1.   Garagiola also cited the recent signings of left-handed middle reliever Greg Swindell and first baseman Greg Colbrunn and the trade for young outfielder Dante Powell as reasons for improvement.

2.   The recent signings illustrate a trend of shifting the value of a team from the owners to the players, he said.

3.   Their talks will presumably be affected, to some degree, by the recent signings of Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez.

4.   Full-back Lee Dixon and midfielder Ray Parlour are both suspended while recent signings Fredrik Ljungberg and Fabian Caballero are ineligible.

5.   Meanwhile, recent signings including international stars such as Spanish midfielder Gaizka Mendieta and Dutch defender Jaap Stam have yet to settle at the club.

6.   Recent signings Robbie Fowler and Seth Johnson were ineligible.