Apologies to Tolkien for the headline, but the Pads are bringing back Andy Ashby in the hope that he can contribute in 2005. This is sort of like what the Yankees did with Jon Lieber last year. Ashby was always one of my favorites when he was here the first time, and while I’m not sure how much he has left in the tank, this strikes me as a relatively low-risk move that could pay dividends. Besides, he can’t be any worse than Ismael Valdes, right?

Meantime, Greg Maddux is returning to the Cubbies for 3 years/$24M. So is anyone else a little relieved now that he didn’t end up in San Diego? Don’t get me wrong, he’d have been a terrific addition. But three years? David Wells and his one year with incentives are looking better right about now.

What else. The Yankees and Red Sox are still bickering over the A-Rod thing. Again, I hate to take George Steinbrenner’s side on anything, but when the team with the second largest payroll starts complaining about the spending habits of another team, you have to ask yourself how credible that is. Oh, and Alfonso Soriano is two years older than previously reported, which isn’t as bad as some had speculated.

Speaking of which, Albert Pujols signed a 7-year/$100M deal with the Cards. Not bad for a guy who pulled in $950k last year.

That’s all for now. More as it happens…