The signing of Chan Ho Park was hardly met with a ton of excitement by Phillies fans and local media. The most talked about aspect of Park’s agreement with the Phillies was his comment that the Phillies saw him as a starter. For those that wanted the Phillies to either find a free agent to fill out the last rotation spot, or give one of the youngsters a shot, Park’s assertion that he had a shot at pitching once every 5 days was off-putting.

Now we learn that the 35 year old South Korean right hander is so focused on earning a rotation spot with the Phillies that he has quit the South Korean team and will not play in the World Baseball Classic so he can focus on being a Phillies starter.

For a Phillies team that has experienced more downs than ups since the ticker tape from the World Series Parade was swept up, Park’s focus is a good thing.

Park will either earn his way into the rotation with a strong spring of outperforming his competition, or his laser focus on winning the spot will propel one of the Phillies younger hurlers to step up their game and take their place in the rotation by force.

Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ and Carlos Carrasco will be Park’s main competition.

*****************************************

Mickey Morandini, Mike Schmidt and Garry Maddox will be guest instructors during Spring Training. We are less than a month from the start of spring training. One of the best perks of rooting for the team that wins it all is the short offseason.

*****************************************

The Fightins reports on a list of the supposed 50 greatest sportscasters of all-time. When you consider the various sports, Number 41 for Harry Kalas doesn’t seem awful. Until you see who is ahead of him.

*****************************************

We Should Be GMs continues its postseason run of interviews with various Phillies folks. This time they talk to The Baron, Larry Shenk, who writes a great blog on MLB.com.

*****************************************

It’s arbitration time for the Phillies, and this is where we will begin to learn a lot about Ruben Amaro Jr. and his long-term plans for the Phillies.

I believe the time is right for a long-term deal for Cole Hamels, and the Phillies would be better off continuing year to year with Ryan Howard. Hamels proved last year that he can handle a heavy caseload, and Howard’s age and glove are reasons to avoid a big contract.