Let The Good Times Roll

Baseball is back. Delicious.

Say what you want about Mr. Billy Wagner, but I believe he is a great guy to have on the team. I also believe he has been a lot better than people give him credit for and he is still an elite closer.

"Who knows," Wagner said. "He may be closing here next year. And you want him to be prepared and ready to go. He needs to know that this is a business and it's work, and there are just little intangibles that he needs to know before he gets here."

Perez, Maine, and Pedro look great. Sweet baby jesus it is going to be a good season with a tremendous rotation.

Carlos Beltran uncharacteristically starts talking some trash. I think that is a good thing for Beltran to exhibit some intensity and jump into the fray.

Judging from his unexpected prediction about the NL East, the soft-spoken Beltran appeared to be hiding a brash side, too.

"It's good to hear him talk that way, because we feel that we're good," third baseman David Wright said. "I don't feel the need to talk about anything, because talk is cheap. But it's good to see that Carlos feels that way."

The Phillies are strangely quiet after running their mouths last year. That is either an attempt at taking the high road or them believing the hype.

Cherry picking is not fair.

"He's my right fielder, so he's going to play,'' Randolph said of the former Washington National. "When I see a guy like Ryan, I don't look at the past.''

The Mets' boss might want to rethink that philosophy in this case.

After all, Church's left-handed bat has pop (he's a career .271 hitter), but he hit just .229 against lefties last season - a full 58 points worse than he fared against right-handers.

Two things. First, Randolph is an idiot. He consistently inconsistent. While he always puts guys on notice and says they need to earn their job, he magically does not do that for other guys that have the same things to prove. Whatever... Secondly, why must people always be hatin' my man Church? He obviously is reading these things as well and is getting annoyed.

Church is eager to take on his skeptics, though, insisting his woes against lefties are overblown.

"I've hit lefties," he said, bristling. "I'm a .255 career hitter against lefties. Last year was just a weird situation, where I would sit for a week, then start against a lefty. I was never able to get in a groove. Last year was not what I'm about."

Frank Robinson jerked him around and he got jerked around by Acta last year as well. The dude is good. I am willing to put my Glavine jersey on the line for him.

Omar and I still believe in Pelfrey and he has a the right outlook. I still think he is ace material. Yeah, I said it. What are you going to do about it?

Gotay? On notice.

"If when he plays there he looks good, it's going to help him," Randolph said about Gotay. "There are a lot of guys still out there. This year a lot of free agents are still looking for jobs."

Shocking. Why not keep your mouth shut and let him play without having to read threats that shitty old guys are still out there?

Brian Schneider as integral as Johan Santana? Wow. Just wow. I mean, who can write such a thing with a straight face?

Swellicious.

"He's filthy, man," said backup catcher Ramon Castro. "He's not afraid of anybody. He doesn't care who you are."

Despite some reports that Sanchez has some attitude issues, he seems like he is on the right track. If he is healthy, the Mets have a shot to have a tremendous bullpen. Really, Feliciano, Heilman, and even Wager do not get enough credit for how good they really are. If the Mets can be four deep in top tier relievers, things will be nice in Queens.

Mr. Billy Wags would prefer to not pitch with a four run lead.

* * *

Rios had a great season last year, but I'm picking him as the #1 candidate to break out into a super star. Twins fans should take notice because Gomez and Rios are strikingly similar and Gomez will likely follow a path similar to him.

Princess K-Rod speaks.

Francisco Rodriguez reported Sunday for what he says likely will be his last season with the Angels.

"Yeah, probably. Probably," the two-time All-Star closer said. "If they wanted me here, they would have done something a long time ago. But in the meantime, I have to put that out of my head. I can't be thinking they don't want me here or anything like that. Just do my job."

Another day another athlete feeling unwanted. Boo hoo...

Matt Murton is a masochist.