Via FishStripes, Jorge Cantu underwent a vigorous pool training program his winter and now he's tearing up spring training.

''We have our own techniques,'' trainer Dennis Fay said of the Texas Sports Medicine facility in Houston. ``We use water exercises, breathing-underwater drills, extreme yoga. We work on a player's bat speed with a series of chains. The chains are on a handle, and they swing the chains to build up their speed.''

Unconventional?

''It works,'' Cantu said. ``That was the key for me being really strong this spring, Dennis Fay. He pushed me to the max to see what was my strength level.''

I remember touring New Comiskey in the early 1990s, and they showed us the tub Bo Jackson used to rehabilitate his hip. He started running submerged up to his neck. As he grew stronger, they raised the floor so he was supporting more of his own weight. The next year, Ozzie Guillen used the tub to rehabilitate his knee and I believe cut his time on the DL by 1/3.