More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

When C.C. Sabathia sits around the house... (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

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The Mets welcome the Yankees to Citi Field tonight to, among other things, show them what a real ballpark should look like. I hooked up with Travis Goldman of SB Nation Yankees site Pinstripe Alley to find out what's kicking across town.

UPDATE: I reciprocated by answering some questions for Travis which you can read at Pinstripe Alley.

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More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Albert Pujols is better at baseball than you are at anything. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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The Mets start a four-game series tonight at Citi Field against the Cardinals, so to get an idea of what's going on in St. Louis this season I checked in with Dan Moore at SB Nation Cardinals site Viva El Birdos. I answered some questions for Dan as well, which you can read here.

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We featured a bunch of these last year but this is our first go-round in 2009. Mets fans don't always get a chance to keep tabs on all of the other teams the Mets may eventually play, so the other terrific bloggers we have at SB Nation serve as expert resources on their respective teams.

For the Rays, I checked in with R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay to see what was cooking down in Tampa.

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Prior to the Mets opening a new series it's fun to get some perspective from the other team, and the best way to do that is to speak with that team's fans. For the Nationals I was fortunate enough to get some questions answered by the lovely ladies of We've Got Heart, Kristen and Stephanie.

What are your impressions of Lastings Milledge after his first season in Washington? What has surprised you about him, and in what areas does he need to improve?

Overall, we're impressed. We'd feel more comfortable with him in a corner spot, rather than centerfield. His defensive abilities have improved throughout the season, but every fly ball has the potential to be an adventure. He doesn't seem to have the best baseball instincts - in the outfield or on the base paths. But his bat and his speed have been impressive. He's kind of a free spirit. At off the field events and even interacting with fans around the park, his personality sparkles. He brings a lot of energy to this (often lethargic) team.

The Nats have had a tough go of it this season. How do you fix the team, and how soon could they be reasonably competitive?

We'll take the Eeyore approach. The most important thing they can do this off season is shake up the front office. Get rid of Jim Bowden, allow Stan Kasten to be more involved with baseball decision-making and promote Assistant GM Mike Rizzo. We have improved our farm system over the past few years, but it's time for some fresh thinking and Bowden has done nothing to cultivate fan support. The Nats may very well lose 100 games, they played embarrassing baseball through most of the season and they failed to sign their first round draft pick. Someone needs to be held accountable.

As far as specific fixes, we believe it's too early to open the checkbook for expensive free agents. We're still several years away from fielding a competitive team. The most glaring need: a power bat that can play first base. The next most glaring need: preparing to pay up after landing Strasburg next summer.

As a fan of a lower payroll team, what are your feelings on the economic inequities in baseball? Will teams like the Nats always struggle to compete with deep-pocketed teams like the Mets, Cubs and Dodgers?

Yes. They will. But what Kasten was able to do with the Braves gives me great hope that lower market teams can compete in this game if they do it correctly. It's kind of interesting to watch a team start from nothing (a former franchise and history of baseball in DC, but essentially nothing). How do you keep fans interested and ask for their patience while building a franchise that can eventually win games? The allure of the new park is fading quickly. I would bet season ticket renewals drop to alarming numbers. You may have seen the reports about TV and Radio ratings being abysmal.

I think you can build a successful franchise and ask for patience, but you have to do just as much to build a fan base that allows you to keep spending and investing in the right pieces. They have to work harder on that too. You can only ask fans to be patient when they trust that those in charge can get the job done. With Bowden at the helm, patience is very difficult for some fans.

Who would you sooner give back to the Mets (and why): Manny Acta or Jesus Flores?

That's hard because we love them both. Let's go with Manny Acta. We think Flores is going to become a real star. He has all the ability in the world and a great work ethic. He's just special. Much of Bowden's bad relationship with fans started when he signed Lo Duca and Estrada and allowed them to block Flores from a job that should have been his all along.

Manny Acta is also an important piece of this franchise. We only picked him here because we'd like him to show more emotion. Argue a call every now and then. Get angry once in awhile. Discipline a player (Elijah Dukes) when he gets into a screaming match with you in a televised game or acts like a 12 year old on the field. I get the feeling his hands are tied sometimes and I have no idea what goes on behind closed doors, but fans would be happy to see him get a little emotional once in awhile.

Thoughts on the first season at Nationals Park: What do you love about it? What would you change?

It's nice but it's not perfect. We love that it's shiny and new. We love the scoreboard. We just don't think it has any real defining character. It's kind of cold. It's no PNC Park. It's no Camden Yards. It's no Citi Field. That's pretty disappointing since they had the time and money to do it right, but it is what it is. We realize they were trying to blend it in with DC's architecture and give it the feel of a monument. It's nice....it's just not as spectacular as we had hoped.

We say this as you guys get ready to say goodbye to Shea... We couldn't wait to get out of RFK Stadium. But we miss it more than you could ever imagine. New stadiums are full of all these gimmicks to keep people entertained. We kind of miss the basics.

Thanks, ladies. You can read my responses to their questions at We've Got Heart.

Ever since baseball went to three divisions per league in 1994, the Mets and Cubs only get to meet a couple of times a year. I was fortunate enough to get some perspective on the Cubs' fast start from Byron Clarke of the inimitable Cubs blog Goat Riders of the Apocalypse.

Eric Simon:: Despite a terrific season last year with Iowa, Geovany Soto is a career .280/.358/.426 hitter in the minor leagues. He's off to a fast start with the Cubs this season (.304/.403/.537). Tell me a bit about him and where you think he'll end up, offensively and defensively.

Byron Clarke: The Soto situation is a little a-typical. He was cruising through the minors, probably not going to make it, and then last year, it apparently just clicked for him. He had a tremendous year, got a September call-up, impressed then, impressed this spring, and has continued to impress in the first tenth of the season. I'm fairly certain he's not as good as his early line, but the Cubs do not have a history of strength at #2, so anyone who's halfway decent is given a hero's welcome. At the end of the season, he'll probably have a .290/.370/.500 line with around 20 home runs. Defensively, he's passable. He's not going to throw a lot of runners out, but he's apparently a decent game caller.

ES: What's the status of Alfonso Soriano? Where does his gaffe rank among the stupidest sports injuries of all time? Worse than the Sammy Sosa sneeze-spasm? The Clint Barmes dear meat incident? The Bill Gramatica jump-n-tear?

BC: The whole Soriano situation is a little surreal. It's as freak-an-injury as a sneeze-spasm, and it's given all the Soriano haters a good opportunity to get in their cracks. As for where it fits in the pantheon of stupidest injuries? Somewhere between sneeze-spasms and 'washing my truck.' Still, it's not as bad as Jason Williams driving his motorcycle into a lightpost and ending his Bulls career.

ES: Give me your early impressions of Kosuke Fukudome.

BC: He's a complete player. Very fundamentally sound. He has a great approach at the plate. He's patient, will take the pitch and drive it to any part of the field. He runs well, might steal a base if the pitcher's got a high leg kick, and can throw out runners at the plate, especially if they don't run hard. He started off very hot, has cooled down a little, but the fundamentals are still there. For a Cubs team that has struggled for years with over-aggressiveness, his patience at the plate sets a great example for the rest of the team. He sees about 4.5 pitches/appearance. He has some power, but that's more of a bonus. He ought to be hitting in the #2 slot, but the Cubs have been doing well with him at #5.

ES: A lot of Cubs fans I've spoken to were happy to see Mark Prior go. What are your thoughts on the matter?

BC: To me, the whole situation was unfortunate. If events had occurred in a vacuum, I would have been in favor of giving him one more shot in Chicago, but the world is not a vacuum. About two years ago, the local media decided to make Prior 'a bad guy,' and Mark didn't handle it well. (The media also tried this with Kerry Wood, but he handled it much better and is now even more beloved than before.) Anyhow, relations between the fans and Prior, and Prior and the team soured. It was appropriate to let him go, but I'm saddened by the whole parting. I think Mark has some excellent and productive years ahead of him, and I'll be sad to see those occur in someone else's uniform... but I'll be one of the Cubs fans that feel that way. In the end, he was done in by high expectations, high salary, and poor relations with the local beat writers and talk radio guys.

ES: Ryan Dempster has a great ERA so far, but he seems to have gotten pretty lucky in allowing just nine hits in 19.0 innings. His 13-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio is unspectacular. Are you bullish or bearish on his future as a starter?

BC: Sell. He hasn't had a good season as a starter since 2000, and as long as I keep repeating that fact, he's been pitching well. So, I will state once more for the record. Ryan Dempster has no business in the Cubs rotation. His early results are a fluke, even if he's been our second best starter.

ES: Kerry Wood: Closer. The results have been good to this point. How does he look, and how is the rest of the bullpen shaping up?

BC: Wood looks better and better with each outing. He struggled a bit at first, allowing runs in two of his first four or five games, but he's looking like a shutdown closer, much like people expected he would be. Currently, Carlos Marmol is the eighth inning set-up man. I've commented a few times that Marmol is the Mariano Rivera to Kerry Wood's John Wetteland. Marmol has been shaky at times, but still dominant. We've also got Bobby Howry who struggles in April, but will be excellent down the stretch, Michael Wuertz (reliably solid), Jon Lieber (ought to be in the rotation), Sean Marshall (also should be in the rotation), and Kevin Hart (unheralded but solid.) To jinx us, I would say that the bullpen is a real strength of the team... but if the starters can't get it together, that won't last for long.

Thanks, Byron. You can check out my responses to his questions at Goat Riders of the Apocalypse.

Prior to a series it's fun to get some perspective from the other team, and the best way to do that short of following Paulie Walnuts around with a microphone is to speak with that team's fans. For the Nats I was fortunate enough to get some questions answered by the fine ladies of We've Got Heart, Kristen, Stephanie and Lindsey.

Eric Simon: For the second time in three offseasons Jim Bowden got the best of Omar Minaya. What do you think of Lastings Milledge so far?

We've Got Heart: There have been moments that I've been impressed and moments where it's clear he's learning. He will steal a base or get a hit but then get out by making a silly base running move. I can forgive these mistakes in April, but if it continues throughout the season and costs us crucial outs, it will be much harder to forgive. He's also made some errors in the field by letting a single turn into an easy double, but it was reported that he's apologized to teammates for his mistakes. I think that shows signs of his willingness to learn and desire to improve. That said, he looks like he could be everything we were promised. He's enormously talented.

ES: The Nats won their first three games and then dropped a niner in a row before beating Tom Glavine and the Braves (thanks!) on Sunday. What can we expect out of this particular Nats’ team?

WGH: Going into the season and certainly after the first three games we all had high hopes. Obviously, starting pitching has been an issue, but I think a lot of that has to do with Lo Duca. He was absent for most of spring training with a knee injury and has little time to learn the pitchers. One of the problems with John Lannan's most recent start was that he veered off the game plan. As a young pitcher, it's hard to believe that he was calling his own pitches and honestly we didn't see him calling off Lo Duca. Every team goes through slumps and the optimist in me says that this is a slump and things will turn around. Guzman and Johnson are on fire and if we can just get a couple more guys hitting consistently, we'll be just fine.

ES: Talk to me about the new ballpark. Just a tiny bit nicer than RFK, I’m guessing.

WGH: The park is phenomenal. It's a nice mix between Citizen's Bank in Phily and PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The sight lines are great, though the ticket prices are steep. There's a lot of new local food partnerships that give it more of a Washington identity. It's hard to tell how the park will play just yet. It's smaller and more intimate than RFK. The Marlins and the Braves had no problem sending balls out of the park, but the Nats haven't capitalized on it, yet. Mets fans, be sure to come down to catch a game!

ES: When did Cristian Guzman get on the juice? Dude has seven extra-base hits so far. He has three fewer homeruns than the entire Mets’ team. What gives?

WGH: Guzman was another of Jim's projects. He was great in Minnesota, then came to DC and just couldn't hit the ball in 2005. He was hurt for all of the 2006 season. Guzman was fantastic at the start of 2007, showing the kind of player he could be, but was injured again by June and out for the rest of the season. He's had a rough go of things, but is back healthy this year and on fire. Maybe he's finally comfortable here and all of the pieces are in place for him. I'm a big fan of his offense but I'm not sold on him being the lead off guy just yet. With the way he is hitting he might drive in a bunch more runs if he batted a few spots lower.

ES: Jesus Flores is already better than Paul Lo Duca at everything. Why won’t Bowden just make him the starter? Why throw bad money at Lo Duca?

WGH: Jim Bowden had his heart set on bringing Lastings Milledge to the Nats. Last winter he dealt away a great defensive catcher in Schneider to make the trade. Prior to Schneider being traded, the plan was for a platoon behind the plate with Schneider and Flores, with Flores learning in the bigs from an experienced teammate. When Schneider left, the plan changed. Jim was quick to fill the spot with Lo Duca. I think he was dazzled by his previous offensive numbers and really wanted Flores to get at-bats every day in the minors. To give Lo Duca a backup, he brought in Johnny Estrada. It's pretty clear that Lo Duca will probably be a waist of money. Just days after being signed, his name came out in the Mitchell Report, which would have decreased his value. His other character flaws and indiscretions aside, fans are already tired of his attitude. We're a rebuilding team, not a contending team. Having Lo Duca mouth off every night about his frustrations just doesn't help, especially when his numbers don't match his talk. Sending Flores to the minors isn't as much about him learning and playing everyday as it is about Bowden not wanting to admit he made a mistake in signing Lo Duca and Estrada. My guess is that Flores is in triple A for a month or two. Once it becomes overwhelmingly clear that Lo Duca is washed up, Flores will be back as a starter with Lo Duca or Estrada as an occasional backup. I think the Lo Duca deal was one of the worst moves the Nats made this winter.

ES: I want Manny Acta back. No question here; just a comment.

WGH: We love Manny, though he had some questionable decision making in that 9 game skid. We hope he's here in Washington for a long time.

Thanks, ladies. You can read my responses to their questions at We've Got Heart.

Jonathan Mayo is a well-respected columnist for MLB.com and MiLB.com, and the author of a new book entitled Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher. Jonathan was gracious enough to exchange some e-mails with me and agreed to answer some questions about himself, his book, and the Mets' farm system.

Eric Simon: Tell me about yourself? What was your childhood like? What are some of your earliest memories of baseball?

Jonathan Mayo: I grew up in a New Jersey suburb, not far outside of New York City, in a town called Verona (most famous resident: actor/comedian Jay Mohr). Typical childhood, really. My earliest memory of baseball is of my dad pitching to me in our front yard when I was four years old, a tennis ball and wiffle ball bat, I believe. He was amazed I could hit the ball across the street at that age. Unfortunately, I peaked shortly thereafter. As far as the big leagues, I remember the 1977-78 Yankees being the first team that really entered my consciousness (sorry, Mets fans, when you're 7 years old, you're a bandwagon fan).

ES: What sorts of jobs did you have before becoming a professional baseball writer? What events led to the writing gig with MLB.com and MiLB.com?

JM: I've pretty much always wanted to be a writer covering sports of some sort. My first job out of college was at a short-lived newspaper geared toward women called HER New York. It folded after about five months. I worked for '94 Cup Daily, covering the soccer World Cup here in 1994. Then I did PR for a while -- that didn't work for me -- before landing a job at the NY Post. I was there for nearly four years -- maybe some of your readers vaguely recall a fantasy baseball column called "The Rotisserie Files" in the mid-late 90s? Anyway, in April of 1999, MLB.com was still a very small, in-house shop and they were hiring their first writer. That turned out to be me and the rest, as they say, is history.

ES: Was the decision to focus the majority of your baseball writing on minor leaguers a conscious one, or did it come about somewhat organically?

JM: A little of both. When I first started at MLB.com, I was the only writer, so I covered everything. Then, when the company grew I still was a national writer covering the Major Leagues. I went to All-Star Games, World Series, Opening Series in Japan, you name it. As the company grew and evolved, it didn't make as much sense for me to continue doing that kind of stuff and there was a need for good Minor League coverage. I'd always liked the prospects, so it was an easy switch. It's just grown over time with more and more coverage of the Minors and the draft.

ES: Talk to me about your new book, Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher. What other projects had you considered before settling on this one? Was Facing Wally Whitehurst ever a candidate?

JM: Wally finished a close second. But I think hitters are still so intimidated by him, no one would talk to me. I had been talking to the publisher about a variety of book ideas, from ones on scouting to biographies. This came about over the course of our discussions. They had done two books of this ilk on boxers, "Facing Ali" and "Facing Tyson." Baseball seemed like it could fit the concept and Clemens seemed to be the perfect choice at the time.

ES: As someone who generally writes articles in the 1,500 word range, how did you approach writing a 300-page book? Did anything surprise you about the whole process, and is it something you would like to do again?

JM: Yes, I'd like to do it again. I was surprised I felt that way right after finishing this one. One good thing about the format is that each chapter is somewhat self-contained. It doesn't have to have any real literary flow. So I looked at each chapter as one long story. Heading into it, I must admit, I was concerned about writing that much. But then I finished the Cal Ripken Jr. chapter and it was 10,000 words and I said to myself, "OK, I can do this."

ES: You spoke to a dozen or so current and former major leaguers for this book, with a chapter dedicated to each, including former Mets Dave Magadan, Darryl Hamilton, Gary Carter and Julio Franco. What was the interview process like: were they mostly conducted over the phone, in person, et cetera?

JM: Almost all of them were done over the phone. Some were set up during the offseason. Once the season got underway, I did get several current players -- Chipper Jones, Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pierre and Ken Griffey Jr. -- in person. It sometimes took some doing to set up the various phone and in-person interviews, but once they were, every player was very generous with their time and their memories.

ES: Carter must have been an interesting one, as he played his whole career in the National League and Clemens was in the American League. Their only confrontations came in the 1986 All-Star game and World Series. Small sample sizes notwithstanding, what was Carter's take on Clemens?

JM: Well, anyone who knows Carter at all knows he's not lacking in self-confidence. So that added a nice flavor to the chapter. Remember that Clemens was still establishing himself and 1986 was the first truly great season he had. Carter's take mostly was that he was impressed, but certainly not awed. Even though he didn't do anything against him in the All-Star Game or that memorable World Series, Carter recalled not having a "wow" factor after facing him. He certainly couldn't ascertain back then that Clemens would go on to do what he did in the game.

ES: Mike Piazza would have been a huge get for this book, but I understand he didn't want to be involved, preferring to put the whole ordeal with Clemens behind him. You got Darryl Hamilton instead, who is actually a good friend of Clemens's and closely witnessed the 2000 World Series bat-throwing incident. What did Hamilton have to say about facing Clemens himself, as well as Clemens's famous run-ins with Piazza?

JM: Yeah, I tried like heck to get Piazza, but can't force a guy to talk. Hamilton ended up being really interesting, I thought, for a number of reasons. One, he's a really smart guy and was the type to never miss anything on the field, whether when he was playing or watching from the bench. He faced Clemens early in his own career and like many, admitted there was some "Clemens aura" working those first couple of times against him when he was batting. They became friends later on with both living in Houston and Hamilton tells a terrific story about when he pinch-hit against Clemens in that bat-throwing game. Let's just say Clemens was concerned with Hamilton for a hilarious reason...but you'll have to buy the book to find out the rest of the story.

JM: As for Piazza, Hamilton said that everyone knew Clemens would do something when they faced each other in 2000 interleague play. He honestly doesn't think Clemens was trying to hurt Piazza when he plunked him in the head. But Clemens needed to assert dominance and reclaim the plate again. How he did it was not OK and the Mets were ready to charge the field, but Piazza, if you recall, was down for the count. In the World Series, Hamilton certainly doesn't excuse Clemens's behavior -- like most of us, he really doesn't understand it -- but it's clear the Mets clubhouse was not pleased that Piazza chose not to charge the mound. Even though it allowed him to stay in the game in a World Series, they thought it more important from a leadership standpoint for their franchise player to say, "Enough is enough. I have to take care of business here."

ES: In researching the book, you figured to get a copious supply of "Clemens was really tough/Great stuff/Intimidating" feedback. What did you find out about Clemens -- either the pitcher or the man -- that really surprised you?

JM: Pitching-wise, it wasn't so much anything surprising, but just wonderful detail on how Clemens evolved as a pitcher with his split-fingered fastball and later on, a cutter. Whatever you think now about him, he definitely became a more complete pitcher as time wore on. I was surprised how many people considered him a friend off the field, even guys who weren't teammates. Hamilton, as you mentioned and Ken Griffey Jr., especially, painted a much different picture of Clemens as a person than I expected to get. And the last chapter, with his son Koby, gave me some great insight into him as a parent, stuff that most people don't get to hear about.

ES: Did Roger Clemens ever instruct Brian McNamee to inject you with HGH before a big article deadline?

JM: I think you are misremembering that.

ES: Give me your best sales pitch: why should people buy this book?

JM: Regardless of your opinion of Roger Clemens today -- and I know that's likely changed over the past several months -- there is no question he was one of the most dominant and intimidating pitchers of his generation. Really, more than a generation with a career that spanned a quarter-century. The challenge of facing him, whether he was clean or had indeed been injected with anything, remains the same. This book really lets you get inside the heads of some of Clemens' top opponents and gives you a sense, like there's not been before, of what it must be like to earn a living trying to hit a small white ball hurled in your direction at ungodly speeds by Roger Clemens.

ES: What's your take on the package the Mets sent to Minnesota for Johan Santana? Too much, too little, somewhere in between?

JM: I think the Mets did pretty well in this one. Yes, they gave up four of their top prospects, but truth be told, most of them wouldn't rank that highly in other organizations. The fact they managed to not trade Fernando Martinez and get Santana means to me they did pretty well. The guys the Twins got will help them, but I think they would've been better off going with the reported deals the Red Sox or Yankees were offering.

ES: Fernando Martinez has been ranked by various prospect lists as high as #10 (Keith Law) and as low as #51 (Kevin Goldstein). Why the gulf, and what are your thoughts on F-Mart right now and two or three years from now?

JM: Well, I had him at No. 17. Right now, he's all about projection and what he might become. If people are extremely high on him, he's going to be a top 20 kind of guy. If not, he'll drop. The fact is, he really needs to play and turn projection into performance this year. He's still really young, but the star will start to fade if he doesn't start producing a little like people think he can. Scouts still love his tools, especially his swing. I think, assuming he can now stay healthy, in three years he'll be a starting outfielder in the big leagues on the verge of becoming an All-Star.

ES: We've been hearing a lot about Wilmer Flores, a 16-year-old Venezuelan shortstop the Mets signed last summer. What can you tell us about him?

JM: One of a bumper crop of international signees -- boy, the Mets have been active in Latin America -- the Mets absolutely love Flores. He's very athletic and looks like he should be able to hit. Of course, he hasn't played a game in the United States yet, but certainly looked good during instructs in the Dominican. The Mets have not shied away from pushing young signees once they come stateside -- just look at Savannah's roster at the beginning of last year. Flores could get a shot to land with that full-season team this spring, but he also may hang around extended and then go to Brooklyn, where he's still likely be the youngest player in the New York-Penn League.

ES: For those who don't know, can you explain the draft slotting system that the commissioner's office encourages teams to follow? Are the Mets' days of adhering to the recommended slot bonuses -- and suffering for it, perhaps -- over?

JM: In short, the "slotting system" are suggested bonus levels for each pick in the draft. The Commissioner's office sends out a guideline for what they feel is the appropriate bonus for any pick in the draft, starting at No. 1 overall and on down. Many teams, as you'd imagine, ignore the slotting suggestions and go over it (the Tigers come to mind with Andrew Miller and Rick Porcello the last couple of years). It's not a mandated system and there's really nothing the Commissioner's Office can do to stop a team from going over slot other than grumble (There are some instances when a team takes a chance on a tough sign later in the draft and then wants to give that player first-round money, that the team will ask MLB if it's ok). I think there's the possibility the Mets would consider going over slot if the right player was there. They've got two first-round picks this June and they are going to want to make them count. To be fair, it was just in 2005 that the Mets went way over slot at No. 9 overall when they took Mike Pelfrey and gave him $3.55 million and a Major League contract, so it's not like they've never done it.

ES: With Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber gone and Mike Pelfrey a big leaguer (presumably), the Mets' top pitching prospects are mostly guys who were drafted last year. Who do you like out of that crop?

JM: Eddie Kunz is the guy who'll ge there the fastest. I know his AFL stint was less than impressive, but he was gassed by that point. Look for him to move quickly. I love that the Mets took some chances on some high school arms. Even though the system's not deep, they're the kind of organization that can afford to put in the time and be patient developing some of them. I think Nathan Vineyard already has a pretty nice idea of how to pitch and will become even better when he adds velocity to the fastball. Scott Moviel is more of a project -- I thought he might go to NC State like Andrew Brackman -- but the Mets got him signed and his GCL debut was encouraging. With a guy that big, a lot can go wrong mechanically, so they'll probably have to take it slow with him. But the end result could be worth the wait.

Thanks, Jonathan.

You can pick up Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher at Amazon.com or through Jonathan's website, which also includes additional information about the book as well as recent media appearances he has made.

We normally do this sort of thing in-season, but considering the recent defection of Tom Glavine back to Atlanta and offseason rumors aplenty, we thought this would be a good time to check in with our friend Martin Gandy of Talking Chop to see what's happening in Brave-land.

Eric Simon: Andruw Jones has been entrenched in centerfield in Atlanta for eleven seasons, but he is almost certainly moving on to greener (as in money) pastures. What does 2008 hold for the Braves at Andruw's old position? Will Andruw be missed?

Martin Gandy: Andruw's defense will certainly be missed, regardless of what Jayson Stark says about his defensive skills. As an offensive player Andruw was misplaced in the batting lineup - he is not a cleanup hitter. He's more suited to batting sixth or seventh, where his endless swing-for-the-fences mentality can pose less of a detriment to a lineup. Even when he was hitting 50 homeruns two years ago, he had a terrible batting average with runners in scoring position, and still wasn't that clutch of a hitter. Because we got Teixeira last year I don't think we'll miss Andruw one bit in the lineup. Our top prospect, Jordan Schafer, is a center fielder and might take over in Atlanta as early as next year. So there is a lot of excitement about the next great player to roam center for the Braves.

All of this is not to say that Andruw, as a person, will not be missed - he will be missed. You can't have a player in one uniform for a decade and not show a fondness for him. His absence will be noticeable when the Braves take the field next year (remember, he played in just about every single game for 10 straight years).

Eric Simon: Chipper Jones: Still a phenomenal hitter, still good for 30-40 missed games every year due to injury. I'm a big fan, but he was pretty classless in running his mouth earlier this month vis-à-vis David Wright's Gold Glove. Where do you think that comment came from?

Martin Gandy: Chipper is a rare player who will usually tell you exactly what's on his mind. He certainly has a point about Wright winning the award, but we know that this award, like all the awards, are sometimes flawed in who wins them (remember Palmeiro winning the GG in 1999 despite only playing 28 games at first - the rest as a DH). Chipper went off this year about a bunch of things, the most notably was the absence of Questec at Turner Field which led to a host of different strike zones from game to game. He and Smoltz also had a public tiff that went on for several days.

I don't know that his comment about Wright was classless. It was more a comment directed towards the people who vote for the award and their laziness in selecting someone for the award who was statistically not the best choice (or even the third or fourth best choice).

Eric Simon: Talk to me about Tom Glavine. Are you happy to have him back? Does it feel as if he never left? What are your expectations of him for 2008?

Martin Gandy: I will probably be on the fence all season about having Glavine back. On one hand he's probably better than anything we threw out there as a third starter last year. On the other hand, he's on the wrong side of 40 and could turn bad very quickly (I think you guys saw this with him last September). I expect him to give us about 180 to 190 good innings of just under 4.00 ERA while collecting anywhere from 12 to 16 wins. I think there's also a chance he could win close to 18 games. As a third or fourth starter in our rotation, he'll be facing easier competition than he's faced for the last several years, and that could lead to more victories.

It does feel like he left, and it will be weird for a while seeing him back in a Braves uniform sitting next to Smoltz on the bench during games. But we all know that Glavine wanted to end his career in Atlanta, it was only a matter of whether it was going to be last season or this season.

Eric Simon: What do the Braves have to do to bridge the gap between the 2007 club and a 2008 postseason appearance? They figure to lose some ground in centerfield (despite Andruw's sub-par 2007), but should make that up with a full season of Mark Teixeira. Where else can they improve?

Martin Gandy: As I mentioned above, Andruw was more of a hindrance in our lineup the past few years than an asset. Mark Teixeira is the cleanup hitter we've lacked since the first season we had Galarraga. What he might do next year is scary - in just 54 games with the Braves last year he drove in 56 RBI. I also expect him to increase his homerun total dramatically in a more homerun friendly park like the Ted (and a more homerun friendly league with smaller parks). With him in the middle of our lineup, our offense should be much like it was last year, if not more consistent.

With Glavine returning via free agency and Hampton likely returning from injury as well as the addition of a young Jair Jurrjens and with Jo-Jo Reyes a year older our stating rotation should be much better and much deeper next year. That's what the Braves rode to all those division titles and I think it's clear that's what this team is relying on once again. We will be spending around $50 million dollars on our starting rotation in 2008 - well over half of our teams total salary.

Eric Simon: Who is closing for the Braves in 2008? How do you feel about that?

Martin Gandy: Rafael Soriano will be our closer, and he was pretty darn good in that role last year. He had some trouble in the setup role giving up homeruns, but when he was used as a closer he seemed to be right at home. Beyond him, we should get Mike Gonzalez back around the All-Star break, so we'll have a closer from each side of the mound for the second half of the year. I feel good about our bullpen next year - better than I've felt the last few years.

You can check out my responses to Martin's questions at Talking Chop.