Ah, Spring Training. The time at which the fancy of fans turns to sunshine and baseball. It took a couple of days for me to shake off the Olympic hangover though -- what a Gold Medal game that was, right? I like to think that some of the interest will carry over to the NHL ... but it didn't happen in 2002, so I'm skeptical now. Tweet me here: twitter.com/glenngiangrande.

This blog is dedicated to the recently DFA'd Edwar Ramirez. Hopefully, your changeup will dance somewhere in the Majors again! 

  • Nice to see CC Sabathia looking good in his first Spring Training appearance, and major props to Colin Curtis for being the first pie-worthy Yankee in the 2010 calendar year, even though he didn't receive the honor. A cancer survivor who has been profiled on YES before, Curtis would likely be one of the first outfield call-ups in case of emergency. Great to see him have a 'Bronson Sardinha' moment!

  • So Joe Girardi's chosen method of off-campus relaxation this year was an 'Arcade Day.' Good pick. I'm a huge arcade fan. There should be one in every mall! Some of the big winners were said to be A.J. Burnett, Royce Ring, and Andrew Brackman. I challenge any member of the Yankees to a series of Street Fighter 2 arcade matches. Nobody could take me when I played as Ken or Ryu back in the day, and they still can't. Bob Lorenz revealed on Twitter that his games of choice are Donkey Kong and Frogger (twitter.com/boblorenz for the uninitiated).

  • Shameless plug: everyone get out blue and yellow towels for my alma mater, Quinnipiac University! The Bobcats have never made the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, but after winning the Northeast Conference regular season championship, they can punch a ticket to 'The Big Dance' by winning the postseason conference tournament. March Madness or not, head coach Tom Moore has done a great job in Hamden, CT.

  • Props to a couple of youngsters, C Austin Romine and RHP Zach McAllister for receiving annual Kevin Lawn Awards given to the Yankees' Minor League Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year. With Jorge Posada closer to the end of the line than the beginning, the Yankees are well set up for the future with backstops in the fold like Romine, Francisco Cervelli, and position change not withstanding, Jesus Montero. As for McAllister, he's a ground-ball specialist, and as we saw with the pre-injury Chien-Ming Wang, that kind of pitcher can be effective in the Bronx.

  • The Spring Training opener saw a number of fifth-starter 'candidates' paraded out. I'm not sure what kind of chances guys like Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre, and Alfredo Aceves have with Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain around. General thinking would probably have one of the kids in the rotation, one in the bullpen, and 'Ace' in the swing role again. I can't see Gaudin and Mitre both going to the Minors. Food for thought though: having one of Gaudin or Mitre in the rotation with Hughes and Chamberlain both in the bullpen would make the back end extremely strong.