13 Days And Counting Until The Opener

Spring training can't end soon enough. As much as I love it, I also hate it. The majority of the games aren't on TV or the radio. And the ones that are, are typically played during the day and I usually miss them, usually because I forget to check. I don't like blogging about the box scores so missing games kind of puts a crimp in my blogging duties. But whatever, it is what it is. In just under 2 weeks, the regular season begins and that problem goes away. At least I'll get to see tonight's Yankees/Sox game. It's on YES. A.J. Burnett gets the start. Jeter makes his return from the WBC. I know what I'll be watching tonight.

Here are some other random thoughts:

• Phil Hughes, despite pitching pretty well this spring (12.1 IP, 5 H, 7 BB, 8 K, 2.19 ERA), was assigned to the minor league camp. I'm not surprised by that. It doesn't make any sense to keep him as a long man. He also wasn't going to crack the top 5. He needs to get his innings in as a starter and the only place he can do that for now is in Scranton. So Phil, I'll see you in Buffalo on April 13-16.
• Kei Igawa, despite being almost perfect all spring (12.1 IP, 10 H, 8 BB, 13 K, 0.73 ERA), was sent to the minors. Igawa could have pitched a flawless spring and i still don't think he would have made the roster. Perhaps this increases his value a little bit but I don't see him ever pitching for the Yanks except in an absolute emergency. I kind of hope Cashman looks into dealing him. Igawa would do well out in the NL West. Not sure who is available out there but get rid of him while his stock is high. Correction, while his stock is higher. It was pretty low and I don't want to imply that Igawa's stock is high because it's not. It's still low, but it's better than it was. I wonder if they could deal Igawa and Melky anywhere?
• Joe Girardi has apparently said that Xavier Nady would be the starting RF if the season started today. To be honest, I'm not that high on Nady. I like him, but I think he played above his potential last year and he ended up doing so-so with he was with the Yankees. The problem is, Nick Swisher is the only other option, and he is just as undesirable. Sure he gets on base, but his average was in the toilet last year and he whiffs more than I care for. Neither is having a terribly impressive spring, but Nady is the obvious choice of the two.
• A-Rod apparently likes to spend time (and money) supporting the "world's oldest profession." WTF Alex? I don't even know what to say. I'm not surprised though. We've learned over the years that Alex likes to place his bat in many different bat racks. I vaguely remember hearing a story years ago that alleged that Alex and his wife Cynthia were swingers. I've always said that perhaps A-Rod and Cynthia had "an agreement" where he could do whatever (or whoever) he wanted to as long as it didn't become public. I actually wouldn't be surprised if a lot of ball players have that kind of agreement with their wives. I get that it's tough to be away from home for so long and needing that, well, you know. Who knows is A-Rod had the freedom to do that? That's only something that I'm sure he and Cynthia know. I can see that being a reason why Alex would go down this road. You'd think that paying for it would be one name to keep the indiscretion a secret since it's an illegal activity. Regardless, what the heck is he thinking? He's pretty much the biggest name in baseball and he keeps making one bad decision after another. It wouldn't surprise me if one day we learned that he killed somebody. Actually, it would, but I'm sure you see my point. Every time something comes out about A-Rod, it gets worse and worse. He needs to get his act together. He's ours for another 9 years.
• Congrats to Japan on winning their 2nd straight WBC.
• Curt Schilling, everyone's favorite blow-hard, is hanging up his spikes. Like him or not, you can't argue that he had a great career. I haven't really looked into whether or not he's a HOFer. My initial reaction is that he falls just short, and I mean just short. That opinion could change of course and it probably will as it's that close. It's like 50.1% of me says he's not and 49.9% of me says he is. I think he was one of the best pitchers in the past 20 years. I also think that of Mike Mussina, and by a lot of accounts, he just misses also. I'm pretty sure when it's all said and done, both will be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie