the former MVP might wind up after his contract with the Nationals expired. Two months later in Cincinnati, just after the All-Star break, Williams deleted his Twitter and Facebook accounts because he was having too much trouble tuning out the noise.

Once Harper signed, which he did exactly one month after Groundhog Day and with only slightly less pageantry than that which accompanies Punxsutawney Phil's annual appearance, the outfield graffiti came into even clearer view. When the Nike rep asked Williams whether he wanted to get custom cleats with the Phillies' colors, he said thanks but no thanks, because he didn't want to be stuck with red and blue spikes in the increasingly likely event he ended up playing for a team that wore, say, orange or navy.

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Sitting in front of his locker early in the morning before a Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays, Williams wears a navy blue long-sleeve shirt with a white capital B -- part of the Boras Corporation logo -- on the left side of his chest. Although business has obviously been at the forefront of his mind these past few weeks, that's not why Williams is rocking agent-licensed gear.

"It's a Lulu shirt," he says. As in Lululemon, the ubiquitous athletic apparel company. "So it's comfortable."

Now more than ever, comfort is key for Williams, who finds himself in