I'm trying not to overreact. Seriously.
But then I see this article from Richard Durrett, and it makes my eyelid start twitching:
But the new manager was impressed enough by what he saw Monday in the indoor batting cages at Ameriquest Field to muse where to bat the seven-time All-Star.
Washington said Wednesday if Sosa can prove that he's close to recapturing his form of a few years ago after sitting out a full season, Sosa might bat as high as fifth. Washington said he would like to see the heart of his order include Michael Young batting third, Mark Teixeira fourth, Sosa protecting Teixeira in the fifth spot and Hank Blalock sixth.
Oh, and remember how "humble" Sosa supposedly was? Well, nevermind...
"He was speaking with a cockiness," Washington said. "He has no drawbacks about what he can do. He hasn't lost his confidence, and that's what I want around here. I don't want him coming in timid."
And although Jaramillo says "he'll need a lot of at-bats" this spring, it supposedly won't effect Cruz, Botts et al:
Well, good. I'm sure Jason Botts will have a great chance to show he can hit major league pitching this spring by playing in some "B" games and minor league games.
And to cap it all off, we have Washington also saying that Ian Kinsler will hit 9th against righthanded pitchers.
Kinsler had an 808 OPS against righthanders last season. That was 4th best on the team (5th best, if you count Carlos Lee), and one of the guys ahead of him was GMJ, who is gone.
I'm...displeased...right now.
I'm going to go into another room and shout "Serenity Now" for a while.