From Kane County

A pair of stories from the Cougars and their Winter Banquet

#1 is the new manager Steve Scarsone meeting the fans.

"I'm excited to get back into it," Scarsone said. "After spending so many years in the game, it kind of feels like I'm going home again."

A gathering of a few hundred fans and team officials at the Cougars' annual winter banquet were glad to have him. Scarsone mingled, shook hands and shared stories with all who approached him. The only thing missing, it seemed, were the ballplayers.

The Cougars should know the final makeup of their roster in early March, getting a clearer picture as the parent Oakland Athletics progress further in spring training. Scarsone, who managed in the Midwest League against Kane County in 2001, returned to the Tri-Cities feeling at ease.

He has spent little time investigating potential players and figures that can wait until the team's own spring training. He'll take stock in what he hears before that, but would rather just "look at them blind" himself.

#2 is a sitdown with GM Jeff Sedivy, who also gets mentioned in the lede of the above story.

How has this offseason been, for starters?

"It's been good. It's been real busy, obviously, with the ballpark under construction. Been a lot going on. It's been a full-time job and then some.

Where do you stand on those renovations?

Renovations are coming along nicely, but we're going to take it right down to the wire because of the weather.

Will this increase interest in the team and season ticket sales?

I really think that the impact of the new ballpark ... is going to be a positive one. I think you're going to get a lot of people coming back to the ballpark that haven't been there in a number of years, just to see what improvements we've made. I think you're going to get a lot of people that will come out when the weather's a little iffy, where before there wasn't a covered area for when it did rain. I think there's a lot of positives that it brings.

There's more there if you want to see it.