Hope at Spring Training is Eternal

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times gets right to the point today:

Now that the NFL season is over, it's time to turn our attention to the true sport of parity.

You know, the one that has had seven different champions in the past seven years.

The one in which a team that had just 83 victories in the 2006 regular aeason — and almost threw away its division title by losing 9 of 11 in late September — could rebound to win the World Series. And did so by defeating a team that lost 91 games the year before and hadn't had a winning season since 1993.

It's spring-training time, and after a winter in which a whopping $1.5 billion was spent on free agents, just about every team in baseball is busy making its case as a serious pennant contender. And believing it.

Even the Mariners, who have finished last three years in a row. Even the Pirates, whose streak of losing seasons goes back practically to the dead-ball era. Even the Cubs, who responded to their 96-loss season by committing $317.55 million to new players, much to the sheer delight of new manager Lou Piniella.

Then, a bunch of lists. Including:

Three comebacks still to come
1. Pedro Martinez, Mets. He's likely out until August following rotator cuff surgery.
2. Eddie Guardado, Reds. The former Mariners closer hopes to be ready in June or July after undergoing elbow surgery last September.
3. Mark Lowe, Mariners. After a blazing start to his career, Lowe underwent elbow surgery. The best-case scenario calls for a return in May. Worst case, the injury is career-threatening.

Five outlandish contracts
1. Gil Meche, Royals. Five years, $55 million. Mariners fans need no guidance to see the lunacy of this deal.
2. Barry Zito, Giants. Seven years, $126 million. That the Giants will come to regret this deal is virtually guaranteed. The only question is how soon.
3. Gary Matthews, Angels. Five years, $50 million. Matthews is a nice player, but that's putting a lot of faith in one great season.
4. Danys Baez, Orioles. Three years, $19 million. We're talking about a setup reliever, folks.
5. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox. Six years, $52 million, plus $51.1 million posting fee for negotiating rights with the Seibu Lions. He may well be worth it, but it's an expensive gamble by the Red Sox.

Four milestones to savor in 2007
1. Craig Biggio of the Astros needs 70 hits to become the 26th member of the 3,000-hit club. Better get used to this notion: Craig Biggio, first-ballot Hall of Famer.
2. The Mets' Tom Glavine starts the season with 290 wins, 10 shy of the magical 300 mark. (Johnson, with 280 victories, has an outside shot if he can stay healthy in Arizona.)
3. Four players stand poised to join the 500-homer club, a glaring indication of power inflation in this generation. They are: Frank Thomas (487), Jim Thome (472), Manny Ramirez (470) and Alex Rodriguez (464). Gary Sheffield (455), newly of the Tigers, is a longshot. But if not this year, he'll get there in 2008.
Oh, and now that Sammy Sosa has a job in Texas, remember that he's just 12 shy of following Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays into the 600 Club.
4. San Diego's Trevor Hoffman, having surpassed Lee Smith for the all-time saves lead last year, needs just 18 more to reach 500.

Get more lists at the link.