February 1, 200422 yr McKeon enjoys the view BARRY JACKSON bjackson@herald.com Barry Jackson The calendar turns to February today, meaning only 21 more shopping days until pitchers and catchers report to Marlins spring training. Manager Jack McKeon has done practically nothing this offseason, unless, of course, you count the visit to the White House, the dozens of interviews, the several parades and ceremonies in his honor and the 15 or so corporate speeches he has given at about $20,000 a pop. And, oh yes, the removal of cataracts from both eyes, which forced him to cancel a lucrative speech to Miami wine distributors last week. McKeon entertained a crowd of more than 1,000 at a New York baseball awards dinner last Sunday, at one point kiddingly offering to take over for the emcee, Newsday writer Ken Davidoff. Next up: a guest appearance at Peter Lowe's motivational seminar Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena. Taking a break from shoveling snow in his Elon, N.C., driveway, McKeon addressed the state of his team last week: ? He says he's comfortable with this roster and didn't expect management to keep more of it intact. ''We'll be fine,'' he said. ``We're in pretty good shape and we'll be very competitive. You hope everyone does pretty close to what they did last year -- that's what you worry about. The Phillies have made the most improvements in our division, but it comes down to who has the best pitching. You just hope ours continues to improve.'' ? He dismisses concerns about having enough run-producers in the lineup. ``Getting Miguel Cabrera and Jeff Conine for a whole season should pick up the slack.'' ? He says he ''would like to see'' Hee Seop Choi be the regular first baseman, even if the Marlins sign a veteran free agent from a group including Wil Cordero and Raul Mondesi (whose addition could allow Conine's move to first): ``Choi has a lot of potential. He could be [another]Cabrera. It's his job to lose. With a tough left-hander, you could give him a day off.'' ? He says he hasn't decided whether he wants Ramon Castro and Mike Redmond to share playing time fairly evenly at catcher, or have one play the majority of the time. ? He says he's happy with new closer Armando Benitez -- ''he's proven'' -- but added, ``Hopefully, if we need another guy, [general manager] Admin Beinfest can pull his magic like he did with Ugueth Urbina.'' ? He sees no need to refine Dontrelle Willis' unorthodox delivery, although pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal has spoken of minor alterations. ? Which player is McKeon looking to make the biggest strides this year? ''I would like to see Castro step up, and Alex Gonzalez be more consistent. Alex tried to do too much [offensively] last year'' during a second-half slump. We defintely need one guy to step it up this year, whether it be A-Gon, Castro, or Choi. We need another run producer in their after Lowell, Cabs, and Conine. Article
February 2, 200422 yr We are certainly stronger going into the start of the season this year over last. Can't wait for ST to start to get a good look at these new guys. :thumbup
February 2, 200422 yr I'm excited about a full season of Cabrera, and a new, confident Beckett. He's going to have something to prove, and having Beckett pitch with a real purpose is going to be a lot of fun to watch, because game 5 of the NLCS is the greatest performance by a Marlins pitcher I have ever seen, and a full year of that is straight sick :thumbup
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