Ankiel Over

The saddest story of this spring training for me is Rick Ankiel's decision to convert from pitcher to outfielder. This is a guy who has the proverbial "million dollar arm," a guy who happened to have an ill-timed bout of wildness while facing the Braves as a rookie in the 2000 playoffs. The media, of course, jumped all over it at the time and haven't left him alone since. Brian Gunn (of the now sadly defunct Redbird Nation blog) has an article about Ankiel and his troubles over at The Hardball Times.

I hope Ankiel changes his mind and makes another run at pitching. His curveball is poetry: a thing of beauty to teammates and fans, a thing of terror to opposing hitters.

In another spring story, The Baseball Savant, vocal critic of steroid use in baseball, takes a look at Jason Giambi and concludes it ain't yet time to stick a fork in him.