And not a moment too soon

SCOTT JACOBS

Do you smell the freshly cut grass? Can you see the dirt being poured onto the field and the white lines painted over that? Watch the guys push in home plate so that it won’t move and put up the ol’ fences around the outfield up while you’re at it. O wait a minute, that’s not happening in Tallahassee, that’s just the opening to every sports writer’s introduction to Spring Training.

But seriously, it’s here. Finally, amidst the distraction that was the steroid scandal, and the horror that was the Mitchell Report, we have actual baseball to be played on real fields, not just scams to be played out in the public court of opinion where nobody wins. And I mean nobody.

Thus baseball is back. Court TV will have to take a step back for a little bit while the Roger Clemens-Brian McNamee fiasco simmers in the background. In the meantime, let’s talk about baseball, and what to look forward to this season.

According to Ryan Dempster, the Chicago Cubs are going to win the World Series. In other news, pigs will learn to fly, hell will freeze over, the Marlins will finally get a stadium deal (wait, you mean that’s actually on the verge of happening?), and the Yankees will play their last season in the House that Ruth Built (you mean that is happening?) Okay, so maybe that isn’t that unfathomable. After all, it’s only been what, 35 years since the Cubs won a World Series? Wait, you mean it’s more? How much more? 100 years! Okay, so maybe it is a little optimistic.

Nevertheless, Spring Training is the fun little time of year where Pittsburgh has playoff hopes and Tampa Bay thinks they can have a winning record. They think changing their name and colors gives them a ray of hope? Good luck with that St. Pete.

The Yankees think they’re better off this year with new skipper Joe Girardi. Joe Torre was fired, and couldn’t get a job anywhere. Just kidding. Within days of his firing, the Dodgers were on the phone asking Torre to find the dotted line. Soon after, he was the new manager in Tinsel town and had Andrew Jones as his centerfielder.

Since Major League rules obligate me to mention that other team with L.A. in their name I suppose I could show the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim a little love. They inked Torre Hunter to a 5 year, $90 million dollar deal in hopes that he can be a difference maker along with Vladimir Guerrero in the outfield. We’ll just have to see how that works out.

Aces were dealt all over the Majors in a wild offseason arms race.

The never-ending Johan Santana sweepstakes finally ended, but not before the Yankees actually put out a deadline forcing the Twins to accept their offer or it would be taken off the table. For a change the Yanks didn’t get what they wanted.

They did however get A-Rod back for more money than an athlete should ever know. His new contract (an astonishing 10 year, $275 million deal, that could escalate to $300 million if certain clauses are met) is even more then his mind-numbing 10 year $252 million deal with Texas in 2000, when he got almost triple what the then Montreal Expos, now Washington Nationals, were worth.

Boston, the reigning World Champions (still sort of strange to say that) got Curt Schilling back for another year, but he won’t be able to take the field for at least a few months because of a shoulder injury. The Red Sox were unable to land Santana, but they did resign Mike Lowell. Instead, the New York Mets, owners of the worst late-season collapse man had ever seen, won him with an underwhelming trade offer, and soon after got him signed to the largest contract given for a pitcher in MLB history (6 years, $137.5 million).

In an unrelated story, it has been speculated that money does grow on trees in the Major Leagues.

Oakland’s Dan Haren, the American League All Star game starter in 2007, was traded to Arizona in the off-season for a slew of prospects (six to be exact), and will team with Brandon Webb to form a dynamite one-two punch that is as good as any in baseball.

Erik Bedard’s value had never been higher as the rising star tortured batters last year en route to 221 strikeouts, and a 3.16 ERA, so the Orioles, in their never-ending rebuilding plan, dealt him to Seattle—for you guessed it— five prospects.

The Marlins, always off-season players, did what, well, we expect the Marlins to do: sold off their best players—for good prospects of course—because they couldn’t afford them; even though the Marlins actually made money last year. Any way you spin it, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, the final players remaining from the 2003 World Series championship team, were dealt in a blockbuster deal to Detroit for a whole lot of could be’s, should be’s, and probably won’t be’s. And Florida’s fan base dwindled to 12.

The Houston Astros acquired 31 year old Miguel Tejada in a weird trade for a bunch of prospects, especially strange because it came just days before the Mitchell Report came out. In 2007 Tejada hit just 18 home runs and made his first ever trip to the disabled list. How far did his value drop? In 2006 rumors had him going to the Astros for Roy Oswalt. Yeah, slight difference.

The much anticipated report put together by Senator Mitchell finally came out. You may have heard about it. Players were none too happy about it, as more than 80 former and current players were listed. Fans argued like crazy about it and rumor has it, Roger Clemens doesn’t think the part about him is true. That’s what Congress is for of course. It’s not like they have a war to worry about or anything.

Finally, the Nationals open their new ball park this season; finally getting a place they can call their own. It’s a beauty, and get this: its name, Nationals Park has no corporate sponsor. Nice to see for a change.

Just as it’d be nice to see baseball, not scandal, dictate how we remember 2008.

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