Only 10 days remain until pitchers and catchers can voluntarily report to Spring Training, so the anticipation in the air is palpable. Ah, Spring Training. With it comes the promise that a mere few weeks of winter remain and we all enjoy the beauty of a clean slate for each team. It’s exhilarating. And as always, you’ll be able to count on CREATiVESPORTS.com for top notch Spring Training coverage as we send staffers to both Florida and Arizona to report on all the pertinent happenings. In the meantime, let’s get this party started with some observations from the Spikes Up perch.
We were excited by the prospect of getting to see how healthy Barry Bonds is at next month’s World Baseball Classic, but his pulling out of the event has nixed that plan. Clearly, San Francisco’s fortunes will once again rest on his ability to stay in the lineup. Wow, what a novel concept for the Giants, eh? But they think they have covered their West Coast derrieres by adding Steve Finley in a deal from the Angels. The aging Finley, a big question mark himself after a simply horrific 2005 campaign, will act as the club’s fourth outfielder, and should Bonds not be able to make it through the year, Finley would be employed as Plan B. Probably gives you Giants fans a lot of confidence, I bet.
An interesting sidebar on the Finley deal, however, is that by sending away Edgardo Alfonzo in the trade, San Francisco has finally opened up a home for Pedro Feliz, its jack of all trades. After spending his entire career shuffling all over the field, Feliz will settle in at the hot corner this season, and that stability may have a hugely positive impact on his numbers this year. Despite setting career highs with 156 games and 569 at-bats last season, he was not able to build on his breakout 2004 season, slipping in the power department and managing just a .250 mark. Knowing where he will play every day will help Feliz rise to the next level offensively. Oh, and batting third in front of Bonds won’t hurt either. It’s reasonable to expect a 2006 line for Feliz of at least 75 runs, 25 homers, 90 RBI and a .280 BA.
Speaking of former Giants third basemen, the departure of Bill Mueller, not to mention king dirtbag Kevin Millar and rock star Johnny Damon, leaves the Red Sox without much of the character they rode to an unprecedented (for Boston) three straight playoff appearances and, of course, the end of the retched curse in 2004.
Chemistry is an incredibly overused word in sports circles – if you have poor chemistry, it really means nothing when you’re winning, and when you’re losing, great chemistry doesn’t seem to do you any good either. But that’s not to say that it isn’t important to some extent. And Boston will certainly have its challenges building that camaraderie in 2006 – especially if Manny Ramirez is still in a Red Sox uniform come Opening Day.
Curt Schilling’s return to dominance will be a huge story to watch, but more interesting in my mind is how Keith Foulke fares this year. He didn’t exactly ingratiate himself to the team with the insulting comments he made last year about Red Sox fans/Burger King employees booing him, and manager Terry Francona told MLB.com on Friday that he hadn’t spoken to Foulke at all over the offseason, suggesting that his closer is “a hard guy to run down.” That doesn’t sound like a healthy relationship. I think the team would love to part with Foulke, so the Bosox closer situation may be an interesting subplot for 2006, meaning that Mike Timlin, David Riske and Rudy Seanez could be worth a slightly longer look on draft day. And if you’re thinking longshot, I am still convinced that Craig Hansen is the Boston closer of the future.
NEXT: We’ll be back on February 20, at which point we’ll have Spring Training blurbs to disseminate and analyze as we gear up for the start of pre-season games. Basketball fans should check out Three in the Key, next appearing Valentine’s Day.
Comments? Questions? Criticisms or witticisms? You can reach me at rob@creativesports.com if you’d like further information or have a question you’d like me to answer in an upcoming column. Have a suggestion for a column or want to hear analysis about a particular player? Feel free to write. I might even answer!
Rob Blackstien is a freelance writer and the principal of Pen-Ultimate (www.pen-ultimate.ca), a Toronto-based writing and editorial services firm.