A WBC RANT

***MORE AND MORE PLAYERS ARE GETTING HURT***
Chipper Jones just left, Dustin Pedroia got hurt, Francona is unhappy, the Mets are unhappy; the only one who isn't unhappy is Bud "Clueless" Selig. He's thrilled: he says the TV ratings are up, the crowds are great and the games are wonderful. Of course they are, Bud, baseball is a great game. How good will the crowds be in the regular season if teams have to load up on triple-A players because everyone else is hurt. You may be disappointed in two years when teams won't let anyone on their ML roster play.

***THE METS HAVE THE MOST TO FEAR***
They let 16 players go to the WBC. What were they thinking?

***THAT'S GETTING YOUR PROBLEMS BEHIND YOU***
Finally, a player who gives you a straight answer to health problems. When asked how his strained muscle in his gluteus maximus (his rear) was, Eric Bedard replied, "My ass feels good." We'll, uh, just take your word for that, Eric.

***MANNY'S REALLY HURT...THIS TIME***
He apparently re-injured a hamstring chasing a ball in left field, so it's not true he pulled a muscle watching a roadrunner cartoon. Why is he in the field this early anyway? Didn't they watch him play left field in Boston, where he became a master at turning a regular single into a surprise double?

***SOMEONE SIGNED PUDGE RODRIGUEZ?***
Yup, it was the Astro's. Why, you ask? Well, Rich Justice of the Houston Chronicle offers four choices:
1. The Astro 1-14 record in spring training.
2. Scott Boras reduced I-Rod's price from $3.3 million to $1.5 million
3. GM Drayton McClane woke up with his hair on fire and decide he had to do something and it was too early to fire the manager.
4. All of the above.
Picasner thinks I-Rod is done for. He's caught too many games and his production has declined rapidly since he was...well, bigger. He is one of the players that Canseco allegedly "trained". When asked if he we one of the 104 players who tested positive, he replied, "Only God knows". And he's not talking, right Pudge?

***IT'S NOT JUST THE YANKEES***
The Angels are offering 36 seats for $215 each on the warning track past the dugouts. Not to be outdone, the Yanks have countered with an offer of $150 for seats on the warning track behind home plate. ...at the old Yankee Stadium.

***GO SYRACUSE !!***