It's February, and to celebrate, the Dodgers offered a free trip to Florida to Ramon Martinez, the utility man who is no relation to the former pitcher of the same name, a.k.a. Pedro's taller, skinnier brother. Even now, that Ramon Martinez, despite being 38 and four years retired, is probably a better pitcher than Kurt Ainsworth, who also got a plane ticket from the Dodgers. Apparently, in addition to collecting antique catchers, Neddy has a fondness for never-had-a-hill-to-go-over ex-Giants. Meanwhile, the Sox gave a large pile of money to one or the other Alex Gonzalez. I wonder if Theo can tell them apart from one another (or even from Alex Cora, for that matter)? I was going to say that it would be a pity if Pitiless Theo'd signed the wrong Alex Gonzalez, but there's really not a lick of difference between them. The fact that marginal shortstops seem to be in such demand makes me want to pull my glove out of storage and make a few calls.

The weather is still wacky, bouncing back and forth between icy cold and rainy, and warm and sunny. Today I am basking in my office. Yesterday I was shivering.

Two weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Vero Beach.

And Derek Smart has a nice piece on baseball, anticipation, and the arrival of February here.