Spring!

As I write this, the temperature is 17 degrees, yesterday had windchills of 20 below, and the Boston Common is a sickening amalgamation of brown, beige, and gray that can only mean it's still winter. A thousand miles away, though, they are playing baseball. And that's a warming thought.

There have been few surprises since I last updated. Some steroid grumblings as normal, a few position battles in camp (but none too high-profile), the Red Sox still don't have a closer or even any idea who will be in their bullpen. Murray Chass carmudgeonly showed his ignorance and disrespect for young whipper-snappers that threaten his job. Manny didn't get traded and showed up for camp. Daisuke looked good, as did Brendan Donnelly and Curt Schilling. Kei Igawa looked bad. But it doesn't really matter as it's just Spring Training.

Still, hundreds of reporters will make thousands of conclusions from how someone looks in spring training. Schilling is too fat, Daisuke will blow everyone away, so-and-so is juicing, etc. Ignore them. Spring training stats don't matter. All that matters is who wins jobs and who gets hurt.