On the other hand, Gaston added a caveat saying, "If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out." Or as general manager J.P. Ricciardi said: "If we get to the point where we need to make adjustments, we'll make adjustments."

That Gaston should not follow through on his move reflects very much his sensibilities as a long-time Baseball man: His bullpen was very good last year. Why tinker with it right now? Why not keep everybody's responsibilities intact?

Spring training was longer than usual this year because of the World Baseball Classic and Ryan said he should have spent "more time earlier on the mound instead of getting into games." You learn, he said with a shrug.

"His fastball's been back up to 87 [miles an hour]," Gaston said. "Hopefully, he'll be able to get it up to 89 when the bell rings."

Here's hoping it's not a gong show. The Blue Jays have Ryan under contract for two more years at $10-million (U.S.) a season.

GARBAGE TIME

Sorry, but it looked suspiciously like wheat from chaff stuff at BMO Field on Saturday. Until evidence presents itself, I'm going to continue to suspect Pablo Vitti brings all the negatives you find in a third-tier South American player. And TFC needs to do better at centre-half. I want somebody with a bit of command. But know this: The Sounders are a welcomed addition to Major League Soccer and so is Freddie Ljungberg, who scored the Sounders' first goal and provided what few minutes of quality there was on the pitch. "I thought the atmosphere was great," said Ljungberg, the Swedish international who has played at Arsenal and who said he didn't mind the odd beer shower. "When I came off the pitch, some of them [fans] were yelling 'You're better than Beckham! Stay!' They were not - how do you say? - arseholes there." ... Our Lorne Rubenstein reports that the executive director and chief executive officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada thinks private courses should qualify for Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RINC) programs - just like ice rinks. I mean, why not? Taxpayers are already bailing out the businesses run by these swells. Why shouldn't we bail out their recreation! What's next - a tax credit for high-priced escorts? Here's an idea for Jeff Calderwood and his free enterprise buddies: double your fees. Let the free-market take care of it - 'cause, you know, the free market's always right. ... Speaking of free enterprise, looks like the Baseball commissioner's office knows what it's talking about when it says it's worried about possibly half a dozen teams being on the block by the end of the summer. However, if anybody wants to paint Tom Hicks's financial difficulties, this much is clear: He needs not only to divest himself of his share in Liverpool FC, he also needs another partner for the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars. Other teams whose financial situation bears monitoring: the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants and Blue Jays.

***

MONDAY 2 MONDAY

Ron Wilson was on solid ground tearing a strip off his team following their 6-2 rollover to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night - and good on him for essentially saying he'd rather have the effort of the likes of the recently demoted Ben Ondrus to the non-appearances put in by Niklas Hagman and Tomas Kaberle.

Wilson, the Maple Leafs head coach, said last Tuesday he had some of the veterans with playoff experience - like Brad May - talk to the team about what the playoffs were like. Then he said he wanted the team to treat its next three games like a mini-playoff. The result was a well-earned 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers followed by an 8-5 thumping by the same Flyers and then Saturday's embarrassment.

Uh, cancel the parade.

Look, let's be honest: It has to be tough to be anybody on this team not named Luke Schenn, Mikhail Grabovski or Christian Hanson, or one of the favoured minor-leaguers, because the coach and general manager have made it pretty clear they have a team full of guys nobody much wants around much longer. It's possible these guys really do believe that they, you know, suck - and for the majority of the Maple Leafs, this season can't end soon enough.

But Saturday was unconscionable. Tomas Plekanec clipped goaltender Martin Gerber twice on one of the Habs goals without retribution. I'm not talking about fighting - although it's interesting to note none of the brawny types bothered going after Plekanec for the rest of the game - but it would have been nice if somebody stood up to Plekanec.

"Been a tough two games," Gerber said later. "Lot of open ice."

Not surprisingly, it was Grabovski, who seems to want to be a Maple Leaf, who made the night's biggest physical statement, drilling Andre Markov into the boards late in the game. He was given a boarding penalty and misconduct - "I stayed on his shoulder," Grabovski said, correctly analyzing a ludicrous penalty - and Wilson later said: "He [Grabovski] can play for me any day. I wish we had more like him.

"He was about the only courageous guy we had out there."

Interesting: When the Leafs landed Grabovski in a trade with the Habs, the local sultans of sotto voce hockey analysis wondered what the "real" back story was, because the Canadiens - they said - don't usually make mistakes with Europeans. That was before so many Canadiens started popping up on the Internet in less than savoury company. Now, Grabovski is one of maybe three guys who appear to give a damn. On a team that is strikingly bland, he's an exception. A wild card. I don't know if he'll be the type of agitator that teammates back up, but my god he gives you your money's worth on the ice.