Several years ago a reporter friend of mine compared covering the NBA to chronicling a soap opera. What was important were the feuds, the back-stabbing, lobbying, legal troubles and crazy behavior of the players.

I remember smugly (and somewhat naively) thinking that was why I like baseball more the basketball, because despite the sports’ warts, the games on the field still held sway over the games off it.

Was I ever wrong.

Baseball, if it ever was like I imagined, has officially become a tabloid sport. The New York Yankees were always good for bad behavior and the headlines that accompanied it. Because of their location, history, owner and wealth they seemed to operate in a galaxy far, far away from the rest of the teams.

Now the entire sport inhabits that alien planet. Consider:

• Forget the Kobe-Shaq rivalry. That’s as yesterday as pagers. The new sports rivalry is between the Yankees’ Derek Jeter vs. Alex Rodriguez.
Media outlets were falling over their laptops this week to report A-Rod revealing his relationship with Jeter has cooled and then Jeter’s reply to A-Rod’s non-news story.

Details emerged that the two don’t dine out or sleep over at each other’s house as much as they used to. I guess that means they don’t have matching footy pajamas anymore.

I can’t wait to learn more. On second thought, I don’t want to know any more.

• Of course there’s Barry Bonds, the perfect tabloid story.
The San Francisco Giants outfielder is perched to break baseball’s most hallowed record for all-time home runs and a lesser known mark for most antagonistic press conferences.

Besides that, Bonds is entangled in the BALCO-steroids mess and a potential indictment for lying to the grand jury. He is also responsible for the U.S.’s invasion in Iraq, back acne and the bird flu.

I just made that last part up; but you get the point. A Bonds story is just as likely to wind up on the front of sports as news.

Bonds smashes demographics like so many hanging breaking pitches. He’s a cross between ESPN, CNN and The National Enquier. The only way he could be more overexposed is if it comes out that he is the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby and is dating Paris Hilton.

• Two words: Roger Clemens.

You used to be able to associate that name with one of the greatest right-handed pitchers of all-time. Now he’s known as the guy who can’t make up his mind about retiring.

Will Clemens play this season? Will he go back to the Yankees or his original team, the Boston Red Sox? Or will he stay close to home and play for the Houston Astros like has the last three seasons? When will he decide?

There has not been this much speculation involving Texas since the nation wondered who shot J.R. from the heyday of “Dallas.”

Enough. I’m not mentioning Clemens’ name again until he actually announces what he’s going to do. If you aren’t saying, then in my book, you’re not playing.

• The whole fascination with Japan League-ace-turned-Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

I get it that Matsuzaka’s moving to the majors is akin to an American soccer player starring for Manchester United. But we’ve seen this story before with Hideo Nomo, Ichiro and a whole host of others who wound not being worth a mention in the small type let alone headlines.

Seriously, does Matsuzaka really warrant the type of scrutiny that he’s getting?

And just curious: If the Japanese media are this intent on covering sports stories, what happens when real news breaks? Would there be anyone left in Japan to cover it given the number of reporters and camera people who are counting how many pitches Matsuzaka threw from the stretch in his first bullpen session and how many times Ichiro swung during batting practice?

• In the Northwest we have our own little saga involving Ichiro and his contract, which expires at the end of the season.

You gotta love how Ichiro showed up at camp this week and gave a bunch of comments straight from page 1 of the how to handle a contract negotiation playbook.

More interesting than his words was Ichiro’s pulled down ski hat and pink T-shirt over a long-sleeved black shirt. He looked like a skinny bank robber with bad fashion sense.

Dressed as he was, he didn’t look like he could hold up a baseball bat let alone a franchise.

Before this is all over, Ichiro will have to spout a few more clichés. And, who knows what he’ll wear next.

I saw this about former Mariners coach and Rainiers manager Dan Rohn, courtesy of the Traverse City Record Eagle:

BY JEFF PEEK

TRAVERSE CITY — When the Seattle Mariners struggled through a long losing streak last August, Dan Rohn became the people's choice to replace Mike Hargrove as the team's manager.

That support may have gotten him fired.

Traverse City's Rohn leaves for spring training in Arizona on Monday to begin his first season as skipper of the San Francisco Giants' AAA minor league baseball club in Fresno, Calif.

It isn't exactly the scenario he had planned, but Rohn is excited to be managing again after spending most of last season as the Mariners' administrative coach.

"It worked out OK,” said Rohn, 51. "Things change. On the plus side, I was coaching in the big leagues (last summer). But on the minus side, I spent half my time in the computer room scouting other teams.

"There was a lot more paperwork involved than I expected — or wanted.”

There also appeared to be some behind-the-scenes politics going on.

Rohn spent 10 seasons in the Seattle organization and joined the team's major league staff for the first time in 2006. His promotion kept Mariners fans busy on Internet blogs speculating that he was being groomed as the team's next manager. When Seattle went into a tailspin last August, the talk heated up.

Rohn, who interviewed with the Detroit Tigers before Alan Trammell was hired as the team's manager in 2003, said reporters began asking if he was about to replace Hargrove.

"I told them I didn't know anything about it, that no one had said anything to me,” Rohn said.

Someone eventually said something to Rohn, but it wasn't what he expected to hear.

Following a 10-0 loss to Toronto on Sept. 13, general manager Bill Bavasi announced that Rohn and bench coach Ron Hassey had been fired.

"(Hargrove) told me he was eliminating the position,” Rohn said. "He said he didn't like the negative publicity.”

Fans suspected there was more to it, blogging that Hargrove had simply eliminated his competition. One fan wrote that Hargrove was "afraid that Dan was after his job, so he stabbed him in the back.”

The Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune reported on Sept. 15 that Hargrove and Rohn's personalities "clashed” and that Rohn "disagreed with Hargrove's managing and, worse, talked to other coaches and players about it. When that got back to Hargrove, Rohn's departure was a matter of time.”

Hargrove is still the team's skipper.

And while Rohn wasn't happy about being dismissed, it didn't take him long to find another baseball job.

The Giants came calling within hours.

"I was fired at about 4 o'clock, and I was already talking to them on my way to the airport at 6:30,” Rohn said. "I flew home to Traverse City and by the next afternoon there was a contract on the table.”

Rohn, who played 54 MLB games for the Chicago Cubs (1983-84) and Cleveland Indians (1986), has already given the Giants reason to feel good about their decision to bring him aboard.

Rohn, who coached in the Minnesota Twins organization for 10 years before joining Seattle, led Indios de Mayaguez into the Puerto Rico Winter League championship series this winter. That earned him manager of the year honors.

Rohn said he won't have trouble feeling comfortable in his new position because "I know a lot of the guys from managing against them in the PCL (Pacific Coast League).”

He was named PCL manager of the year three times while with the Mariners' AAA Tacoma club.

On Monday, Rohn will head back to the Phoenix area for spring training for the 11th consecutive year. The Seattle and San Francisco camps are only 32 miles apart.

"I'm just going to the other side of town,” Rohn said. "I'm ready. It's a little warmer there than it is here.”

Spring training begins this week for the Mariners and most teams. As part of The News Tribune's preview, I wrote a column for Sunday's paper and capsules for all the teams. Here's the column – no sense waiting – and I'll post the capsules, too.

With the first baseball teams beginning spring training on Thursday fans can focus on pitchers and catchers instead of pitchers and money.

It was the kind of winter when Miguel Batista (lifetime record of 68-79 with a 4.46 ERA) was worth $24 million, Gil Meche (55-44, 4.65) $55 million and Barry Zito (102-63, 3.55) $126 million.

It was an offseason – for fiscal sanity. Owners threw cash at pitchers like it had Monopoly stamped on it.

In this bizarro market Adam Eaton received $24 million, Jeremy Bonderman got $38 million and Justin Speier – he’s a reliever by the way – signed with the Angels for $18 million. Get this – Speier’s not even a closer.

The owners spent money like they were oil company executives. In a way, they are. Baseball, as a business, is as healthy as Exxon.

In 2006, 24 of the 30 teams drew more than 2 million in attendance. Owners and players even came together in December and signed a new labor deal, which means you didn’t get bombarded with stories mentioning Donald Fehr all winter long.

But enough about those things. Let’s concentrate on some early story lines:

=> Read more!

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (Last year's record, finish: 83-78, first)

Pitchers/all report: Thursday/Feb. 20.

Key additions: 2B Adam Kennedy, P Ryan Franklin, P Kip Wells, P Russ Springer.

Key losses: P Jeff Suppan, P Jeff Weaver, P Jason Marquis, 2B Ronnie Belliard.

Player to watch: P Jason Isringhausen. Hip surgery knocked him out of the playoffs last year and he’s trying to come back this spring. If he can’t close, the Cardinals will have to mix-and-match in the bullpen.

Reasons to hope: As long as they have Albert Pujols, they’ve got a solid lineup. … If they can win it all last year, why not this year?

Reasons to mope: Lost three starters and did not really replace them. … P Mark Mulder is out until June. … Lightning rarely strikes twice in the same spot.

=> Read more!

NEW YORK METS (Last year's record, finish: 97-65, first)

Pitchers/all report: Saturday/Feb. 21

Key additions: OF Moises Alou, UTIL David Newhan, UTIL Damion Easley, P Ambiorix Burgos, P Scott Schoeneweis, P Jorge Sosa.

Key losses: LF Cliff Floyd, P Brian Bannister, P Chad Bradford, P Darren Oliver, P Roberto Hernandez, P Heath Bell.

Player to watch: P John Maine. The rookie looked good in the postseason (2.63 ERA) and must be ready to be a reliable No. 3 behind old pros Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez.

Reasons to hope: Everyday lineup is strong. … Bullpen was made over, but should still be a strength.

Reasons to mope: Rotation is old in spots, young in spots and untested at the backend. … NL East is stronger, and Mets won’t likely run away with title this season.

=> Read more!

SAN DIEGO PADRES (Last year's record, finish: 88-74, first)

Pitchers/all report: Friday/Feb. 22

Key additions: Manager Bud Black, 2B Marcus Giles, P Greg Maddux, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, P Heath Bell, P Mike Adams.

Key losses: Manager Bruce Bochy, C Mike Piazza, 2B Josh Barfield, OF Dave Roberts, P Woody Williams, P Alan Embree, 1B-OF Ryan Klesko, INF Mark Bellhorn.

Player to watch: Kouzmanoff. The Padres seemingly use four 3B each season but hope Kouzmanoff, whom they got in a trade with the Indians for Barfield, nails down the job for years to come.

Reasons to hope: The rotation is deep and strong and closer Trevor Hoffman is still at the top of his game.

Reasons to mope: That rotation features 43-year-old David Wells and 40-year-old Maddux. … Counting too heavily on Kouzmanoff, OF Terrmel Sledge and C Josh Bard to replace the offense of Roberts, Barfield and Piazza.

=> Read more!

MINNESOTA TWINS (Last year's record, finish: 96-66, first)

Pitchers/all report: Feb. 19/Feb. 24

Key additions: INF Jeff Cirillo, P Sidney Ponson, P Ramon Ortiz.

Key losses: P Brade Radke, P Willie Eyre.

Player to watch: P Matt Garza. He made it to the majors last season all the way from Single-A. With openings in the rotation, the hard-throwing 23-year-old could be there to stay.

Reasons to hope: Johan Santana remains the best pitcher in the game. … The Twins boast a solid core of young players in C Joe Mauer, 1B Justin Morneau and RF Michael Cuddyer.

Reason to mope: Besides losing Radke to retirement, the Twins are without rookie sensation Francisco Liriano for the season after he underwent elbow surgery in November. That’s a lot of pitching to have to make up.

=> Read more!

NEW YORK YANKEES (Last year's record, finish: 97-65, first)

Pitchers/all report: Thursday/Feb. 20

Key additions: P Kei Igawa, P Andy Pettitte, 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, P Luis Vizcaino.

Key losses: P Randy Johnson, OF-1B Gary Sheffield, P Cory Lidle, P Jaret Wright.

Player to watch: 3B Alex Rodriguez. A lot was made of A-Rod’s “down” year (.290, 35 HR, 121 RBI) and his 1-for-14 showing in the playoffs. How will fans treat him in 2007?

Reasons to hope: The rotation, badly needing to be reworked, added Pettitte from Houston and Igawa from Japan. … The Yankees still have more offense than anybody, and should threaten to score at least 900 runs.

Reasons to mope: If Pettitte continues to be plagued by elbow problems, Igawa struggles and Carl Pavano – remember him? – can’t get healthy the rotation might be worse off. … Rogers Clemens decides to sign with Boston instead of returning to New York or Houston.

=> Read more!

SEATTLE MARINERS (Last year's record, finish: 78-84, fourth)

Pitchers/all report: Thursday/Feb. 20.

Key additions: P Jeff Weaver, P Miguel Batista, P Horacio Ramirez, P Chris Reitsma, RF Jose Guillen, 2B-DH Jose Vidro, P Arthur Rhodes.

Key losses: P Gil Meche, P Joel Pineiro, P Rafael Soriano, OF Chris Snelling.

Player to watch: P Felix Hernandez. He was supposed to be the second coming of Dwight Gooden but he was overweight in camp last year and got off to a slow start. He’s in better shape now and must improve on his 12-14, 4.52 ERA from 2006.

Reasons to hope: The rotation, with three new starters, has to be better than last year. … Lineup gets an upgrade with addition Vidro and Guillen.

Reasons to mope: Players coming off injuries – Guillen, Vidro, Reitsma and Ramirez – might spend more time in the training room than the field. … The rotation’s different, but is anyone that excited about the three new starters?

=> Read more!

The question was posed about Ichiro's contract status. I'll try to shed some light on the matter.

Ichiro can be a free agent at the end of the season. The Mariners – and this is GM Bill Bavasi and president Chuck Armstrong we're talking about – have said they want him to return. Ichiro's thoughts on the matter are less clear.

Ichiro's agent said recently he's prepared to listen to the Mariners' offer at an extension. He also down-played reports from Japan that Ichiro is prepared to move on at the end of the season.

Ichiro's true feelings about his future are a more closely guarded secret than the crown jewels. He has said he wants to win and his agreement to move to center field seems to indicate that he's serious about trying to give the Mariners the best chance to do that. (As a note, the move could be short-lived if Adam Jones develops and Jose Guillen flops. Stay tuned.)

Bavasi said at the team's kickoff luncheon that he wants to get something done but wouldn't say when or if it was a pressing priority. He's notoriously tight-lipped about deals and trades. When it comes to Ichiro, who has a different status than others because he's from Japan and he's an owner favorite, expect "news" about negotiations to be even harder to determine.

If something is going to get done I would think it would get done before the end of the season, probably even sooner. Ichiro's still a fantastic hitter and he takes incredible care of himself, so there's not much risk involved in signing him.

The wild card in all of this is Ichiro. Does he want to stick around Seattle if the Mariners are competitive? It would be hard to blame he if he didn't. But if he does want to stay, expect the Mariners to pay him what it takes to keep him.

FYI: Ichiro's last extension was a four-year, $44-million dollar deal signed in 2003.

With the Mariners' pitchers and catchers scheduled to report in about a week interest is beginning to build in baseball. With that, comes the inevitable question asked by many fans: What are the Mariners going to be like this season?

It's a question with no good, short answer. Before we start speculating, let's try and break down what we know.

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In a trade of minor leaguers, the Seattle Mariners acquired outfielder Jeff Frazier from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for right-handed pitcher Yorman Bazardo.

Bazardo had been designated for assignment on Jan. 30 when the Mariners added pitcher Jeff Weaver to the 40-man roster.

Frazier, 24, has spent the past three seasons in the Tigers’ minor league system. In 2006 at Class A Lakeland, he hit .228 with 13 homers and 73 RBI. He's a career .261 hitter.

In 2004 Frazier was rated the best outfield arm in the Tigers' system by Baseball America. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-handed hitter was the Tigers third-round selection in the 2004 June draft out of Rutgers. He left Rutgers as the school’s all-time home run leader with 34.

Bazardo was 6-5, 3.64 in 25 starts with Double-A San Antonio last season.

Jim Parque always felt like a major leaguer, even when his left arm didn’t.

Injuries derailed his once promising career but now the Puyallup resident and owner of a baseball training facility is going to give it another go. Parque agreed to a one-year, minor-league contract with the Seattle Mariners on Friday.

“My arm came back,” said Parque, who turns 31 on Thursday. “I don’t know why but obviously time had a big part to do with it. Coming off surgery I don’t feel like I had an opportunity to heal properly and I rushed back too soon.”

Parque went 31-34 with a 5.42 ERA in six seasons with Chicago White Sox (1998-2002) and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003). He had surgery to repair a torn labrum on May 15, 2001 but said he was never right after the procedure.

“Even on the good days it was a dull throb,” Parque said.
The end – or so Parque thought – came in 2004 when he retired from Triple-A Tucson after going 3-2 with a 6.30 ERA. He returned to his Puyallup home and focused on running his baseball facility.

He said a hitter in one of his camps made a crack about Parque being a “has-been” last summer during a workout so he stepped on the mound and began firing fastballs in the low 80s. More importantly, his arm didn’t hurt like it once did.

He dedicated himself to a winter of working out and trying to regain his arm strength. In December Parque scheduled a workout in Southern California as several teams – the Anaheim Angels, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies and Oakland A’s – were interested in what he could do.

The scouts were impressed. “The consenus was I would be stupid not to give it another try,” he said.

Parque, who was a “sandwich” pick between the first two rounds in 1997 and a member of Team USA in the 1996 Olympics, knows he’ll never throw 92 mph again like he did in his All-American days at UCLA. But he’s consistently hitting 85-88 mph and he said his curve is back, too.

“That’s pretty good for January,” he said. “I am real confident that I can get back to my pre-surgery form.”

If added to the major-league roster Parque would get $450,000 and the chance to earn more in performance bonuses.