If he gets a chance, that is. With Jeff Kent supposedly pushing Craig Biggio into the outfield, Lane has to fight Daryle Ward and Richard Hidalgo for playing time, and he'll be the decided underdog in that battle.

Ray Lankford.

Yes, he departed St. Louis in 2001 with a cloud hanging over his head. And yes, he played terribly for the Padres in 2002.

But Lankford spent half of last season on the disabled list. Lankford's been a very good player for a long time, and his numbers were solid in 1999, 2000, and 2001. And so if Lankford is willing and able, I think he'd be an excellent million-dollar gamble.

He didn't have any trouble hitting National League hurlers, either, but did spend six weeks on the DL. There's not really a spot available for him in 2003, unless an outfielder is traded or Aaron Boone moves from third base to second; the latter shift would allow Larson move back to third base, his regular position.

Basically, Larson's in the same spot as Jason Lane. They both can hit, but they need a little help showing what they can do, and the sooner the better.

Finished? So did you come up with anybody like him?

             W-L   ERA
1995-1997    9-21  6.14
1998-1999   37-18  3.64
2000-2002   17-34  6.40

As they say on Sesame Street, "Which of these is not like the other?"

It's a strange business, where a man can go from winning to 21 games one season to being released by a last-place team three seasons later, still shy of his 30th birthday (granted, birthdays are a bit squishy these days).

      OPS   Salary
2000  788   $200,000  
2001  747   $240,000
2002  688   $675,000

The dollars go up ... and the numbers do down, which isn't exactly the way it's supposed to work, especially with young players -- in this case, Terrence Long. Worse, Long's salaries escalate over the next three seasons, with a total payout of $11.6 million from 2002 through 2005. He figures to rebound some in 2003, but not nearly enough to justify a spot in the lineup of a team that figures to contend for a postseason berth.

Speaking of which, a number of you couldn't understand why the Athletics would have any interest in Chris Singleton, whose hitting stats make him look like the Anti-A.

Well, to be honest with you ... I don't really understand why the A's would sign Singleton, either. Put him and Long in the lineup and you'd have two outfielders with sub-.300 OBP's in 2002. Even if you platoon them in center field (which won't happen, since both hit left-handed), you've still got one OBP-challenged guy in the lineup every day, which flies in the face of everything that Billy Beane likes to do.

There must be a plan here, because there always is. But the plan is anything but obvious.

Actually, there are a lot of reasons. But one of them is Javy Lopez. The Braves gave Lopez a $7 million option 2003 ... after a 2001 season in which he posted a 747 OPS. Today's game is all about payroll flexibility, and you just can't leave $7 million decisions with the hired help. Sure, he's still decent enough for a catcher ... but a $7 million catcher? It's possible that he's primed for a big comeback, but would you rather spend $7 million on a gimpy catcher, or let him go and spend that money on 70 percent of Kevin Millwood's contract instead?

Well, we know what Schuerholz would do, because he did it.

From 1999 through 2001, Lowe gave up 277 hits in 292 innings, which is a fine ratio. He also struck out 236 hitters over that span.

In 2002, Lowe gave up 166 hits in 220 innings. While striking out only 127 hitters.

So while Lowe's strikeout ratio went way down last season, so did his hits ratio. And folks, it just ain't supposed to happen that way. Sure, maybe Lowe discovered a new way of pitching, at least for him. But he simply can't maintain that hits ratio, so his ERA is going to go up by half a point and he'll probably win 15 or 16 games rather than 21.