Later in the week I may pick out another team or two to profile in a way similar to what I did with the Braves yesterday. However, today I want to take the opportunity to cover some small news items and some things that I meant to include in older articles.

One very interesting contraction related note that I have neglected to comment upon is that the Montreal Expos have renewed their lease agreement with Olympic Stadium for the 2002 season. The Expos have been the number one team suspected of being targeted by contraction, so this renewal is a fairly significant indication of the owners beginning to worry that they might not accomplish the implementation of contraction in time for 2002.

Montreal has not shown anywhere close to the same amount of concern over losing their franchise as Minnesota has displayed, however the primary roadblock to contraction of the Twins is currently their lease agreement with the Metrodome. Unfortunately, Expos' owner Jeffery Loria has covered his bases with this lease by including a clause that allows them to break it for almost any reason.

In other belated stadium news, two weeks ago the city of San Diego finally approved the financing for the Padres' new ballpark. Construction of the park was in progress when it was halted in October 2000 following a shortage of funds. The newly passed plan should have construction underway again in time to have the park open by the start of the 2004 season. This is good news for the Padres for multiple reasons, including the fact that under Phil Nevin's new contract, he would be able to demand a trade if stadium plans again became delayed.

John Franco had surgery to remove scar tissue from his left elbow on Monday. I knew bowling wasn't such a good idea, although in all fairness this was probably not related to his charitable excursion. Franco is getting up there in years and has had numerous injury problems. He will most likely miss a portion of spring training but be back in full swing by the start of the regular season. There has been some talk about the Mets trading Armando Benitez, but I don't believe this surgery will change those plans either way.

Charles Johnson declined to exercise his option to become a free agent this off-season by his Monday deadline, choosing instead to keep his current deal. He is in the second year of a five-year, $35 million contract, but as previously discussed could have opted for free agency this off-season because the Marlins failed to secure a stadium deal.

The catcher originally signed with the Marlins because they are located near his Florida home and because of his personal ties to the club. Johnson was the first draft pick in Marlins' history and earned his only World Series' ring with the club. If there hadn't been such an overriding sense of uncertainty about the future of the organization while the current owner explores sale options and the club is without among other things a GM and a manager, there likely wouldn't have been any discussion of the option being exercised.

Signings

Brian L. Hunter, the Astros' compensation draft pick after losing Nolan Ryan to free agency, has signed a 2-year, $2.2 million contract to return to Houston. Its not the $25M A-Rod contracts that concern me; its contracts of this size to players like Hunter. Consider how well Mr. Baggy Pants Derek Bell's two-year deal worked out. Neither Brian Hunter has ever shown abilities that should have sustained them in the majors for any length of time. While L will be an acceptable back up, they most likely would have been better off sticking with Glen Barker, a younger and more cost-effective option considering the Astros' reported desire to hold the line on spending.

Hunter's signing clears up much of the Houston outfield picture. GM Gerry Hunsicker's been stating for months that they want to acquire a "real" center fielder, and Hunter gives them a second athletic body to put between Richard Hidalgo and Lance Berkman on some days. However, I strongly suspect that they'll wind up using both Hunter and Barker primarily as backups, leaving Hidalgo in center, Berkman in right, and finally giving Daryle Ward a chance to play everyday in left. Any other solution wouldn't even come close to replacing the offense lost with Moises Alou' departure as a free agent. The only worry I have is that Jimy Williams will continue to manage as he did in Boston, ignoring the probably safe and consistent production of Ward in favor of a succubus like Hunter, who appears very appealing right until the point where his horrendous OBP screws you.

Giving out multi-year deals to mediocre players seems to have been a Monday trend. Milwaukee signed Mike DeJean to a two-year contract with an option year. While DeJean put up some noteworthy numbers in 2001, it is undetermined whether or not he will be able to repeat that performance in 2002. He had a K/BB ratio of around 1.0 during his time with the Rockies; he greatly improved that with the Brewers last year to 1.74 K/BB. DeJean is currently 3rd in line for saves behind closer Curt Leskanic and Chad Fox, a position that actually makes him very likely to see some opportunities given the extremely fragile health of the two guys in front of him. The Milwaukee bullpen is probably due to suffer from some of the same injury problems that have plagued the rotation, making at least a brief DeJean ascension to closer almost certain by the end of next season.