i'm heading off on a work trip; will be posting from the road the next few days. before i go, a quick roundup:
- anthony reyes got bombed sunday in his first appearance in minor-league camp: 4.2 innings, 11 hits, 6 runs, 2 dingers.
- joe strauss on dellucci and graffanino:
Cardinals officials play down interest in either player; however, the team mulled making a pitch for Graffanino before the Red Sox signed him for $2 million last December. Dellucci was a trade target before last July's nonwaiver deadline, but Rangers GM Jon Daniels proved a difficult partner.
- annals of the ex-cardinals: julian tavarez in a lather, matt morris in love, kerry robinson back in triple a, and abe nunez in disfavor already among phillie fans.
- david eckstein's a dick nixon aficianado? so says deadspin, which posted its five bits about the cardinals yesterday. i'd have pegged eck for an fdr fan . . . .
- ken rosenthal likes the blue jays to win the world series, but concedes "I'm assuming that nearly everything will go right for them, just as it did for the White Sox last season. That means right-hander A.J. Burnett must stay healthy and prove a worthy complement to right-hander Roy Halladay," etc etc. the latest news about burnett's injury is pretty favorable; he played some long toss pain-free yesterday and will go off a mound tomorrow, possibly pitch in a game on friday and return to action after an absence of just one start. sounds to me like they're rushing the guy . . . . but it wouldn't surprise me if that timetable eventually gets readjusted and burnett misses most of april.
- aj's outlook is still more encouraging than mark prior's. the chicago ace made 30 tosses yesterday on flat ground, but there's no set timetable for his return; he's out indefinitely.
- and so's roger clemens.
- back to the cubs: friend of VEB tim dierkes, a cub fan, sums up the northsiders' 2006 prospects like this:
The Cubs have a potentially dominant pitching staff and a potentially tolerable, OBP-starved offense. It sounds almost like the 2005 White Sox, without the great defense or durability. With a weakened Cardinals squad and the possible retirement of Roger Clemens, it's possible the Cubs claw their way to a division title. Otherwise, the writing is on the wall for Hendry and Baker.