To Play or Not to Play

Big day for Alfonso Soriano and the Washington Nationals today. Soriano, who is scheduled to play left field in today's exhibition game, has so far resisted the Nationals attempts to have him move from his regular position at second base to left field two days after refusing to take the field. ESPN is now reporting that Soriano has agreed to play left in today's game. No matter what he position plays today I think that David Pinto's reporting over at BaseballMusings.com is probably correct. David reports that:

"Soriano told at least one teammate today that he'd prefer to play center, and Robinson has said in the past that he'd accommodate Soriano. Maybe that's the solution."

Makes sense to me. He certainly has the speed to play center and Frank Robinson has to do whatever he has to keep Soriano in the lineup, short of playing him at second.

On other topics: I still feel bad about the Arroyo trade. I know he didn't fit into the Red Sox plans and his periphal stats had been declining but at least be up front with him about it. Good luck Bronson.

Eric Chavez, long one of my favorite players, is tearing up this spring hitting .314 with 5 HRs and 12 RBI. Chavez and A's have a long history of getting off to slow starts. If Chavez can start of the season hitting this well the A's have a much better chance of avoiding a poor April for the first time in years. If that happens hello 100 wins this year.

Looking at the Spring Training numbers Ryan Howard appears to be early pick for NL MVP this season batting .360 with 8 HR and 15 RBI. Spring training numbers in most cases rarely pan out over the course of the regular season. However in both the cases of Howard and Chavez they're both good enough that they could prove those numbers correct. It's Doug Mientkiewicz hitting .485 with one homer and 13 RBI whose spring numbers won't carry over.

Edwin Encarnacion .458 with 6 HR and 18 RBI for the Reds this spring won't hit that well this season but should played himself into a starting job for Cincinnati. He'll hit for decent power and a few steals and should be a good fantasy option.

Another third base option people seem to be ignoring is Boston's Kevin Youkilis. He's had a poor spring but Boston is going to actually give him at bats this spring. All this guy has done in his career is get on base at a slightly lower pace than Barry Bonds without the steroids. The Red Sox front office loves OBP so they may leave in the lineup longer then they would otherwise. He'll play first this year but will still be eligible at third. I have picked him with my last pick in three of my drafts so far this season.

Three other quick things to mention. I'm reading, among other things, "Baseball Between the Numbers" by the Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts. Let me just say baseball nirvana. Just the first indepth discussion of Barry Bonds vs. Babe Ruth is awesome. But it's the parts where they discuss how a bad player can have 100 RBI in a season is what stands out. How a team should use their closer in the sixth inning is also great. It's challenging these long standing baseball beliefs that has made Baseball Prospectus the most go source for baseball information. I hate that information this good is out there and today's writers stay willfully ignorant of it.

On other topics I bought the Godfather video game that features the actual voices of Robert Duval, James Caan and taped shortly before he died Marlon Brando. This is a pretty cool video game with great graphics. You should definitely check it out.

Also released yesterday was the seventh season of South Park. It goes without saying that I love South Park. But I dare anyone to watch episode Krazy Kripples and not die laughing. In that episode Timmy and Jimmy, the two crippled South Park characters, in anger after Christopher Reeves visits South Park and steals some their thunder decide to start a group that only allows people crippled from birth to be in it. When they try to get t-shirts made they're told that there is already an organization that has the they want to use: The Crips. So Timmy and Jimmy decide to join. Hilarity ensues. South Park's battle against Scientology continues to rage. I've posted Trey Parker and Matt Stone's statement after their episode about Scientology was cancelled below. Don't forget about the South Park season premiere tonight. Hail Xenu!!

"Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for Earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"

-- Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu