Everyone is all up in arms about how badly we need starting pitchers for 2009, and while that is absolutely a true statement, we seem to be forgetting one star we already have: the Wangster! Remember him? Our best pitcher over the past couple years? The dude who won 19 games in both 2006 and 2007, and went 8-2 in the 15 games he started this year before getting injured running the bases in an interleague game (that seems like such a cruel fate, doesn't it?)?

Well guess what, chickadees? He's still alive and actually just about done with his rehab down in Tampa. He's been working out and practicing there for about a month now and today he'll throw his final bullpen session to round out his rehab experience. The docs have given him the go-ahead to spend his winter with the fam back in Taiwan and then he'll return to Arizona in January to start getting in shape for the spring!

It sounds like everything is going well and that he's all healed up from The Great Interleague Caper and subsequent surgery. If he returns to full form this year, the team's chances of redeeming themselves from the 2008 failures will greatly improve. Wang's starts are sure to be an improvement over his those of his replacements this year - Ponson and Rasner - and just a few more wins could make all the difference. It would have this year.