A friend of mine who moved to Tampa recently saw Derek Jeter at a night club there last night. Also there were Gary Sheffield and Michael Jordan. She managed to wangle an invitation to a party at Sheff's house afterwards. She reports that it's a gorgeous mansion on an island near where the Yankees have spring training. (The Tigers are just down the road a little, so no, I don't think he's selling. ;-)
Reds Caravan has kicked off. Red Hot Mama reports that a lot more people turned up in Muncie, Indiana than they'd expected.
And this article, from one of the Ohio stops, has a fairly long interview with Reds' GM Wayne Krivsky. He seems to think the roster is set now, aside from maybe a pitcher or two. He says Ryan Freel will be the leadoff hitter when he plays, but doesn't know who'll get that slot otherwise.
Of course, I've got some ideas about that. I've always thought Bubba was the leadoff hitting type. (The Clippers apparently agree, since they ended up using Bubba as their everyday leadoff hitter at the end of last season.)
The scouting reports all say that he's got a good eye. He didn't show a lot of patience at the plate with the Yankees, but that's not unusual. With the Yankees, there's so much pressure on young players to get the big hit. (Poor Andy Phillips went something like three weeks without drawing a walk...and he was starting every day.) They know if they don't hit, they'll lose their jobs. IMO, a little job security would go a long way toward improving Bubba's plate discipline.
