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EVENTS AD PARTNERS
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Lasting impressions of spring
Posted: Friday March 31, 2000 07:49 PM
Most encouraging sign -- individual
Most encouraging sign -- team
Least encouraging sign -- individual
Least encouraging sign -- team
Most likely to succeed (with a new team)
MVP -- Cactus
League
MVP -- Grapefruit
League
Cy Young
On to the bag ... What is going on with Matt Mantei? He is having a brutal spring. Will he
remain the Diamondbacks' closer or will he be replaced by Byung-Hyun Kim?
Damn it, stop reading into spring training. If it really mattered, the Yankees would be making that Roger Clemens-for-Willie Blair swap right about now. Mantei is the closer now, will be the closer after the spring and will not lose the job ever (well, at least until he blows eight or nine straight saves). Plus, Kim helps solidify the guys in front of Mantei. The last two years the Red Sox were not predicted to go anywhere, but they
made it to the playoffs both times. This year just about everyone thinks they
will make the playoffs, and a lot of people think of them as contenders (Sports
Illustrated, FOXSports, etc). I have a strange feeling this year will be a
letdown. what do you think?
Maybe I've been snorting too much Maalox, but I truly, truly believe Toronto is a better, deeper team than Boston. Beyond Pedro and Ramon Martinez, where are the proven starters? Is Jeff Fassero an answer? Is Brian Rose? The Sox did well in finding Carl Everett, but it's hard to imagine the Brian Daubachs and Jason Varitek duplicating such good years again. There are rumors that the Yankees have a hot young first baseman in the farm
system. Should Tino Martinez fear for his job?
Not this year, but Nick Johnson seems to definitely be in the Yankees' future plans. He's a 21-year-old lefthander who batted .345 with 14 homers and 87 RBIs for Norwich last season. He'll spend most of this season in the minors, but Martinez is even talking like this is his final Bronx run. The Expos had the third-best record in spring training (behind Oakland and
Arizona). Could they win the wild card in the NL (with the Braves, Reds and
D'Backs)? With Vladimir Guerrero, Rondell White -- and if Peter Bergeron comes
close to what we expect of him -- do you think Montreal has one of the best
outfields in baseball?
It's pretty unlikely the Expos will make the postseason. However, I recently spoke with an NL scout who raved about Montreal. He called the Expos "the surprise team of 2000," saying he expected them to play "at least .500 ball." Still, Montreal's pitching is young and -- behind Dustin Hermanson and Hideki Irabu -- somewhat thin. Carl Pavano made some good strides last season, but he's a shaky No. 3 starter. Give 'em one, probably two more seasons, then watch out. The Expos might have the top young outfield in baseball, but players on several teams -- Atlanta, Kansas City and the Cubs come to mind -- will be more productive. Tom Verducci's regular-season Mailbag will make its 2000 debut next week. To
send him a baseball question, click
here.
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