Baseball is Back-Almost

Today marks the last day of the offseason. Who would of thought we would of made it to spring training and Johnny Damon still doesn't have a team although it appears he and the Tigers are getting closer. The New York Yankees will officially open up spring training tommorrow with pitchers and catchers reporting at 10:00AM, manager Joe Girardi will address the media at 12 Noon. It has changed from years past where all the players really have to do is call and say they are in the area, a lot of the players have been trickling in at the minor league complex since last week. Here are the last few notes from pre spring training and then tommorrow it will be full coverage all day everyday of the Yankees and Mets so please check back often for news and opinion. I hope you will all come here and start debates and talk about different aspects of the season. I am always open to suggestions and opinions and it doesn't matter if you agree with me or not. I can be reached through the comments here or email at gmarchesej@aol.com. I thank everyone for all the support and lets have a great season. The New York Mets don't report until Thursday. Chien-Ming Wang officially signed with the Washington Nationals today, he will have a press conference on Friday. Here are the pre-spring training workout notes from today. CC Sabathia talked to the media today and stated he has only thrown 2 bullpen sessions so far and he usually has thrown 5. He stated he isn't too worried about catching up. He will throw one tomorrow when he reports to camp. He also stated he does plan on taking his teammates to Orlando Magic games during spring training, he already has the tickets so whoever is up for it come see him and he is ready to go. He also talked about being hungry for more and recruiting Lebron James to come play for the New York Knicks. Brett Gardner took batting practice and looked good. Everyone is saying how scruffy he is looking, I can't wait to see him. Derek Jeter, Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena and Curtis Granderson also took batting pratctice. Most of the coaching staff was in attendance. Dave Robertson, A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia and Javier Vazquez did some throwing. It was a rather cool day in Florida with temps in the 40's and 50's still much better then being here in the snow though.

CC Sabathia and Lebron James

CC Sabathia was at the New York Knicks game last night. He is a big fan of basketball as evidenced by him taking different teammates to Orlando Magic games last spring training. He also took them to a Cleveland Cavs game when the Yankees were in Cleveland over the summer. He now is residing in NJ in the offseason and has been to a couple of Nets games and was here at the Knicks game. He wants his buddy Lebron James to come to NY and is trying to recruit him to the Knicks. I am sure the Knicks fans like this. He said he would come to more games if Lebron were playing in MSG. He also said some interesting things about what appears to be his ex teammate Johnny Damon. He stated that it isn't over yet and Damon could wind up back with the Yankees. He also said that he misses Johnny, that he is a great guy. He stated that once you win a championship you are hungry for more. He stated that he doesn't just want one, he wants five. He seems to have been indoctrined into the Yankee way quickly. The Yankees are never satisfied with one, once they are on top they like to stay there for as long as they can. I think this Lebron James story is fascinating and if CC really has the pull that he thinks he does then he will be even more of a hero in NY. I guess we will see what happens on July 1st when free agency begins in the NBA.

Basketball talk, are you serious?

Yes I am serious this is my least knowledgeable subject in sports but I have to talk briefly about the New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks. New Jersey has a basketball team? They do but barely as they are 0-14, you can't even be that bad if you tried. I have to give them credit for trying as they are badly outmanned and they aren't that good obviously. They are in complete rebuilding mode and have some good young pieces so it will get better but no wins seriously. They are trying to set the record and be relative by being irrelative. The record is 0-17 and they can do that with 3 more games on the West Coast against the LA Lakers, Portland Trailblazers and the Sacremento Kings. Nets coach Lawrence Frank is on the hot seat as you might expect. The New York Knicks aren't much better as they are 3-10 but the thing about them is it really doesn't matter until July of 2010. You might ask why is that well it is because that is when the free agency signing period begins. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh headline the group of many. The Knicks have had their eyes on this for a couple of years as they have gotten under the cap so they could sign at least one marquee player and maybe a couple overall players. The question I have is why would someone like Lebron want to come to the Knicks other then playing in New York but with a salary cap the money isn't much different and in this world now it really doesn't matter so much for a star like him where he plays. It will be interesting to see if CC Sabathia could really recruit him like he says or if ultimately Lebron will end up in Miami with Wade or could he go to Brooklyn with the Nets if they move there as it looks like they now will.