The Tuesday F5ive

A few things to pay attention to for Tuesday:

1-Rangers vs. Tigers MLB Network

Hunter vs. Galarraga

Interest Level: 6

Pretty decent Tuesday Night match-up with some playoff implications. The Rangers take the AL-high 4.5 game lead and 81% playoff chances and take on the Tigers, who despite being tied for the Twins at a game and a half back have minimal playoff chance (18%) in comparison to the Twins (36%).

The Rangers are taking Tommy Hunter to the hill who has very quietly who has come out of nowhere to pitch very well (6-0 2.33 era) after coming up from Oklahoma City. If he keeps this up......a Rangers duo of Cliff Lee and Tommy Hunter would make opposing teams dread facing Rangers pitching for the first time since......ever. The Tigers counter with Armando Galarraga who has had a bizarre season to say the least. It's not every year where someone gets sent to the minors twice and pitch a 28-out "perfect" game.

2- Minor League Matinee

Buffalo vs. Rochester MLB Network

According to the MLB Network website, they are extending out to a Triple A matinee and showing a game between the Buffalo Bisons-Mets Affiliate (50-45) and the Rochester Red Wings (35-62). Don't know too much about these Triple-A teams but for some reason a random nationally televised minor league baseball game piqued my interest.

Some ex-MLB players on to this team who may or may not see action include Ramon Ortiz, Oliver Perez (on a rehab assignment stemming from being placed on the DL with an inflated ERA), Brian Bruney & Mike Jacobs.

The Rochester team (Twins) affiliate sits 21 games out in the International League's Northern Division. Ex-major leaguers clinging on for a last chance at the show include Mike Maroth, D'Angelo Jimenez and Jacque Jones. According to their official website, Curt Schilling was their opening day starter in 1989.

3- Conflict Of Interest Game Of The Day:

Cardinals vs. Phillies

Chris Carpenter, how I love/hate the strong season he's having. The good part is he's been an anchor in my fantasy team rotation as he is coming off a very strong performance against the Dodgers. I hate it because he's a major reason why the Cardinals are in first and have a 69 percent chance to make the playoffs and a minor reason why the Brewers playoff odds sit at .5 percent.

4- Pitchers Duel Of The Day:

Dodgers vs. Giants

Lincecum vs. Kershaw

The last time I mentioned Kershaw and pitchers duel in the same sentence (Thursday against Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals) Kershaw didn't hold up his end of the bargain. Maybe the situation of going against the rival Giants and the fact that the Dodgers need a major boost will motivate Kershaw to step up in this start.

5- Random Ex-Big Leaguer Who Signed A Minor League Contract:

Wily Mo Pena

The Padres signed Wily Mo Pena to a minor league deal today. One of the moves that seems out of left-field and a bit desperate but so crazy, that it could work. At the very least, he appears to have the raw talent (which didn't completely materialize) as he was a top-100 prospect 3 times (2000, 2002 & 2003). He's even displayed some power in his bat at a big league level as he did hit 26 homers at the age of 22.

However, things seemed to go downhill from there as Pena's career had slipped from there getting to the point where he got DFA'd by the Zombie Expos in March 2009.

Considering his numbers appeared to have peaked and much hasn't been heard about him in the last few years, it was surprising to see that he's still only 28. While his free-swinging tendencies likely makes his career ceiling somewhere around Jeff Francoeur, he does have the capability to impact the offense as he does have plenty of power in his bat (something that is lacking from most Padres hitters not named Adrian Gonzales). This signing of an apparently washed out player may not look big today but he could have a surprise impact on the NL West, having a similar effect that Pat Burrell has had on the Giants. It might sound crazy but not as crazy as a first-place team starting Scott Hairston, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Will Venable in their outfield as unique for its lack of production as it is for the fact that all 3 are the sons of ex-MLB players....and that is why Wily Mo Pena is a deep-sleeper candidate for comeback player of the year.

Friday/Early Saturday MLB National TV Preview

Well, the weekend is upon us. Things looking better baseball wise this week. I'm very happy that the Brewers rolled the Pirates 36-1 over a 3 day stretch including a 20-0 grand finale in today's game. Gloating time is over, on to the games.

Friday: Tigers vs. Rangers MLB Network

Scherzer vs. Feldman

Interest Level:4

It's too early to tell (as of this writing) what the Tigers record will be coming into this game as they are in the 3rd inning of their game with the Angels. The Tigers were I team that I thought was worse than most people thought but thus far that has been a wrong assessment. Max Scherzer takes the hill in Friday's game. He definitely has lots of potential which we've only seen parts of so far but he's looking good so far in 2010......a chance to see someone in the start of their breakout season perhaps?

The Rangers are off to a 6-9 start and with Seattle and LA of Anaheim of North America getting their acts together (plus Oakland playing better than expected) it may be in their best interest to get their act together. The Rangers bring Scott Feldman to the hill....sure he may have won 17 games last year but i'm not sold on him as an ace pitcher.

Saturday: Yankees vs. Angels FOX

Pettite vs. Pineiro

Interest Level: 6

If I want to watch the afternoon game this is probably the game i'm stuck with like it or not as both the Yankees and a team they show on TV all the time here (Angels) are both involved.

On a side note, this game involves the three players (Teixiera, Wood and Vasquez) who have struggled the most on my fantasy team.

The Yankees are currently battling the Rays for top positioning in the AL East. Andy Pettite looks to continue his strong start to the season in this game.

The Angels had a rough first week of the season but have battled back to .500 (for at least the next couple hours). Still, they are sitting 1 1/2 out at this point and look to be in the thick of things (while not in first) in the AL West. The Angels start Joel Pineiro who has pitched better than I expected so far. I thought his strong 2009 performance was only going to last as long as he had Dave Duncan as his pitching coach and I thought the Angels over-paid for him. Pineiro looks to keep proving detractors like myself wrong in this game.

Mariners vs. White Sox Saturday FOX

Fister vs. Garcia

Interest Level: 7

The Mariners have also started slowly but have gotten things together to get within 1/2 a game of overtaking Oakland for AL West Supremacy. The Mariners start Merced, California product Doug Fister in this game. Not knowing much about Fister other than he was in the back end of the M's rotation, I picked him up on my razzball team a couple weeks ago. This has not turned out to be a very smart decision. Doug Fister is on notice, one more strong start from him and he gets dropped from my Razzball team.

The White Sox counter with ex-Mariner pitcher Freddy Garcia. Garcia definitely isn't as strong of a pitcher as he was when he pitched for Seattle. In fact, he's actually pitched pretty poorly in his first couple starts and one of the many reasons the White Sox find themselves currently in the basement.

AL Central Preview Part--Two

Time to finish off the AL Central by taking a look at the pitching.....after part one our standings are

Twins 21

White Sox 21

Indians 26

Tigers 32

Royals 35

Starting Rotation

White Sox--Jake Peavy/Mark Buerhle/Gavin Floyd/John Danks/Freddy Garcia-4.5

Twins--Scott Baker/Kevin Slowey/Nick Blackburn/Francisco Liriano/Carl Pavano-9

Tigers--Justin Verlander/Rick Porcello/Armando Gallaraga/Jeremy Bonderman/Max Scherzer 13.5

Royals--Zack Greinke/Gil Meche/Kyle Davies/Luke Hochever/Brian Bannister-18

Indinas--Fausto Carmona/Jake Westbrook/Justin Masterson/David Huff/Aaron Laffey

Cluster A: White Sox/Twins--Ultimately this comes down to a couple of areas 1) Can Jake Peavy Stay Healthy? 2) Can Freddy Garcia stay healthy and be productive? 3) Can Francisco Liriano stay healthy and be effective?

The White Sox get the nod for a couple of reasons 1) While both teams have decent depth from 1-5, the talent in the White Sox rotation is better 2) Jake Peavy looks more likely than Liriano to stay healthy and even if Liriano stays healthy it is still unlikely we are not going to see the Francisco Liriano that dominated the summer of 2006.

The Tigers and Royals are in Cluster B: Kansas City's ace (Greinke) gets the nod over Verlander however the supporting cast for Kansas City (Meche/Bannister) is not close to the caliber of Detroit's mid-rotation starters (Porcello.....tough to believe he'll only be 21 and Max Scherzer who looks primed for a breakout season.

Cleveland is projected Fausto Carmona as their staff ace.....nuff said.

Bullpen:

Twins- Joe Nathan/Matt Guerrier/Jose Mijares-4.5

Royals-Joakim Soria/Robinson Tejeda/Kyle Farnsworth-9

White Sox-Bobby Jenks/Matt Thornton/J.J Putz-13.5

Tigers-Joel Zumaya/Ryan Perry/Bobby Seay-18

Indians-Kerry Wood/Chris Perez/Jensen Lewis-22.5

Twins have the best bullpen (by far) and the best closer (Joe Nathan) by a pretty good margin. The Royals got their ranking solely based because of Soria and despite Kyle Farnsworth. The Royals aren't going to get many chances to win but Soria will do his part to squander very few of those chances. I'm not overly optimistic on Jenks having a strong year. I get creeped out everytime I see a recent ex-closer (J.J Putz) hanging out in middle relief (this combo screams a red light similar to the Fuentes/Rodney combo from Los Angeles of Anaheim).

If this was a competition of who could throw the fastest fastball or the competition of who struck out 20 batters in a game once, the Tigers and Indians would be ranked higher than they actually are.

Speaking of Kerry Wood, i'm closing this out on a rant where I tie in Kerry Wood and Al Bundy. The career of Kerry Wood and the life of Al Bundy both started pretty sweet. Kerry Wood burst onto the scene in '98 and struck out 20 in a single game. Al Bundy had a pretty sweet life in high school as he scored 4 touchdowns in the same game.

But then luck and circumstances changed things. Wood struggled with injuries for a few years but eventually bounced back and had a few gasps of brilliance (i.e the 2003 season). The struggles in Wood's career and the struggles in Bundy's life can both be placed on external sources (Dusty Baker/Peg Bundy).

Kerry Wood spent the next few years in a world of injuries, simulated games and hanging out at the disabled list before settling into the role of closer for a flailing Indians team. Al Bundy on the other hand ended up selling shoes and being perpetually unlucky. This part sort of messes up the analogy because while Kerry Wood didn't become the superstar/hall of famer everyone expected him to be, it is still 10 years later and he still has a job in the bigs which even if it's not for a great team, your still in the bigs. Sadly, Al Bundy has no shot of redemption as he's stuck selling womens shoes at the mall in syndication.

Anyway, our final rankings:

Twins 34.5

White Sox 39

Royals 62

Tigers 63.5

Indians 71

If this holds up the Twins will be fighting for their playoff lives till the bitter end for the third straight year (and being sucessful for the second straight year). I was surprised that the Royals snuck into third for these rankings but that happens to be more on the strength of Greinke and Soria and based on these rankings it in no way indicates them having any hope of contending.

AL Central Preview--Part One

Well we got through the AL West, time to move towards the Central.

Catcher:

Joe Mauer-1

A.J. Pierzynski-2

Carlos Santana-3

Gerald Laird-4

Jason Kendall-5

Joe Mauer is far and away the best Catcher regardless of if you are talking about the league or the AL Central. It's a toss-up between Pierzynski and Santana. While Santana has the highest ceiling (he is one of the hottest prospects his Minor League numbers equate to pretty solid MLB numbers but he's still an unsure thing as he's yet to play in the bigs)......at the same time, there's no way he could be any worse than Laird and Kendall.

A side note about announcers and baseball players with the same name as musicians. The one pet peeve I have after watching nationally televised Brewers games is goes as follows: Yes, I am aware the Brewers regular right fielder's name is Corey Hart. Yes, I am aware he has the same name as that guy from the 80's who sang about Wearing his sunglasses at night. No, I do not need to hear announcers make lame jokes about Corey Hart wearing his sunglasses at night. This rant has been several years in the making. Which brings me to my main point, I am already cringing at the Carlos Santana references that are inevitably going to be made (fortunately the Indians aren't going to be very good and not be on TV very often). Point being I don't want to hear about how "smooth" is swing is or how we can say "oye como va" to a ball after he hits a home run (2 cliches that took me about 5 seconds each to make up). There's about at least a dozen cheesy Sports Center made for Stuart Scott cliches that are inevitable going to be unleashed upon the public if the high expectations set aside for Santana turn out to be fulfilled.

If Gerald Laird was half as good at getting arrested at Phoenix Suns games as he was at playing baseball, he may be higher on this list. However, his career to this point indicates that this is not the case. If being a Brewer fan has taught me anything, it's that Jason Kendall just isn't that good.....in fact he's a pretty terrible ball-player. Luckily for him, the Royals have a thing for making bad baseball decisions, are one of the dumbest teams in baseball and somehow made a conscious decision to sign him to a 2-year deal to a player who hasn't even been a league average hitter since 2004. These two were made for each other.

First Base

Miguel Cabrera-1

Paul Konerko-2

Justin Morneau-3

Billy Butler-4

Matt LaPorta-5

This division is LOADED from top to bottom at 1st. Unlike the Catcher rankings which are relatively easy, the Top 3 here was fairly difficult. While there are concerns regarding how last season ended with Cabrera, the reality is he is an elite-class player. If he can get past his drinking-related problems, he looks destined to be one of the greatest hitters of this generation.

The Konerko versus Morneau was a tough decision to make. More of a hunch than anything else, I think Morneau will come back strong from his injury problems from last year but I think that Konerko is going to have a monster season in '10. Even the back end players are pretty solid, Billy Butler was one of the few bright spots not named Zack Greinke in 2009 and I see that being repeated in 2010. Just like the Catcher rankings, the last spot is taken by someone who has connections to the Brewers (while he was traded before seeing Major League action, he was a major reason why the Brewers were able to land C.C. Sabathia in 2008 and is thus made his own contribution to getting the Brewers their first playoff appearance in 26 years). Anyways, LaPorta is definitely a can't-miss prospect he looks headed in the right direction of having a long and productive career and he's going to have a solid 2010, it's just that Cabrera, Konerko, Morneau and Butler are all happen to be really, really good at baseball.

Second Base

Gordan Beckham-1

Luis Valbuena-2

Orlando Hudson-3

Alberto Callaspo-4

Scott Sizemore-5

Fairly weak at second. Beckham seems poised for a breakout season. Valbuena, while not having the high profile like Beckham is a sleeper candidate for a breakout season. O-Hud is likely to give his typical .280 average and 10 homers.....may not be exciting or stand out but it's a lot more than they would have gotten out of Punto.

Shortstop

Alexei Ramirez-1

J.J Hardy-2

Asdrubal Cabrera-3

Mike Aviles-4

Adam Everett-5

Toss-up between whether Ramirez or Hardy will have a better season. Ramirez has had a more consistent last couple years and a higher upside. J.J Hardy, was more unlucky than bad last year. Last year, it seemed like about every other day, someone was robbing J.J. Hardy of an extra base hit. Didn't really think too much beyond until I saw that his BABIP was significantly lower for him in 2009. Despite this, the Brewers still sold him for 50 cents on the dollar for Carlos Gomez. Asdrubal Cabrera is still young at this point he's Orlando Cabrera version 2 at the plate.

Third Base

Alex Gordon-1

Jhonny Peralta-2

Mark Teahan-3

Brandon Inge-4

Brendan Harris-5

A fairly close but fairly weak crop. Gordon and Peralta are probably going to produce similar numbers but Gordon gets the nod since his ceiling is higher. Nothing special about the other three.

Left Field

1-Delmon Young

2-Ryan Raburn

3-David DeJesus

4-Juan Pierre

5-Michael Brantley

Another close call. Young and Raburn are both solid candidates for breakout seasons. Young has the disadvantage of not living up to his potential (yet) Raburn has the disadvantage of being five years older. Juan Pierre has the disadvantage of it being illegal to steal first in baseball......almost put Brantley above Pierre on the sole basis of him being the Player To Be Named Later in the Sabathia deal and thus his minor part of letting me see the Brewers make the playoffs.

Center Field

1-Grady Sizemore

2-Johnny Damon

3-Denard Span

4-Alex Rios

5-Mitch Maier

This field is middle-heavy. Sizemore may have struggled with injuries last year but he should bounce back in 2010. Damon and Span are fairly interchangeable. Damon is the bigger name and still has at least a couple solid seasons in him (but don't expect a 2009-esque power burst....well unless the bring in the fences and turn Comerica park into a little league field). Span might not be the most exciting player but he can be penciled in for a .300 average 10 homers 20 steals and being more valuable to a real team than a fantasy team (or what I refer to as the Orlando Cabrera All-Stars). The only thing big about Alex Rios' game is that monster $77.5 million contract he somehow got.

Right Field

1-Carlos Quentin

2-Micheal Cuddyer

3-Shin-Soo Choo

4-Magglio Ordonez

5-Jordan Parraz

Pretty solid group from 1 to 4. It was a toss-up between Quentin and Cuddyer. Quentin has a question mark around him due to dealing with injuries pretty much every year of his career (even costing him the 2008 AL MVP).

Cuddyer also has a pretty good case for the top spot but Quentin got the slight nod as has demonstrated the ability to carry his team on his back for longer (5 months ) than Cuddyer (although his September was pretty sweet).

A random Mike Cuddyer story/anecdote/me being weird. I was rocking out to "Holy Diver" by Dio earlier today and I mentally started coming up with alternate lyrics about Mike Cuddyer's epic September.

Designated Hitter

1-Jason Kubel

2-Travis Hafner

3-Andruw Jones

4-Jose Guillen

5-Carlos Guillen

Kubel gets the nod as the question marks surrounding him are relatively smaller. For how the rest of these rankings actually go down, it will be a war of attrition of whoever gets hurt last wins.

On pure talent level, Hafner is the best of the rest but staying healthy has been a problem for him. For Andruw Jones, the problem is it isn't 2005 anymore and his peak has come and gone (though he still should be good for about a .260 average and 20 homers).

Exhibit 234 of the Royals being one of the dumbest teams in baseball: They are actually paying Jose Guillen $12 million a year......didn't realize that hitters with an OPS+ of 90 over the last two years were that expensive.

Standings at the End of Part One:

Twins-21

White Sox-21

Indians-26

Tigers-32

Royals-35

Well, the top of the division looks like a re-enactment of the 2008 AL Central. The Indians are closer than I expected them to be and the Royals are exactly where I expected them to be.

Top 10 Sports Cities---Not Top 10 Aspects

Recently, Forbes Magazine wrote an article with their top-10 list of hottest sports cities.

Well, I decided to twist things around a little bit and give a sarcastic take on some of these top cities not top 10 sports elements/moments/whatever comes to mind/etc.

# 10 San Diego

Out of the cities listed on here this one surprised me the most. The Chargers sleepwalk through a month hoping to squeak into the playoffs (works better when everyone else is .500 or worse) and they have the Padres (beyond Adrian Gonzales and Heath Bell....nothing special there)........losing 85+ games a year and David Eckstein......so not top 10

# 9 Chicago

I admit i'm biased on this one as many of my least favorite teams play in Chicago. I'd go with 101 years of no World Series titles but deflecting the blame on billy goats and scapegoating a die-hard fans who instinctively reach for foul balls.

# 8 Indianapolis

Nothing against Peyton Manning personally but he's in way too many TV Commercials but its all good as long as he keeps my fantasy team competitive

# 7 Detroit

Tigers inability to hold a 3-game lead with 4 games left......The Matt Millen Era.........Making 0-16 a reality.......its all good because the Lions being in the NFC North gives the Packers a couple easy wins per season

# 6 Pittsburgh

Its crazy to think that despite being 26 years old, the Pirates haven't had a winning season since I was in 4th grade.

# 5 Dallas

Tony Romo, The Cowboys in General, The irony of spending boatloads of cash on a stadium but placing the scoreboard so low that punted footballs hit it on a regular basis......

#4 Philadelphia

Booing Santa Claus....seriously Santa Claus.......can't hate on Philly sports too much since Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia did an episode where the gang tries out for the Eagles....it was funny

# 3 New York

The Mets opening their new stadium with a thud....The fact that the Yankees are one win away from sucessfully completing their purchase of the AL Championship......The Knicks.......Letting Isiah Thomas be a GM

# 2 Los Angeles

LA........Number 2? They'll support teams....if its cool. The Clippers playing to half-empty arenas. Dodger fans arriving in the 3rd, leaving in the 7th. This brings me back to a couple weeks ago: I was watching Game 2 of the NLDS the Franklin/Holliday game....it was the bottom of the 9th inning they showed the stadium attendees... the first thing that comes to my mind is i've never seen Dodger Stadium that full ever (let alone that late in the game)

# 1 Boston

I was going to mention the Titans play against New England on Sunday....but that doesn't apply to the criteria for the posting.

One thing thats sort of bugs me is why does Boston College call itself Boston College? This would imply that the campus is in Boston....but according to the all-knowing Wikipedia its in Chestnut Hill........is there a reason they went the BC method for naming?

Sports/Music Crossover Column: Alice In Chains

Just recently, one of my favorite bands from the 90s, Alice In Chains released their first album since the mid-90s. You all know what this means.....time for another Sports/Music Crossover column where I use songs from Alice In Chains to discuss recent developments in the sports world that I want to discuss but not necessarily devote an entire post to with that it's time to rock out

"Down In A Hole"--Winless NFL Teams Browns, Titans, Chiefs, Panthers, Buccaneers and Rams

Well these teams are down in a hole for sure. 4 weeks into the NFL season and they are yet to win a game. Some of these teams are a victim of bad luck (Titans) others are in legitimate danger of being the second 0-16 team in NFL history (Rams, Chiefs, Browns) but all have the common theme of this being a lost season. For these teams they are unlikely to be talking about playoffs and probably talking about who they can draft to turn around their fortunes in 2010.

"A Little Bitter"-- Myself after Monday's Packers-Vikings game

I can take the multiple retirements. I would have eventually forgiven the Jets stint. This is the culmination of one of the most unforgivable acts in sports. When Favre signed with the Vikings I thought to myself it's okay he's got nothing left, the Vikings will be terrible anyways....well the Vikings are 4-0 Favre schooled the Packers D...and it looks like for the second straight season one aspect of the Packers (the O-Line) is going to doom a talented team to a terrible season. On the bright side 3/4ths of the season is still left the Packers have a bye week to recover and if recent history holds up.....the interception parade will eventually begin in Minnesota.

"Lying Season"--Dez Bryant-- failure to disclose interaction with Deion Sanders

Well this officially ends Oklahoma States one chance at greatness. Dez Bryant was THE star player of an Oklahoma State team that was supposed to have its coming out party. Instead, Dez Bryant doesn't disclose/lies about meeting with Deion Sanders and he is now ineligible to play. For Oklahoma State it's back to another few decades of going 7-5 and playing meaningless bowl games two days after Christmas. On a personal note, it puts my fantasy team in flux as he was one of my best players and I have to scramble to find someone to replace his production.

"Got Me Wrong"--Philip Hughes/Yankees Bullpen

So this morning I finished my post previewing the Yankees-Twins series. In this post I gave the edge to the Twins bullpen and didn't speak too positively of the Yankees bullpen beyond Mariano Rivera. A funny thing happened, I go to the gym and the Yankees-Twins game is on, Hughes comes in the 7th inning in a 6-2 game with 2 men on Mauer on Deck facing Orlando Cabrera, they get into an epic match-up where Cabrera is fouling off pitch after pitch....and Hughes strikes out Cabrera on a 3-2 count....effectively stopping the Twins best opportunity to get back into the game.....for at least a day Hughes has proven me wrong.

"Over Now"-- MLB Regular Season

As always it was a fun ride but all things come to an end eventually. For me 2009 will be remembered for a few things. 1) MLB Networks rookie and breakout season. 2) My first extended encounter with MLB.tv.........probably one of the greatest innovations in recent memory and 3) Stunned that Braden Looper somehow led the Brewers in wins 4) Zach Greinke's amazing season.....I don't care how bad the Royals are, Greinke deserves the Cy Young Award 5) Pablo Sandoval's breakout season........it's not every year a player comes through that can go yard off of pitches that aren't even close to being strikes.....

"So Close"--Tigers/Braves

To the teams who got their playoff hopes crushed last. To the Tigers....you were up 7 games in September....even worse, your going to be mentioned in the same sentence as the '07 Mets.....OUCH.

To the Braves...you kicked it into high gear too late...you were hanging around the fringes of the race...got hot for a few weeks....the only mistake you made was not being in the NL Central where you could play .500 ball for 140 games only to get hot for the last 20 or so games.

"Again"-Trevor Hoffman

Well we were barely one day into the off-season and the Brewers wasted no time in re-signing Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman had an excellent season as a closer in '09. I can't wait to see Hoffman closing for the Brewers again in '10 as they try to bounce back from a lackluster season.

"Put You Down"--Twins over Tigers

The Tigers had things like a commanding lead in the AL Central and in the AL Central Tie-Breaker game...but with the Twins finding new ways to win on a daily basis...they were able to put down the Tigers and get into the playoffs

"No Excuses"-- University of Houston Defense

Alright so the University of Houston isn't a defensive juggernaut. They are known more for their high profile offense. Still, it is inexcusable to give up 58 points to a weak UTEP team. It would be one thing if they gave up this amount to an elite team such as Texas, Oklahoma, etc....but UTEP is not what would be considered an elite team.......i've watched them in "action" a couple times and they are not what I would call an offensive juggernaut. Thanks for trying to break the BCS-Barrier this year Houston and next year, come back with a competent Defense........In terms of Non-BCS schools.....TCU and Boise are the last hopes.

A Fan of Close Pennant Races? Tuesday was not your lucky day

As the title indicates, Tuesday did nothing to ensure that this year's pennant races would go down to a photo finish.

It didn't look that way initially as the Twins were able to squeak out a win over the Tigers in the first game of their double-header. However, in the second game the Tigers were able to stretch their lead back to 2 games as Justin Verlander pitched just well enough to let the Tigers hold on to beat the Twins.

The Twins still aren't out of it yet. If they can pull out victories tonight and Thursday we will be going into the weekend with a tied AL Central. Personally, i'm indifferent towards who wins the AL Central, I just want to see an interesting last weekend in baseball.

In the NL Wild Card race, things didn't go so great on Tuesday. The Braves ended up losing a close one to the Marlins 5-4. Meanwhile, the Brewers went into Colorado with a chance to make an impact on the race and keep it close. Unfortunately, they played more like the 77-80 team that they are than a team with any sense of motivation.

While it's nothing more than a consolation......they at least forced extra innings. The Brewers went into the 9th down 5-2 and tied it on wait for it.........(a Jason Kendall three-run homer).....and no that's not a typo.....Jason Kendall actually did something productive offensively by hitting a game-tying home run.

However, this being the Brewers and all, they found a way to not win last nights game. For this, they turned to veteran reliever Dave Weathers who gave-up the walk off home run to Chris Iannetta.

Well what does this say for todays game? For the Twins, it's pretty much a must-win game tonight against the Tigers. While losing tonight won't equate to mathematical elimination, tonights pitching match-up favors the Twins and if they lose tonight they'll likely be dead-team walking tomorrow.

For the Braves, they are more or less in win-out or else mode. For the Rockies, well they tend to find new ways to win games and they get a chance to tee-off against Jeff Suppan so all they need to do is continue what they are doing.

Playoffs Play-In Series Preview: Tigers-Twins

So the playoff chase has been pretty anti-climatic. The only two races left in play are the NL Wild Card (with the Rockies leading the Braves by 2 1/2) and the Tigers clinging onto a 2 game lead over the Twins.

While arguments can be made for the relevance of the Rockies-Brewers series and the Braves-Marlins series, this weeks Twins-Tigers series carries much more playoff implications since both teams are directly involved in fighting for the same spot. This series is pretty much make or break for the Twins. They need to take 3 out of 4 to at least tie.......a split to stay mathematically alive...........

Monday

Blackburn 11-11 4.18 era 99 ERA+ vs. Porcello 14-9 4.14 era 110 ERA+

Blackburn is in his second full season as a Twins starter. He's been pretty average thus far. A win here would be crucial for Blackburn and the Twins. He's had mixed results against the Tigers 2-3 4.50 era in his career.

The Tigers have their 20-year old phenom Porcello taking the hill. Barring injury, he has an excellent career ahead of him. In addition to being the #2 guy on a contending team....he's also gotten into a brawl (which he won) against the greek god of walks....Kevin Youkilis. He's also had mixed results against the Twins going 1-2 3.71 era.

At first glance Porcello and the Tigers have the edge in this match-up. Blackburn has the slight edge of experience in this one. Although it's only his second full year....he has some pennant race experience as he was in the Twins rotation when they were neck and neck with the White Sox last year (although he didn't pitch that well during that time).

Tuesday

Duensing 5-1 3.33 era 125 ERA+ vs. Verlander 17-9 3.41 era 133 ERA+

On Tuesday, it will be the Twins turn to start a rookie as Brian Duensing takes the start. The Tigers counter with their ace Justin Verlander. He has bounced back from a disappointing 2008 to be fulfill the ace role in the Tigers rotation. However, he hasn't quite dominated the Twins in his career as he is 4-6 with a 4.26 era. Point being, he hasn't been automatic against the Twins and with their recent resurgence, this game is anything but a guarantee for the Tigers.

Wednesday

Pavano 13-11 4.86 era 91 ERA+ vs. Bonine 0-1 4.60 era 99 ERA+

The Twins start hired gun Carl Pavano in this game. He's been a solid (if untyped) pick up for the Twins. He's provided some stability in the rotation and has managed to not get hurt. While his overall body of work isn't the greatest, he has dominated against the Tigers in his career

going 4-0 with a 1.69 era.

The Tigers start with Eddie Bonine in this game. Its unclear how much can be expected out of him. He's only started 8 games and hasn't really stood out. Probably not the best person to start with the season on the line......in other words, this would be a good place for him to step up and make a name for himself.

Thursday

Baker 14-9 4.48 era 93 ERA+ vs. Robertson 2-2 5.56 era 82 ERA+

The Tigers start Scott Baker in this crucial game. Like his teammate Blackburn, he's been fairly average against the Tigers in his career (4-4 4.57 era)........hes been fairly average this year but if he steps up in this game any struggles would be forgotten about pretty quickly.

The Tigers start Nate Robertson in this game. Considering that he's pitched worse since the Tigers 2006 World Series appearance, this match-up definitely doesn't favor the Tigers. Still, he has experience in the post-season and having an experienced hand going during the pennant race may lead to Robertson pitching better than he has.

In reality...its tough to see what (if any) impact the winner of this series and division will have on the post-season. Neither of these teams are going to be mistaken for the '27 Yankees soon. However, the playoff implications more than make up for the flaws in these teams. Either way, it should be an exciting series to watch and i'm looking forward (keeping fingers crossed) for an exciting last weekend of the baseball season.

Baseball For the Weekend: These Races Need to be Closer

So, Baseball is coming down the stretch run, another weekend closer until we can talk about the Playoffs?!!....Also, with the weekend is another batch of games....as always games are ranked on a scale of 1-5.

Angels vs. Rangers =4

SAT-MLB Newtwork (Weaver) vs. (Feldman)

Sun-TBS (Lackey) vs. Holland)

Well this is he Rangers last chance to steal the AL West from the Angels. They've had a solid year to build on in 2009 and seem to have found a formula for the next few years (provided they're able to keep Maddux as their pitching coach). However, when it comes to their 2009 Playoff hopes, they need to sweep the Angels to keep themselves in contention. If this don't happen the Rangers playoff hopes are most likely put on hold for another year.

The Angels, are in a much better position as they sport a comfortable 6 game lead as of this writing (thursday morning). They've gone through a lot of adversity this year, have had struggles in the starting rotation (though Lackey and Weaver are their two starters who have pitched well)..and have benefited from Kendry Morales' breakout year.

The Rangers start one pitcher having a good year (Feldman) the value of which is inflated by his 16 wins and one pitcher having a terrible year (Holland). They counter Morales in the breakout year department with ex-Brewer prospect Nelson Cruz.

Giants vs. Dodgers =4.5

(Penny) vs. (Billingsley) SAT-FOX

The Giants/Dodgers games have a tendency to be entertaining in September regardless of their places in the standings. They have a tendency to play spoiler to each other which is expected out of bitter in-state rivals.

This year it's the Giants who are fighting for their playoff lives after falling 3.5 games out of the Wild Card race and being shut out by Jorge de la Rosa, a pitcher who was so bad when he played for the Brewers that he got exiled to the Royals for Tony Graffanino. Brad Penny had an excellent start against these same Dodgers on Sunday and they need him to repeat that performance to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

The Dodgers have the best of both worlds. They are likely playoff bound as they have a comfortable 5 game lead in the NL West AND they get a chance to spoil the Giants playoff hopes.

Either way, expect an intense back and forth game with a slight chance of this game being talked about years later.

Twins vs. Tigers =4

(Pavano vs. Verlander) Sat-FOX

Well, it's do or die time for the Twins. They have managed to get themselves within 4 1/2 games of the Tigers and a weekend sweep would be the first step towards wiping out 140 or so games of mediocrity and sneak into the playoffs.

The Twins start Carl Pavano in this one. Despite his injury/mediocrity laden past, he has a chance at redemption in Minnesota. When the Twins traded for him, I argued that the trade was unlikely to make an impact on the race. So far that argument has been weakened as Pavano has pitched reasonably well in Minnesota 3-3 3.75 era 111 ERA+. A strong start by Pavano here as the chance to kill my original argument and make me look like an idiot. Still, I wouldn't mind if this happens since this season needs an epic pennant race (or two) and the Twins playing well this weekend would be a first step towards that.

The Tigers counter with ace Justin Verlander who takes the hill in an attempt to shut down the Twins' said playoff hopes. Also, Verlander has a chance to increase his league lead in Strikeouts and Strikeouts/9IP.

Cubs vs. Cardinals =2

(Dempster vs. Smoltz)=Sat-FOX

(Zambrano vs. Carpenter)= Sun ESPN

In most years a September, Cubs/Cardinals match-up would be more compelling as these two teams are fighting for a playoff spot more often than not.

However, 2009 is a whole different beast as the Cardinals have left the rest of the NL Central in the dust, thus making this series less compelling.

The Cubs only post-season hope is if the Rockies and Giants BOTH choke and stop winning games all-together. That's unlikely to happen so for the Cubs the only motivation is playing for pride while for the Cardinals this series will be a likely playoff tune-up.

Weekend Preview: Slim Pickins for Labor Day Weekend

So, September is upon us and in theory an exciting weekend of Baseball match-ups. But it's baseball and anything can happen so I could be totally wrong on the overall lack of excitement for these games. As always, games are ranked on a scale from 1-5......and with that let the games begin...........

Red Sox vs White Sox [Tazawa vs. Floyd]--SAT Fox [Lester vs. Danks] SUN TBS =3

This game might have ranked higher if the White Sox weren't in give up on 2009 mode. Granted, the White Sox weren't great this year but they were at least good enough to not trade Jim Thome for pretty much nothing. Still, they start a couple of decent pitchers in Floyd and Danks this weekend so they should at least be competitive in these games.

The Red Sox are looking to extend their wild card lead over the Rangers this weekend. They start Tazawa on Saturday who has struggled in the month he's been on the Red Sox roster. They start Lester on Sunday. He's in the midst of another solid season in Boston.

Rangers vs. Orioles [Millwood vs. Matusz] =2 Saturday FOX

Speaking of the Rangers, they have a game on TV this weekend too. They've managed to stay in within contention the entire season due to improved pitching and bring in solid veteran Kevin Millwood to start. They get what basically equates to a gimme series playing against an Orioles team that has given up on the season.....how they got onto TV for a September game is beyond me. They start 22-year old Brian Matusz who has an OK win-loss record (3-2) but hasn't really pitched that well......to display Exhibit 3,478 on this team giving up on the season......Matusz has been a rotation regular despite pitching in Single-A as late as June.

Giants vs. Brewers [The Brewers series preview will get posted later today] Saturday-FOX

Tigers [Jackson] vs. Rays [Sonnanstine] --Sunday TBS =3.5

Probably the best match-up out of an overall uninspiring pack of games. The Tigers send Edwin Jackson to the mound to face his old team. Jackson has been a big reason why the Tigers are in first-place and played significantly better than expected. The Rays (who probably shouldn't have traded him straight up for 11 games and 37 mediocre Matt Joyce at-bats) counter's with Andy Sonnanstine who is having a terrible season (69 ERA+)......The Rays are quickly fading from the Wild Card race and can only be wondering what if they didn't trade Jackson in the off-season.....well they did and they're not better off for it.

Padres [Stauffer] vs. Dodgers [TBA] = 1

Two teams.....two hours apart.....two contrasting places in the standings. The Padres start Tim Stauffer who despite being the #4 pick in the 2003 draft.....hasn't played well enough overall to justify such a high pick. However, he has pitched better this season [3-6 3.76 era 100 ERA+] and looks like he may be a pitcher to watch out for in 2010. The Dodgers have yet to announce who's starting the Sunday night game....but regardless of who it is the Dodgers are likely to win this one easily. For them, this is basically a gimme series against a lesser-talented team.

Well that's the baseball on TV on tap for labor day weekend. Like I said not the most inspiring-but it's a three day weekend and it gives off a calm before the storm vibe.

The (Late) Weekend Preview

Well , it's coming a day later than usual.....but the weekend preview is here....as always games are ranked on a scale of 1-5.....and with that.....let the games begiiiiiin

Dodgers [Haeger] vs. Reds [Maloney] Saturday FOX =2

These teams have had very opposite seasons. Despite their recent struggles, the Dodgers are still the team to beat in the NL West and start the weekend with a 4-game lead. The start knuckleballer Charlie Haeger who pitched very impressively last weekend against the Cubs, getting his first win of the season. The Reds [despite their sweep of the Brewers] are still a team going nowhere and nowhere fast....despite playing well enough to be within striking distance in the first half of the season....they still sit a whopping 16 games under .500.....they counter with rookie Matt Maloney who is making his fourth start and still seeking his first ML win...thus far his closest claim to ML fame was being traded for Kyle Lohse in 2007.....another fun fact is if you look up Matt Maloney on wikipedia it defaults to the ex-Houston Rocket of the same name.....

Mets [Parnell] vs. Cubs [Dempster] =2---Saturday FOX

A match-up between two teams who have played worse than expected this year. The Mets have been decimated by injuries and start Bobby Parnell who has pitched primarily in the bullpen this year. The Cubs counter with Ryan Dempster.....who has regressed back to his career averages...not the best way to follow-up a career year and the ensuing contract extension.....

Rays [Price] vs. Tigers [Robertson] =3.5 Saturday FOX

Not the most exciting match-up...but it gets bumped up a point since there are playoff implications. The Rays are sitting 3 1/2 games out of the wild-card starts David Price. The Tigers are up 4 games in the AL Central and they are giving Nate Robertson his first start of the season...

Giants [Zito] vs. Rockies [Marquis]---Saturday MLB Network =4

Easily the best game on TV this weekend. The Giants and Rockies are in a battle for the wild card spot. As of this writing, the Rockies are up 3 games. It will take a lot to out-do the series they had last week culminating in a 14th inning grand slam.

White Sox [Garcia] vs. Yankees [Chamberlain] = 2 Sunday TBS

This game gets a point knocked off because the Yankees are involved. The White Sox despite struggling this year are still only 4 games behind the Tigers. They trot-out injury prone Freddy Garcia who is making his 3rd start of the season. The Yankees trot out Joba Chamberlain.....who is definitely gets more hype/publication than than he would if he didn't play in New York.....but hey not if you lead the league in hit batsmen....well i can't think of anything else significant he's done this year

Braves [Jurrjens] vs. Phillies [Blanton] = 3.5 Sunday ESPN

A Solid NL-East battle to finish off the weekend. The Braves bring in start Jurrjens who has pitched much better than his 10-8 record. The Phillies counter with Joe Blanton...a very prototypical mid-rotation pitcher....the Braves need to take at least 2 of 3 this weekend as they are sitting 7 back in the NL East and need to go on a tear to make a deeper impact on the wild card..........

Weekend Preview: The Races heat up

Another weekend is upon us and thus another full slate of ballgames on the tube....as always games are rated on a scale from 1-5 based on the completeness of the match-ups plus any arbitrary standards i decide to apply.......and let the games begin!!!!!!!!


Saturday [FOX National]

Rangers [Millwood] vs. Angels [Weaver] =4

Strong AL West match-up. The Angels as expected are slowly but surely asserting themselves at the top of the AL West. The Rangers have been better than expected and are still in contention [though they are slowly but surely fading from the top]....A good pitching match-up between the veteran Kevin Millwood is finally having a season that somewhat justifies his large contract.....Jerad Weaver is having another solid season in LA of Anaheim......Angels win this one pretty easily

Red Sox [Bucholz] vs. Yankees [Sabathia] =5 for red sox fans, yankees fans and ESPN.........1 for everyone else

I refuse to give a red sox-yankees game a higher overall match up unless they are playing in the playoffs......as much as I hate the Yankees, C.C Sabathia is still the man and Clay Bucholz is likely to continue his 2009 struggles pitching at Yankee Stadium

Cubs [Dempster] vs. Rockies [Marquis] =3.5

This game got an extra 1/2 point tacked on due to play-off implications. The Cubs are fighting the Cards for the top NL Central spot and have Ryan Dempster who has regressed from his career year (after signing a lucrative extension) pitching in this one. The Rockies have Jason Marquis who has pitched a lot better than expected for them.....the Rockies have more of a need to win this series since it's going to take a lot more to win the NL Wild Card than to win the NL Central........i'm picking them based on that and I have no legitimate reason to dislike the Rockies

Sunday [TBS] Twins [TBD] vs. Tigers [TBD] =3.5

Two mediocre teams fighting for the AL Central division title. The Tigers have rebounded from a disastrous 2008 by slightly pulling ahead of the pack in their division. Despite not playing that well, the Twins are lurking at 4.5 games out of first and could possibly take the division if they got hot for a few weeks.....Not sure why but I think the Twins will win this one

Sunday [ESPN]

Red Sox [Lester] vs. Yankees [Pettite] = see above

Another arbitrary pick due to how little I care about Red Sox-Yankees regular season games (since they're shown more often than everybody loves raymond reruns)......Lester has beaten cancer and thrown a no-hitter.....Pettite pitches for the Yankees and used to be Roger Clemens' BFF........Red Sox win this in a blow-out

The Weekend Ahead: Unlikely to top Buerhle

Before I get started on the weekend preview I would like to take some space to congratulate Mark Buerhle on his perfect game and DeWayne Wise for making this catch

With that said lets the games begin.........

As always games are rated from 1 to 5 with 1 being borderline-unwatchable and 5 being must-see tv.....i've also added a new feature to this the expect/don't expect a good game out of feature......these predictions are based off of players career numbers against the starting pitchers....this info is found on baseball-reference.com


Saturday---FOX

Cardinals (Lohse) vs. Phillies (Lopez) =3.5

Possible playoff preview as both teams are in first place. This game is definitely more important for the Cards than the Phils since they have the Brew Crew, Astros and Cubs are chomping at the bit for their spot at the top while the Phils have gotten a comfortable distance from the rest of the NL East.......Rodrigo Lopez has been pitching suprisingly well this year and provided he's able to pitch around Pujols the Phils should win this one

Expect a good game out of: Ryan Howard
Don't expect a good game out of: Jimmy Rollins

Twins (Blackburn) vs. Angels (TBD)= 3.5

Another possible (but not) likely playoff preview. Blackburn is having a nice year but he has two things going against him. 1) The Angels are the better team 2) The Angels hit very well against Blackburn

Expect a good game out of: Chone Figgins
Don't expect a good game out of Nick Blackburn

White Sox (Floyd) vs. Tigers (Jackson) =4

This is bound to be a good game. Both teams come into this weekend tied for 1st place with each other....I could easily see either team winning....the Tigers because they always have a chance to win with Edwin Jackson winning but i'm picking the White Sox here since I see them carrying the momentum from Buerhle's perfect game through at least the weekend.

Expect a good game out of: Jim Thome
Don't expect a good game out of: Miguel Cabrera

Saturday night MLB Network--

Giants (Sanchez) vs. Rockies (De La Rosa)= 4

Another close intense match-up. The Rockies currently lead the Giants in the wild card by a game so this series could be the difference between the playoffs and no playoffs this year. This one could go either way because I don't like Jorge de la Rosa (having a 6.23 ERA in 61 career games for the Brewers will do that)

Expect a good game out of: Chris Ianneta
Don't Expect a good game out of: Aaron Rowand

Sunday TBS

Phillies (Blanton) vs. Cardinals (Wellemeyer) =3

Decent match-up......possible play-off preview....Phils win this one

Expect a good game out of: Mark DeRosa
Don't Expect a good game out of: Jimmy Rollins

Sunday Night Baseball

White Sox (Danks) vs. Tigers (Porcello) =4

Good Pitching Match-Up....Two teams fighting for first.....couldn't ask for too much more...if it was later in the season this would have been bumped to a 4.5 or 5....Sox win this one

Expect a good game out of: Magglio Ordonez
Don't expect a good game out of: Curtis Granderson

Weekend Preview: Start of the second half

Well, the all-star break is over (thankfully) and the second part of this exciting baseball season is upon us. Also, the weekend is upon us which means another preview of all of the exciting (and not so exciting) action....as always the games are rated from 1 to 5 as follows

1=take a nap
2=if you got nothing better to do
3=worth at least a look
4=pretty compelling match up
5=must-see

Saturday:

Mets (Santana) vs. Braves (Kawakami) =3

First match up between these two teams since they consummated the epic Church for Francoeur trade. The Mets have their ace Johan Santana pitching for them against Kawakami who sometimes pitches like an ace....Both teams have underachieved this year (especially the Mets) and both teams need to get hot.....like now if they're going to have any legitimate post-season hopes....the Mets might be the more dysfunctional team but Santana will get them a win in this one

Orioles (Guthrie) vs. White Sox (Danks) =2

Decent pitching match-up, two pretty uninspiring teams. The O's have the pieces together to contend.....in a couple of years.....the White Sox still have a chance despite a mediocre first half as they are 3 1/2 back in a weak AL central. The Sox have the better team and better starter going Saturday...which means they'll win this one easily

Angels (Weaver) vs. Athletics (Mazzaro) =1

Hmm...first place team with their best pitcher going or some no-name pitcher on a last place team that will get even less attention and be worse once they inevitably trade Matt Holliday.....Angels in a blow out

Twins (Baker) vs. Rangers (Feldman)=2

A game with two teams who are quietly in contention. Both teams are solid, not too inspiring and are likely to fade from the pennant race at some point during the summer. Rangers win this one and hold off their fade for another day.

Sunday

Tigers (Verlander) vs. Yankees (TBD) =3.5

Possible play-off preview. Would have been rated higher but the Yankees are on more often than Every Loves Raymond reruns...which makes this a not as compelling match-up. This Tigers are surprisingly in first-place this year and having Justin Verlander as a staff ace helps this along. I usually rank Yankees games lower by default but Verlander alone is worth watching at least part of this game. The Tigers get one step closer to winning the title in this one and the Yankees loosen their grip on the wild card lead.

Mets (Nieve) vs. Braves (Vasquez) =2.5

Uninspiring match-up between two uninspiring teams. Javier Vasquez has been quietly dominant this year (he's been way better than his 6-7 record indicates) .....I see him having no trouble with the Mets depleted lineup....wouldn't be surprised if he completely dominates this game.

Handicapping the 33rd Man Competition: AL Version

Today was the day where all-star rosters were announced for both the american and national leagues. Also, the voting on MLB.com was opened up for who gets the last spot on each all star team. It is a nice gesture to add another deserving player to the all-star exhibition game.

Tonight I am handicapping the AL Vote going from who is least deserving to who is most deserving....

Chone Figgins .316/.392/.410 110 OPS+

Alright so he can steal some bases and he is a gritty player. He strikes me more as an intangibles guy but not a player that screams superstar. He's always struck me as a slightly more talented version of David Eckstein. Point being gritty (i.e. non-superstar) players may be good as a teammate but not what I would immediately associate an all-star label with.

Carlos Pena .233/.365/.540 131 OPS+

Another good player but just not good enough to be an all-star. This guy is the american league version of Adam Dunn in that he is one of the better 3TO (three true outcomes types player) while a Pena selection would mean possibly seeing him in the home run derby.....I would prefer an all-star selection to not have a part of their game stick out like a sore-eye. The batting average is the offending area. While I generally place more emphasis on money-ball type stats (i.e. OPS,OBS, OPS+, etc.) than batting average, when your 86th out of 95 qualified players in a certain statistic and are doing worse than players such as gerald laird, chris getz and david dejesus..........you are definitely not an all-star

Ian Kinsler .256/.333/.50o OPS+ 116

I will concede that he is one of the better power hitting second baseman in the bigs. But then again, isn't that almost a prerequisite for playing for the Texas Rangers? He's on pace to obliberate his career-high in homers. However, in his peripherals (especially batting average and ops) he seems to have regressed from last season. Being an all-star....I would rather see players recognized who have maintained or improved from prior years.

Brandon Inge .269/.363/.505 OPS +124

On the subject of improved players, Brandon Inge has seemed to put things together this year. He's had a fairly pedestrian career, endured a few position changes and for all intensive purposes is in the middle of a breakout year. Has career prior to this year has been so non-star that amongst his 10 similar players hitting wise are players such as joe oliver, greg myers and gregg zaun.

All i've got to say is ouuuch. However, this involves what these players have done this year and just like the Tigers, he has played much better than expected.....I actually did struggle between making him the most worthy 33-rd man but he got overshadowed (albeit barely) by the most-worthy 33rd man..........

Adam Lind .309/.384/.553 OPS +144

Lind is one of those players having a break-out season even if nobody is really even noticing. It's tough to notice any of the flaws that undermine the chances of others.......he's not a "scrappy" player that just isn't overly exciting, he doesn't rank near the bottom of any commonly-used statistical category. He's definitely improved more than any of the other aforementioned players (even Inge who deserves recognition for his break-out). Breaking it down, he's simply having the best season out of the five candidates and will most likely be the best of the bunch several years down the road. When it comes down to it he's hitting for good average, good power and considering his 26th birthday isn't for another couple of weeks this guy has the potential to get even better and become a perennial all-star.....in other words, the type of player that the All-Star Game recognizes......all he has to worry about is getting recognition playing in Toronto

Weekend games on tap

So, the 4th of July weekend is upon us and with it the second weekly weekend TV sports preview.

The games will be rated from 1-5 based on watchability:

1= nap time

2= back ground noise

3= ok if you have nothing better to do

4= pretty compelling game

5= must see

And now.....let's play some ball.....

Saturday FOX Regional Coverage

Mets (Nieve) vs. Phillies (Moyer)= 3.5

While neither of these teams are great, this NL East match-up should still be good. The defending World Series Champion Phils are hanging on to the divison lead by the skin of their teeth and the two-time defending champion choke artist Mets are sitting at third place, a game and a half out of first. The Mets have Nieve, who has pitched suprisingly well since being picked up from Houston. The Phillies are countering with the oldest active MLB player Jamie Moyer. 

A good matchup of contrasts in a fairly meaningful (for an early July game) 

Pick: Phils over Mets

Tigers (Jackson) vs. Twins (Liriano)= 3

Another compelling divisional matchup. Currently, the Tigers lead both the Sox and Twins by 3 games. Both the Tigers and Jackson have been playing surprisingly well this season while being largely ignored. The Twins have Liriano going. This would have been a must-see match up if it was 2006. However, Liriano has struggled with injuries and on field performance in the last couple years. He has pitched better lately winning his last couple starts. I see Liriano's winning streak continuing and the Twins pulling out the victory

Dodgers (Wolf) vs. Padres (Geer)= 4

If this was any other weekend, this game would be fairly meaningless and gotten either a 1 or 2. However, this is not any other weekend. This will be the second game after Manny Ramirez returns from his 50-game suspension. The only reason to really watch this game is to see if Manny plays well even after his long layoff. Also, anytime there is a possibility of a Manny being Manny moment makes for interesting television. The Dodgers have proven the ability to play well either way.....the Dodgers win this one in a laugher.

Saturday Night MLB game:

Rays (Price) vs. Rangers (Holland)= 2.5

Both of these teams have legitimate post-season hopes as at least wild-cards. If this was a September game, this game would get a higher rating.

The only really compelling aspect of this game is David Price pitching. He's still young and finding his way but he has proven (so-far) to be worth the hype and high draft pick. Otherwise, not too much of a reason to watch this game. Rays over Rangers

Sunday TBS Game:

Brewers (Burns) vs. Cubs (Lilly)= 5(fans of either team) 3.5 for everyone else

This rivalry has escalated in intensity in the last few years. As it stands right now, the Cubs are 2.5 back of the Brewers. The Brewers have Burns starting. He's in the rotation due to the rash of injuries and ineffectiveness that has plagued the Brewers rotation. He's probably only in the rotation for the short term but if he pitches as well as he did on Tuesday on a consistent basis he could around longer than expected.

On Tuesday, he outpitched Johan Santana and only gave up 2 runs in 6 1/3. The Cubs have Ted Lilly going for them. He's quietly put up a solid season with a 131 ERA+. This should be a pretty close match-up coming down to the bullpen......Brewers win 

Sunday night ESPN

Rays (Niemann) vs. Rangers (Feldman)=2

Tough to get too excited over this match-up. The teams aren't that bad but aren't that exciting either.....Rangers win this one.

 Thursday pick of the day: Angels over Orioles

Some Baseball, Some Basketball with a side of onion

Some observations of note:

Well, Scott Boras is up to his greedy ways.............again. MLB Notebook is reporting that Scott

Boras' client Magglio Ordonez got benched and he is not too happy about it. Mostly this article talks about  Boras being upset that this move may cost Boras/Ordonez some precious  millions and in general crying foul......my take on this situation is very similar to the views expressed in this article

Well here we go again.....Scott Boras is definitely one of the most greedy-sleazy-self absorbed agents in baseball...it does not shock me at all that he is pulling a stunt like this.....i'm curious to see how much money he extracts out of future draft-bust Stephen Strasburg....if/when I do a post about people/things that are bad for baseball he's definitely going to be number 1.

USA Today is reporting that Yao Ming views rumors of him being traded to Cleveland as an unknown.

The article discusses how the rumor has grown since some Chinese investors became minority owners of the Cavs.......This is a move Cleveland needs to make on many fronts. The article discusses the marketing benefits which I won't discuss to avoid redundancy. On a basketball front it would also be epic. Getting Yao makes more sense than getting Shaq while there are injury concerns with Yao,  Yao is actually known more from his on-court production than his twitter account these days. Also having Yao at center would immensly improve Cleveland's chances of winning series against teams with dominant big men (i.e Yao vs. Howard would have been epic) and Yao would have been enough to at least make the finals and possibly give the city of Cleveland a championship.

Also getting someone of Yao's caliber would be a major sign to LeBron that the Cavs are serious about putting together a championship-caliber team and thus give them a better chance to keep LeBron past the summer of 10'

On a Lighter Note: Reason 36 why the Cubs will not win the world series this year

Streak for the cash pick of the day:

Blue Jays 7

Expos 2