I was just really pleased to see him. On the final weekend of the season, I was talking to a Dodgers scout and he just raved and raved about Liriano. Thought he was the best minor league pitcher he saw all year. Which is surely a bit much, but it certainly piqued my interest.

Other than Koskie and Rios none of the "regulars" are doing squat. We're winning with Gross, McDonald, Quiroz and Tablado carrying the load.

On the pirching side; Halladay is far from ready and Lily hasn't thrown. Bush, Chacin and Towers our one, two, three?

Certainly, based on performance, Gross deserves to make the club more than Chacin. Unfortunately, it's not about their skill. Batista is going to the bullpen and with Lily, Halladay, Bush, and Towers there's still one more spot, and unless J.P. brings in s starter in the next month, there is no other option than Chacin. Nobody else is ready to make the move, and nobody can come from the pen, that could be potentially better than Chacin.

Gross is fighting for a position that is already taken. Johnson, Catalanotto, Hinske, and Hillenbrand will all make the club because they're here for their own reason. Gross doesn't fit into the DH/1st/LF group because there simply isn't room. Putting him on the roster would only be replicating to what the Jays did to Simon Pond. He's had very good Spring Training, and if he doesn't have anything to prove, SkyChief fans will have a fun couple of months until he's moved up. IMO, one of Hinske, Hillenbrand, Catalanotto, and Johnson will be moved by the deadline, making room for Gross. Surely 2-3 months of AAA won't hurt anything.

And it may not even be that long. Gross is likely the first call-up once Koskie or Catalanotto gets injured (or any corner IF or OF for that matter).

That said, I think an awfully big fuss is being made over a very small sampling of AB and IP thus far this spring.

I don't understand why they've seemingly given up on Justin Miller. I've always thought he'd is/will be a solid #4-5 starter and could make a reasonable career of that. I'd hate to see them lose him, especially given that three of their starters (Bush, Chacin and Towers) are not exactly battle-tested.

IMO, you've just answered your own question. Timing sure is odd though.

I don't understand why they've seemingly given up on Justin Miller

Justin's trial was last September. He had a magnificent outing in Anaheim but that was about it. If it were between Chacin and Miller, I'd take Chacin. And, who knows, if Justin's good in the pen, he could be in ther rotation. Between Towers and Chacin, I think one of them will find themselves in AAA by May.

I went to the Chapters at Square One and the guy there told me they would recieve the new SI by Wednesday morning. On a side note, Vernon Wells made front cover appearances on 3 non SI magazines as well.

Vernon Wells made front cover appearances on 3 non SI magazines as well.

Be wary, those baseball magazines definitely regionalize their covers. They always have a Blue Jays player on the cover for Canada. I was surprised to see through my recent trek through the States that even "Sports Weekly" (formerly "Baseball Weekly") regionalizes its covers. This week, in Georgia, Furcal and Giles are on the cover; while in Pennsylvania, Nomar is on the cover. I thought they were different issues, I had to look carefully. That's what is so special about the SI cover, it's that way all over the world (except when they do those "Canada" editions, do they still do those I wonder?)