Scott Miller

TEMPE, Ariz. -- So you follow every single move your favorite team makes, and you've tracked so many rumors involving moves your club eventually didn't make that you need a stronger glasses prescription each year.

You wonder where that middle-of-the-order bat will come from, how your team will beef up its bullpen and when maybe it'll add to its rotation depth.

Now for this breaking news flash: Ya know, not every player bothers paying close attention to what his team is doing all winter.

Take Angels starter Jered Weaver, with whom I had an entertaining talk Saturday morning.

As the Angels' high-powered winter rolled along -- they traded Orlando Cabrera for pitcher Jon Garland, signed Torii Hunter as a free agent, and spent weeks trying to trade for Florida's Miguel Cabrera -- Weaver remained blissfully ignorant.

"I don't pay attention to anything anybody does in the winter," Weaver said. "I just found out Nick Swisher was with the White Sox when we played them the other day. I was out with a buddy over the winter when somebody test messaged him that we signed Torii Hunter.

"That's how I found out we got him."

Hey, nothin' wrong with separating your work from the rest of your life, right? It's healthy. You don't obsess over the office when you're on vacation, do you?

Likes: Padres 3, Dodgers 3 in China. As one press box wag cracked, the Chinese already were going to have a difficult enough time deciphering this wacky American game without having to have ties explained to them. ... Using the phrase "press box wag." You just don't hear that often enough anymore. ... Randy Johnson still pitching. ... Arizona manager Bob Melvin's reply when I blanked for a second and called him "Doug" Saturday morning. Not to be confused with Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin, of course. I apologized and he said, "That's OK, Jim." Touche. ... Wall-to-wall college hoops for the next few weeks. ... How about the ending of the Minnesota-Indiana game in the Big 10 tournament? What a shot. ... Coffee Plantation on Mill St. in the Arizona State area. ... The thin crust pizza at Oregano's, followed by the pizza cookie. Only time I ever eat dessert after eating pizza. And I woke up the next morning not wanting to eat anything. ... The tortilla encrusted Mahi at Richardson's Cuisine of the Southwest. Hoo boy, is that place good.

Dislikes: Sunday's weather report. Keep reading.

Sunblock day? Not so much. Cloudy off and on, even a little on the cool side. It's supposed to drop down into the 50s for a high Sunday in the desert, which is a load of hooey. I mean, come on, we're entering the final two weeks of the spring. People are shoveling snow in much of the country, and it'll disillusion you if it turns cold down here, won't it?

Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:

"Your Mama's yappin' in the back seat
"Tell her to push over and move them big feet
"Every Monday morning I gotta drive her down to the unemployment agency
"Well this morning I ain't fighting tell her I give up
"Tell her she wins if she'll just shut up
"But it's the last time that she's gonna be riding with me"

-- Bruce Springsteen, Sherry Darlin' 

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Kyle Lohse has lots to prove and, obviously, based on the difficulty he had finding a job and St. Louis' tepid reaction upon signing him to a cut-rate deal Thursday, expectations are low already.

Question is, can he rise even to meet those?

History says don't get too excited, Cardinals fans.

Time was when Minnesota thought the world of Lohse, but he didn't take well to coaching back then, didn't make the necessary adjustments and clashed with manager Ron Gardenhire. He couldn't win in his second chance in Cincinnati, then got enough run support in Philadelphia last season to help the Phillies win the NL East title.

He sought a multi-year contract in the neighborhood of Carlos Silva (four years, $48 million with Seattle over the winter) and even in a game flush with cash right now, nobody was silly enough to award that kind of charity to a guy whose ERA usually is higher than the league average.

"If it were a perfect world, we wouldn't have had to go down this path," St. Louis general manager John MOzeliak said. "But it's not and we're going to need someone to pitch every fifth day."

As I said, not exactly a ringing endorsement. It's like Casey Stengel's classic line one year when he didn't like any of his catching prospects. You need a catcher, Stengel explained, otherwise the ball will roll all the way to the backstop.

And you need someone to pitch every fifth day ... especially in St. Louis right now, with Matt Clement in the midst of a slow comeback, Joel Pineiro no guarantee physically and with Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder set to start the season on the disabled list.

The best thing you can say about Lohse is that, if he lasts the season in the rotation, he'll log a lot of innings -- probably, close to 200 worth. They may not all be quality, many may be ugly, but he'll take the ball.

-- Don't be surprised if left-hander Horacio Ramirez, released by Seattle this week, eventually lands in Florida with the Marlins. They've inquired about him in the past. Cincinnati also continues to bottom-feed in the search for starting pitchers.

-- Regarding this Yankees-Tampa Bay business, yes, you can make a case that Rays youngster Elliot Johnson went into the plate too hard when he bowled over young Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli, breaking his wrist. But let's remember here that part of spring training is about young kids trying to make their way into the game, and that includes trying to impress their manager and teammates with hard-nosed play. It's unfortunate that Cervelli was seriously hurt, but the play was not the dirty play that New York manager Joe Girardi made it out to be.

Besides, wasn't Johnson playing the way Girardi insists that his teams play?

Now Shelley Duncan's spikes-up slide into second baseman Akinori Iwamura is another story. That clearly crossed the line. And regarding Duncan's explanation that he has been taught since he was young to kick the ball out of the fielder's glove in that situation, check out the pictures: Duncan's left leg is waist high toward Iwamura's right side. Only problem is, Iwamura's glove (containing the ball) is on the other side of his body. If Duncan was attempting to kick the ball out of Iwamura's glove, his aim is more off-target than the Yankees' claims that they weren't trying to retaliate.

-- Just one question regarding Billy Crystal's appearance/strikeout with the New York Yankees in Florida on Thursday: Did he pass baseball's steroids test? Or will he simply become the latest Yankee to be linked with performance-enhancing drugs?

Likes: Mel Stottlemyre healthy enough to be serving as Seattle's pitching coach. ... The Yankees sending their starting lineup to Virginia Tech, site of last spring's horrible shootings, for an exhibition game Tuesday. Class move. ... The bulletin board in Kansas City's clubhouse with the heading "Who Do YOu Love?" and photos of various Royals' families and loved ones thumb-tacked to it. ... The Pontiac Solstice convertible I was able to upgrade to for this stint in Arizona without an additional fee. ... The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert on at 10 and 10:30 in Arizona, early enough for a tired scribe to catch some of before lights out.

Dislikes: Godspeed to former pitcher and current broadcaster Rick Sutcliffe as he battles colon cancer. Thank goodness it was caught early and it looks like he'll make a full recovery, but a few prayers certainly can't hurt.

Sunblock day? Yes, another beauty in the 70s but, alas. Word is thunderstorms are due Sunday.

Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:

"City girls seem to find out early
"How to open doors with just a smile"

-- The Eagles, Lyin' Eyes 

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- So what, exactly, was Sidney Ponson doing throwing two scoreless innings deep in Texas' 5-4 Cactus League victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday and behaving as, dare we say it, a real, live major league pitcher?

First, let's get the automatic chuckle out of the way with Sir Sidney (hey, he was knighted in his native Aruba).

"You look like you're in pretty good shape," I told the notoriously hefty Ponson -- in all seriousness -- when I saw him before Wednesday's game.

His replay was classic: "I thought so, too, until I weighed in today. That was a little disappointing."

Last week, Ponson said, he was at 250 pounds and happy.

Upon stepping on the scale here Wednesday morning, he said he was "255, 256."

"I don't know why. Altitude?" he joked. "I'm just worried about throwing today, getting people out."

He did that, too. Faced the minimum six batters over two innings, walking one and fanning another.

He's not exactly a lock to make this team -- he just signed a few days ago, and arrived here on Sunday -- but he's certainly in the right place. Last time Texas had any pitching, they were defending The Alamo down in San Antonio. Or something like that.

Ponson hasn't pitched in the majors since Minnesota released him last May 15. He was 2-5 with a 6.93 ERA. Year before that, he struck out with both the Cardinals and Yankees.

He went home to Florida last May, took a couple of months off and then started working out again. He pitched a bit in the Dominican winter league, making three starts.

Though it seems as if he's been around forever, he's just 31. "I'm still pretty young," he says. "I'm a young veteran."

If this latest comeback road takes him back to Triple-A for awhile, he says, "I'm fine with that. I just want to get back to the big leagues."

Rangers starters last season combined to pitch the fewest innings of any rotation in the majors. There is a definite need here. And, conversely, if Sir Sidney can't hang on here -- whatever his weight -- then, well, maybe it will be time to remove the "Sir" from his title.

Likes: Nice complex in Surprise that the Rangers and Royals share, but how anybody ever thought to build anything out there in that part of the desert, I'd love to hear the explanation. ... I could do without his tattoos, but Josh Hamilton's is the kind of story you can't help rooting for. ... Tampa Bay at Yankees April 4-5-6-7, the first weekend of the regular season. Boxing gloves, anyone? ... Gov. Eliot Spitzer jokes. ... Make that former Governor. ... New Texas president Nolan Ryan's reply when general manager Jon Daniels asked how he dealt with the heat when he pitched for the Rangers: Ryan told Daniels that, on any given night, his goal was to last longer in the game than the opposing starting pitcher. ... This dry bit of humor from Bob Dylan on XM's Theme Time Radio Hour on Wednesday's program, with birds as the theme: "The average wingspan of a duck is 27 inches. Though if you own one and its wingspan is a little less, don't be concerned." ... Dairy Queen drive-thrus.

Dislikes: Cell phone batteries that don't last as long as they should.

Sunblock day? Yep. Perfect. Not too hot, but a warm upper-70s with a bright sun.

Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:

"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
"My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
"Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
"'Til then I'll walk alone"

-- Green Day, Boulevard of Broken Dreams