I'm also interested in seeing which mediocre pitcher(s) bust out under Mazzone's guidance -- Maine? Parrish? Rakers? Dubose (is he even still around)? Eddy Rodriguez? Stephens?

This is an amazing signing. It makes sticking with Perlozzo make some sense -- if he gets along with the front office well enough to run interference, Leo can just do his thing without worrying about the dysfunction in the rest of the organization.

• Throw at least twice on the mound between starts instead of the usual once. In spring training and in general, throw a lot but easily. "I had a great teacher: Johnny Sain. His motto was, 'You throw more often with less exertion.' ... What you have to do is regulate effort. You're trying to acquire command and touch. ... Your arm injuries occur from overexertion and overthrowing."
• Command the down-and-away strike with your fastball and change speeds. Velocity is overrated. "I think they should throw radar guns out the window. ... It isn't how hard you throw. It's what you selected and where did it end up."
• Pitch counts are overrated. "I wish they wouldn't put pitch counts on the scoreboard because they might convince some pitcher that they are getting tired."
• Running is overrated. "You go to these other camps, and they're running these pitchers up and down these mountains and over these hills with parachutes and around these cones. Know what good that does you? Nothing, if you can't put a fastball where you want it."