Spring Training Begins,

You took that post way more seriously than I did.

 

For a day, yeah, it was a little much. But don't expect it to last long. It won't even come close to matching Strasburg's circus last year, simply because Harper will likely be among the first cuts in a couple weeks and sent down to the minor league camp a few fields down or wherever.

Not sure what kind of media access they'll have at the minor league camp. But don't worry, this mini-circus will die down soon enough.

 

Unfortunately one of the better nicknames in baseball is going into a self-imposed hiatus.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/02/22/2674090/soria-asks-everyone-to-stop-calling.html

It's further proof that the drug cartels ruin everything.

 

Conrad's a good guy who wouldn't have been in that position were it not for the injuries to Chipper and Prado, so it's hard to be too tough on the guy. What really makes it hard to be tough on him is that the Braves might not have made the postseason without Conrad's bat late in the year. The guy was phenomenal in late game situations, especially near the end of the season.

It would have been hard to hate anyone on that Braves team (Kyle Farnsworth excluded), considering that they held the division lead far longer than they should have and still were a couple plays from making the LCS.

 

$65M/5 years for a guy who was on the scrap heap two years ago? Jose Bautista? Really? He's 31, and before 2010 never driven in more than 63 or hit more than 15 hrs. You'll be choking on that one next year.

 

Or he was simplyheld back by the way the Pirates mishandled him. The power is real and he did make some adjustments in his swing that showed with a strong finish in 2009, too.

Do I think he repeats what he did last season? No way. But the guy has power and the patience to make pitchers throw him strikes. Wouldn't shock me at all if he hits 35 home runs this season.

 

I for one look forward to the stories this spring and summer of how writers have to jump thru a billion hoops to get three cliche-filled minutes with Bryce Harper, who is probably less than half the age of the guys with the tape recorders and notebooks.

 

Find one player that has done what Bautista has.

There are no real (or non-chemical) precedents for this. Attempting to predict massive regression based on what guys like Brady Anderson and Rich Aurilia have done (bullshit I have heard elsewhere) makes no sense. He was also only a full-time player once in his career. Which is sort of relevant when you evaluate his '10 production.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/116683129.html

yeah, Greinke would have fit great in New York, Boston or another rabid market.

 

Granted, I haven't read everything Harper has said so far, but he doesn't seem the type to give cliche-filled answers. Dude knows how good he is and isn't afraid to tell everyone about it.

 

I'll just be over here, mourning. Pay no attention.