I caught a few innings of Monday night’s game between the Padres and White Sox on television. At one point, Mark Loretta joined Mark Grant and Dick Enberg in the broadcast booth, and the three of them discussed whether spring training is too long. The consensus opinion was that, yes, it is too long.

The non-stories that surfaced this past week in the NL West (Tim Lincecum’s cheeseburger-eating habits, Jay Gibbons’ new contact lenses, Matt Lindstrom’s new changeup, etc.) would seem to support their contention. My latest at Baseball Prospectus ($) focuses on many of the recent fluff pieces to come out of Arizona and also examines the no. 5 spot in the Padres rotation, which appears to moving in Wade LeBlanc’s direction despite the left-hander’s best efforts.

Enjoy…

Tagged as: baseball prospectus, dick enberg, jay gibbons, mark grant, mark loretta, matt lindstrom, tim lincecum, wade leblanc