MLBeat

Along with the merciful onset of spring training comes the inevitable wave of STOBS (an MLBeat-coined acronym for Spring Training Optimism Bull Stories). Entertaining as some STOBS can be to read, and as eagerly as baseball fans, deprived of any updates for the previous four months, devour them like starving junkies, the acronym exists for a reason. There's an unusual amount of fluff to sift through, even for sportswriting. Barry Bonds will not play in '07, unless he does. Everyone has shown up to camp in the best shape of their careers. Barry Zito is hitting 103 on the radar gun. It is hard to resist the siren song of excessive optimism, but we must try.

Except for this one, though, because faithful MLBeat readers know that Rick Ankiel is near and dear to our hearts. Regrettably the article is Insider-only, but MLBeat is bringing you the executive summary of this Ankiel-related STOBS if for no other reason than Rick Ankiel stories, not to mention Peter Gammons articles in general, should be for everyone.

• Ankiel, in his attempt to reinvent himself as a hitter, managed a .859 OPS between A and AA in 359 ABs last year. He is out of options, meaning he is likely to get a shot with the big club in '06, meaning someone at MLBeat is likely to spend a late-round pick on him in a fantasy draft to be determined.
• Alan Benes, who along with Ankiel is attempting a comeback in Cardinals camp, recovered from his umpteenth shoulder surgery to finish 2005 at AA Springfield, where he scrapped together a 5.79 ERA in fifteen relief appearances.
• According to Gammons, we mere mortals "can't fully understand" why Ankiel and Benes would keep trying to play baseball for a living, despite no longer being Cy Young contenders.
• They keep trying because they love baseball. I know, I can't fully understand it either.