A few things to think about:

- Barry Zito and his $126 million contract sent to the bullpen? This should be a wakeup call to general managers who sign pitchers to huge long-term contracts. For every one that works out (Pedro Martinez's Red Sox contract) there's one that doesn't (I'm looking at you, Mike Hampton).

- Baltimore, Tampa (tied), the White Sox, Oakland and Florida are all in first place in their divisions. I know there are still two days to go in April, but the world is a bit upside down at the moment. Only the NL West (D-Backs) and Central (Cubs) are performing as expected at the moment. Honorable mention: the Cardinals would be the NL wild card if the season ended today.

- Teams under .500 that shouldn't be: Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Seattle, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres. That's a lot of teams.

- I'm rethinking the Padres, though. They can pitch, but they really can't hit. They have only scored 84 runs in 26 games (3.2/game). By comparison, Arizona has scored 153 (5.9/game).

- Someday soon Manny will become the 24th player to join the 500 home run club. According to Memories and Dreams, the Baseball Hall of Fame magazine, there were only four members in 1964, the year I was born: Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams and Mel Ott. There were a bunch of active players that year that would eventually become members of the group: Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Willie McCovey and Eddie Matthews.

- And if Manny's going to hit #500, how about doing it Saturday night against Tampa? I have tickets to the game.