Off-Season Capsule: NL Central

Jason Michael Barker

What a week in baseball, eh friends? For the first time in what seems likes weeks, there's actual news to talk about, and not just the greatest words in the English language: "pitchers and catchers have reported for spring training."

First, the somber news out of Arizona that San Diego's Mike Darr was killed in an automobile accident early Friday morning. Darr's friend was also killed, while Padres farmhand Ben Howard suffered minor injuries but lives to pitch another day. I feel bad for Darr and his family, particularly for his wife and two young sons.

But at the same time... this isn't rocket science, guys. Reports about the crash say alcohol was involved, but even if it wasn't, it is known that neither Darr nor his friend were wearing a seatbelt; today both are dead. Howard, who sitting in the back and was wearing his seatbelt, is still alive. So too are the Minnesota Twins minor leaguers who were in a car accident early Monday, but who were wearing their seatbelts.

It really can't be said any more simply than "seatbelts save lives," and that goes for athletes and regular folk alike. Please, buckle up.

Moving on to much happier news, spring training finally kicked off last week when those aforementioned pitchers and catchers made their annual pilgrimages to either Arizona or Florida. Somehow, no matter how dreary your hometown may be the second week of February (living in Seattle, I know dreary weather), there's a certain sunshine that comes from knowing baseball is just around the corner. Don't bother trying to explain this to those who aren't baseball fans -- they just don't get it the way we do.

With spring training come the typical spring training stories: veteran A is unhappy about his upcoming reduction in playing time, veteran B wants a contract extension, young player C has a shot to break camp with the big club despite never playing above high-A ball, and veteran D is throwing better than ever after off-season surgery.

It's early yet, but some of those stories have begun to surface, particularly those about pitchers throwing well after surgery -- Garrett Stephenson, David Wells, Ryan Anderson... the list goes on. The other side of this is that in another week or so, the first major injuries will start happening, and suddenly clubs who thought their pitching staffs were set will be scrambling for another starter. Isn't spring training great?

Elsewhere, more of baseball's off-field ridiculousness was revealed in a story which said as many as 18 teams were originally considered for contraction. That's right, 18 teams. It's almost difficult to list all 18, when you consider that the number of clubs with long histories -- the Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox, among others -- combined with the number of clubs with new stadiums -- the Mariners, Giants, Tigers, Brewers and so on -- add up to more than 12.

Next, the issue of some sort of "competitive balance" draft was raised as well. Without knowing the specifics of such a plan, it's difficult to know what to think of it. However, don't you get the feeling that "smart" clubs like the Mariners, Athletics and Astros will be penalized in order to reward, er, "less-smart" clubs like the Orioles and Tigers?

It's somewhat the same problem with revenue sharing. There's no reason a well-run team like the Mariners should ever have to surrender revenue to clubs like the Orioles and Dodgers, who play in larger markets but don't run their organizations as well. Alas, that's a topic for another time.

Finally, and continuing with baseball's off-the-field craziness, the Montreal Expos are now officially under the control of Baseball Expos LP, a limited partnership owned by the 29 other owners. Frank Robinson, formerly MLB's vice president in charge of saying "you're in trouble -- here's your fine and suspension!" is now the team's manager, while Omar Minaya takes over as GM. Minaya was mentioned as a general manager candidate for several jobs a few years back, including the Mariners before they decided on Pat Gillick, and many have praised him as an up-and-comer for a few years. Of course, it will be hard to judge his accomplishments, since the players on the field and in the minors aren't his players, and he'll likely be gone before players he drafts, signs or trades for have any real impact.

What is perhaps most disturbing about all this is that former owner Jeffrey Loria took essentially all of Montreal's front office, scouts and coaches with him to Florida and left those in similar positions with the Marlins out in the cold. Not only is this a pretty shoddy way to run a business from a personnel standpoint, it also doesn't make much sense from a baseball standpoint. Let's see: the folks in Florida have built a strong farm system and a club that finished eight games ahead of the Expos last year, but they're not out of jobs in favor of people who ran Montreal into the ground and left a barren farm system behind. And when the Marlins start winning, who is going to get the credit? The new Montreal transplants, of course.

To Minaya's credit, he has hired many former Marlins employees to fill his front office, partly because they're good people, many of whom hired by former GM Dave Dombrowski, and partly because they're some of the only people available with job experience.

Still, the whole thing screams "lame duck." While Minaya has a two year contract (with guaranteed work in the event the Expos are contracted), Robinson has said he views this as a one-year engagement. What motivation, then, does he have to worry about pitch counts with his young hurlers, or asking a player to play through an injury that might cause a problem down the road? In Minaya's case, is there any reason he should trade talent for prospects to stock a minor league system that might not exist in another year?

I suppose the best than can be said is that it should be interesting, and that Minaya has a chance to prove himself a worthy GM -- just in time to land a job somewhere else.

about the author

Ever wonder why all those people concern themselves with something as silly as figure skating? Jason Michael Barker does too, so if you've got a clue why not drop him at line at jmb@strikethree.com?