Here's a tip: Expos working hard to go the distance - MLB - CBSSports.com Live Scores, Stats, Schedules

Miller's camping trip

VIERA, Fla. -- Here's my thought. Put a stash of tip jars at each of the Montreal Expos' practice fields here.

The Expos need every cent they can get, right?


Frank Robinson (right, with hitting coach Tom McCraw) tries to keep a happy face on the Expos' situation. (AP)

And you can't go anywhere without being assaulted by a tip jar these days, right?

They're on practically every countertop of every shop you step into. Delicatessens. Coffee shops. Hardware stores.

Some Subway Sandwich Artist successfully squirts mustard and mayo on your turkey club, and you get to the end of the line and see the paper cup waiting there by the cash register.

Now, I'm not saying that they shouldn't get some extra dough if they can. But if that's worth a tip, the Expos should be golden. Put a mason jar out by, say, Field 3, and when a diving Orlando Cabrera extends himself at shortstop farther than anybody thought possible on a ground ball up the middle, the Expos could make a fortune. Appreciative fans (and Cabrera's parents, perhaps) could line up to drop in dollar bills and loose change.

"That's probably a good idea," Cabrera agreed the other day.

Sometime between lunch and driving to see manager Frank Robinson's club is when I hatched my plan for the Expos. Criminally, they still reside in baseball's orphanage, with a peanut butter budget and penny stock hopes. They have 22 more games in Puerto Rico this year, they couldn't afford to keep Vladimir Guerrero and Javier Vazquez, and their spring training facility remains covered in Florida Marlins teal.

Obviously, they need help.

"Who knows?" All-Star second baseman Jose Vidro said, intrigued by the possibility of the club taking in a wad of crumpled bills and a bucketful of change each spring day.

Who knows indeed. But because the Expos are in the business of creating solutions, not dwelling on problems -- and probably because they hadn't thought of the tip jar idea -- the skipper has changed a few things this spring to help what remains a very talented Montreal/Puerto Rico/MLB team prepare for another grueling travel schedule.

Among other things, the Expos are ... pant, pant ... running more this spring.

And they are ... huff, huff ... lifting more this spring.

Robinson thought the Expos were ground down last September when they went 12-12, and the numbers back him up.

Leading the National League wild-card hunt on Aug. 28, the Expos' .500 finish dropped them a whopping eight games behind Florida at season's end.

Live too long as a nomad, and your stamina disappears like the road behind you.

So Robinson warned them at the end of last season to make sure they were in shape this spring, and he hasn't backed down.

"We're doing more running, and more different types of running," Robinson said. "More long-distance running. We have four different running programs, and each player has to spend two days a week working in the weight room."

Last season, there were no organized weight-room workouts. The Expos were left to their own devices.

And the running program....

"It wasn't that we didn't have one, it was just different," Robinson said. "It wasn't what I call a running program. It was more an agility program. We've gotten away from that 'If you don't want to, you don't have to.'"

The ludicrous schedule the Expos endured last season, which, among other things, included a leg from Puerto Rico to Seattle? No question, it sabotaged them. Following that Puerto Rican stand and the epic journey to Seattle, the Expos defeated the Mariners on June 11. And after that ...

The Expos went 15-35 away from home.

They were 4-14 in their final 18 one-run road games.

They were 1-5 in extra-inning road games following the All-Star break.

Was that the starter's pistol we just heard in the background, signaling the beginning of another run?

"We're OK," Cabrera said. "Spring training is not like it used to be. Guys used to come to spring training and get into shape. Now, everybody knows that you've got to come into spring training in shape. Everybody knows you've got to work harder in the offseason."

So far, the Expos seem to be holding up quite well in the midst of all of this huffing and puffing.

But the final judge, as always, will be the schedule.

The one part of this nonsense that makes sense is that the 22-game Puerto Rican stint will be finished before the All-Star break. So, theoretically, if the Expos are hanging around the wild-card hunt -- or, of course, the NL East title chase -- they should have a fighting chance.

"You know what?" Vidro said. "I'm very, very confident in the team this year. We filled our holes great. Tony Batista is a great third baseman. This lineup is really good one through eight -- I don't want to miss (catcher Brian) Schneider. I said one through seven the other day, and he got on me."

For the sake of promoting harmony within the Expos clubhouse, I'll let that slide. If Vidro wants to include Schneider as part of the tough lineup, hey, it's spring and what the heck -- even if Schneider did bat .230 in 108 games while mostly playing behind Michael Barrett last year.

"In other years, we had only three or four hitters you could count on," Vidro continued. "Now, we have good talent. We have guys from three through seven with power."

Sure, the Expos lost one of the game's best players in Guerrero. But general manager Omar Minaya added Batista, outfielder Carl Everett, first baseman Nick Johnson and outfielder Juan Rivera.

"Carl is a great offensive player. We're going to need a lot from him," Cabrera said. "In Tony, we've got a power third baseman that we haven't had in a long time. Nick Johnson is a real first baseman. He's going to play good defense. ...

"I don't see how Vlad is better than all four of those guys -- and I love Vlad as a friend. But we have a more balanced lineup than we did in the past."

Yes, the Expos traded away Vazquez as they again rearranged their payroll. But after four-fifths of their rotation went down to injuries last year, they are healthy this spring. Tony Armas, who was pitching better than Vazquez in April before shoulder surgery on May 23, is healthy. Zach Day, who spent time on the disabled list with a sore shoulder in 2003, bounced back well and has been impressive this spring. If Livan Hernandez can do what he usually does and Tomo Ohka and Claudio Vargas can continue to develop ...

"We'd be crazy to try and replace Guerrero and Vazquez," Robinson said. "What we're doing is to try to spread it out a little more."

So they run, they lift, they take extra batting practice. Maybe as the July trading deadline approaches and big sharks like the Yankees come swimming around Vidro, you'll see them collecting aluminum soft drink cans for cash rebates. Among the other things the Expos have going for them -- yes, even with Guerrero and Vazquez gone -- is their double-play tandem. Vidro and Cabrera have started more games together (572) than any other double-play combination in baseball.

The Expos have a lot to offer -- far more than baseball has offered them. Whatever it takes -- extra conditioning, Minaya's maneuverings or even, yes, tip jars -- you would like to see these guys succeed.

"They're working us a little harder out here, but there's nothing wrong with that," reliever Joey Eischen said. "We're all in good shape."

Which, in the larger picture, coming from the Expos, is a truly remarkable statement.