Following up on last week's story, here's Part II of the MLB Band List:

(Also, go check out the baseball/band videos at Fanhouse TV for a different take on the whole affair...)

American League

AL East

Baltimore Orioles are The Doors: Best known for their work in the 60s and 70s, they experienced a brief resurgence in the 90s thanks to a wealthy, powerful control freak (Peter Angelos; Oliver Stone). Featured a number of talented performers, but overwhelmingly identified with possibly the least talented one (Cal Ripken, Jr.; Jim Morrison). Countless American twenty-somethings are left with tons of related paraphernalia purchased in their teen years when it was "cool" to like them. Depend on nostalgia (Camden Yards) to keep fans coming back.

Boston Red Sox are U2: Strong Irish cultural identification. Began as plucky, spirited upstarts who strongly advocated for (and were advocated by) the oppressed, eventually became the 800 pound gorilla of the sport/industry. Incredibly wealthy, spending tons of money to perform for fans, but creating high-grade psychic dissonance vis-à-vis their past and present advocacy for the poor. Resented for their popularity and perceived pretentiousness, especially by those who were fans "before they got famous." Ridiculous hair.

New York Yankees are Led Zeppelin: Loved and hated in nearly equal measure. Bombastic cultural touchstone, definitive in the genre despite a sizeable portion of their work being appropriated from other sources (Kansas City A’s / free agency; Robert Johnson / J.R.R. Tolkien). Wore the same clothing for decades. Personality clashes defined and seemingly enhanced the quality of their performance. Much of their cachet derived from metaphysical sources (the occult; "mystique and aura").

Tampa Bay Rays are New Kids on the Block: Young kids thrown together to perform, we’ve watched them for years and seen them age without ever seeming to improve in any cognizable way. Latter-era name change (Rays; NKOTB) seen as desperate attempt to confer legitimacy on the whole sad enterprise.

Toronto Blue Jays are Rush: Canadian. Fully distinct from their pastoral origins, they engage in a sterile, technically exacting exhibition greatly appreciated by a few, almost completely ignored by most. Talents of individual members (Neal Peart; Vernon Wells) ceaselessly touted by enthusiasts, but the group as a whole sputters. 

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I had wanted to do this over the weekend, but illness and laziness reared it's ugly head, so here I am doing it on opening day.  I am just going to do a simple breakdown of each position and how they compare to each other.  I am not going to bother weighting the position as the extra complexity will likely not add much value.

Hitting:

Catchers:

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Sometime on Thursday, The Good Phight is going to be switching over to the new SB Nation 2.0 blog platform.  Things will look VERY different.  There are going to be lots of new features that we're all going to have to learn and adjust to, so bear with us!

A number of our baseball sites have already upgraded -- check out Over the Monster, Viva El Birdos, and Bleed Cubbie Blue for an idea of what the new platform looks like.

There's going to be some down time on Thursday as we make the transition, so don't trip.  We'll be back.

Every winter since Pat Gillick's gotten here, we've been excited at the prospect that the GM who once plucked future Blue Jays all-star George Bell out from the Phillies minor-league system in the Rule 5 draft would do a make-good and find someone of value for his current employer. And every spring, we've seen Gillick's Rule 5 selections fall short in their bids for a roster spot, let alone stardom. Lefty pitcher Travis Blackley joined the less-than-illustrious ranks of Chris Booker and Alfredo Simon today as the Phils began the process of offering him back to the Giants.

Blackley isn't the only one gone from big-league camp as the team prepares to depart Florida. Vic Darensbourg and Gary Knotts were reassigned to minor-league camp. At the moment, J.D. Durbin seems likely to make the team despite a brutal outing against the Yankees last night; it's also more than possible that someone will show up on the waiver wire or arrive through trade. Infielder Wes Helms and outfielder Chris Snelling continue to battle for the last roster spot, with most observers (including P-Pravda) giving the edge to Snelling.

All I have to add here in terms of analysis is that while the team obviously doesn't want to eat the $2.15 million or so they'd owe Helms upon his release, there's at least a chance that Snelling--a minimum-salary guy with very little service time--could save them a lot more money if he emerges as a platoon- or even starter-quality outfielder down the line. And a spot is likely coming open in 2009 as Pat Burrell leaves town.

I was recently turned on to this video, which compares the Phillies recent run of "pretty good-ness" to that of the Foo Fighters, another bunch of dudes who are also generally solid and respectable, but never really transcendent.

... Adding, it appears that this video is part of a larger series of videos from Fanhouse TV, where they compare teams to music groups in a series of short videos. Highly recommended, go check it out.

What about the rest of MLB?  What bands do they most closely resemble?

National League

NL East

Atlanta Braves are Garth Brooks: Unstoppable in the 1990s, with pockets of fans everywhere (thanks, TBS!).  Ill-advised character change, and getting away from what worked for them, proved to be harbinger of a significant downturn (Chris Gaines; shifting focus from pitching to hitting / losing Leo Mazzone).  Currently lying fallow, but you wouldn't be shocked if they came back just as strong as ever.

Florida Marlins are The Sex Pistols: Young group assembled by a greedy, creepy man (Malcolm McClaren; Wayne Huizenga), and swiftly dismantled after hitting their peak.  Followed by a second, unexpected comeback with the original creepy man nowhere in sight.

New York Mets are Black Sabbath: Gargantuan and powerful, but always will be left with a healthy dose of the "what-might-have-beens" had they not lost their most talented performer(s) to substance abuse (Ozzy Osbourne; Dwight Gooden / Darryl Strawberry).  The fill-ins proved to be ineffectual lightweights (Dio; Frank Viola / Kevin McReynolds).

Philadelphia Phillies are The Foo Fighters: See video.

Washington Nationals are New Order: Rose from the ashes of other groups' tragic demises (Ian Curtis and Joy Division; Montreal Expos), and forged a completely new identity.  Unmistakable European flavor.  Like Joy Division, it was almost impossible to hear the Expos on the radio, and like New Order, the Nationals are ubiquitous over the airwaves.

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Well, this is a mild surprise. It's retroactive to March 21, which means he can be activated as early as April 5 when the Phils visit the Cincinnati Reds.

I guess one consequence of this is that it gives the team more time to resolve its roster issues--which might mean a new lease on life for Travis Blackley and/or J.D. Durbin. Also, Clay Condrey presumably can now pack his bags for Philadelphia.

I had the pleasure of taking in a few Grapefruit League games late last week, including two Phillies contests at wonderful Bright House Field. (Well, one and a third: we got soaked at Saturday's rained-out contest against the Tigers.) There are pictures, but technical issues--specifically, the fact that I can't find the cord that attaches the digital camera to the computer--render these unavailable for now. A few thoughts:

• Reports of Kyle Kendrick's demise have been exaggerated. Albeit against a Pirates lineup lacking Jason Bay, Adam LaRoche, and Freddy Sanchez, the rookie revelation of 2007 looked damn good through five innings of Thursday's 3-0 win. Kendrick got ahead of almost every hitter and recorded 11 of his 15 outs on the ground, the two keys to his success last season. I'd still be surprised if he posts an ERA below 4.50, but I'm no longer quite so worried that he'll be anchoring the Lehigh Valley staff by Independence Day.
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• The Durbins might be better than you think. My single biggest surprise of the trip was watching Chad Durbin go nine-up, nine-down Saturday against a Detroit lineup that included Granderson, Polanco, Ordonez, Guillen and Pudge Rodriguez, with two strikeouts and only a couple hard-hit balls. As a middle reliever, he might be fine. Surprise #2 was watching J.D. Durbin absolutely dominate the Pirates for two shutout innings on Thursday, with three strikeouts. His stuff is easily MLB-caliber; the question is whether he'll ever be able to master it. The hunch here is that some other team will get to find out; the Phillies, in win-now mode, can't really afford to wait on Durbin's command.
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• Ryan Howard is good to go. Not that you need much more than a look at the numbers--or various Sportscenter highlights throughout March--to tell you this, but the big guy really looks primed for a huge year. He took Ian Snell out of the yard on Thursday with a laser shot to left-center, and Pirates pitching wanted little to do with him for the rest of the afternoon. This should be fun.
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• John Maine could be the best #3 starter in the NL. With a Mets-fan friend on the trip, we spent Wednesday evening watching the 2007 NL East runners-up host the Indians in Port St. Lucie. Maine, the Mets' de facto ace for much of last season, continued an impressive spring (2.33 ERA) by striking out seven Cleveland hitters over 5 1/3 innings as New York took a 3-1 victory.  

The Washington Nationals have released John Patterson.  Patterson has been limited by injury much of his career, but he's shown loads of talent when healthy.  He had a 9-7 record and 3.15 ERA in 2005.  He's had elbow and arm problems since then, but he reported to camp this year healthy.

However, it appears that his velocity has been down and the Nationals were no longer willing to take their time with him.  On a team without much pitching, that's surprising.  But, there's no reason the Phillies shouldn't scoop him up and try to fit him into their system immediately.

Yes, they have lots of peripheral fifth starters, but there's no harm in adding one more, especially one with an upside way beyond that of any of the other members of the motley crew.

A pitcher dropped by the Nationals in spring training isn't going to command a lot of money.  Phillies, go get him.