Pitchers, catchers and the rest

Just now catching up with the Friday Braves vs. Pirates spring training coverage.

Boy oh boy Smoltzie was picking Pittsburgh apart. Several offspeed breaking balls with a ton of downward movement. The first start of the spring and he's ON!

Meanwhile the ESPNers interviewed Chipper in the dugout about his new goatee.

"I'm just waiting for Bobby (Cox) to say something about it," Jones laughed, adding that the goatee will go if Cox asks, or "if my wife threatens divorce, one of the two."

ESPN analyst John Kruk then asks the key follow-up question.

Kruk: "Who would you rather get in trouble with Bobby or your wife, that's a tough one there."

Chipper: "Well, all respect in the world for Bobby but I don't have to live with him ..."

Kruk (after laughter): "Well you know Bobby can bench you, but his wife can really bench him

Gosh it's too early to tell but with that 'pen the Braves look mighty good. However, they spent the LEAST this offseason of all ballclubs except the Marlins and that's not a good sign.

I'm not as worried that they're cheap as much as I'm worried they will give in to Andruw's demands for a supersized salary and handicap the club for years to come. Yeah he's a great ballplayer and it would stink to lose him BUT that money could be better spent in future years to keep the nucleus of young talent (McCann, Frenchy, ChuckJames et al) intact in the next several years and maybe beyond.

Let's cross our fingers that the team sale dies and Arthur Blank tells Vick and crew to hit da road. ATL paper says he's a seamhead and frankly he'd be a fantastic owner for the Braves.

Liberty Media only sees the team as an asset to trade so they can pay less in taxes. As Bill the Cat would say: Phhhhhbt.