MAILBAG: Feb. 18

	Bud Selig

Q: It seems apparent to most people that Bud Selig may not be the most appropriate person to be the commissioner, especially after his debacle with the whole contraction issue. What do you think about former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani taking over for Bud? -- Mark, Columbus, Ohio
PWG -- The notion of the conflict of an owner being the commissioner dogs Selig. I refuse to believe, as the union intimates, that everything he does revolves around his Brewers. But there is a public perception that he is a walking conflict, and perception to a public official is a problem. If there is another labor stoppage, he will have a hard time surviving -- that is, unless the owners are bent on driving the game into the ground. That said, with all due respect to Guiliani, he would have a hard time working with the baseball owners. His ego is too great.

Q: What are the chances of a team like the Minnesota Twins, with no superstars and left for dead as a franchise, pulling off a Patriots-like season? How great would that be for baseball? -- Mark Matzell, Wiscasset, Maine
PWG -- It's possible, because they may have the starting pitching to steal the AL Central and win games in October. They need Cristian Guzman's shoulder to be healthy and the Rick Reed agent problem to be resolved. They also need to find a closer and to get 20-30 homers out of left and right fields. But how great would that be? Now that we know that the contraction thing was planned all along, what do you think was going through the minds of Selig and Twins owner Carl Pohlad when they were in first place, before Guzman got hurt and they went 7-25? By the way, your hometown of Wiscasset is a wonderful place.

Q: I heard a rumor that Ivan Rodriguez wants to be traded. Any truth to this? I heard the Boston Red Sox are interested. Is it possible for the Sox to get him, and who do they have to give up? -- Tom McCaffery, Livingston, N.J.
PWG -- Unless the Rangers get off to a bad start, he will play the season in Texas and play the market come fall. Boston doesn't have the pitching, unless they could do a Jason Varitek/Derek Lowe/Ugueth Urbina deal, and that makes no sense to them.

Q: With Sammy Sosa, Fred McGriff and Moises Alou batting in the 3-4-5 spots, what will prevent the Cubs from winning their division? -- Jeff Greenslade, Flagstaff, Ariz.
PWG -- The Cardinals and Astros and maybe even the Reds will have something to say about it. Kerry Wood has to be healthy, and the Cubs may need Corey Patterson to step up and Todd Hundley to come back (both of which are entirely possible).

Q: Do you see the San Francisco Giants trying to acquire Orlando Hernandez? Also, do you think that J.T. Snow could be a name in a trade sometime this year? -- Sean Ray, Antioch, Calif.
PWG -- I heard that the Giants had a deal for El Duque involving two prospects, but George Steinbrenner put it on hold; it could still happen. The Snow thing is possible, but as good a player as he is, the market for first basemen is thin.

Q: Do you see the Atlanta Braves starting the season with no proven first baseman? What about Wilson Betemit and a pitcher for Mike Sweeney? Or Damian Moss and others for Sean Casey? -- Tyler Smith, Fitzgerald, Ga.
PWG -- The Braves claim they need to get at-bats for Wes Helms to see what happens. If he does not produce, I could see a midseason deal, but there are problems with your suggestions, as creative as they are. First, Kansas City already has a good young shortstop named Angel Berroa, and the Reds would need Jason Marquis in a Casey deal, and I'm not so sure the Braves won't have to trade for another starter. We shall see on Albie Lopez.

	Soriano

Q: If Nick Johnson and Drew Henson become the everyday first and third basemen for the New York Yankees in the next two or three years (with Jason Giambi as full-time DH) , what is the potential for the infield of Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter and Henson. Can they be one of the best ever? -- Josh, Queens, New York
PWG -- Until they prove it on the major-league level, it's difficult to speculate. But Henson can be a special star, Johnson a tremendous Sean Casey-type player, Soriano can be a star if he walks 50 to 60 times and Jeter, healthy, already is a great player. I may be wrong, but I think Henson is a 40-homer third baseman, a la Troy Glaus.

Q: Will Felipe Alou ever resurface in major-league baseball as a manager? -- Mike Gauthier, Prince Edward Island, Canada
PWG -- It certainly could happen if he wants, but I'm not certain he wants to go back at this point. It would have to be a perfect scenario, and if Dan Duquette is out -- and I'm told that may happen after they pass papers Feb. 27-28 -- then I doubt the new Boston folks would push for him. If a change were made in a Pittsburgh, Toronto, Kansas City, Milwaukee or some place like that, they'd want young faces.

Q: Do you think the Pittsburgh Pirates have any chance of being a wild-card team? If not, where do they have to improve? -- Greg Fike, Uniontown, Pa.
PWG -- The chances are slim, because of inexperienced starting pitching, offensive holes at first, second, short and right and some brutal contracts that constrict them from making trades.

Q: Where were the baseball people (John Hart, etc.) when Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks gave ex-Clemson outfielder Patrick Boyd a $600,000 contract? -- Kevin Youngblood, Ballwin, Mo.
PWG -- Hey, if Tom Hicks wants to give Scott Boras whatever he says he should get, tip your hat to Scott, because he is brilliant at spinning Hicks into a web. What would Boyd have gotten if he'd played well?

Q: With contraction taking place eventually, will baseball undergo any major realignment? -- Bo Reed, Huntsville, Texas
PWG -- Radical realignment, which would have left the entire West Coast to the National League, was the owners' last brilliant idea. I think there will have to be some realignment, but the question is, if the arbitrator upholds the owners at the end of this month, they will actually contract or threaten it to get concessions from the union in whatever negotiations they plan (if the owners took the money they pay in billing hours to their lawyers and gave it to the small-market teams, they wouldn't have to ask for a 50 percent luxury tax).

	Griffey

Q: What are the Cincinnati Reds going to do with their surplus of young outfielders? Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn are fixtures and Austin Kearns is on the way, but what about Ruben Mateo? Is it possible that they would move Dunn or Kearns to first and trade Sean Casey for Sidney Ponson? -- Jeremy Tayson, California
PWG -- My guess is that if Casey is dealt, it will be to Philadelphia in a Scott Rolen deal. But the Reds will watch and see what happens with Kearns, Mateo and Juan Encarnacion, then Jim Bowden will start wheeling and dealing. Mateo deserves an opportunity to restart his career, because he has a lot of talent.

Q: Don't you think the Red Sox fans who cheered "Yankees suck" after the Patriots won the Super Bowl really displayed what losers look like? -- Dave Tyskowski, Alexandria, Va.
PWG -- It's a small group with vast inferiority complexes. But, no, I don't think they're intelligent enough to realize how degrading they appear.