February 19

On the anniversary of the day he learned that he had lymphoma, Andres Galarraga walked across the outfield of the Disney's Wide World of Sports stadium.

"The last time I made this walk, I felt sick to my stomach and I wanted to cry," he said. "Because I saw all my teammates out there on the field, I knew I couldn't be with them and that I couldn't do what I love best. And here we are, walking towards the clubhouse, ready to put that uniform on and put a glove on my hand and pick up a bat ... I feel like a little child."

Keep your eyes on ...

Ten interesting players who are out of options and could force teams to trade them at the end of spring training: Matt Perisho, LHP, Texas. Won 15 games in Triple-A, and while the Rangers have Kenny Rogers and Darren Oliver, it's hard seeing Doug Melvin letting him go, especially considering The Ballpark at Arlington is such a left-handers' park. Nerio Rodriguez, RHP, Toronto. The Jays have a lot of good arms in the 24 to 27 (Rodriguez's age) range, but he has a power arm and interests a lot of clubs. Tanyon Sturtze, RHP, Chicago White Sox. He was in the 1990 Oakland draft with Todd Van Poppel, but last season seemed to put it together in Charlotte, where he struck out 107 in 104 innings. Chicago has bullpen depth, so Sturtze might be more interesting to other clubs. Calvin Maduro, RHP, Baltimore. He won 11 games and fanned 149 in 169 innings at Rochester, and with the improved depth of the Oriole staff could interest several teams. Ron Mahay, LHP, Oakland. The converted outfielder finally got enough innings to start developing. He pitched well in September and is the front-runner for the fifth spot in the A's rotation, but with Mark Mulder and Barry Zito on the horizon, several clubs plan to bear down on Mahay. Todd Greene, C-DH, Anaheim. He still has 40-home run potential, but whether or not he can ever catch remains to be seen. The Angels' problem is that after not making a trade this winter, they have four good outfielders for three positions, which would limit Greene's DH time. Edgard Clemente, OF, Colorado. OK, it was Colorado Springs, but he did hit .304 with 17 homers, he can play center, a lot of teams are interested, and the Rockies also have young outfielder Derrick Gibson out of options. Jay Payton, OF, Mets. The man can hit. After three elbow operations, there is concern about his ability to play the outfield. But the Georgia Tech sidekick of Nomar Garciaparra will find a home and get a chance. Steve Cox, 1B-OF, and Bubba Trammell, OF, Tampa Bay. Cox, 25, is a 6-foot-4 left-handed hitter who batted .341 with 49 doubles and 25 homers in Triple-A, and with all the DH types the Rays signed, their chances of being able to keep Cox and/or Trammell, whom many teams eye as a potential right-handed power producer, is slight.

Inside the clubhouse, Javy Lopez, the star catcher who suffered a torn ACL so bad that some feared he would never catch again, talked about how much pain he endured, and how he knows he is back. Next to him, Eddie Perez, one of the game's premier defensive catchers and one of the essential souls of this team, chirped about his recovery from shoulder and knee surgeries.

Four lockers down, ex-Padre Quilvio Veras talked about how much his trade to the Braves revitalized his career. Nearby, Merv Rettenmund, his hitting mentor who also came over from San Diego, said: "Quilvio still hasn't had his best year. He's had some injuries. When he's healthy, he's one of those rare leadoff hitters like a Rickey Henderson who can carry a team."

In the hallway, Braves GM John Schuerholz mentioned that with Veras and Reggie Sanders the Braves have more speed and can generate more offense in front of Chipper Jones than they've had in years. "Give us the trade and give us Cat and Javy back," said Greg Maddux, "and it's like getting four new players."

Around the corner Kerry Ligtenberg talked about getting the opportunity to win back his closer role. Bobby Cox talked about a bullpen-by-committee with Ligtenberg, Mike Remlinger, Kevin McGlinchy, Terry Mulholland, Rudy Seanez and maybe a surprise.

Schuerholz fingered the surprise as Luis Rivera, who fanned 81 in 67 innings in Class A ball. "He had an unbelievable winter in Mexico," said assistant GM Frank Wren. "He was striking out 13, 15, 17, and throwing 97, 98."

Schuerholz then reminded everyone that Cox "has been expected to win every year for the last decade, yet has never been afraid to go with kids. Look what he did with McGlinchy last year."

The Braves think they're good. Better yet, they know they're good.

And other than Galarraga's return, every question is about John Rocker, the man who isn't here. The Braves opened spring training as if he were a part of their past.

Oh, Schuerholz said the right things about Rocker coming back, then hedged on his attempts to trade him. Cox ducked questions about his welcome-to-2000 speech before the Braves took the field, but players privately said that, essentially, Cox reiterated what players all say privately: that they all know Rocker is what he is, and in the eyes of the majority of players and foundation of this team, that isn't good.

It's not about Rocker's WWF-style rant about New York. This team is about respect. There are the guys like Maddux, Perez, Lopez, Brian Jordan, John Smoltz and Walt Weiss who view Rocker as self-centered, disrepectful, loud and attention-seeking. They resent that he pointed fingers at teammates like Randall Simon and Ozzie Guillen when he blew saves -- not only for what that does to a team, but what it means in terms of his ability to be a long-term closer (the greats like Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage and Mariano Rivera could and can shrug off adversity). They talk about how he trashed Bobby Cox, and how Cox could lash back at Rocker -- but never would.

Rocker met in Atlanta with Tom Glavine, one of the acknowledged team leaders, but it went nowhere. Not one, not three, but 14 players Thursday and Friday said the same thing: "He isn't going to change." Half of those predicted that if Rocker's appeal is shortened and he is allowed to go to spring training this week, that either he'll never get to training camp, or the stay will be short.

It's probably best for Rocker to go someplace else like Cleveland or Seattle and start over. Maybe he will come back and the Braves will see what happens, but it is clear that this is not going to be a long-term relationship. "Even if that Sports Illustrsted story never came out," said one veteran, "John wouldn't have lasted here."

"It's really not a story that we're starting the season without our closer," says Maddux. "We haven't started one spring training with a set closer. We almost did last year with Ligtenberg, and he got hurt and we got to the World Series."

The message: We'll see what we've got, and if this doesn't work, our starters are so good that we can go get a Bob Wickman from the Brewers or a Bobby Howry from the bullpen-deep White Sox, or a Ugueth Urbina from Montreal or a Todd Jones from Detroit. That's the way the Braves think.

"We're not thinking the way you guys think," says Perez.

News and notes