FRANCO: 5 MORE YEARS!, PITCHERS 'ROIDING UP, AND MORE REALITY TV
Peter Gammons' latest article can be found here.

I've decided to copy some of the content from the article along with my analysis.

"From Julio Franco, now 45 and still a terrific hitter: "My plan is to play five more years, retire, then go the low minors and work my way back to the majors as a manager, When I retire, I want to manage in the majors, but I want to do it the right way, starting at the bottom and earning my way to the big leagues.""

A few comments...
...First of all, nobody really believes Franco is "only" 45, do they?.
...By the time Franco goes to the minors and works his way back to the bigs as a manager the position will be taken over by super-intelligent robots.
...This guy must really hate his family. Dude, take a year off and spend some time with the kids and the Mrs.

"...one veteran pitcher says, "there was a lot more steroid use with pitchers than people think. That's why you'd see such a wide range in velocity during the season. You'd see a guy throwing 95, then 88-90 a month later. It all runs according to cycling. Be careful with guys in spring training who suddenly are throwing much harder than they had in the past.""

Comments...
...Talking to a former minor league pitcher in the Cleveland and Los Angeles organizations, he told me that he felt that "very few, if any" pitchers juiced (slang term for steroids for those of you not in the know). I tend to agree with this assertion, because overpowering strength doesn't really factor into power as a pitcher like it does for a hitter. With that said, however, I think it's safe to assume that a few pitchers have at the very least experimented with it.
...If steroids helped pitchers, don't you think more of them would have the freakishly large heads and gynormous upper-bodies that most of the homerun hitters in the game today have?
...Pitchers velocity goes up and down all the time during the course of a season. It isn't uncommon for a guy to have a "dead" or "tired" arm. Also mechanics play a large part in velocity. Something simple like a pitcher over-striding or having his front-shoulder "fly" open could decrease his velocity significantly, not to mention what an injury of some type could do to velocity as well.
...As a general comment, all baseball needs now is pitchers to be accused of steroid use. "Did you see Randy Johnson hit 100mph? That guy has to juice! Or how about Pedro Martinez, you know he's 'roided up!"

"Which will be the first team to announce a Dream Job promotion for next spring? Pay $500, go to a tryout camp at the spring training facility for four days -- cutdowns each day -- and the best player in the end gets a non-roster invitation for the first two weeks of spring training. Look for about a dozen teams to try it..."

Comments...
Please let this be a joke...Please...I can't take more reality TV. I just can't (see "REALITY TV" from earlier in the day). If this does happen though, I have a few suggestions:
...The contestants have to see Rod Beck naked in the shower (and not vomit)
...Participants have to try out for Tampa Bay and deal with Sweet Lou Pinella.
...Each participant can't laugh when Pinella guarantees that they won't lose 100 games.
...When a player is cut they must go on all kinds of morning talk-shows and discuss their experience (in case people didn't understand what happened as they watched them on the show the first time).
...The contestants take part in a real-life spring training brawl in which no punches are thrown, only two or three people exchange words, and the rest of the people go out and stand around and pretend like they're concerned.
...Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco have to be invited.

On second thought, this idea is so unfair. You know that the Yankees, Braves, Red Sox and other big-market teams are going to steal all the reality TV pros like Coolio, Stephen Baldwin and Screetch leaving teams like Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Montreal fighting over people like Jon (the 28 year-old virgin cowboy from the first Real World), the guy that played Eddie on Family Matters, and one of the other Baldwin brothers.