1. This season will be the first without Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds since 1986. Over two decades have passed, and we finally (or at least we hope) will say goodbye to arguably the best pitcher and the best hitter of the generation. Or at least that’s what I’d like to be saying. Their legacies will forever be tainted with syringes and perjury accusations, and it will be for the better to see them out of the game. Fans should not be going to stadiums around the country for the sole purpose of harassing Clemens or throwing batteries at Bonds. Their departures from America’s pastime will most definitely help spectators focus more on the young stars who play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.
2. A renewed Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is upon us. MVP Alex Rodriguez is back in pinstripes, Joe Torre is out of pinstripes and into Dodger Blue, and George Steinbrenner has relinquished control of the team to his sons, Hank and Hal.
From top to bottom, the Yankees have a lineup of bona fide stars. However, their bullpen presents a spring training concern. New manager Joe Girardi brings in an entirely new coaching staff and youthful style, which will be a marked change from the Joe Torre regime. Girardi will have the responsibility of protecting the promising triumvirate of pitchers Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain, who will all dictate the next 10 years of Yankees pitching.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how older players respond to a young manager—especially Jorge Posada. He and Girardi were catchers for the 1996 Yankees, and Posada will have to adjust to taking orders from his former teammate.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, are poised to make another run. David Ortiz is fresh once again after playing the entire 2007 season with a torn meniscus and nagging shoulder and quadriceps injuries. The Sox haven’t made any huge moves, but they will get young stud pitcher Clay Buchholz back after his missing last year’s postseason with a tired arm. Neither team bit on Johan Santana, which I believe was a good move by both teams, considering the particular young talent each team would have to let go. Giving up Phil Hughes would have been a recipe for disaster, as I am willing to bet that Hughes would have been a superstar for the Twins, and Santana would be the second coming of Carl Pavano for the Yanks. In any case, after watching them in the postseason last year, I really think the Sox will catch the Yankees in a transition year and take the American League East crown once again.
3. The New York Mets have had some time to recover from their late season collapse. If there is going to be a year for the Mets, it’s happening right now. The acquisition of Johan Santana makes perfect sense for the Mets, who finally recognized its need for a big arm. I also don’t think anybody was counting on minor leaguer Carlos Gomez to be an impact player this season and take the major league team to the World Series.
The Mets want to win now, and they went out and made the move they needed to make. The pitching staff (led by Santana, Pedro Martinez and John Maine) is going to be downright scary if they are able to stay healthy throughout the course of the season. Because of this, there is no reason the Metropolitans can’t win the National League East by a sizable margin. Although the Phillies stormed back at the end of last season, they are still the Phillies. It’s just not happening again.
4. Old faces are making some new appearances. Down in Atlanta, it’s great to see Mike Hampton throwing again. He made it through two innings this past weekend in his first game action since Aug. 19, 2005, after missing over two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and lingering elbow problems. What is even more ridiculous is that Hampton will make $15 million in the final year of an eight-year, $121-million contract he signed with Colorado in 2001.
Another one of my former favorite players, outfielder Juan Gonzalez, homered off Johan Santana in his first spring training at bat. Gonzalez sat out the last two seasons after tearing his hamstring in his first at-bat with Cleveland in 2005. The two-time MVP used to be an RBI machine with the Rangers and Indians in the late 1990s, and it will be a great blast from the past to see him make it through the season without physically disintegrating.
Spring training is very much unlike preseason professional football or basketball—it’s actually worth watching. In this downtime of the professional sports calendar (right between the Super Bowl and March Madness), spring training presents a viable fill-in.