Tick Tock

The handy counter thingy on MLB.com tells me that 23 days remain until the start of spring training. Twenty-three days...

Of course, up here in Canada, we recognize that the "spring" part of that term is a cruel fallacy; we're still in the dead of winter when the boys report and begin loping around those impossibly green and perfect fields in Florida and Arizona. Even when the season begins, we're likely to be bundled up and still shivering in the stands when the teams hit the field. After all, the first Jays game was played in the snow, and how many April games did I attend in Ottawa when temperatures dipped near or below freezing? And how is it that they would always run out of coffee and hot chocolate? Stock up!

Does any of this stop me from getting giddy at the thought of the dawning of the new season? No. No, it does not.

And in the meantime, we have rumours to consider. Rumours like: are the Cubs still looking to sell the farm for Brian Roberts' services? (They shouldn't.) And, will the Jays successfully lock up Alex Rios? (They definitely should.)

Oh, and speaking of Brian Roberts, I've been thinking: what a strange beast that Mitchell Report has turned out to be. Was it a witch hunt? Baseball's own TRC (complete with total amnesty)? PR exercise? All of the above?