I don't recall ever saying CJ's entire personality sucked, just that he'd made a mistake. I at least, can diferentiate between critcizing him for a mistake, and hating him completely. If people took my comments to mean I was down on CJ completely, that's not the case.

Again, CJ is the leading candidate for the closers role. He had a great year last year, and the way he opened himself up to the public made him a great story. His work ethic and values make him a good role model for younger players. All that tells me he's a more highly regarded pitcher than Jack Benoit. Not to say that Benoit didn't have a career year last year as well, but I think the award should have gone to CJ, based on the fact that he does, in fact, appear to be a more valuable pitcher to the organization.  

As for the Padilla crack - I'll concede bad judgement on that. That wasn't a good comparison, I just don't expect much from Padilla these days, so it wouldn't have suprised me if he had shown up to ST underconditioned. That was the point I was trying to make, although, thankfully, that is indeed not the case, Vinny has shown up with a smile and a great work ethic.

But I still think that the fact that our PoTY, whom we just signed to s 3-year deal, has shown up to ST behind the curve is not a good thing. And it could indeed have ramifacations to his early-season performance - it's just not a good thing, and it shows Benoit did definitely get lazy this offseason. I don't know about any personal issues he might have had, but when you're a big-league player who has just been rewarded with some serious accolades, you have certain responsibities. And showing up to ST ready to go is one of them.