Now that exhibition games are starting we should get a steady flow of ambitious assessments, rosy projections and assorted other rushes to judgement based on games featuring players who won't sniff big league grass at any point this season. Case in point, Howard Megdal at Gotham Baseball who liveblogged the Mets exhibition opener against the Tigers and found it "easy to pretend that the Mets are simply playing Game 1 of the 2006 World Series." Somehow a game that features Ryan Raburn, Chad Durbin and Vance Wilson in Detroit's starting lineup makes it hard for me to get on board with that kind of thinking. Howard did a great job and his enthusiasm was clearly more about baseball's return than about anything that actually went on in the game but it did seem like a good place to start today's roundup.
- "If I told people he was going to hit .340 with 60 homers and 150 RBIs there isn't a person alive that would say I was crazy because that's how good he is," Reggie Jackson said. "You can't say that about [David] Ortiz or about Manny [Ramirez]. Maybe you can say that about [Albert] Pujols, but maybe not. The only thing about [A-Rod] is he has to get his mind right."
- Is there a chance that Rick Ankiel's going to be a regular in the Cardinal outfield? "Nobody has been more impressive in our pitching practice sessions than him," said manager Tony La Russa. "I would say that if he stays healthy, it will all fall into place. This guy is a very talented and a very tough individual."
- Jimmy Rollins is making believers out of his teammates. "We've got the talent to accomplish a lot of great things," Rowand said. "No doubt about it. It's about doing it, about getting lucky and staying healthy. A lot can happen over 162 games, but we've got the team to do it. We've got a great chance to win."
- Some takes on Gary Matthews Jr., his breakout season and these steroid rumors - “We really had no reason to believe anything he did for us was anything but hard work and his natural ability,” Texas General Manager Jon Daniels said yesterday in a telephone interview. “The potential has always been there with Gary,” Showalter said yesterday. “Gary has always been a guy that everyone knew there was more there with him. He’s strong and he plays hard. It just seemed like everything clicked for him last year.”
- Ron Washington said Hank Blalock seems completely healthy after minor shoulder surgery in the off-season. When asked about Blalock's shoulder, Washington said, "I think it looks awesome. Hank is fine. He's been doing a lot of throwing. He's been taking balls from his position at every angle -- backhands, forehands, sideways, slow rollers, working the bunts. He's been doing everything. He's good."
- Buddy Bell's still feeling Jorge De La Rosa - “He still has to compete for that spot,” Bell added, “but we saw enough from him last year that we would really like for him to be in the rotation.”
- Mike Hargrove's not the type to let a little thing like getting kicked off the Angels two weeks before the 2004 playoffs cloud his judgement of Jose Guillen. "Guillen probably has the most pure swing of anyone in camp," the manager said. "He seems to be a man on a mission this spring." Hargrove doesn't seem put out by Guillen's bad-boy reputation."He was fine (the last) two years in Washington," Hargrove said. "All you ever heard about was what happened in Anaheim."
- Terry Francona thinks the Red Sox rotation's going to be just fine, thank you. "The one thing I’m not looking for out of the bullpen is the so-called ‘long guy,’ that when a guy gets knocked out, he can eat up innings," Francona said. "That happens every couple of weeks. I’d rather have a bullpen that can try to get outs, and if we run into that disaster, we’ll piece it together, and, if we have to call somebody up, we will.“I hate to have somebody sit down there for games when we’re getting our asses kicked. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me."
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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