Hey Guess What? Tiger's Back!

I'm not sure if you knew this but Tiger Woods is making his long awaited return to the golf course tomorrow to compete in a little tournament called The Masters. As if he needed any more attention, Nike made sure he got it by putting out this commercial/viral video of Tiger, take a look:





As Nike hoped, this video has gotten a lot of attention, some like it and some not so much, but put me down for the crowd that loves it. But I love it more for Tiger than for Nike and here's why. Tiger clearly had to approve of this ad before it was shot and he willingly allowed Nike to address his infidelity. This ad also goes a long way in showing the public that he knows he messed up and he is trying to correct his problem. 

Nike is one of the few companies to stand by Woods through this mess and showed their continue support by running this ad. They aren't trying to sell anything in this ad, they're simply showing Woods standing there with an audio clip from his father. If they are selling anything, it's Tiger as human being who is trying to come right his wrongs.

The big buzz though comes from Tiger playing golf again starting tomorrow.  I for one believe he has a shot at winning this weekend or else he would not have come back. Unfortunately for Woods, every move he makes is going to be scrutinized by the media (It's already started) but hopefully he blocks it out and goes out there and plays golf the way so many people remember and the way that has dominated the game since he started playing.

If Woods does win this weekend you should start to see Tiger gaining sponsorships again, simply because winning sells. Golf has a very sophisticated audience and companies who sell products intended for the golf demographic will need someone to sell their product. Let's be honest, would you rather have Woods or someone like Steve Stricker as your spokesmen? Clearly Woods is the choice, he's the reason so many people tuned into golf tournaments on the weekends before his transgressions and he's also the reason people will watch golf now. If Woods is winning the other winners are going to be the competitors to the companies that dropped Tiger as their spokesman over the winter. 

When it comes down to it, a lot of people have said some incredibly awful things about Woods and if Karma does exist, we'll see it in full force on Sunday when Tiger dons the Green Jacket.

Things I'm looking forward to this Baseball season

The Red Sox and Yankees just finished up the first game of the 2010 season and while I usually dislike watching this rivalry, it was the first baseball game of the year. Watching this game got me thinking of the national storylines that I'm looking forward to the most.

The very first storyline I'm looking forward to is the debuts of Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman. Both of these guys look to be future studs in this game and I'm excited to see what they have against top notch MLB talent. Strasburg is carrying the future of the Nationals on his back, but he looks to be unhittable at times and I know I'll be watching Nationals games when he is starting this season. Chapman had a good Spring and made him an intriguing player to watch this season, as long as Dusty Baker doesn't destroy his arm.

Jason Heyward, simply because he is getting so much hype. I really want to see how good this kid is. I've heard all the hype of him being compared to Albert Pujols and hitting moon shots that land in parking lots, but I really want to see him with my own eyes. I'm really excited to see what he has and I hope I'm not disappointed.

Target Field. The Twins are opening up a new stadium this year and I want to see how they handle the move. The HHH Dome was always good for a few extra wins whether it was piped in crowd noise, the bounces the Twins got off the turf, or even opposing outfielders losing fly balls in the ceiling. The offense definitely has the power and speed to be successful wherever they play, but I'm interested to see if the Twins lose some of their edge when they lose the certain home dome advantage that the Metrodome brought them.

The Rays. I talked about this in the AL East preview, but the Rays are in an interesting situation this season. They could possibly (probably will) lose Carl Crawford and Carlos Peña in the offseason so if the Rays struggle out of the gate, will the Rays front office try to trade Crawford and/or Peña to try to get something for them before they bolt for big pay days? It's definitely something to keep an eye on if the Rays struggle early in the difficult AL East.

My last storyline has to deal with the Texas Rangers. They have had the offense of a contender for some time now, they just lacked the pitching. Well it seems as if they may have the pitching to compete and the talent to surprise some people who are convinced the Mariners are going to win the AL West. Some are saying Ron Washington is on the hot seat in Texas, but his players seem to genuinely enjoy playing for him and I'm looking for them to rally around their skipper and win the AL West this season.

The one thing I don't want to see this year is a player get busted for taking some sort of PEDs. Not because it's bad for the game, but because the media runs with it and makes a huge deal out of it and I'm just burnt out on steroid talk. Here's to a great 2010 baseball season full of exciting moments that can be enjoyed by all baseball fans.

2010 MLB Predictions

Since I've finished the AL Previews for the season, it's time to make my predictions for the NL as well as the playoffs and some awards.

To recap my AL Division winners, I have: Texas Rangers (AL West), Chicago White Sox (AL Central), and New York Yankees (AL East). My AL Wild Card is going to be the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are going to play inspired baseball I think, mostly because they're going to likely lose Carl Crawford and Carlos Peña in the off-season.

NL West: Colorado Rockies.  It's going to be a tight race between Colorado, LA, and San Francisco but I like the Rockies. I think the Rockies are the most balanced team out of the three with solid pitching and a good mix offensively with speed and power.

NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals. Having Wainwright and Carpenter at the top of the rotation is certainly a reason why they'll contend in '10 but it also doesn't hurt to pair Matt Holliday with Albert Pujols.

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies. They have one of the top lineups in baseball and couple that with a rotation that includes Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, they're the favorites to win the pennant for a reason.

NL Wild Card: San Francisco Giants. One of the best, if not the best rotation in baseball finally has some offense behind it. But this will be the more intriguing Wild Card race this year, I could see any of the following teams winning the Wild Card: Giants, Dodgers, Braves, Brewers, Cubs, or Reds.

Playoff Predictions
ALDS
Yankees over Rangers
White Sox over Rays

NLDS
Giants over Phillies
Cardinals over Rockies

ALCS
Yankees over White Sox

NLCS
Cardinals over Giants

World Series
Cardinals over Yankees

MVP and Cy Young Predictions

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira (Yankees)
NL MVP: Albert Pujols (Cardinals)

AL Cy Young: Jake Peavy (White Sox)
NL Cy Young: Adam Wainwright (Cardinals)

Breaking Down My Fantasy Baseball Draft

With the Blackhawks struggling (I still believe, but it's a little frustrating right now), I've focused more of my energy towards baseball as Opening Night is Sunday and Opening Day the following day. And with Opening Day marking the start of the baseball season, the fantasy season also kicks off. We had our draft about 10 days ago and I wanted to take this time to go through my draft  and take a look where I reached for players and why I took other players. The league is an 11 team league 5x5 scoring but OBP is a category instead of batting average. So let's take a look at who will be manning "Where my Pitches at?" this season

Round 1: Hanley Ramirez SS. I had the second pick of the draft so Ramirez was the no-brainer pick once Pujols was taken off the board. Shortstop isn't the shallowest position this year in my opinion but there obviously isn't a player like Ramirez. He's a player that contributes to all five categories, and was probably the easiest pick I had to make in the draft.

Round 2: Pablo Sandoval 3B. As I mentioned in the intro, I was going to talk about players I reached for and I think Sandoval could arguably fall into that category. The only reason I don't think it was a reach to grab him is because 3B is very shallow depth wise from a traditional offensive standpoint. Others could argue that it was a reach because Ryan Zimmerman was still on the board when I made the selection but I think Sandoval has better protection around him in the lineup and he'll put up very similar numbers to Zimmerman.

Round 3: Kendry Morales 1B. I'll be honest, I'm not thrilled with this pick, just because Morales basically came out of no where to put up such insane numbers that there is a fairly big question mark on whether he can put up those type of numbers consistently. I'm expecting some kind of drop off from last season but I still think he could put up impressive numbers.

Round 4: Ubaldo Jiménez SP. Preparing for the draft beforehand it was clear that pitching would be valuable as 10 of the top 15 pitchers were being kept from the previous year. So with that in mind I thought it's time to nab a starter and Jiménez was my choice. Being a strike out pitcher is almost a most pitching in Coors field but he also won 15 games last year as well as posted an ERA of 3.47. I think his ERA rises a little bit but there's no reason to suggest he can't win 15 games again and post similar strikeout numbers.

Round 5: Félix Hernández SP. As I mentioned, a lot of the top pitchers were kept going into the draft and Hernández was my keeper. There isn't much to say about Hernández that isn't already known.

Round 6: Torii Hunter OF. I'll admit it, I was scrambling when my pick came up at this point, and that's because I targeted Gordon Beckham this round and he was snatched up just before my pick came up. I wasn't thrilled with this pick at first (because I was sulking at not getting Beckham) but after the draft I figured that Hunter could put up similar numbers to Beckham. Hunter missed some time last season but he'll be hitting third in the Angels lineup so I expect an increase in home runs and RBI as well as some more stolen bases for Hunter.

Round 7: Joakim Soria RP. Last year I experimented with drafting closers late and while I don't think it hurt me too badly, it was nerve-racking monitoring the waiver wire all the time looking for new closers to grab. So I determined I wouldn't go through that again and decided to grab quality closers this year and Soria is about as high quality as it gets.

Round 8: Jake Peavy SP. Sticking with my pitching theme, Jake Peavy seems like a quality pick. He was grossly underrated in my opinion, but based on the three starts he made at the end of the season for the White Sox was simply dominate. He's only 28 and I believe he's going to make a run for the Cy Young this year.

Round 9: Michael Cuddyer OF/1B. When I was looking at Cuddyer's numbers I was shockingly surprised. When you think Minnesota Twins, you think of a team that dinks and dunks offensively, but Cuddyer had 32 home runs and 94 RBI last season. Those types of numbers are welcomed with open arms on my team.

Round 10: Adam Jones OF. Another keeper pick for my team, Jones is going to break out in a big way this year. He experienced some time on the DL last year so the health is a little bit of a concern but he has a great mix of speed and power.

Round 11: Edwin Jackson SP. Jackson had a very solid 2009 for the Detroit Tigers but was sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the offseason. The move the NL offsets any of the concerns I had about moving form a cozy pitcher's park to a hitter's park and I think he'll post up similar numbers to last season.

Round 12: Billy Wagner RP.  I think Wagner is fully healthy and ready to make an impact again closing games. He's reportedly hitting triple digits on the radar gun this spring and has been extremely effective as well.

Round 13: Andre Ethier OF. My last keeper of the draft is Ethier and I expect big things from him this year. I think he can duplicate his 30 homer 100 RBI performance but I'd also like to see about 3-5 more stolen bases from him

Round 14: Jorge De La Rosa SP. With a cap on the number of innings a team's staff can have, finding guys who just wins was important and that's De La Rosa. The Rockies are a good team with a good offense that can help out their pitchers. Will De La Rosa win 16 games again? Probably not, but he should be able to win double digit games and being my #4 starter, that's all I ask for.

Round 15: José Lopez 2B. Lopez is that prototypical all or nothing type of hitter, he'll help me out with home runs and RBI but he'll absolutely destroy my OBP and doesn't provide many runs or stolen bases.\

Round 16 & 17: Trevor Hoffman and Bobby Jenks. I'm putting these rounds together because it's the same position in back-to-back rounds. Hoffman and Jenks round out my relievers and I feel very happy with these four closers. Jenks had an injury scare this spring but has bounced back and seems to have recaptured that magic he had in the beginning of 2009. I'm counting on Hoffman's changeup to continue to deceive hitters.

Round 18: Jorge Posada C. Surprisingly, catcher seemed to be a pretty deep position this year. I was able to wait this long and I still had choices between Posada and A.J. Pierzynski. I went with Posada because of the impressive power numbers and OBP he put up last season.

Round 19 and 20: Tim Hudson and Bronson Arroyo. I made these two picks to fill out my rotation. After a little bit more research, Tim Hudson may be the steal of the draft. He's 3-1 this spring with a 1.35 ERA and 17 K's in 20 innings. He looks to be fully healthy after arm surgery and could be an extremely valuable piece this season. Arroyo was pretty much just filler for my rotation and I'll probably not even pitch him his first time through the rotation just to take inventory of what I have in him.

Overall, the draft didn't go how I planned but I still came out with a team that I like. I think my team lacks stolen bases and it's an area I'm looking to address as well as OBP and Runs. From previous years, the teams I draft usually aren't the same guys that finish the season with me.

Slumping Blackhawks, Where Have I Seen This Before?

So the Chicago Blackhawks dropped their third game in a row tonight, this time to the St. Louis Blues. After the loss, my Facebook and Twitter accounts were filled with the typical Chicago sports fan who is convinced this team is doomed. Well you know what? I'm not on the bandwagon and I don't plan on ever joining that bandwagon. Listen, this team is already in the playoffs, a sense of entitlement has set in amongst this team it seems like and no matter how bad it is effecting their performance I believe they'll bounce back.

There's no getting around the fact that the Hawks are seemingly uninspired to be playing right now, but that doesn't mean they aren't concerned. The same feeling was sensed in 2005 when the White Sox hit a slump after the All-Star break and many claimed them to be dead. Right before the playoffs hit for the White Sox that year, something clicked and they started playing similar to the way earlier in the season when they held a lead in the first 30 some games of the season. They reeled off an 11-1 postseason record including four consecutive complete game gems from the pitching staff in the ALCS. There are still seven games for the Blackhawks before the playoffs begin, that's plenty of time to refocus and re-energize and get back to the high flying, puck possession style that have the Hawks already locked into the playoffs.

The positive to take from tonight's game is simply the Hawks showed flashes of their old selves in the first period, and they brought a lot of energy to that period. Now it's time to build on that effort and sustain it for an entire 60 minutes (or maybe 40 since the Blackhawks don't like playing the 2nd period for whatever reason). They just need that one moment to close out the season that says they're back, similar to Joe Crede's walk-off home run against the Cleveland Indians on September 20, 2005.

There's no denying the Hawks are a very talented team, much more talented than the Sox were in 2005, so this is clearly a mental hurdle that needs to be cleared and all I'm saying is there is still time to get everything right mentally and get ready for the playoffs. To put it in a phrase: Don't Stop Believin'

AL East Preview

The AL Preview wraps up with what is likely the best division in baseball, the AL East. As always I'll highlight a new addition, a key player, and a player that may break out this season, and wrap it up with a prediction. Teams appear in order of expected finish.

New York Yankees

Same Face, New Place: Curtis Granderson. Granderson was traded to the Yankees in the off-season and simply put, the rich got richer. Granderson will certainly take advantage of the short porch in right field, maybe even more than Johnny Damon did last season. I don't see him hitting leadoff this season with Derek Jeter still on the team, but Granderson's increase in power signals that he may be better suited to hit either second in the lineup or further down in the six or seven spot.

Key Player: Javier Vazquez. When the playoffs came around last October, the Yankees took full advantage of the all the off-days, using only three starters throughout the course of the post season. This season, the playoff schedule will be fixed to prevent that and the Yankees will need a fourth starter to defend its World Series title. Right now Vazquez is that guy and unfortunately for the Yankees, when the pressure is high, Vazquez usually hides. If the Yankees want to repeat, they'll need Vazquez to step up when it counts.

Player to Watch: Brett Gardener. With the Yankees, the team is so full of established players that Gardener is the only player that baseball fans might not know a lot about. He had a fairly good season last year in a limited role (248 AB), and he'll get a chance to claim left field full time. If he does, I can very easily see him breaking out in a big way, he did steal 26 bases last season so if he gets a full season's worth of at-bats, he could steal a ton of bases and creating more opportunities for the power hitters at the top of the Yankees lineup.

Final Verdict: The Yankees have such a deep team and it's very hard to find any holes with this team. The pitching is good as long as Vazquez is kept out of high pressure situations, the bullpen is solid with Rivera and either Hughes or Chamberlain setting him up. The lineup is just full of power hitters and are dangerous 1-9. They should win the division and the only question is will this team win 100 games?

Tampa Bay Rays

Same Face, New Place: Rafael Soriano. Soriano comes over from the Braves to be the closer for the Rays this season. A great move for the Rays as they finally have a reliable closer to finish games (I know Troy Percival all too well, but that's another story). This move also gives everyone in the bullpen an assigned role and that seems to be effective in having a solid bullpen because everyone then knows their role and are comfortable in what they're doing.

Key Player: Pat Burrell. Burrell is in year two with the Rays and the Rays are hoping that he bounces back from a poor 2009. The Rays don't need a ton of help on offense but to get the normal averages from Burrell are obviously wanted on any baseball team and can really solidify the middle of the Rays order.

Player to Watch: Wade Davis. This 24-year old pitcher is slotted to be the #5 starter for the Rays this season after making an impressive big league debut late last season. Davis has a solid fastball and 3 secondary pitches to choose from. Being in the fifth spot in the rotation is a real luxury for a hot prospect because the pressure isn't there because he won't be facing off against the CC Sabathias and Josh Becketts of the world every time out there. Scouting reports say Davis' mound presence is a real asset and confidence is something Davis will have when he faces the lineups of the Red Sox or Yankees.

Final Verdict: The Rays are likely going into this season with the belief that this is the last season where they have both Carl Crawford and Carlos Peña who will both be free agents next season. With that in the minds of the team, and the obvious talent that this team has they'll be a dangerous team this year. The pitching is deep from James Shields down to Davis, the bullpen will be solid with defined roles for everyone, and the offense will be balanced with power from the middle of the lineup and speed and contact from everyone else.

Boston Red Sox

Same Face, New Place: Mike Cameron. Cameron has been everything that consistency stands for. He posted his fourth straight season of 20+ home runs and is also a dependable center fielder. An outfield with Cameron and Ellsbury is a sound defensive outfield and allows Cameron to shade more to right field to cover some of the ground of J.D. Drew. 

Key Player: David Ortiz. Ortiz experienced a rough first half to 2009 but bounced back in a huge way in the second half and finished with 28 home runs and 99 RBI. His abysmal first half really hurt his AVG/OBP/OPS numbers which is why statheads are down on him, but he'll have to have a full year similar to his second half if the Red Sox want to do well.

Player to Watch: Daniel Bard. Bard is the closer-in-waiting for the Red Sox and will force the Red Sox to make a decision on Jonathan Papelbon and they'll be comfortable letting Papelbon go if Bard has a good season this year. If Bard struggles, I won't be surprised to see Papelbon kept and to keep Bard in a middle receiver role.

Final Verdict: The Red Sox have as good of pitching as any team in baseball. The rotation gives Boston a chance to win every night and the bullpen will give Francona many options to shorten the game. The real question is the lineup. Yes, in the age of sabermetrics the Red Sox have a good lineup, but in baseball sense they lack that one hitter that strikes fear into opposing pitchers (The Yankees have their entire lineup essentially, the Rays have Longoria and Peña). I think that lack of power will hurt the Red Sox but no matter how you look at it Boston, Tampa, and New York will be battling for 2 playoff spots all season.

Baltimore Orioles

Same Face, New Place: Kevin Millwood. Millwood is coming to Baltimore to be at the top of the Orioles rotation. Millwood is coming over after a fairly successful stint in Texas where the ballpark is more of a launching pad for home runs. If he can continue that success in Baltimore as well as mentor the young pitching prospects that will be in the rotation with him, he'll be a success for the Orioles.

Key Player: Adam Jones. Jones makes up the core of the Orioles future along with Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis so he'll have to take yet another step forward if the Orioles ever want to compete in the AL East. Jones had a very productive year last year where he hit .277 with a .335 OBP, and .792 OPS. He did miss most of the end of the season so those numbers should realistically continue to climb as well as his power numbers and stolen base numbers. He could become the most lethal threat out of the Orioles big three with the ability to hit for power and steal bases, but he'll need to stay healthy to continue to develop.

Player to Watch: Brian Matusz. Matusz is just one of the Orioles top pitching prospects and he's on the verge of breaking out. I'd argue he is the Oriole's best pitching prospect but there is an argument that could be made for Brad Bergesen.  Last season Matusz won 5 games while striking out 38 over just 44.2 innings. Couple that with his impressive Spring of a 3.10 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 20.1 innings, he seems poised to become a household name this year. Granted he will have to face the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox it may not be an easy journey for him to make.

Final Verdict: The Orioles are in a really tough spot playing in the AL East. They have a team on paper that I would say could compete in either the AL Central or AL West but having to play the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox so many times isn't a recipe for a successful season when your team is so young. Offensively, the O's have different ways of attacking either with the long ball or hitting and running all over the place. The pitching is young but talented and if they can get the most out of those young arms they might be able to compete for a little while, but in the long run it'll just be too difficult to win the division this year.

Toronto Blue Jays

Same Face, New Place: Alex Gonzalez. Gonzalez goes across the border after playing in Cincinnati and Boston last season. If the Blue Jays are going to have any success they'll need Gonzalez to produce similar to what he did down the stretch last season for the Reds. He hit .284 and scored 26 runs in 44 games for the Red Sox, while not overly impressive you can imagine how helpful that would be to the Blue Jays lineup.

Key Player: Aaron Hill. Hill had a remarkable season last year, he hit .286 with an .829 OPS  and hit 36 home runs with 108 RBI while playing second base. To get that type of offensive production from second base is a real luxury to have, but Hill will have to put up those numbers again to keep the Blue Jays competitive.

Player to Watch: Marc Rzepczynski. The 25-year old southpaw had an average rookie season that saw him post a 2-4 record and a 3.67 ERA with 60 K's in 61.1 innings. That K rate is something to take note of, especially in the AL East with such powerful offenses. The more he can get guys to swing and miss the better he'll be and the better the Jays will be.

Final Verdict: The Blue Jays basically knew they weren't going to compete this season when they decided to trade away Roy Halladay and I think this preview reflects that. The offense might be able to put up good numbers but Aaron Hill seems poised to regress from his outstanding 2009 and there just aren't enough guys in that lineup to pick up those lost power numbers. I think Vernon Wells bounces back this season and Adam Lind will continue to shine but that's about it offensively from this team. Pitching is a real concern, the Jays lack a real top of the rotation arm and the bullpen seems very fragile.

Breaking Down the White Sox Further

As many of the readers know, I'm a pretty big White Sox fan and with there only being about 10 days until Opening Day, I like to take a deeper look at the Sox and try to get a better feel for them heading into this season. I figured I might as well post it on here and give any other Sox fans the opportunity to see how I think this season is going to play out.

Pitching: I pointed this out the AL Central preview but the rotation for the White Sox this season could be the best in all of baseball, at the very least it will be in the top 10. The reason I'm so high on this staff is because of Jake Peavy, I really think he's going to have a huge year for the Sox, a potential Cy Young year. In the 3 starts he made for the Sox at the end of last season he was 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA. Now I'm not big on end of the year stats because you see a lot of minor leaguers playing, but this was against the Tigers twice and the Royals once and his worst start was against the Royals. He shutout the Tigers, a team fighting to make the playoffs, twice in 15 innings over 2 appearances. I also think John Danks is poised to take a huge step forward this season. He experienced circulation problems in his pitching hand but reports are that those are fixed and he'll post impressive numbers because of it I think.

From the standpoint of the bullpen, I think that too will be a strength for the Sox as long as Bobby Jenks stays healthy. I'm a firm believer in a bullpen being effective when everyone has a role and everyone knows their role. With Jenks as the closer it puts JJ Putz and Matt Thornton in the set-up roles, Tony Peña and Scott Linebrink in 6th and 7th inning roles and then Randy Williams as the left-handed specialist and Sergio Santos as the long-reliever. To have a guy with the ability of a Scott Linebrink coming into the 6th or 7th inning is a real luxury to have as long as he is throwing strikes. The bullpen might be lacking a lefty but I trust Kenny Williams to go get a left hander if he feels it is necessary. A lot of people are sour on Jenks because of his declining K rate and decrease in velocity. The only thing I think Jenks needs to do is have more confidence in his fastball and not rely so much on his curveball. Yes his velocity is down from his rookie year, but he's developed a killer curveball and that's something he can use to replace that lights out fastball to strike hitters out but he can't throw it as often as he has been in previous seasons. 

Offense: With each passing day of Spring Training, the White Sox offense is getting me more and more excited about the potential. Having a lineup where 8 of the 9 guys can all realistically hit at least 20 home runs is something that any team would like, but to have 6 of the 9 guys steal double digit bases is not something many teams can claim. Ozzie Guillen loves to run and I expect him to have his guys really aggressive on the basepaths this season, whether that's stealing bases or just going from first to third on a single or scoring from second on a single. The one major concern I have is Guillen himself. Guillen loves to tinker with his lineups and as of today he is contemplating batting Mark Kotsay in the three hole against right handed pitchers. Now I love Guillen as a manager and think he's grossly misunderstood by fans and the media, but when you have guys in a lineup like Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, or even Gordon Beckham there is no need for Mark Kotsay to be hitting third in this lineup. This season is a major test for Guillen I think because he was given the exact roster that he has wanted since being in Chicago and Williams has largely voiced his displeasure for not having a prototypical DH. I see the merit in the argument that you want to play the hot hand offensively but to switch a lineup almost daily isn't good for the guys playing to get into a rhythm. Guillen will hopefully find a cohesive offensive unit and stick with it for the majority of the season.If this offense sputters and the team fails to make the playoffs because of it, Guillen could likely be shown the door.

Defense: Overall the team defense has been vastly improved this season. The outfield with Quentin moving to his natural right field, Rios in center and Pierre in left is much better than previous outfields with the White Sox. While Pierre has a noodle for an arm, he has such great range that I can live with his poor arm. Rios is a natural center fielder who played right field in Toronto because of Vernon Wells and Quentin came up in the Diamondbacks organization as a right fielder so he is back where he should be more comfortable. Add Andruw Jones off the bench to spell the other three outfielders and you have a pretty solid outfield defensively. In the infield we have a very defensively underrated Paul Konerko at first base, Beckham at second base should be a fairly easy transition for the former shortstop, Alexei Ramirez at shortstop provides unbelievable range and a good arm to make the deep throws. The only real question mark on the defense is Mark Teahen, but his natural position is third base so maybe he'll improve his defense with a full season at that position alone instead of being jerked all around the diamond. Much like Jones, having Omar Vizquel and Kotsay coming off the bench is a real asset to the defense when guys need a break.

Overall I have the Sox pegged at 88 wins, I think Rios bounces back in a big way, Quentin stays healthy all year and the team rides the arms of the rotation and the bullpen to the playoffs, where pitching can dominate and the Sox could very easily be a dangerous team.

AL Central Preview

The baseball preview continues, moving from the West to the Central as I take a look at the AL Central for the 2010 season. As a reminder the teams appear in order of expected finish looking at a key addition, key player, and player to watch.

Chicago White Sox

Same Face, New Place: Juan Pierre. When the White Sox acquired Pierre, I'll admit I was mixed on this move. The more I think about it, the more I love it and that's because he's had two seasons where he essentially didn't play so his legs are well rested. He also brings the ability to bunt, something Ozzie Guillen loves to do but hasn't been able to with his teams recently. He's going to be asked to set the table and cause chaos for the pitchers similar to what Scott Podsednik did for the Sox in 2005. Ozzie plans to run this team all over the base paths and acquiring Pierre will help Ozzie run the team the way he wants to.

Key Player: Alex Rios. Rios was acquired off waivers during last season and to put it nicely, struggled with the White Sox. He hit .199, with a .229 OBP, and an OPS of .530 (alright he was just flat out awful). Reports are that he's much more comfortable in the clubhouse now and has rediscovered his swing that made him an all-star in Toronto. The Sox lack that prototypical power hitter right now and that means the pressure will be put on Rios and Carlos Quentin to rebound from poor 2009's. The one bright spot for Rios last year is that he stole 24 bases between Toronto and Chicago, so if he can rediscover his swing and pair it with his base stealing he'll be a real weapon for the Sox this season.

Player to Watch: Gordon Beckham. For the first time in a while this is the first year where the Sox don't have a young prospect coming up with a few question marks surrounding him. So with that I have to default to Beckham who should continue to build on his impressive rookie season. It's important to see how he handles all the expectations being thrown on him and he didn't hit as well at U.S. Cellular Field as he did on the road and he needs to learn to use the home ballpark to his advantage.

Final Verdict: The strength of the White Sox rests in the arms of the pitching staff. Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy front a staff that could be the best in baseball by the end of the season. Bobby Jenks should be stable at the end of the bullpen and J.J. Putz and Matt Thornton should be excellent options to shorten a game for Ozzie Guillen. The offense is where the questions are for this team, but if Andruw Jones continues to hit like he is in Spring Training, the DH-rotation might be a better idea than many are giving Guillen credit for. What seems to be a bigger issue every day is the relationship of Guillen and Kenny Williams, they should realize to put aside any differences that they may have and focus on the job at hand, and if they do that this team could be very dangerous this season.

Minnesota Twins

Same Face, New Place: Orlando Hudson. When the Twins signed Hudson, I was both angry and surprised. Surprised because the Twins were opening the checkbook to sign some serious talent. I was angry because Hudson is such a good player and will help this team out in many ways. Hudson is a gold glove defender and a great #2 hitter who will fit Ron Gardenhire's style of baseball. Hudson will also provide a great role model for someone like Delmon Young who shows his immaturity at times.

Key Player: The Closer Role. I don't have a specific name for this slot because no one including myself knows who is going to close for the Twins yet. If Joe Nathan is able to pitch through the pain that he has in his arm, the question becomes how effective will he be while hurt? If he can't pitch then a position that has been held down by Nathan, becomes someone's that hasn't closed games before or may not be as effective. Nathan was such a big security blanket for Gardenhire, as every time he came into the game it was pretty much over. It'll be interesting to see if the Twins look to trade for an established closer when the trade deadline looms and could be a major reason why the Twins don't win the division.

Player to Watch: Brian Duensing. On paper, the Twins rotation doesn't seem all that intimidating, but when you watch these guys pitch, they're effective. The same could be said about Duensing, another guy the Twins have developed. He started nine games last season and had a 3.64 ERA, pretty impressive for a guy in his rookie year. If he can build on that success he'll be a very good #5 starter for the Twins.

Final Verdict: The Twins open up Target Field this season and the biggest question for the Twins is how will the Twins handle the new stadium environment. Offensively, the Twins will be their usual aggressive selves and play fundamental baseball, which is always exciting to watch and as the Twins have shown is how you win ballgames. Pitching is a concern with the Twins, The staff lacks that typical dominant ace that many staffs have, but that has not been a problem for the Twins in recent years. The real problem will come from the bullpen if Nathan misses the season. Forcing the relievers to move up a slot is usually a sign of disaster, but knowing the Twins, pitching coach, Rick Anderson will find the man for the job and he'll end up saving 30-40 games and keep the Twins competitive for the 2010 season.

Detroit Tigers

Same Face, New Place: Johnny Damon. Damon was involved in quite the free agent process this offseason and the Tigers are the ones that eventually paid Damon the amount he wanted. If Damon can hit with the same power that he had last year, he'll help the Tigers out immensely. He'll also likely silence the critics that said he benefited from the short fence at Yankee Stadium last year, namely the Yankees front office.

Key Player: Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez' power numbers took a major hit in 2009, going from 21 home runs to 9 and 103 RBI to 50. The Tigers are likely going to look for those numbers to go back up, unfortunately for them, those numbers seem to be in decline. The bright spot for Ordonez is his AVG and OBP have been increasing since his time with the Tigers started. He posted a .310 AVG and a .376 OBP last season. If Jim Leyland recognizes that the power may be gone from Ordonez' bat, a move up or down the order might be the right move for Maggs and will allow the Tigers to get more men on base and generate some more runs.

Player to Watch: Austin Jackson. Jackson came to the Tigers from the Yankees in the Curtis Granderson trade and many people compare Jackson to Granderson. That's something the Tigers hope since he'll be replacing Granderson in centerfield this season. Jackson has shown the ability to hit for a high average and steal some bases while in the minors. It'll be a nice sight for Miguel Cabrera if Jackson is on base a lot and he should provide a spark at the top of the lineup for the Tigers.

Final Verdict: The Tigers made some moves this off-season that many people liked, I however am not that positive on the moves. Trading Edwin Jackson really hurt their rotation; getting Max Scherzer is risky because although he has great potential he hasn't been able to control his pitches in the majors yet. Trading Jackson also forced Rick Porcello to assume the #2 spot in the rotation, a large task for someone only in his 2nd year of baseball. The bullpen should be one of the best in the AL Central providing Leyland many options at the end of games. The offense, like the rest of the AL Central really doesn't pack that much of a punch outside of Cabrera. There are still a lot of athletes in that lineup and it will be the reason they are in the race at the end of the season.

Kansas City Royals

Same Face, New Place: The 2009 Chicago White Sox. The Royals will be going into 2010 with at least three (possibly four) members of the White Sox from a season ago. Scott Podsednik, Chris Getz, and Josh Fields will all be on the Royals this season and Brian Anderson has an outside chance at making the roster. The White Sox clearly did not bring these players back for some reason, and it could be because they didn't win with them. The Royals are looking to cash in on the unwanted White Sox and Podsednik and Getz could be valuable pieces for them in 2010. Podsednik hit for a .303 AVG and stole 30 bases last season, if he can improve his on-base percentage he'll be a real problem for opposing pitchers at the top of the lineup.

Key Player & Player to Watch: Luke Hochevar. Hochevar had an interesting 2009 campaign, in nine starts he allowed at least six earned runs and in eight outings he held opposing offenses to only two earned runs. If the Royals want to think about competing he'll have to be more consistent. A sign that consistency may be on the horizon for Hochevar is that he improved both his K/9 and BB/9 rates and is improving his groundouts to flyouts ratio. He's my pick to also break out in a big way this season for the Royals.


[Side Note: I was going to go with Alex Gordon as my player to watch, but his broken thumb is a cause for concern as Josh Fields may make the most of his opportunity to start.]

Final Verdict: The fourth place finish is actually better than what it seems. I actually see them competing with the White Sox, Twins, and Tigers this season and making the AL Central a 4-team race all summer. There is no doubt that the biggest question for the Royals is the pitching staff but there is potential there to breakout. The bullpen lacks a little depth behind Joakim Soria but Farnsworth and Cruz should be a formidable duo for Trey Hillman to use. To me the strength of this team is going to be the offense behind Billy Butler and David DeJesus and I think Rick Ankiel bounces back from a bad 2009. They probably won't win the division but the Royals are definitely improving.

Cleveland Indians

Same Face, New Place: Russell Branyan. Branyan is back with the Indians after an impressive 2009 season with the Seattle Mariners where he hit 31 home runs. Branyan will be in a lineup that will likely mash a lot of home runs this season so he'll be asked to do more of the same, but he needs to improve his average and on-base percentage so the Indians have more guys on base when those home runs leave the park.

Key Players: Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona. Westbrook is coming back from Tommy John Surgery and is slated as the Opening Day starter for the Indians. If he can find his 2004-2006 form where he won 14 games and then 15 games the next two seasons then the Indians will be thrilled and he'll likely win comeback player of the year. Carmona is coming off a forgettable 2009 season where he won only 5 games and had an ERA over 6. The Indians will need him to rediscover his 2007 form and that'll only come if he regains control over his pitches.

Player to Watch: Matt LaPorta. LaPorta was the highly touted prospect that the Indians received in the CC Sabathia trade and since then LaPorta hasn't really been given a chance to prove himself. LaPorta is currently in-between positions, manager Manny Acta would like him to play mostly at 1B while GM Mark Shapiro would rather see him in Left Field. Wherever LaPorta winds up, he'll finally get a full season to prove himself and I think he's going to show some people why the Indians are trying to find a position for him to play full-time.

Final Verdict: Unfortunately for the Indians they have quite a few questions for the 2010 season. The pitching staff has holes from the rotation to the bullpen. Kerry Wood can't be trusted to close games consistently and the rotation leaves a lot to be desired. The offense will win some games for the Tribe with Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo leading the way. It could be a long season for Indians fans, but I don't think it'll be as bad as it was for the Indians teams in Major League.

NL West Preview

It may be time for March Madness, but baseball season is right around the corner!

Los Angeles Dodgers
2009: 95-67, 1st place in the division, lost in NLCS
Key Additions: None, due to the divorce of the McCourt family tying up all of the Dodger funds.
Key Losses: Juan Pierre, Orlando Hudson, Randy Wolf
The Lineup: In 2009 the Dodgers led the league in batting average while having no regular starter achieve a .300+ average, a relatively impressive feat. However they do lose part-timer Juan Pierre and his .308 average to the White Sox and have added aging Garret Anderson and Reed Johnson to form a somewhat crowded outfield. The young nucleus of James Loney, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier all had an OBP over .350 last year and should only improve in 2010. Overall production may come down to the play of Manny Ramirez, who will turn 38 in May and saw his slugging percentage drop 70 points last year in a season shortened by his steroid suspension.
The Rotation: The Dodgers starting staff had the third lowest ERA in the NL behind the Braves and Giants in 2009. They lose ace Randy Wolf and his 214.1 innings and 3.23 ERA. The front four in the rotation are decided: Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, and Vicente Padilla. With the tightening of money the Dodgers were not able to go out and grab a serviceable fifth and there will be a competition between Eric Stults, Charlie Haeger, and Carlos Monasterios for the final spot, which could end up rotating between the three all season. There is more youth in the rotation with Kershaw and Billingsley but the combination of Kuroda and Padilla at three and four along with a lack of stability at the fifth could hurt the Dodgers in the long run.
The Bullpen: Closer Jonathan Broxton headlines 2009’s best bullpen as he is coming off of a 36 save, 0.96 WHIP season. Reliable set-up men Ramon Troncoso, Ronald Belisario, and Guillermo Mota return as does lefty specialist George Sherrill, who threw up a 0.65 ERA in the second half of the season with the Dodgers. Expect this bullpen to be as good as ever in 2010.
The Verdict: The Dodgers will certainly be hurt by the lack of new blood in the clubhouse but they return the youthful heart of the team from last year and should be the favorites in the West.

Colorado Rockies
2009: 92-70, 2nd place in the division, lost in the NLDS
Key Additions: The return of Jeff Francis
Key Losses: Jason Marquis
The Lineup: In 2009 the Rockies were only able to muster a .261 batting average but put together a .784 OPS that led the league in what is still a hitter-friendly Coors Field. Young outfielder Carlos Gonzalez will be looking at a starting job this year as he hit .284/.353/.525 with 13 HR and 16 SB in just 278 AB at the end of last season.
The Rotation: The Rockies pitching staff is coming off of a season in which they allowed the least runs in franchise history. The starting rotation was 6th in the National League with just a 4.10 ERA. However, four of the five in the rotation last year had career years and Marquis and his 15-13 record and 4.04 ERA have left for the Nationals. Jeff Francis will be replacing him in the rotation, returning after missing all of 2009 with shoulder surgery. If he returns to his 2007 form where he went 17-9 with a 4.22 ERA, the rotation should be just as good as last year and the Rockies will be in contention for a playoff spot.
The Bullpen: Closer Huston Street is the lone bright spot to a bullpen that finished 13th in the NL in ERA in 2009. No additions or subtractions have really been made to the rotation and if the rotation regresses to their normal abilities, the Rockies could be in trouble. They are fortunate that the best three in the ‘pen (Street, Matt Daley, and Franklin Morales) are all young and should theoretically keep improving.
The Verdict: The Rockies are a good team that over-achieved in 2009 when they won the wild card by 4 games. A good comeback by Jeff Francis and breakout year for Carlos Gonzalez could do the trick, but everyone will have to carry their momentum from last season for the Rockies to be successful.

San Francisco Giants
2009: 88-74, 3rd place in the division
Key Additions: Mark DeRosa, Aubrey Huff
Key Losses: Old Man Randy Winn
The Lineup: The Giants scored a meager 4.06 runs per game in 2009, good for 4th lowest in the National League. The lone offensive bright spot comes in the form of the Kung Fu Panda, Pablo Sandoval. The twenty-two year old Sandoval burst onto the scene in 2009, hitting .330/.387/.556 with 25 HR and 90 RBI. Unfortunately outside of Juan Uribe, this .330 average was 65 points better than any other regular. The Giants have added Mark DeRosa and Aubrey Huff to the lineup, two players who are coming off of rough 2009 seasons after good 2008 campaigns. Their resurgence will be key to the Giants’ hitting this season.
The Rotation: Fortunately for the Giants, they have one of the best rotations in the league and it will have to make up for the inadequacies of their hitting. The one-two punch of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain is one of the best in baseball, coming off of a season where they went a combined 29-15 with a 2.48 and 2.89 ERA, respectively. The only departure from the rotation is the retired Randy Johnson, who capped off his career with an 8-6 record and 4.88 ERA. He will likely be replaced by Madison Bumgarner, a hot shot 20-year old prospect who has torn up the minor leagues, posting a sub-2.00 ERA at every stop along the way, including a 9-1, 1.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in AA last season. Bumgarner was named the #9 prospect in the MLB last season and could be the next stud in the line of studs produced by the Giants in recent years. However, his velocity has been down this spring and he may not quite be ready for major league baseball.
The Bullpen: The Giants bullpen posted a 3.49 ERA last season, good for second in the league. The main cast of characters will be back including closer Brian Wilson (2.74 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 38 SV), Jeremy Affeldt (1.73 ERA, 62.1 IP in 74 App.), and Brandon Meddors (3.01 ERA, 7.6 K/9). The Giants bullpen is often times put in tough spots, often coming in to close out a fantastic pitching performance by the starter but with only a slight lead due to the lack of offense in San Francisco.
The Verdict: Until the Giants start hitting the baseball, they will be in a tough position in the NL West. And until they make some additions to the lineup, they will not start hitting the baseball. This could be another frustrating year for Giants fans.

Arizona Diamondbacks
2009: 70-92, 5th place in the division
Key Additions: The return of Brandon Webb, Edwin Jackson, Ian Kennedy, Adam LaRoche, Kelly Johnson, Bob Howry
Key Losses: Jon Garland, Doug Davis, The addition of Aaron Heilman
The Lineup: The Diamondbacks had an entirely average lineup in 2009, hitting .253/.324/.418 as a team while scoring 4.44 runs per game. The cornerstone of the offense is outfielder Justin Upton, who hit .300/.366/.532 with 26 HR and 20 SB. Third baseman Mark Reynolds hit 44 HR with 102 RBI in 2009 while striking out an absolutely astonishing 223 times and hitting a dismal .260. The line-up should be bolstered by the additions of Adam LaRoche (.277/.355/.488, 25 HR) and Kelly Johnson (.287/.349/.446 in 2008).
The Rotation: The Diamondbacks had an average rotation in 2009 and have a vastly improved rotation coming into 2010. The key is the return of ace Brandon Webb, who missed all of 2009 with a shoulder injury and may even miss the start of 2010. Webb and Dan Haren give the Diamondbacks a stellar one-two punch and the addition of Edwin Jackson in the third spot adds a little bit of depth. Former Yankee prospect Ian Kennedy should get the fourth spot and the fifth is up for grabs, but the front of the rotation is good enough to keep the Diamondbacks in contention for much of the year.
The Bullpen: Last season the Diamondbacks had one of the worst bullpens in the National League, but it should be slightly improved going into 2010. Closer Chad Qualls returns and he has a new set-up man in Bob Howry, who had a 3.39 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 63.2 IP out of the bullpen for the Giants last season. Unfortunately the Diamondbacks also add Aaron Heilman, who still did a lot better than I give him credit for with the Cubs last year.
The Verdict: The Diamondbacks made some good additions going into 2010 and if they stay healthy they have an outside chance at challenging for the division.

San Diego Padres
2009: 75-87, 4th place in the division
Key Additions: Jon Garland
Key Losses: None
The Lineup: The Padres were 7th in the NL in runs scored on the road as opposed to dead last overall, a number that is hurt by the fact that they play in the worst hitter’s park in the majors. The headliner of the line-up is Adrian Gonzalez, coming off of a year in which he hit .277/.407/.551 with an impressive 40 HR-12 at home and 28 on the road. The rest of the Padres line-up is young including Kyle Blanks, who is coming off of an injury-shortened rookie campaign in which he had a .868 OPS and 10 HR in just under 150 at bats. Hitting will certainly not be the strong point of the Padres this season.
The Rotation: In 2009, Padres starters combined for a 4.78 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, pathetic numbers for a team playing half of its games in Petco Park. Overall they had the worst road ERA in the NL. These numbers were not helped by the losses of Jake Peavy (trade) and Chris Young (injury) for most of the season. The addition of Jon Garland and the return of Chris Young should help the Padres eat some innings and buy time for the young pitchers to come along, but it is not a terribly stimulating rotation no matter how you look at it.
The Bullpen: Heath Bell is coming off of a good season for both himself and my fantasy team, as he got 42 saves for a mediocre team with a 2.71 ERA and 10.2 K/9. The rest of the more or less league-average bullpen stays the same.
The Verdict: I was bored doing the research for this team and most people will be bored watching them play baseball this season. The Padres are a young team without a lot of money that over-achieved in 2009 and still managed to lose 87 games. This year will be used to determine the future nucleus of the club going forward.

Weekend Soccer Preview

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview!
As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.

Before we get to the rankings, I want to acknowledge Fulham’s stunning comeback in the Europa League. Fulham came home with a 3-1 deficit to Juventus. Juventus got an early goal from David Trezuguet to put Fulham down 4-1 on aggregate. However, goals from Bobby Zamora and two from Zoltan Gera bought Fulham to 4-4 on aggregate and a wonder strike from Clint Dempsey in the 82nd minute put the Cottagers through to the quaterfinals.

Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)
9:30 ET Sunday
(3) Manchester United v Liverpool
The always intense northwest England rivalry strikes once again at a crucial point in the season for both sides. Manchester United are still perched atop the Premier League, 2 points ahead of both Chelsea and Arsenal, though Chelsea has a game in hand. Liverpool are chasing down a Champions League qualifying spot, just a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham, who has one game in hand, and a point ahead of Manchester City and two ahead of Aston Villa, both of whom have two games in hand. As such, a loss for Liverpool would cripple their Champions League aspirations. Still, they are coming off of mid-week success in the UEFA Europa League, a competition in which they are going full steam ahead in hopes of salvaging some kind of silverware from this tempestuous season. A win for United gives them a boost ahead of a tough five game stretch including Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur.

Other Games Between Two Ranked Teams
16:00 ET Sunday
(T23) Marseille v (22) Lyon
In early November, these two teams played to a stunning 5-5 draw that included 5 goals in the last 11 minutes as Lyon battled back from a 4-2 deficit to take a 5-4 lead and ultimately be stuck with a draw on a Jeremy Toulalan own goal. This match carries heavy European consequences, as outlined below.

Top of the Table Clashes
12:00 ET Sunday (French Ligue 1)
(9) Bordeaux v Lille
16:00 ET Sunday
(T23) Marseille v (22) Lyon

Club	Pld.	Pts.
Bordeaux	27	53
Montpellier	28	53
AJ Auxerre	28	52
Lille	28	51
Lyon	28	51
Marseille	27	50

Ligue 1 is as congested as it gets up top, with the top six teams separated by a scant 3 points. Four of those teams clash this weekend as Bordeaux hosts Lille and Marseille hosts Lyon. The top 3 teams are guaranteed a spot in the Champions League while the 4th team is guaranteed a spot in the Europa League and 5th place will likely get a spot there as well. A win for Lille would be huge as it would bring Bordeaux fully back to the pack due to their game in hand. The Lyon-Marseille match-up is sure to be hard-fought as both teams are on the outside looking into Europe at the moment.

Big Games in Small Leagues
13:00 ET Sunday (Greek Super League)
Panathinaikos v Olympiakos
PAOK Salonika v AEK Athens

Panathinaikos is currently on top of the Greek Super League with a 5 point lead over PAOK Salonika. Olympiakos is two points back in third and AEK Athens is 9 points back of Olympiakos. The Panathinaikos-Olympiakos match is the heavy rivalry, dubbed the “Derby of the Eternal Enemies” in what has to be the greatest rivalry name I’ve ever heard. The two clubs are based out of Athens and are generally fighting for the title in the league. The rivalry is so fierce that a clash between the supporters caused a two week suspension of all team sports in Greece back in 2007. Olympiakos needs a win to stay in the title race in Greece and move up the table, as only the top two get Champions League qualification.

13:00 ET Saturday (Austrian Bundesliga)
Sturm Graz v Rapid Vienna
10:30 ET Sunday (Austrian Bundesliga)
Austria Vienna v SV Salzburg

Salzburg is at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga by 6 points over second place Rapid Vienna. Just 3 points back of Rapid are Sturm Graz and Austria Vienna. The first place team gets the lone Champions League spot while second and third get Europa League spots so these games are vital for next season’s European qualification.

English Premier League
8:45 ET Saturday
(17) Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers
11:00 ET Saturday
Everton v Bolton Wanderers
Portsmouth v Hull City
Stoke City v (10) Tottenham Hotspur
Sunderland v Birmingham
Wigan v Burnley
13:30 ET Saturday
(5) Arsenal v West Ham
9:30 ET Sunday
(3) Manchester United v Liverpool
11:00 ET Sunday
Fulham v (14) Manchester City
12:00 ET Sunday
Blackburn Rovers v (2) Chelsea

Scottish Premier League
11:00 ET Saturday
Celtic v St. Johnstone

Spain’s La Liga
13:00 ET Saturday
Athletic Bilbao v Getafe
Deportivo La Coruna v Valladolid
Xerez v Tenerife
15:00 ET Saturday
(4) Real Madrid v Sporting Gijon
17:00 ET Saturday
Espanyol v (25) Sevilla FC
12:00 ET Sunday
Malaga v Villarreal
Mallorca v Atletico Madrid
Osasuna v Racing Santander
14:00 ET Sunday
(T12) Valencia v Almeria
16:00 ET Sunday
Real Zaragoza v (1) Barcelona

Italy’s Serie A
13:00 ET Saturday
(T23) Fiorentina v Genoa
15:45 ET Saturday
(18) AS Roma v Udinese
Palermo v (6) Inter Milan
10:00 ET Sunday
(7) AC Milan v Napoli
Atalanta v Livorno
Bari v Parma
Cagliari v Lazio
Chievo Verona v Catania
Siena v Bologna
15:45 ET Sunday
Sampdoria v Juventus

German Bundesliga
15:30 ET Friday
FC Cologne v Borussia Monchengladbach
10:30 ET Saturday
Eintracht Frankfurt v (8) Bayern Munich
Nurnberg v TSG Hoffenheim
SC Freiburg v Mainz
VfB Stuttgart v Hannover 96
Werder Bremen v VfL Bochum
13:30 ET Saturday
Borussia Dortmund v (11) Bayer Leverkusen
10:30 ET Sunday
Hamburg SV v (T12) Schalke 04
12:30 ET Sunday
VfL Wolfsburg v Hertha Berlin

French Ligue 1
14:00 ET Saturday
AJ Auxerre v Le Mans
Boulogne v Lorient
Grenoble v AS Monaco
Nice v Paris Saint-Germain
St. Etienne v AS Nancy Lorraine
Stade Rennes v Toulouse
16:00 ET Saturday
Lens v Sochaux
12:00 ET Sunday
(9) Bordeaux v Lille
(T20) Montpellier v Valenciennes
16:00 ET Sunday
(T23) Marseille v (22) Lyon

Dutch Eredivisie
15:45 ET Friday
Heerenveen v NEC Nijmegen
14:45 ET Saturday
PSV Eindhoven v (T15) Twente Enschede
15:45 ET Saturday
Feyenoord Rotterdam v Vitesse Arnhem
7:30 ET Sunday
RKC Waalwijk v (19) Ajax Amsterdam
9:30 ET Sunday
Sparta Rotterdam v AZ Alkmaar

Russian Premier League
9:30 ET Saturday
Saturn Moscow v Sibir Novosibirsk
12:00 ET Saturday
Lokomotiv Moscow v PFK Samara Kryliya Sovetov
7:00 ET Sunday
Zenit St. Petersburg v Spartak Moscow
9:30 ET Sunday
CSKA Moscow v Dinamo Moscow
8:00 ET Monday
FK Tom’ Tomsk v FK Rubin Kazan

Turkish Super League
14:00 ET Friday
Kasimpasa v Besiktas
13:00 ET Saturday
Fenerbahce v Gaziantepspor
13:00 ET Sunday
Trabzonspor v Galatasaray

Greek Super League
13:00 ET Sunday
Panathinaikos v Olympiakos
PAOK Salonika v AEK Athens

Ukrainian Premier League
13:00 ET Friday
Metalurh Donetsk v Dynamo Kyiv
10:00 ET Saturday
Zorya v Shakhtar Donetsk

Belgian Jupiler League
15:00 ET Sunday
Germinal Beerschot v Club Brugge
KSC Lokeren v Anderlecht
Standard Liege v KAA Gent

Austrian Bundesliga
13:00 ET Saturday
Sturm Graz v Rapid Vienna
10:30 ET Sunday
Austria Vienna v SV Salzburg

Swiss Super League
12:45 ET Saturday
Young Boys v Grasshoppers

Welsh Premier League
10:30 ET Saturday
Llanelli v Rhyl

Monte Carlo Simulation-A Lineup of Nine Joe Mauers!

In this post we will examine what would happen if you had an entire lineup comprised of one player, i.e. a lineup with nine Joe Mauers or Ryan Howards. This problem has been tackled before, most notably with Bill James’ Runs Created statistic. However, Monte Carlo Simulation can be used to give an even more accurate idea of how a lineup consisting entirely of one player would perform. Monte Carlo Simulation is used when there are copious amounts of possible outcomes and conventional simulation is not adequate.

An Excel spreadsheet can be used to perform the simulation and a player’s statistics can be put into the sheet so probabilities of various outcomes. There are 17 possible outcomes to each plate appearance: Strikeout, walk, HBP, error, short/medium/long single, short/long double, triple, home run, ground out, ground into double play (with men on base), line drive/infield fly, and short/medium/long fly out. Innings are simulated and the number of runs scored per inning (and by extension, game) can be recorded. The obvious upside to this method is that a true simulation is used, which should be much more accurate than basing it off of plain old statistics. The downside is that there is no way (currently) to factor in steals and players who can advance the extra base on a base hit better than other players. However, this should not have a significant effect on the study. The players who were in the top 10 for Batting Value in 2009 according to fangraphs.com were examined. A total of 1440 innings, or 160 “games” were simulated for each player. The table of results follows:

Player	Runs/Game
Albert Pujols	10.24
Joe Mauer	9.90
Prince Fielder	8.71
Hanley Ramirez	8.45
Mark Teixeira	8.00
Ben Zobrist	7.83
Adrian Gonzalez	7.76
Miguel Cabrera	7.68
Derrek Lee	7.64
Ryan Braun	7.55

The results are not very surprising. Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer were the MVPs of their respective leagues and by a considerable margin the best offensive players in Major League Baseball. For perspective, the average runs scored per game in the NL was 4.43, and in the AL it was 4.82.

These numbers can be used to roughly gauge a player’s value. With them, we can examine which statistics are most highly correlated with Runs/Game as given by Monte Carlo Simulation, so we can examine which statistics are most important to a team’s success. The results will likely tell us nothing new, but it will be interesting nonetheless.

Two statistics had correlations over .9: OBP and OPS. Remember the closer the correlation is to 1, the more related the two statistics are.

Statistic	Correlation
AVG	0.579
OBP	0.928
SLG	0.796
OPS	0.922
Hits	0.244
HR	0.258
Walks	0.356

This should not surprise any good stat-minded baseball fan. On-Base Percentage has the highest correlation and OPS is just behind. Slugging Percentage is the only other statistically significant correlation, which is of little surprise as well. Here are the scatter plots of Average Runs/Game against OBP and AVG. Note that “Average” is the R/G from the table above.





As you can see, there is a fairly strong linear relationship between R/G and OBP, while the relationship between R/G and AVG is considerably more scattered.

Interesting Baseball Fact of the Day: The lowest single-season ERA for a pitcher who gave up more than one hit per inning (since 1961) was Tommy John in 1977. Tommy John gave up 225 hits in 220.1 IP en route to a 2.78 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 20-7 record and a second place spot in the Cy Young voting.

Ovechkin's Suspension: Fair or Excessive?

Alex Ovechkin was suspended yesterday for his "hit" on Brian Campbell Sunday that led to Campbell reportedly breaking his collarbone and ribs. When the 2 game suspension was announced the debate began whether or not the suspension was fair or even necessary. A TSN online poll indicated that a large majority of people believe the suspension wasn't severe enough and I guess that puts me in the minority that believes the suspension wasn't even necessary. Now let me say that it's really unfortunate that Campbell will likely be out for the remainder of the season, but it was a freak incident.

I think that the 5 min. major and game misconduct Ovechkin received on Sunday was punishment enough for a player who is unfortunately being labeled as a dirty player as time progresses. There didn't appear to be any malicious intent in the push by Ovechkin which makes this suspension even worse. Ovechkin plays the game hard and for whatever reasons, that rubs people the wrong way. I acknowledge that it was a dangerous play which is why I think the penalty was needed, but a hit should have been expected by Campbell as hits come on plays like that all the time.

I think that the NHL has more to worry about when it comes to dirty hits on the heads of players rather than a push into the boards. Those types of hits are ones that while legal are  more harmful because of the possibility of concussions and the lasting effects that concussions have on people. When Matt Cooke took out Marc Savard with a headshot, that led to no punishment whatsoever. Now how can that hit not warrant a suspension but an unfortunate push land one of the stars of the league a 2-game break?

This suspension also has people focusing on the wrong things in the NHL. A sport should be generally celebrated and the NHL seems to only make news when a player is suspended, and while I generally believe that no news is bad news, having suspensions being the highlight of your sport isn't right. You need to focus the attention of the world on the actual games, the stars, and teams of the league that are playing well, not suspending the reason people watch your sport.

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams In European Soccer

Another week of European Soccer Rankings! What follows is an unabridged, only slightly edited for grammar introduction written by the one and only Blaine Curcio.

Good morning, buon giorno, buenas dias, guten tag, and bonjour, and welcome to another edition of football rankings as prepared by Tom “Purdue Pete” Nielsen and Blaine “Sachin Tendulkar’s Newest Fan” Curcio. Before going into details about the wild week that was, I feel it necessary to mention that David “Pig-Dog” Beckham’s world cup chances are now over due to an Achilles injury, and I’ve consequently been celebrating ever since. Of course, the biggest event in European football this week was the second leg of the Champions’ League round of 16 matches. Tuesday evening saw Bayern Munich lose to Fiorentina 3-2, but advance on 4-4 aggregate with the away goals rule. Tom seemed to believe this makes Germany look good, [Editor’s (Tom’s) Note: I don’t think this necessarily makes Germany look good, but Blaine likes Italy so much and dislikes the Bundesliga so much that I had to rub it in his face via Facebook post-match.] I think that Fiorentina is a rubbish Italian side [He still has them ranked 21st] and the fact that the Bundesliga’s best needed away goals to beat them is sad, and a reflection on the league’s inferiority. Arsenal decided to shatter the men of F.C. Porto with a 5-0 bloodbath at the Emirates, which saw at least three Portuguese jump in front of London double-decker busses after the match due to manic depression. Porto folded about 45 minutes later, and are no longer in existence (that was a lie). Arsenal’s match saw Nicklas Bendtner and his silent “d” in his last name score a hattrick, and saw Arsene Wenger’s legend grow to the status of hero among men. Wednesday night’s CL fixtures were massively hyped going in, with Manchester United owning a 3-2 lead over AC Milan (with 3 away goals) and Lyon coming in as the shocking favorite, having beaten Real Madrid 1-0 in Lyon. United were originally to be playing without the man who is currently the most electrifying man in sports entertainment (a title bestowed upon him by The Rock), Wayne Rooney, due to an injury sustained while saving orphans from a fire. Rooney had a miraculous death-bed recovery the morning of the match, and went out and scored a double, cementing his reputation as the Greek God of premature balding and making world-class keepers look like Paul Robinson. Lyon-Real Madrid ended in a 1-1 draw, which saw Real Madrid ousted from the CL and Florentino Perez put his foot in his mouth after having spent approximately €1 trillion (or roughly infinity Filipino Pesos) on transfers this past offseason, with the intention of winning the Champions’ League. Liverpool continued their miserable season with a 1-0 loss to Lille in the Europa League, which saw Rafael Benitez punch Liverpool owner Tom Hicks in the mouth for lack of transfer funds. This week in the premiership was a fairly standard one. Manchester United’s fans found themselves doing the “easy! easy! easy!” chant after their 3-0 drubbing of Fulham, while Chelsea continued to roll with a 4-1 win over bottom-dwelling (but still legendary because of the cinematic excellence of Green Street Hooligans) West Ham United. By the way, for the record, Wayne Rooney scored yet another brace in their win over Fulham, and continues to go about doing the business of kicking ass and taking names. Arsenal was able to pull off a respectable away victory at Hull City 2-1, while Everton and Birmingham played to a 2-2 draw in B’Ham. Tottenham Hotspur continues to loiter in 4th place (something that would result in a $1,000 fine in Singapore) with a win over Blackburn Rovers. In La Liga the results were not terribly interesting, with Real Madrid cruising to a 4-1 win over Valladolid. Barcelona played vs. 3rd place Valencia at home, which had some potential to be a decent match given Valencia’s respectability. Lionel Messi would have none of that though, and scored a second-half hattrick, stealing the hearts of a thousand Spanish women in the process. This means that Valencia is now in 3rd with 47 points, while Barca and Real are tied at the top with 65. Yes, you read that correctly, they could both go 6 matches without getting a single point, and still be at least tied at the top of the table with Valencia. That’s called parity, my friends. Vegas now puts Real or Barca as winning La Liga as a 103% chance to happen. That’s not an exaggeration, either (yes it is). One of the more interesting things to happen this week was Serie A’s decision to give up on the traditionally defensive style of Italian football entirely, and just go hog-wild scoring goals! The following scorelines, among others, were observed this week in Serie A: 5-3, 3-3, 3-3, 3-2. The last time there were that many scores in Italy was when Gigi Buffon was seen out picking up women in some tiny provincial town like Cittadella after a match during Juve’s spell in Serie B (ba-dum-cha!). Speaking of Juventus, after a roaring start that saw them go up 3-0 on Siena within 45 seconds (it was really 10 minutes), the Old Lady decided to roll over and die, as Siena came back and scored 3 of their own to cause the match to end 3-3. Newly appointed Juventus head coach Alberto Zaccheroni was seen shortly after the match crying in the fetal position in the dressing room shower while Gianni Agnelli’s ghost beat him over the head with an umbrella saying “vafanculo”. Inter Milan’s travel agent was fired this weekend after he mistakenly booked airfare for their youth squad to go play Catania Calcio (current league position: 15th), which led to Catania beating Inter 3-1. This blows the Serie A title race absolutely wide open, as AC Milan now finds themselves only 1 point out of 1st place after a 90th minute Clarence Seedorf goal gave them the full 3 points over Chievo Verona. AS Roma also continues to lurk in 3rd, only 6 points out of first. Genoa and Cagliari played to an 8 goal thriller that ended Genoa 5-3 Cagliari, and saw 7 goals scored in about 25 minutes. Given the Italian style of play, the scoreboard didn’t have room to fit 8 goal-scorers, so they ended up paying some Italian guy to hold up signs indicating the scorers for goals 2-8 (they’d never seen a multi-goal match before). In Holland, Ajax Amsterdam massively outclassed PSV Eindhoven in a battle of Dutch heavyweights (which is equivalent to a battle of English Welterweights at best), as they won 3-1 in Amsterdam ArenA. Twente won again to go 5 up on PSV at the top of the table. In France 2/3 of this weekend’s matches were cancelled due to fan indifference. The fortunate few matches that did happen included Bordeaux’s 0-0 draw vs. Monaco which saw Lille move to within 2 points of the top. The 2nd and 3rd place teams, Montpelier and AJ Auxerre, respectively, drew to a 1-1 draw, preventing each other from leapfrogging Bordeaux. A very quick Bundesliga roundup: Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, and Schalke 04 all won. Munich’s win involved a brace by Arjen Robben in the last 15 minutes to give them the 2-1 win over 17th place FC Freiburg. The three clubs now sit 1-2-3, with Bayern Munich in 1st with 56, Schalke in 2nd with 54, and Leverkusen in 3rd with 53. In the coming week, watch for the 2nd round of CL round of 16 legs, with the obvious crown-jewel of those matches being the massively hyped Chelsea-Inter Milan match. Inter won round 1 at the San Siro 2-1, but Chelsea has stated their confidence in their abilities to pull off the minor upset. Thanks for reading this far, and if you have, odds are you’re currently questioning my sanity.

I’ve questioned his insanity for a couple years now—this only confirms my suspicions. In any event, here are the rankings:

Rank Team Country Points
1. Barcelona (Esp) 50
2. Chelsea (Eng) 47
3. Manchester United (Eng) 46
4. Real Madrid (Esp) 45
5. Arsenal (Eng) 40
6. Inter Milan (Ita) 39
7. AC Milan (Ita) 36
8. Bayern Munich (Ger) 34
9. Bordeaux (Fra) 32
10. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) 30
11. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) 29
T12. Schalke 04 (Ger) 26
T12. Valencia (Esp) 26
14. Manchester City (Eng) 25
T15. Benfica (Por) 21
T15. Twente Enschede (Ned) 21
17. Aston Villa (Eng) 20
18. AS Roma (Ita) 15
19. Ajax Amsterdam (Ned) 13
T20.Braga (Por) 11
T20.Montpellier (Fra) 11
22. Lyon (Fra) 10
T23. Fiorentina (Ita) 5
T23. Marseille (Fra) 5
25. Sevilla (Esp) 4

Also Receiving Votes: Juventus (Ita) 3, Panathinaikos (Gre) 3, Hamburg SV (Ger) 2, FC Porto (Por) 1

And here is how the voters voted:

Rank	Tom	Blaine
1	Barcelona	Barcelona
2	Manchester United	Chelsea
3	Chelsea	Real Madrid
4	Real Madrid	Manchester United
5	Arsenal	Inter Milan
6	Bayern Munich	Bordeaux
7	AC Milan	Arsenal
8	Inter Milan	Valencia
9	Schalke 04	AC Milan
10	Bayer Leverkusen	Tottenham Hotspur
11	Benfica	Twente Enschede
12	Tottenham Hotspur	Bayern Munich
13	Manchester City	Bayer Leverkusen
14	Bordeaux	Manchester City
15	Montpellier	Ajax Amsterdam
16	Aston Villa	Aston Villa
17	Lyon	Schalke 04
18	Valencia	AS Roma
19	AS Roma	Braga
20	Twente Enschede	Benfica
21	Marseille	Fiorentina
22	Braga	Sevilla
23	Panathinaikos	Juventus
24	Ajax Amsterdam	Hamburg SV
25	FC Porto	Lyon

Next five in for Tom, in alphabetical order: Anderlecht (Bel), Liverpool (Eng), Mallorca (Esp), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Sevilla (Esp)

Next five in for Blaine, in alphabetical order: AJ Auxerre (Fra), Hamburg SV (Ger), Lille (Fra), Liverpool (Eng), Montpellier (Fra)

2010 NCAA Tournament Thoughts

An alternative title to this blog entry would be “Why my calculator picked Washington, Wofford, and UTEP to the Sweet Sixteen and why you should believe it,” but that seemed a bit too wordy. In any event I can’t pretend that my personal picks are any more interesting or accurate than what my calculator thinks, so for the most part I’ll focus on what it thinks rather than what I think.

Before we get any farther, an explanation is in order. In 2006 I was taking a Statistics class in high school and we had an assignment for the NCAA Tournament: Devise a formula to predict winners for the NCAA Tournament games and use it to pick a bracket. I made up a formula taking into account only seed and record (the actual formula will remain a secret), and it did awfully well. And when I say awfully well, I mean it picked George Mason to make the Final Four. No big deal. It also picked other upsets such as Northwestern State, Bradley (I think even to the Sweet Sixteen), and UW-Milwaukee, not to mention getting the entire Final Four correct except for Florida (I had Boston College going on to win the whole thing). In the words of my legendary teacher J.B. Hanson, “You could have made a heck of a lot of money if you knew where to put it.” Obviously I chalk my success up to pure skill and my calculator knowing what it’s talking about, not just luck or anything.

Basically I input the formula which determines the probability that the favorite will win, and my calculator chooses the winner based on that probability. For instance, my calculator says Purdue has a 77.0% chance of defeating Siena, so 77% of the time it will give me a 1 (Purdue win) and 23% of the time it will give me a 0 (Siena win). My calculator fails to recognize that Robbie Hummel tore his ACL, or still refuses to believe it so that is not taken into account here. So this season I repeated the method and got some more interesting results:

-North Texas over Kansas St. in what will be the 5th time ever a 15 seed wins its first round game.
-Houston over Maryland and San Diego State over Tennessee in the Midwest.
-Washington, Cornell, Wofford, and Montana all win their first round games in the East Region, in what I have to imagine will be the first time ever the 11, 12, 13, and 14 seeds all win in one region. This leads to the Wofford and Washington Sweet Sixteen picks. Washington will go on to beat Clemson there, while Wofford’s Cinderella story is ended by Kentucky, who will beat Washington to make the Final Four.
-Kansas, Syracuse and Villanova join Kentucky in the Final Four in what turns out to be a vanilla ending to a flavorful bracket.
-Villanova defeats Kansas in the final despite only having a 29.2% chance to win that game.

In all honesty this method does lead to some interesting brackets. Unfortunately it gives you the 11/12/13/14 upsets and George Mason to the Final Four every so often but those are picks that nobody in their right mind would pick themselves, and the beauty of the NCAA Tournament is that anything can happen.

As for my own picks, I have Minnesota, Washington, and Cornell as my big first round upsets. Brigham Young over Kansas State, Minnesota over Pittsburgh, and Louisville over Duke comprise my second round upsets. I take Butler over Syracuse in the Sweet Sixteen and Butler, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Baylor to make the Final Four, with Kentucky outscoring Evan Turner 80-75 in the final. Kentucky will also beat Ohio State as a team by the same score to bring home the title.

2010 NCAA Tournament Teams to Watch and Final Four Prediction

Selection Sunday is one of the best sports days of the year, I am trying to only fill out one bracket this year and it's proving to be easier than I thought. I think overall this is a weak year for college hoops and the tournament results will reflect that in my opinion. That being said, it isn't March Madness without a few upsets and Cinderella Stories so let's take a look at some teams that can potentially move past the first weekend of the tournament and maybe even further:


Minnesota (11 seed in the West Regional): I have Minnesota penciled into the Sweet 16 and that's partly because of their performance in the Big Ten tournament. They are a very balanced team offensively and a good team defensively. Their depth is also a strength to keep guys fresh and Colton Iverson is my player to watch for the Gophers.


Notre Dame (6 seed in the South Regional): Luke Harangody's injury was probably the best thing to happen to the Irish this season. They learned to play without him and were extremely effective. Harangody is going to start the tournament coming off the bench and will provide a deadly weapon for the Irish. Tyrone Nash is my player to watch for the Irish as well as Tim Abromaitis, and I have them advancing to the Elite 8.


Wisconsin (4 seed in the East Regional):  A Big Ten team always seems to make a run in the tournament every year and Wisconsin looks like that team this year. Led by Trevon Hughes and Jon Leuer, the Badgers have the ability to shoot 3's and post up. A few clutch three-pointers by Jason Bohannon will certainly keep the Badgers alive in the tournament, a tournament I expect them to make the Final Four.


Texas (8 seed in the East Regional): Texas started off this year strong and hot. They have a very talented and deep roster, but they've played poorly down the stretch which is a concern for them. The talent they have and experienced leaders can and I think will put this team back on track and upset Kentucky in the second round.


Now I've already given one team from my Final Four prediction and the other three teams that will be with Wisconsin are Kansas, Syracuse and Duke. Syracuse does have an injury to Arinze Onuaku and it looks like he will be sitting out the first weekend. If he can get back to the team for the next weekend he will be a major asset. My championship game is Kansas facing off against Duke and Kansas will be crowned National Champion.


Now we all know I'm absolutely horrible at picking games so go ahead take this info and pick the opposite and you'll likely have a solid bracket.

Ozzie vs. Kenny: Good, Bad, or Both?

Major League Baseball was in the process of getting White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to contribute to a website to go along with his Twitter and Facebook accounts. That is until Kenny Williams and the rest of the front office shut it down. Williams has not been fond of the White Sox skipper embracing social media even though there are cameras rolling from MLB Network to document the behind-the-scenes going on with the White Sox. This social media bicker between Guillen and Williams has been getting a lot of publicity in Chicago and some have even suggested this is more than just fighting over social media.  I've already talked about why Twitter is a great tool for Guillen to be on, but I want to dive into this fight and see what's good and bad about it.

The Good: Now this is definitely the minority opinion of media members, but I'm leaning on the side of this fight being a good thing. Through this whole time frame that is coming up on a month, have you heard anything on the actual players on the team? I can't think of much besides the occasional piece on Jake Peavy, and that's exactly what Guillen wants. Guillen would rather have the attention on him over his players not because he likes all the attention, but by the media not focusing on his players, the players can go out there and perform their best. There are a ton of stories that could be told about the players going into this season (Carlos Quentin's comeback from injury, Buehrle strengthening his arm, etc.) and now instead of having to answer questions, their play can answer those questions.

Another reason this type of fighting is good is that it keeps everyone in check. As Guillen or Williams, you wouldn't want to be surrounded by people who agree with everything you do all the time. A little disagreement is a great way to keep things in check and prevents people from going crazy with power. It's a great way for people to bounce ideas off of and receive great opinions that are good to hear.

The Bad: While I said disagreement is a great way to keep everyone in check, it is up to a point. When you're constantly disagreeing with someone, you just might not be on the same page. There is no doubt there is questions with the White Sox offense this year. Guillen wants a rotating DH with Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, Mark Kotsay, Paul Konerko, and Carlos Quentin, Williams wanted to go after a big power type hitter to be the full-time DH. As of right now Williams is letting Ozzie's experiment run, but you can bet that if there is no production, Williams will be working the phones to acquire a big hitter. This is bad because this disagreement is coming from two guys who are responsible for winning baseball games and right now they don't have the same view as to how this team will be successful. That is a scary thought and one that might lead to either Williams or Guillen being fired at years end.

In the end I think these disagreements are a combination of good and bad but leaning more towards good. I can't wait for the regular season to start so these types of discussions are put aside by the media, that is unless the Sox start losing and the blame will be looked to be placed on either Guillen or Williams, starting another fight most likely.