HERE WE GO AGAIN

***THE TRAINING CAMPS ARE OPEN***
# Phil Hughes has reported to camp with a weight loss, as Sabathia has. I don't care how much weight these guy lose, the Yanks starting rotation (plus 1) still looks like an offensive line.

# Now former manager Tony LaRussa is being considered for an MLB front office position. I guess they didn't learn anything from the Joe Torre regime. Maybe LaRussa would do a better job. Either way, with his reputation, you can be sure there would be more paperwork.

# The Seattle Mariners have decided to move Ich iro Suzuki down to #3 in the batting order. This move makes no sense to me. Even if he was still a .320 hitter, he's no RBI guy. We're told he puts on a show during batting practice, hitting the ball into the seats, but if he starts swinging for the fences in a game , his batting average is likely to drop below .250. Perhaps manager Eric Wedge is paving the way to drop him lower when he proves to be a bad choice for #3.

# Baseball has instituted a rule that closes a loophole that Tampa manager Joe Maddon found. He pinch hit for his pitcher in the bottom of an inning, and when he didn't have a pitcher ready to come in, he sent the pitch-hitter, Sam Fuld, out to warm up on the mound. By the time he was done, the reliever was ready and Maddon went out and brought him in. The rule now is that you can't send a player out to warm up with no actual intention of using him. Joe claimed it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but he was grinning too hard when he said it.

# Please, no! Oakland has signed Manny Ramirez to a minor league contract. He still has to sit out 50 games before he can play in the majors, maybe by then Manny will show that he can't (or won't) do it anymore. Headline at ESPN: A's Avoid Rebuilding Label This signing sure proves that.

# Mariano Rivera is hinting that this will be his last year. I can't bear it.

# The San Francisco Giants have told Buster Posey not to block the plate anymore. Easier said than done. The competitiveness of these guys (or maybe machismo) will probably surface during the first close play at the plate.

# The Angels have shopped Bobby Abreu all winter with no luck. Apparently, Bobby wasn't paying attention, because now he's saying, "Play me or trade me." Dangerous threat, Bobby, cause there is a third option: release him.

# The Red Sox have received their compensation for releasing Theo Epstein. He's 26-year old righthander Chris Carpenter. He has a live arm, a 96 MPH fastball and only a vague idea of where home plate is. To quote Harry Carey, "The Cubbies win! The Cubbies win!"

# According to Dwight Perry, tiny little Rhode Island has four Div. 1 basketball teams: Bryant Univ., Brown, Providence and Rhode Island. Their combined conference record is 6-48. Are you sure about that D-1 status, Dwight?

***THEY SAID IT***
"Jose Canseco is attempting a baseball comeback in Mexico. This would be the greatest comeback ever by a professional athlete who once fought to a draw with Danny Bonaduce" -- Brad Dickson
"Alex Rodriguez is still romantically linked to former Playboy centrefold and wrestling Diva Torrie Wilson. I'm thinking a lot of guys would go to the mat for her." -- RJ Currie
"Celtics' Rajon Rondo discovers that you don't get an assist for throwing the basketball at the ref." -- Headline at Fark.com
"Star-crossed center Greg Oden underwent his fifth knee surgery — and third microfracture procedure — since the Trail Blazers drafted him five years ago. Poor guy's been cut on so much, he's been named an honorary med-school cadaver." -- Dwight Perry
"Said to the refs who worked Sunday's Heat-Magic game, after posing for a postgame picture with them: "No one in this building, other than me, has been second-guessed more than you guys." -- Former President Bill Clinton

Lunch with Vod & his lovely wife today.
CP-