Seventeen days until February 17 and pitchers and catchers reporting to Surprise...
Kat O'Brien gives details on Sammy Sosa's incentives and lots of quotes from yesterday's press conference. I'm really looking forward to the day that there's something else Rangers related to talk about.
Gil Lebreton has even more thoughts on Sosa, comparing him against other Rangers oldie stabs in the dark and suggests there was as much desperation in his voice yesterday as anything.
There is more confusion in the Barry Bonds one-year contract, centered around the prospect of Bonds getting indicted and the Giants trying to void his deal.
Kevin Goldstein ranks the A's prospects and mentions that they may be in a similar situation soon to what the Rangers are presently in (though he doesn't mention the Rangers). The A's have a group (Daric Barton, Travis Buck, Kurt Suzuki, Jason Windsor, Kevin Melillo) who will likely start in AAA this season and be in the majors very soon, then a large gap to their recently drafted players. I'd also note that none of the three high profile High School pitchers selected by the A's at the top of the 2005 draft (Craig Italiano, Jared Lansford, and Vince Mazzaro) are particularly close to being ranked in the top ten of any of BA's, John Sickels' or Goldstein's lists, after all three ranked higher last winter. Maybe the A's should stick with college players after all.
And the Yankees are trying to figure out a way - any way - to keep Bernie Williams around a little longer.