The last time we noticed Ben Grieve, he was getting publicly chewed out by Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella. The next time we see Grieve, he will be starting in rightfield for the Brewers.
Grieve earned the job by hitting .310 in his first 15 spring games and the Brewers think he still can be a productive player, especially now that he is out of earshot of Piniella.
"Sometimes you get in a situation where you've got to be perfect, and if you don't produce right off the bat, you start getting yelled and screamed at," Brewers manager Ned Yost told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "As a player, you try to up your game to meet those demands. You get to a point where you're trying to play not to make mistakes. I think he's in an atmosphere over here that's a bit more relaxed. I look at Ben's natural ability and right off the bat, the first two days, you could see he has a chance to hit, and hit with some power. Miller Park should be perfect for him.
"Now it's just a matter of getting him to relax to the point that his natural ability flows again, where he's not walking that thin line where he's afraid to make a mistake in everything he does, for fear that he's going to get yelled and screamed at."
Grieve is comfortable in more ways than one. He appears fully recovered from surgery to remove a rib to relieve a blood clot in his arm.
"The main thing is I'm healthy," Grieve said. "I haven't torn the cover off the ball but I'm making good contact. My timing feels good for as early as it is. I'm pleased with where I'm at."
EASY DOES IT: Released in June by the Rays, infielder Damion Easley appeared headed for retirement. No one picked him up until he signed a minor-league deal with the Marlins in December. But he looks as if he has earned a spot on the 25-man roster of the defending champions. It's hard, though, to blame the Rays for letting Easley go. After being one of the top second basemen in baseball with the Tigers in the late 1990s, Easley did little with the Rays, batting .187 with one homer and seven RBIs in 35 games.
"Physically, I feel like I'm the same player (I was years ago)," Easley said. "Last year was a complete wakeup call. ... I ate the whole humble pie. I didn't get (just) a piece of it."
PEACE OF MIND: After being assured of a starting job with the Angels, former Rays outfielder Jose Guillen is on a tear. Going into the weekend, Guillen was batting .438 with a team-high six homers and 15 RBIs despite missing five games with a rib muscle injury.
"Hopefully this is the beginning of my new career and things will work out the right way," Guillen, 27, said. "This is where I've been the most happy in spring. It's a great group of guys, I'm really having fun, and I'm really looking forward to the season."
HELLO, OLD FRIEND: This is strange: the Reds and Yankees, two teams that essentially got rid of Aaron Boone, could end up fighting for him even though Boone is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
The Reds, who traded Boone to the Yankees last season, asked to see his medical charts, while the Yankees are thinking about signing him to a minor-league contract. The Yankees' plan is to let him come back next season as a second baseman.
IN THE RED: The Dodgers, desperate for another bat or two in their meek lineup, are interested in Cincinnati's Adam Dunn. The Reds, meantime, are interested in getting some pitching, something the Dodgers have.
"Oh, well, whatever happens," Dunn told the Dayton Daily News. "I'd hate to leave here because I love the guys here and think we'll have a good team. But they traded all those guys last year and it's part of the game."
It's believed the Reds will trade anyone other than 24-year-old outfielder Austin Kearns.
The Dodgers also might have interest in getting Ken Griffey. There are rumors the Mariners would like to reacquire their former centerfielder.
SHORT HOPS: Former Rays pitcher Nick Bierbrodt was let go by the Red Sox but landed with the Rangers' minor-league camp on a tryout basis. Rangers manager Buck Showalter was with Arizona when the Diamondbacks made Bierbrodt a first-round pick in 1996. ... Boy, that Curt Schilling trade is working out for the D-backs. Brandon Lyon, one of the four players the D-backs acquired from Boston, will have nerve transposition surgery in his right elbow this week and be gone through the All-Star Game. And Casey Fossum, another player in the deal, has yet to pitch this spring because of arm problems. ... Weird stat from last season: No team attempted fewer steals than the A's (62). But no team had a better success rate (77.4 percent). ... Dan Evans, recently replaced as GM with the Dodgers, may land in Seattle.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.
