January White Sale

Winter , is that season after baseball that seems to last forever.


So here we are, in the mid January craving something other than arbitration cases, and still being a month before pitchers and catchers report.

Frozen, like Ted Williams Head.

Still many free agents sitting out there, someone notable players too. Jermaine Dye, Johnny Damon, Ben Sheets among the bigger names.

If they are waiting for the big bucks, I am afraid that boat has sailed. So for many of these players it may be 1 year deals, and hope for the best. For others, it may well be the end of the line.

I do not know if the Vegas bookies have begun to lay odds on how many wins the Jays will get, but I see the Yankees in and around 100, with Javier Vazquez and Curtis Granderson. I would say the Red Sox at close to that number, with the signing of John Lackey, but the loss of Jason Bay will have an effect. A whole season of Victor Martinez will reduce the sting of losing Bay's RBI's. The Rays will bounce back, but should not be expected to win anymore than 89-92 and be on the outside again. Until David Price, and BJ Upton realise their full potential will they vault themselves any higher ( welome Tampa to the Jays of the last decade ) as perennial 3rd place.

So a month until we shall see those visages of ball players running in sun soaked parks in Dunedin , Miami, Bradenton, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

The pitchers and catchers report on or about the 18th of February, so less than a month, and 2 weeks of physicals, and strecthing while their team mates slowly make their way south, or west to their pre season winter nests.

Condos in Tampa are gearing up for the snowbirds, time shares in Mesa, and Yuma. It seems like forever, but like that ever ticking Olympic countdown , spring training beckons, and wherever we live on this frozen part of the country, the moment there's a crack of a bat, the thump of a ball in a glove, or the whisk of players running sprints, we all feel 10 degrees warmer.

And so, in readiness for the 2010 season, your humble writer has gone whole hog and ordered a flat screen television with a BOSE sound system. Oh yeah baby, it's coming the end of the month and it is sweet.

My over under of the Blue Birds of Toronto is 65-69 wins at best. The arms are weaker, the pen will be exhausted, and the offense is 3 guys. When I tell my Baltimore Orioles friends what we have in Toronto, they laugh, and tell me they might escape the cellar finally. They could be right, they added Kevin Millwood, and have Adam Jones, Matt Weiters, Nolan Reimold and many other good young players, and they might hit 72-77 wins if their young pitching matures.