rockymountainnews.com By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News February 25, 2003

TUCSON - Right-handed pitcher Jason Jennings is among the unsigned players in the Colorado Rockies' spring camp.

Not that Jennings is concerned.

"I have only one year of experience," he said. "I know my position."

Jennings was chosen the National League Rookie of the Year in 2002, the first Rockies pitcher to claim a significant award.

But he has compiled only one year, 39 days of big-league service, which means he has two more years to pitch before he will have the leverage of arbitration in contract negotiations.

"I had a decent year (in 2002), but I'm not going to get ahead of myself and get big-headed," Jennings said. "I want to prove that I was not a one-time wonder. If you produce in this game, salary takes care of itself."

Jennings earned $206,000 as a rookie in 2002, $6,000 above the minimum. This season, all second-year players figure to get sizeable raises just because the minimum salary was increased to $300,000 as a result of the Basic Agreement that was finalized last summer.

Arizona second baseman Junior Spivey signed a two-year, $2.7 million deal this past weekend, but he was an All-Star last year and had played two-plus seasons, meaning he will be eligible for arbitration after this season.

Spivey's contract calls for a salary of $400,000 this season and $2.3 million in what would be his first year of arbitration eligibility.

MOVING: Brad Hawpe expects to get more playing time in the outfield this season.

He played in 22 games - six in left field - for Caracas this winter before returning to the United States because of a pulled rib-cage muscle and the growing unrest in Venezuela.

He figures to increase his outfield time in the minor leagues this season.

Hawpe is a left-handed-hitting first baseman. But with Todd Helton in the big leagues, Hawpe realizes it is wise to explore other options. He played a few games in the outfield at both Class A Asheville in 2001 and short-season Class A Portland in 2000.

"I am starting to get confident out there," said Hawpe, 23, an 11th-round pick from Louisiana State University in 2000. "I am looking forward to it. (Big-league coach) Davey Collins has helped me so much in just the week I've been (in spring training)."

Hawpe has shown signs he could make an impact with his offense. The most valuable player of the Class A Carolina League in 2002, he led the league with a .347 batting average, finishing second in the league with 97 RBI and third with 22 home runs at Salem. He also hit 22 home runs at Asheville in 2001.

ACED: The Rockies had some inside knowledge on the new pitching machine (ACE machine) they are using.

It was developed by Alan Cockrell, who has been in the organization as a player, coach or manager since 1994, and his father-in-law.

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle began endorsing the ACE last season. Hurdle said he likes the fact the machine can throw a 90-mph fastball, 75-mph curveball and 80-mph changeup, plus the pitches can be randomly mixed to better replicate at-bats.

"I've looked at so many pitching machines, and this one stands out," Hurdle said of the product developed by Cockrell, who will serve as hitting coach at Class AAA Colorado Springs this season. "It is able to create what pitchers try to do against hitters. It can mix up pitches, making hitters work on their timing."

TAKING THE FIFTH: Hurdle said the candidates for the fifth spot in the rotation - Shawn Chacon and Scott Elarton and dark horse Darren Oliver - will take regular turns this spring.

"We're not going to set a deadline for making a decision," Hurdle said. "I will make a decision based on what I see and what our pitching people see . . . It's always good to have good stats (in the spring), but at the same time, you can be misled this time of year. You have to look at who he's pitching against, what you see coming out of (the pitcher's hand), the kind of swings hitters are taking."

www.sun-sentinel.com By Chuck Culpepper Sports correspondent Posted February 25 2003

Tempe, Ariz. · The 21st birthday of a rich, handsome and famous athlete brings images of nightclubs, techno music, popping flashbulbs, a limo finding home in the wee hours, and perhaps even an embellished recap in a tabloid. No, wait: Try a shut-in night in a fifth-floor apartment talking with mother and uncle and siblings and occasional police sirens as music and the possibility of light stinging in the eyes from any tear gas that might waft in, as it sometimes does.Venezuelan relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez was an Anaheim surprise last baseball October, tearing above the Yankees and Twins and Giants with 28 strikeouts and five wins in 182/3 innings. The youngest pitcher to win a World Series game turned 21 on Jan. 7 and did, in his own words, "nothing." Then, "Nothing special." Then, "Like I said, nothing special." He craves no big birthday productions, but that isn't really the issue here. Even had he yearned to go out to show greater Caracas his stellar self, Caracas wasn't much in the mood. Caracas, in fact, instead mandated a 6 p.m. curfew for the wise. An anguishing offseason recap: Gunmen robbed Rodriguez's grandmother and uncle in a shop one day while Francisco waited outside, unaware. Protests raged not far from his family's place. Gasoline grew scarce; lines formed. The Venezuelan Winter League canceled because of safety concerns. Jogging in a public park felt dangerous, so Rodriguez bought an exercise bike and stayed in. Rather than beaming to followers on the street, Rodriguez had to stay wary. The president called for a meeting, and Rodriguez thought it prudent to decline so as to limit the visibility of himself and his well-known wallet. Freeways closed. The United States Embassy closed. The tear gas sometimes affected even those on the fifth floor. An oil workers' strike, a deeply controversial president and a decline in a living standard that started out rugged anyway can stoke such unrest. "Yeah, we had concern," said Bill Stoneman, the Angels' general manager, adding that reports on CNN and the like often ring scarier than seeing an entire city for yourself. "We saw the U.S. State Department put out a travel advisory about Venezuela and we were aware early on." The Angels struggled just getting through on the telephone to their cooped-up new star, finally resorting to communicating through Rodriguez's Southern California-based fiancee, who proved excellent at the task. They calibrated schedules with the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, finding the scant days when the embassy reopened so Rodriguez could secure his visa. Even that didn't pave the path, a halting trip to Phoenix that included one futile ride to the Caracas airport with Venezuelan police, who arrived too late because of freeway closings. Having arrived at spring training, Rodriguez talks to his family daily, hopes to bring them to the United States and says they're doing well. "Everything now is calmed down," he said. "About 80 percent calmed down." Rich in compelling biographies both quirky and moving, the Angels swept to a World Series title on expert hitting, Rally Monkeys, ThunderStix, and one stupefying 20-year-old relief pitcher with but 52/3 major league innings in his blood when the postseason began. After 16 straight training camps as a playoff non-qualifier, they're in camp as world champions, but friendly as ever, including Rodriguez, who has held onto his considerable humility. "Frankie knows he's a good pitcher," pitching coach Bud Black said, "but he's also aware of the pitfalls that come with overconfidence." Here, manager Mike Scioscia talks repeatedly of operating from "that bottom rung of the ladder, again," and of "climbing the mountain" again, but admits the mountain doesn't look so imposing. "I think you know the mountain's achievable now," he said. "You always know what your goal is, and you can believe you can, but sometimes until you do it, it can become like you're chasing a ghost." The ghost chased and caught the first time, the stable Angels who went 104-54 (counting postseason) after their 6-14 start will look markedly similar to 2002. They'll bring their relentless hitting engine, leading off with the plucky shortstop people thought too short (David Eckstein) and an outfielder whose North Dakota high school had no baseball team (Darin Erstad), and they'll hope for glory from young pitchers, including Game 7 World Series winner John Lackey and, in relief, one unusually wizened man of 21. Chuck Culpepper writes for Newsday, a Tribune Co. newspaper.

www.kansascity.com Posted on Tue, Feb. 25, 2003 By CHRIS LESTER Columnist

This may seem rather small and petty as the world dances on the knife's edge of war, but it's also true. For the vast majority of Americans, the single most tangible consequence of our ever more menacing geopolitical moves is higher energy prices.

War jitters stemming from our plans to invade Iraq, possessor of the world's second-largest pool of proven oil reserves, combined with the ongoing general strike in Venezuela, another major oil producer, has driven crude oil prices uncomfortably close to $40 per barrel.

We're paying for it at the pump. Collectively, Economy.com reckons that Americans are on track to spend $50 billion more on energy than they did last year because of spiking gasoline and home heating prices.

Such an increase in energy expenses at the margin of a weak economy effectively acts as a tax increase for consumers, shifting funds from spending or saving into a commodity that they would purchase in good times or bad. Higher energy prices also gnaw at the profit margins of many businesses, discouraging hiring and capital spending.

Bottom line: Higher energy prices threaten to extend the slow, grinding wallow of recession that is about to officially mark its second anniversary.

The link between energy prices and the broader economy remains remarkably strong, despite the fact that our economy is somewhat less reliant on energy as a percentage of economic activity than in the past. Each of the last four recessions has been preceded by an energy shock of some form, making spiking energy prices one of the most reliable predictors of recession.

The ongoing debate at the United Nations already has delayed a resolution of the current Iraq crisis and appears likely to do so for some time to come, increasing the risk to the economy.

From an oil politics perspective, the fact that the French are leading the opposition to war in Iraq is no small matter. The French have longstanding economic ties to Iraq and a stake in future oil development of the country. Understandably, the French dread both scorched-earth defensive tactics and growing American influence in Iraq.

Here are three possible oil scenarios resulting from the current face-off over Iraq:

• Best-case scenario: A quick and decisive victory in Iraq, with Saddam Hussein captured or killed and the creation of a more democratic Iraq devoted to economic development. This outcome would pop the bubble in crude oil prices, providing a much needed short-term economic spark. Over the longer haul, such an outcome could free up vast oil reserves that would keep a cap on oil prices even with our ravenous energy appetite.

• Worst-case scenario: We get bogged down in a messy, unsuccessful invasion that destabilizes the entire Middle East and drives oil prices to previously unimagined levels, pushing the entire world economy into a deep recession.

• Most-rational scenario: We win militarily but quickly realize that Iraq was merely one conflict in a war on terror likely to last generations. Oil prices moderate for now, but it remains a very dangerous, unstable world prone to oil shocks. America belatedly adopts a strategy that diversifies our energy sources and encourages greater energy efficiency at the industrial and consumer level.

Various hawkish types emphasize that war in Iraq is about deposing a tyrant with designs on acquiring weapons of mass destruction, countering global terrorism or even the lofty aim of liberating an oppressed populace.

But the elephant in the room remains oil, plain and simple, a commodity for which Americans already have displayed a willingness to kill.

To reach Chris Lester, assistant managing editor-business, call (816) 234-4424 or send e-mail to clester@kcstar.com.

www.katu.com February 24, 2003

PORTLAND - Gas prices in the Portland area are just two cents away from it's highest ever. Back in the fall of 2000 the cost of regular unleaded shot up to $1.80 a gallon.

The spike in 2000 was after a big refinery fire that affected prices up and down the West Coast. In 2003 there's uncertainty in the Middle East, and labor issues in South America.

But folks KATU spoke with say when prices go up that gas station owners suffer a long with the rest of us.

It costs Tim Secolo 15 cents a gallon to sell gas at his Hillsboro Shell Station.

But when he set's his prices, he has to follow his neighborhood competitors. To meet or beat the competition he sometimes sells fuel at a loss.

"I'm just barely making it as it is. It's tough, it's a tough game. It's tough," says Secolo.

After his competitors, Secolo considers the demographics of his customers. All three stations in the area charge $2.17 a gallon for premium fuel. But Secolo says overhead in Hillsboro is high and his customers are willing to pay it.

One of those customers said "I don't even pay attention, to be honest with you."

Another reason that some neighborhoods are a little more expensive than others are something called zone pricing. For example a chevron station on NE Sandy has no competition. Gas suppliers know that, so they know they can charge the station a little bit more per gallon.

World events are the third factor in gas pricing. The chance of war in Iraq, and an oil field strike in Venezuela are both driving up the cost per barrel.

One place to find lower prices is at stations at grocery stores. Tim Secolo explains that grocery stores use cheap gas as a tool to bring in customers.

"They use gas as a loss leader, they sell it at a loss to get people into their store, and that makes up for what they don't make on the fuel," says Secolo.

Tim Secolo hopes that independent family owned stations like his can survive the higher prices.

Drivers in Washington are also feeling the pinch. They're just three cents away from their all time high price of regular gas. The all-time high was a $1.76 in October of 2000.

Right now the highest price in the country tonight is down in California where they're paying a $1.93 for regular unleaded.

asia.reuters.com Tue February 25, 2003 02:09 AM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, (Reuters) - Explosions hit a Spanish Embassy building and a Colombian consulate building in the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Tuesday, police and witnesses said.

A Reuters reporter heard an explosion at a technical suboffice of the Spanish embassy in the east of the capital. The gate of the building had been buckled by the blast; across the street, windows of another building were blown in, the reporter said.

"It punched a hole in the wall surrounding the building," he said.

Police and fire officials at the scene said there had also been an explosion at a Colombian consulate building in another part of the capital.

There were no immediate reports of injuries and it was not clear what had caused the explosions.