Opinion

Going into Spring Training, only three pitchers were guaranteed spots in the rotation: Roy Halladay, Jesse Litsch, and David Purcey.

Many candidates were brought into camp to complete for the last two spots, including Matt Clement, Mike Maroth, Casey Janssen, Brad Mills, Brett Cecil, Ricky Romero, and Canadian Scott Richmond.

Now with just a week left to go until the season begins, just three players remain in the battle for the last two spots.

Who strikes terror in the hearts of the Minnesota Twins?

Is it David Ortiz? Travis Hafner? Jermaine Dye? Alex Rodriguez? Or maybe Gary Sheffield?

Surprisingly enough, these feared sluggers don't qualify for the current list of "Twin Killers," those who cause Minnesota boosters to mutter under their collective breath and force Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire to count to 10.

10. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox

Youkilis enjoyed a breakout season in 2008, batting .312 with 29 home runs and 115 RBI.

Masa Kobayashi should not be breaking camp with the Cleveland Indians, but Wedge and Co. have already given indications that he'll be in the bullpen come April 6.

Signed to a two-year deal in the 2008 off-season by Mark Shapiro, Kobayashi has done little to earn the paycheck.  Most likely, he was purchased as a cheap insurance option in the likely event that Joe Borowski couldn't skate through the majors another year by throwing an 85 mph fastball.

When the word survivor comes up, immediately you think of the television series.

By definition, survivor means to prosper spite of opposition.

It just seems fit to call Chris Coste the "Ultimate Survivor" as he once again proved all the doubters wrong - like he has in the past.

Coste's back-up job seemed to be in jeopardy when the Phillies traded for catcher Ronny Paulino this past offseason, except that experiment failed when the Phils traded Paulino to San Francisco for Jack Taschner - Paulino was then spun to Florida.

The New York Yankees beat the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 9-8. Most of the runs scored against the Yankees were against one pitcher. That was the bad. First the good.

A+: Mariano Rivera

To say he is ready to start the season is an understatement. He struck out three batters in one inning.

A+: Johnny Damon

He had three hits today. I'm wondering if those three hits would of been better out of the lead-off spot.

A+: Nick Swisher

Here lies "The House That Ruth Built" (1923-2008)

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak wrote an article in Sunday's newspaper titled Bad-neighbor Policy at Work. Her main premise is that the Chicago Cubs "disregard responsibility to the community (by hosting) concerts (and wanting) more night games."

Well I say tough baseballs, Ms. Slezak. If you want the benefits of living around Wrigley Field, you have to accept the good with the bad.

For me, 2008 was almost as disappointing as 2003 in terms of how the Red Sox did.

My favorite player, Manny Ramirez, turned out to be the guy who screwed over the Sox down the stretch, faking knee injuries, forgetting which knee he had "hurt," and orchestrating other such shenanigans to sit out games.

The bullpen, one of the most key factors to the 2007 championship, failed to come through again in '08, thanks largely to having to rely too much on guys like Mike Timlin and David Aardsma.

On Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Tribune reported that Lou Piniella has named Kevin Gregg as the closer for 2009.

For two years, Marmol has been lights out in the setup role and looked like a shoo-in for the Cubs closer role in the future. Kevin Gregg, on the other hand, has pitched well, but doesn't have nearly the talent that Marmol has.

Most people are surprised with this decision, as the closer battle in Spring Training seemed more like a token contest rather than an actual competition for the role.