Edgy MD

-Wright's response to his decreased power numbers in the second half last year I'm more interested in David Wright, On-Base Machine, than David Wright, Power Generator. If he keeps reaching at .380 plus, I'm cool with 40 doubles and 20 homers. -Will LoDuca and Valentin be able to repeat last year's performances? Without using that as a yardstick, I'm hoping they stay productive. -Is Pavano a genuine question mark for the Yankees or was he simply injured and now that he's 100% physically is he the same pitcher he was when they signed him? While nothing is a sure thing, every pitcher coming off an injury is a large question mark. -Was Papalbon a one-hit wonder? He's clearly a talented pitcher. I'm intriguied by the notion of breaking a pitcher in as a closer and graduating him to the rotation. -Are the Dodgers really that good? I hope not. But how about how fast Colletti turned that team over? Jeff Kent is second or third in seniority. -How about the Braves? I never like a rival to have a productive catcher. It makes the rest of the lineup that much easier to fill out. But I keep thinking of cutting Giles loose for nothing and I wonder if they're going to keep handicapping Bobby Cox. -Ditto on Zito. Zuck Fito. Glad we laid off.

Cleon never really follows through on these wagers he throws out there.

The world may be getting over pitchers' victory totals. He's never won more than 16, but he could be the first $20 mllion pitcher. I imgaine that he's really harshing the opening day buzz for Cub fans and he could be booed right out fo the box.

Booze, snapping at the family, denial, bullshit baiting of Yankee fans, general bullshit, scapegoating the closer, booze, ill-advised roadtrips to Philly leading to arrests, booze...

In the great scheme of things, Trachs was certainly above average.

Marathon, our in-house mathematical idiot savant, forgets that we square the ranking --- his own innovation.

Yeah, thanks to Frayed Knot and Yancy for getting this done, plus the rankers, who know who they are.

Joe will break camp a Met. You just know it.

I just don't think he has to --- or should necessarily should --- develop a home-run swing. When Rickey Henderson hit 24 homers, it was speculated that he had 30-30 potential (or actually 30-80). But it was probably far better that he let his power peak in the 20s and kept pounding out those .400+ OBP seasons, saving his homer swing for when he had the pitcher set up. The funny thing about switch hitting is that, with a few exceptions --- Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray --- you often develop two different batting styles. Jose seems to like to drive the high ball as a righthanded batter, and golf the lowball as a lefty. I don't want him messing around too much looking for more power. I'd rather he just develop his plate discipline as best he can, hit the ball where it's pitched, let the power come, and enjoy it if it leaves the park. His doubles and triples pump up his slugging percentage without him having to knock one out.

1) Hitting fewer home runs would not necessarily mean doing worse. 2) Players fall back after large steps forward all the time, just as they rebound after lousy seasons.

Cool spring number for Carlos Gomez:

Two things about Chan Ho Park: (1) He looks to be in great shape, for what it's worth, from the shots I've seen. (2) He fired Scott Boras shortly before signing with the Mets. A third thing about Chan Ho Park: (3) He's a fucking ninja-man. I'm not sure any Met suit has the guts to cut a Ninja. Do you?

Should we invite re-submissions now that we're in the Park era, or should we just plug Park in for Williams. I think peeps should re-submit. Anyhow, Newsday's David Lennon assumes that Glavine and Hernandez are locks (which they are, except there's always the possibility that one of them will be hurt), and he handicaps the rest of the field this way: John Maine (2-1) Oliver Perez (5-1) Chan Ho Park (7-1) Mike Pelfrey (12-1) Philip Humber (12-1) Jorge Sosa (15-1) Aaron Sele (20-1) Jason Vargas (30-1) Alay Soler (50-1) Aaron Heilman (100-1) Personally, I think he's long on many of these odds. Doesn't 5-1 mean Ollie Perez only has a one in six chance of making this team? He seems more like two in three to me.

Local reports pull the Nats out of the Trachsel bidding. Actually, the reports show a mutual disinclination. Good luck to Manny Acta., but nobody knows who the Nats starting rotation is to be for last year.

There's buzz on Trachsel going with St. Louis and some other buzz on him going with Houston, both of whom still have holes in their rotation. Signing Trachsel is seen in some way as bolstering the Astros prospects for a return by Roger Clmeens, who recently told New York reporters, "When you don't have the opportunity to go to the playoffs and have a chance to win, it's a waste of time for me. At this stage and point in my life and career, that's all you're looking for." So maybe whoever gets him will get a full season out of him.

I want to see some more of that outside-the-box thinking. Not that outside, mind you.

I think we all agree on the first four, unless we're predicting injury. Though I guess Willie will let on that Maine and Perez still have to earn their slots, I imagine we all think they're good bets. There seem to be six real possiblities for the last slot. There are the experienced guys --- Sele, Sosa, and Williams --- and the inexperienced guys --- Humber, Pelfrey, and Soler. I think they'll go old first. Williams is the incumbent, but I don't think that makes him the favorite. I'll go with Sosa for no good reason. Glavine-Hernandez-Maine-Perez-Sosa.

Five men NOW!!!! And yes, if you suspect Hernandez will go down in spring training, and fail to answer the opening day bell, list him not. Oft enough a team opens with a four-man set the first week or two, but even then, they usually announce the fifth, so don't get cute and only list four men.

Interestingly, they probably almost never appeared in a game at the same time. HoJo wore an "H." to distinguish him from "D. Johnson" back in the day.

Yeah, 50-something was supposed to be a polling option. I'm adding it.

We have a number conflicti fast approaching. Howard Johnson is due to return as batting coach, but his familiar 20 belongs at present to Shawn Green. What will happen?

I thought of Richard every time somebody accused Armando of having no heart. I think of him every time I hear accusations of a black guy (particularly a big black guy) coasting on his talent and praise for the white guy for being a gritty throwback.

Pretty cool to see the flaming Astros home whites out of doors for a change.

He signed within my deadline, it just hasn't been announced. I'm sticking to that.

Fived days. Trax will sign within five days.