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Troy Glaus has done this to me in the past and I just have to hope it isn’t happening again. Glaus was once a very good third basemen for the Anaheim Angels. The type that could lead the AL in homers on year and take his whole team on his broad back to a World Series in another.

He was one of the power hitting guys who could be called “The Slugger” you know the type of power that hit balls onto picnic tables, the kind that could drive in 100-plus yearly, the kind of guy you wanted on your team.

Oh but what havoc a bunch of injuries will do to your career. He’s been bounced around both the NL and AL since the time he was thought of that highly and while the results have been very good when he’s healthy the time on the DL has also been so large that you can only begin to think of the stats he could have had on the back of his baseball cards.

A new season, a new team and yet Glaus is still giving me good vibes. He’s always seemed to get off to reasonable starts and if Sunday is any indication of things I think he’s again set the bar high for my expectations. Glaus was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI on Sunday as the Braves middle of the order was in full check and they were clicking.

Glaus is without question the Braves go-to guy at the cleanup spot with the hope that Nate McLouth, Martin Prado, and Chipper Jones are on base for him to drive in. If he struggles he’ll move down the order which ultimately means the Braves are going  to again turn to McCann/Escobar as the four-five combo which isn’t the worst thing in the world but something everyone hoped would be updated by the acquisition of a big bat this winter: Troy Glaus’ big bat this winter.

Ideally Glaus remains in the four spot much of the year which puts a very couple of very good hitters behind him in McCann and Escobar which would only elevate the number of runs the Braves score this year. Exactly what we need to go along with a stellar rotation.

Despite the fact the Braves finished sixth in the NL in runs scored last season they struggled for good portions of the year to give their starting pitching any wiggle room and found themselves in tenth in home runs and slugging percentage.

Glaus will need to put an end to that power outage or this team isn’t going any further then it did last year. I hate to say it but it’s true. As much as we can write about Jason Heyward it’s the free agent first basemen that will play the biggest role for the Braves in 2010.

Heyward at best puts up number that could be replicated by Melky Cabrera. That’s fine.

But for the Braves to be a serious playoff team Glaus needs to put up numbers that read 30 homers, 100 RBI, 70 runs scored.

Can he do it? I’ve always believed he could but he’s sometimes left me disappointed. Will he do it? For the Braves sake I sure hope so.

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The Miami Dolphins have brought back Chad Pennington on a one year deal worth $2.5 million to serve as the backup/mentor to Chad Henne.

Pennington signed with the Dolphins prior to the start of the 2008 season and led the team to an 11-5 record to lead the AFC East before the team was ousted in the first round of the playoffs.

Pennington started last season as the Dolphins QB but after suffering an injury in the teams third game he missed the remainder of the season following a third shoulder surgery.

With Henne currently the top quarterback on the depth chart the Dolphins have brought back Pennington as an insurance policy. If he were to be traded prior to the trade deadline his contract would escalate by $1.515 million, there are also extra incentives should he be the teams starter.

The resigning of Pennington by Miami is not much of a surprise as he wasn’t considered to be a highly sought after option due to his injury but he does give the Dolphins a familiar and effective face should he be needed.

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Jason Heyward was 1-for-3 today with an RBI while he also stole a base. Of course he also was thrown out after that so I don’t know if it’s even worth mentioning it.

Anyway the Braves won 11-8 and it’s worth pointing out that Heyward again hit second in the order. The rest of the lineup today featured what the Braves starting 8 should look like on opening day with the exception of Nate McLouth.

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Jason Heyward met his match today perhaps Charlie Morton decided it was better to just throw at him. Aside from the HBP the youngster went 0-for-2 while batting second in the Braves lineup and playing right field.

Heyward has continued to gain support within the Braves system with Dale Murphy being the latest to compliment the 20-year old.

That is all for this daily Jason Heyward note. Please check back tomorrow for another update so I can get more money and keep my power turned on. You may think that is a joke but it’s not completely.

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Jon Heyman of CNNSI.com said that he thinks Hank Blalock is choosing between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Blalock wouldn’t appear to be the primarily option for either team at any position but would be a fine complementary player at both locations. Blalock never quite lived up to the expectations in Texas after the strong start to his career and despite hitting 25 home runs last year had a dismal .234/.277/.459  line last season.

The Marlins would figure to use him as their top left handed bat off the bench while in Tampa Bay he could be looked at to share time at DH with Pat Burrell.

Personally I think that Tampa Bay offers the best situation for him since Burrell is hardly a lock to keep the DH spot held down for the entire season after he hit just .221/.315/.367 with 14 home runs in 476 at-bats with the team last year.

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Peachtree City native Reed Sorenson will not attempt to make Sunday’s race at Atlanta. Sorenson, who is supposed to share seat time with Brian Vickers in the Nationwide Series, was originally scheduled to attempt to run a Cup race at Atlanta for Braun Racing.

As part of Sorenson’s contract with Braun racing the 24-year old driver was to attempt five races on the Cup side including Atlanta. The team has now moved the attempt back to Texas. Sorenson is also hoping to run Chicagoland, Indianapolis and Charlotte for the team later this year.

For those wondering Sorenson has not finished higher then 27th in his last four races at Atlanta after two top 10’s in 2007. At Texas Sorenson has not managed anything better then a 24th place run in his last six tries after a 13th and 17th place finish in 2006.

Sorenson has yet to make an official appearance this season at the Cup or Nationwide level after missing the Daytona 500 in February. According to his website he’ll be in the Nationwide 32 car at Bristol. (3/20)

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Well I figured I’d go ahead and list Jason Heyward’s batting line everyday until the end of Spring Training since it’s bound to get me mega hits. So here goes.

In three plate appearances Heyward was 1-for-2 with a run scoring double and a walk.

Chipper Jones seems to think he’ll make the team out of spring training while my thinking is the Braves are far from making that decision. Heyward is doing everything thus far to make the decision as tough as possible but he’ll likely have to keep up the hot streak.

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Jason Heyward stole the show in the Braves opening spring training game notching a hit, two walks and a stolen base.

On the mound Tommy Hanson started the game going two innings before giving way to Kris Medlen who matched him. Jesse Chavez ran into trouble in the fifth getting tagged for three runs.

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Earlier this year I read from one blogger that he thought Jeff Gordon would retire if he had a bad run on the track this year. To me I thought the whole notion of Gordon retiring was silly as I could have made the same case for Mark Martin, Jeff Burton or Elliott Sadler.

John Bickford, Gordon’s stepfather who oversees the four-time champion’s business affairs as general manager of Jeff Gordon Inc., told USA TODAY the four-time champion is five to six years away from retiring.

Anyone having 2010 or even 2011 as Gordon’s last Cup season can go ahead and scratch those dates out.

No longer the dominating winning driver he was Gordon is still one of the top stars in the sport and on any weekend is a contender out front. All that may be prevented by the quality of the cars his Hendrick teammates are given each week.  Gordon’s biggest rival for winning races or even championships is his teammate Jimmy Johnson who has won the last four Sprint Cup titles and the last two events of the 2010 season.

Gordon who is in a lifetime contract with Hendrick racing has 82 career wins a 2-year old daughter and another baby on the way. Even that hasn’t slowed him down and Hendrick is working on extending the contract of DuPont on the 24 car.

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Perhaps it’s just a maneuver that will lead up to a contract but I found it interesting that the Tampa Bay Rays signed former outfielder Rocco Baldelli to a job as a special assistant instead of offering the guy even a minor league contract.

Rocco Baldelli has been hired as a special assistant to the Rays. You may remember that at one point it was said that Baldelli was suffering from a condition that was causing his muscles to shrink up and dissapear. Later it was found out that Baldelli was suffering from channelopathy which isn’t quite as bad.

Still Baldelli played in Boston last year amassing 150 at-bats and a .253/.311/.433 line. Hardly what he had been doing in years past but considering the reserve role and transition worse could have been expected.

Baldelli who is just 28 years of age is expected to work with the minor leaguers in Rays camp.

Had the Rays not already had a mass of outfielders on their roster it’s likely the two sides could have reached some sort of agreement. Still by accepting this role with Tampa Bay both sides appear to be leaving that door open. Baldelli will also have the opportunity to sign with another club should it arise.

The bottom line is he will be in playing shape one way or the other. Currently Tampa Bay’s glut of outfielders include Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Matt Joyce, Gabe Kapler and second basemen Ben Zobrist also figures to obtain playing time out there. Pat Burrell by way of a huge contract is entrenched as the teams DH.

The rise of Baldelli to the fae of the Rays and then into darkness following his medical condition makes him an easy guy to root for and something tells me one way or the other a deal gets worked out between him and some team before spring training ends.

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