Is It Spring Training Yet?

Jeez, I really didn't mean to let a month and change go by, but obviously it did. The Rockies had a nice long winning streak followed abruptly by a much shorter losing streak, Alex Rodriguez announced mid-Series that he is in fact the money-grubbing manwhore everyone assumed he was and the Red Sox nipped that nasty 2-year old curse in the bud. Meanwhile, Josh Whitesell has assumed the Larry Broadway Memorial "marginally talented first baseman who's destined never to sniff the big leagues" mantle, Justin Maxwell is making a strong push to be the everyday starting centerfielder for the Harrisburg Senators, Zimm broke his (Gold Glove) hand and the Nats have still, inexplicably, not cut ties with Robert Fick. I think that catches me up.

As usual, it's not that I have nothing to say, it's just that I have nothing to that hasn't already been said a half dozen times, with equal or greater snark. Besides, in case you haven't noticed most of the first generation Nats blogs have pretty much died off, re-purposed or been turned into shadows of their former selves by now, leaving only the obnoxious, the prospect-y, the nautical and the vaguely Canadian. There's only so much to be said about a professional baseball team and frankly, letting a thousand flowers bloom requires a hell of a lot of weeding. I'm comfortable that Chris, Brian, MissC, Harper and various and sundry others do a fabulous job covering all the angles of all things Nats.

Fear not, we're not closing up shop, maybe just shuttering for the winter. I have neither the time nor the inclination to weigh in on every rumored 5-way trade that would send The Chief, Ryan Church, Kory Casto and Nancy Pelosi to Houston and somehow net us Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Pelfrey, Asdrubal Cabrera and young thinner Elvis in return.

Likewise, I am suffering extreme free agent centerfielder fatigue. At this point they're distinguishable only by the varying levels of revulsion their signing would generate within me. Torii Hunter/Aaron Rowand = HIGH; Andruw Jones/Mike Cameron = MEDIUM; Anyone else = LOW but WTF? While we're on the topic, let me just deal with the Rocco Baldelli thing now. Rocco's not so much occasionally injured as he is occasionally healthy. I can only get behind this if the Nats are willing to go all in and bring back Alex Escobar and Chris Snelling in a blatant attempt to get the best possible group health insurance rate.

OK, that about covers it. I'll certainly check in again if the Nats land A-Rod. Hell, I can probably pull a paragraph together if they land Mike Lamb. In the meantime, Happy Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice, Chanukkah, Kwanza, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, 2008, MLK Day, President's Day and any indigenous celebrations I may have overlooked.