfill customer needs
• Travel to meet with clients as needed

Qualifications:

• A track record (1-2 years) working in a business development environment
• Experience with Salesforce or CRM tool preferred
• A firm grasp on the baseball, football, fantasy sports, and sports media industries, including the latest sabermetric research
• Open-minded approach and ability to think creatively to anticipate client and industry demands
• Outgoing personality and flexible sales style to engage with a wide variety of prospective clients
• Professional demeanor with excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong organizational skills as well as diligence and high attention to detail
• Initiative to voluntarily commit long hours, night, and weekends as when needed
• Proficient in Microsoft software, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint

To Apply:
To apply, please use the following link: Business Development Associate Position