In today's New York Times, Tyler Kepner has a short write-up on Adam Everett for the paper's American League preview.  Former teammates still rave about how good Everett is defensively.

“It’s just amazing how quick he is,” said Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, who played with Everett for three seasons in Houston. “He positions himself well. He covers both ways. He goes in the hole and he goes up the middle as good as anyone in the league. He’s really impressive.”

Kepner also cites data from John Dewan that ranked Everett the best defensive shortstop in baseball from 2002 to 2006.  The expectation, as we know all too well, is that Everett's defense should have a much more positive effect on the 2009 Tigers than Edgar Renteria's bat had for Detroit last season. 

●  The NYT's AL Preview also thinks very highly of the Kansas City Royals, picking them to win the AL Central and Zack Greinke to win the AL Cy Young Award. 

●  And Gary Sheffield says playing for the New York Mets fulfills a dream for him.