"We'll see what my agent has to say," Santana said. "I want to be part of this team. I love this team — great teammates. But you have to look out for yourself, too. You have to take care of yourself, and if they're not going to do it, you have to find somewhere else."

"I know they're looking for a replacement (for injured starter Eric Milton), but to me it looks like I don't mean nothing to them...I feel screwed."

Time apparently was all Twins pitcher Johan Santana needed to heal his wounded ego.

Five days after saying he felt "screwed" by the team's decision to sign veteran Kenny Rogers to join the starting rotation, Santana settled back into his role as a set-up reliever by striking out five Boston batters over two innings during a 7-6 victory over the Red Sox on Tuesday at Hammond Stadium.

"I'm just looking for a chance to make the team, and right now I'm a part of the team. So somehow I've got to help the team," he said. "You just have to keep going, and keep my head up, and keep doing the same things I did last year."

When someone with as many "tools" as Rocco Baldelli puts everything together and has a season like he did in 2002, a lot of people get excited, and rightfully so. Toolsy high school outfielders tend to have problems actually performing well, so it is big news when a guy jumps through 3 levels of a minor league system, wins Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year and hits .330 with 19 homers and 28 doubles - all at the age of 20.

Before you get too excited, keep in mind that Baldelli only drew 23 walks combined between those 3 levels and 2 of them were intentional. Plus, he didn't draw a single walk in almost 100 plate appearances at Triple-A.

Baldelli is a line drive machine with plus speed and solid base stealing instincts that should get even better with more experience. On defense, he is a natural centerfielder with good speed, great athleticism and the ability to glide to balls in the gaps.

There is an awful lot here to get really excited about and the Devil Rays have shown a willingness to promote players very aggressively. However, the fact is that most players not named "Soriano" have a pretty difficult time being superstars while walking twice a month.

Baldelli is a step ahead of most toolsy high schoolers at this point, but the coaching he receives in the near future will play a gigantic part in whether or not he becomes a star. I'd feel better if that coaching was coming from an organization other than Tampa Bay, but he'll have to make the most of what they have to offer him.

Rocco Baldelli's "ceiling" is as high as anyone's and he looks like a potential MVP candidate, but he's going to make it very difficult on himself if he doesn't start taking some walks. Short term, I wouldn't expect him to hit .330 in the Majors anytime soon, which is what he’ll have to do to make himself valuable with such an atrocious walk rate.

The West:

The Midwest:

The East:

The South:

If you haven't heard of Carmelo Anthony yet, you soon will. Anthony is a freshman swingman at Syracuse and will soon be a superstar. He can do it all. He has good ballhandling skills, is extremely athletic and can even rebound the ball pretty well. But, the thing that impresses me the most about his game is his mid-range jumpshot. He can stop on a dime, pull up and sink a 17-footer at any time, and that is a pretty rare skill in today's dunk and 3-pointer game.

Keep an eye out for him and remember the name, he is going to be very special. To steal a quote from ESPN.com's Bill Simmons, I wish I could buy stock in Carmelo Anthony.

Speaking of special players...
My favorite player in all of college basketball is Texas sophomore point guard T.J. Ford.

You know that question on personality tests that asks, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" Well, if I was a point guard, I would be a T.J. Ford, or at least I would like to be a T.J. Ford. T.J. is the player I tried to be when I was playing basketball. He is basically an assist waiting to happen. He doesn't score much (about 10 points a game), but if a Longhorns big man gets open, he will find him for an easy score. He is fast, extremely athletic, has exceptional ball handling skills and is the best point guard in the country. Point guards that can score 20 a game are certainly nice, but give me a T.J. Ford, a guy that can run the offense and keep everyone involved, and I will take him everyday of the week and 5 times on John Stockton's birthday. T.J. Ford is my pick to lead the country in assists this year and he should do it by a pretty large margin. So, keep an eye on him and remember his name too (along with Anthony's).

Rick Rickert is the real deal. At 6-10, he is a phenomenal long range shooter with an improving post game. He is not a great defender or rebounder yet, but he'll improve with time in the weight room and more games in the Big Ten Conference. I think Rickert will win the Big Ten Player of the Year and I don't think it will even be particularly close. I expect him to average about 20-22 points and 8-10 boards this year.

The Minnesota Gophers should have their best season since the Clem Haskins era.

Last year's starting point guard, senior Kevin Burleson, returns, although whether or not that is good news is debatable.

One player that I do expect to step up his game is sophomore shooting guard Maurice Hargrow. Mo and I went to high school together for 4 years, although I would guess he is completely unaware of that fact. Hargrow is extremely athletic and fast and has a very good first step. He isn't a real good shooter yet, but I think he will be a nice surprise for Minnesota this year and should provide some scoring punch off the bench.

The Gophers will go as far as their big men will take them. I think they have a good chance at winning the Big Ten title, but I predict they will finish in 2nd place.

North Carolina. Yes, I realize how horrible they were last year. And no, I don't expect them to be great this year.

I do think they will be much improved with a starting 5 that includes 3 much heralded freshmen and 2 very good sophomores who were the lone bright spots on last year's team. I think UNC will finish in the top 4 of the ACC Conference, which is saying something after they finished tied for dead last a year ago.

Texas. The Big Twelve has the most upper level, elite teams in the country, with Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas amazingly all in the pre-season top 5. I like Kansas a lot, but that isn't really much of a shock. So, I'll talk a little bit about the Longhorns.

I already mentioned how in love I am with T.J. Ford's game. I also really like junior forward James Thomas, who is a force inside and is a great finisher (which is key when you have Ford setting you up for easy baskets all over the place). If Thomas can get some help inside, Texas should be in for a very good season. Even though they are ranked #5 in the country to start the year, I don't think many people are talking about them as major contenders, but that will change.

Louisville. Rick Pitino's first season with Louisville was a good one, but not great. I think the 2002-2003 version will be much improved. They return almost every important player from last year's 19-13 team, including senior guard Reece Gaines, who is a stud and a good bet to average 25 a game. Louisville will make the NCAA tourney and it wouldn't surprise me to see them in the Sweet Sixteen.

Now, a team I don't like so much...Florida.

The Gators are ranked #7 in the country right now and that simply is not going to last. They play a pretty soft non-conference schedule, but once the SEC season begins, they will start dropping games. Florida have absolutely zero frontcourt depth beyond Matt Bonner and David Lee. I have heard that freshman guard Christian Drejer is the real deal and he better be, because the Gators are going to have to score a lot of points to make up for their lack of rebounding and shot blocking. Plus, Drejer is going to miss the few couple of weeks with a foot injury. They'll make the NCAA Tourney, but they aren't going to finish anywhere near #7. Brett Nelson has got to be the least deserving John Wooden Award candidate (2 years in a row!) in the history of the world.

My official picks for regular season champions (because anything can happen in the conference tourney):

Big Ten = Michigan State.
ACC = Duke.
Big East = Boston College (East Division) and Pittsburgh (West Division).
Big Twelve = Kansas.
Pac Ten = Arizona.
SEC = Georgia (East Division) and Alabama (West Division).

Final Four:
Arizona
Texas
Kansas
Duke