A Return To Writing!

Alright, well, now that you’ve all had an entire year to miss me, I’m back. From a personal standpoint, the 2011 MLB baseball season sucked. In a lot of ways, 2011 just sucked from me in all sports. But baseball was historic suckage. Oh, sure, I made some great personal gains throughout the year, but really…I would have traded living with my parents for a little while longer for a Bulls championship or Jay Cutler not breaking his thumb against the San Diego Chargers. Or for people NOT to act like a college football program is more important than child rape (I’m looking directly at you, Nike CEO Phil Knight). But, I digress.

At the start of the year, I was convinced the White Sox would win about 88 games and the division because there was no way they couldn’t. They had, on paper, the deepest pitching in the division. They had just gotten a metronome of a man of production to fill the biggest need from the 2010 team: a left-handed thumper. Then they actually started to play baseball and my dreams were shattered in comedic fashion. DH Adam Dunn, CF Alex Rios and 2B Gordon Beckham were all historically bad (hey look! Those are all separate links to separate pieces highlighting just how terrible they each individually were! Neat-o!), manager Ozzie Guillen quit on the team and the $127 million Chicago White Sox went 79-83.

Now the White Sox have a new manager who has literally never managed anything before but is a fan favorite and let the most productive member of the team over the last 15 years walk away. Oh, and the team that beat them by some 16 games last year just added Prince Fielder to their already-not-lacking-lineup. Goodie!!

Prince Fielder, all easy fat jokes aside, is really good at hitting a baseball. He more than compensates for the loss of Victor Martinez and Magglio Ordonez for the Tigers, at least in 2012 and 2013. However, I’m not sure that $214 million will be worth it over nine years. Tigers’ Owner Mike Ilitch is aiming for a World Series win immediately and doesn’t care about the rest of the contract. Armed with two of the best five hitters in all of baseball (one righty, one lefty. How nifty!), the Tigers now ask themselves the enviable question, “Where do we play Miggy since Prince doesn’t want to DH?” Apparently third base, although the last time the Tigers tried Miguel Cabrera there in 2008, he lasted for all of 116 innings. According to FanGraphs.com, without which I would not survive, the Tigers are trying something historic. Yeah, I think the 2012 Detroit Tigers are going to score a lot, but they’ll need to. They are a bad defensive team to be kind, a terrible defensive team to be more accurate.

Now, I said no easy fat jokes and I meant it, but Prince Fielder’s size is a legitimate concern for the Tigers. Now, for the record, he isn’t a vegetarian, but he does work hard to keep himself in good shape and has only missed 13 games since becoming the full-time first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006. That’s pretty incredible in and of it self, but he’s also a big guy. A very big guy and very big guys tend to develop health issues as they age. Hell, look at the injuries Frank Thomas battled starting in 1997 and he didn’t have close to Fielder’s waistline. The human body can only carry so much on it before the frame gets tired. I don’t for a second doubt Fielder’s competitive spirit or want to live up to the value of his contract (which he almost certainly won’t be able to do), but a large degree of his production is out of his control. All of that is before we even mention his genetic lineage. If the Tigers win the 2012, 2013 or 2014 World Series, then congrats to Ilitch and GM Dave Dombrowski. They managed to buy themselves a title, which New Yorkers will tell ain’t exactly easy. But if they don’t, things could be mighty ugly in Detroit.

As of right now, yes, I think the Detroit Tigers will win the AL Central division and win it rather easily. But…the AL Central is weird. Yes, it’s mostly bad, but it is also weird. In the AL East, you know it’s always going to be a three way between the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. The West is the Angels and Rangers (hey Oakland! What happened to that Greatest-GM-To-Never-Win-Anything thing?! Whaaaa haa haaaappen?! Lolz). But the AL Central? Every year, it’s someone new. The prognosticators (oh which I don’t consider myself one, I’m just a guy with a computer and an internet connection) are always wrong, and that’s not a shot at them. On the left are years and predictions of who will win, on the right, who actually made the playoffs.

2005 [Twins] White Sox
2006 [White Sox/Indians] Tigers/Twins
2007 [Twins] Indians
2008 [Tigers] White Sox
2009 [Tigers] Twins
2010 [Twins] Twins
2011 [White Sox] Tigers

Eek. In just one single year, 2009, the experts were correct and even then, it took a one-game playoff to get a division winner between the Tigers and Twins. The Tigers have three guys that are going to be paid $20 million. They are the best team in the division and should win it. Unless Prince Fielder starts to think he is Adam Dunn. Or Miggy gets hurt, which isn’t crazy since third base is a far more demanding position than first and Miggy isn’t exactly Jack LaLanne out there. Or some other disaster hits Detroit (like the rest of the roster sucking and three players not being enough to get them to the playoffs). That last bit is a real possibility, with Austin Jackson’s getting on base ability is lacking, Delmon Young (almost as big a boy as Miggy and Prince) a bust, Jhonny Peralta unable to spell correctly and coming off, by far, the best year of his career and legitimate questions about the depth of the pitching staff.

Yes, the Tigers made an insane move designed to win the World Series real quick. God bless ‘em. The White Sox are stuck with bad contracts and the worst farm system in the world. Sadness. But, hey…at least baseball is getting closer.

2011 NL Central

I really don’t give a rat’s rear end about the NL East other than my poor, poor Nationals (Natinals). To be honest, I really don’t care about any of the National League. I know, I know, I know it’s the historic league, the one that still has pitchers hit, the one with the beloved Cubbies, blah blah blah. I don’t care. Pitchers shouldn’t hit. The DH should be standard MLB practice, but it’s fine to keep the distinction between the two leagues (the AL is better anyways). As a baseball fan, however, I’m obligated to check through both leagues. On to the NL Central.
The Cardinals didn’t add a whole lot of pieces in the offseason other than Yankee cast-off Lance Berkman (who they are bizarrely paying $8 million to play the OUTFIELD) and Cubs cast-off Ryan Theriot, who did a marvelous job pissing off many who loved him from 2007-2009 by saying that he was now on the “right side” of the Cubs-Cards rivalry (including myself. Obviously, I’m no Cubs fan. But don’t crap on my city when you leave it. Screw you, Theriot). The biggest story of the Cards offseason was their failure to give Albert Pujols all the dollars he wants (and deserves, frankly. Yes, by the numbers, Pujols deserves to be paid $30 million per season). It’s entirely possible someone (the Cubs) take Pujols away from the Cards when he hits the free agent market. I don’t bet on it though – I’ll say he ends up sacrificing a year or two in order to get to that $30 million per season limit. I’ll say…..7 years, $210 million (again, I’ll ask the question: WHY WASN’T I BORN GOOD AT BASEBALL?!!!?).
They still have Pujols for 2011. When coupled with Matt Holiday in left, Berkman in right and Colby Rasmus in center there’s little doubt the Cardinals will score runs. A rotation that boasts Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright will hold opponents scoring down. Tony LaRussa, penis/drinker extraordinaire will win. But, I don’t think the Cards have the bullpen or defense to win the division. I gotta roll with Brew Crew. Adding Zack Grienke and Shaun Marcum to Yovani Gallardo gives you the best 1-3 in the division (and tie for 2nd best in the NL) and, as Jack Sparrow said, Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun provide serious ‘thump thump’ in the middle of the lineup. Add Corey Hart in right with Casey McGehee at third and this team will do some damage. Like the Cards they are wanting defensively and the bullpen is urpy, but I love what their GM has done. I’mma roll with them.
The Red have Joey Votto (a name I love to sing. Ask me sometime….I’ll do it for ya). And unlike most, I picked them for success last year (don’t worry…I didn’t throw out my arm patting myself on the back there). They can thump, sure. But it’s still Dusty Baker. He still doesn’t value OBP and he still has no clue how to manage a pitching staff. 2011 they fall off. Hard.
The Cubs have made some nice moves this and last offseason, actually. When I thought the Sox (White) were going to leave Konerko behind, I pushed for them to sign Carlos Pena on SouthSideSox.com (GO CHECK IT OUT!). The Cubs got him for a year at $10 million and he’s a good bounce-back bet (really now…dude would have to TRY to hit .198 again with 28 home runs and a .325 OBP (which actually isn’t so terrible, considering the average). Also plucked from the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays is starting pitcher Matt Garza. He fits well with the Cubs rotation. He’s crazy and talented, but mostly crazy. Good luck with that, North Siders. They have a ton of money coming off the books this year so a run at Pujols isn’t crazy. No, seriously. It’s not. Still a 4th place team, unless absolutely EVERYTHING breaks right for them. And I like Starlin Castro a lot moving forward (he’s the new shortstop). See….I have some Cubbie love.
The other two teams in the division (the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates) really aren’t mentioning, other than to say they exist. What they do can charitably be referred to as ‘play baseball,’ but that’s some Bill Gates-level charity there. Wow, are they both absolute suck fests. Yeesh. Again…I’mma roll with the Brewers to win the division. Grieke and Marcum were both 2010 Opening Day starters for AL clubs and now move to the easier league. They should feast, Braun/Fielder with thump and the Brewers might be able to give the Prince an epic send-off into free agency. Cause mark my words….the Big Man won’t be in Wisconsin come 2012.

2011 Season Preview Part 1

We are less than a week away from the 2nd most beautiful day of the year: Pitcher and Catchers reporting. Yes. Going to start with the NL East this week.
I think I’ve seen enough roster turnover to start making my predications for the coming year (as I’ve already sort of done and as last year’s column shows, I’ve got an okay track record. I admit to underselling the Reds (a tad) and the Rangers, but that’s okay. I said the Giants would win and raise your hand if you thought the Reds would even be good. I was (regrettably) correct about the White Sox, Twins and the mess called the AL East. I don’t know what I was thinking when I picked the Cubs to win the division, though.

AL East: Boston
AL Central: Chicago
AL West: Oakland
AL Wildcard: Yankees

NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Giants
NL Wildcard: Rockies


In the National League East, everyone knows what the Phillies have done. They signed Cliff Lee, who dominated the New York Yankees for them in the 2009 World Series and was yet again very good for the 2010 Texas Rangers in the World Series. While both the Yankees and Rangers offered Lee more money and more years (okay, one more year) than the Phillies, Lee wanted to go someplace that he loved and felt had the best chance to win (only difference between him and LeBron is that he didn’t do it on national TV).
The Phillies starting rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton (at least, that’s how they should line up) are the best in the national league. But two are injury concerns while also being inconsistent and if rest of the team on the field is injury prone (Polanco, Utley, Howard, Rollins and Ibanez have all spent time on the DL in the past two season). Every one of the most important players on the team is the wrong side of 30 [that is, over it]. Don’t get me wrong – I like the Phillies and think they have a really good roster. On paper. But I also have them as Team A on my list of ‘most likely to crash and burn’ list (Team B would be the Boston Red Sox for much the same reason – injury potential).
The Atlanta Braves stepped up this offseason and traded for Marlins slugger Dan Uggla who will make the team better with his bat. He’s an awful defensive player (that was him in the 2008 All-Star Game), but for now his offense is enough to help the Braves who can count on growth from another batch of home grown starters and wunderkid Jason Heyward (on the short list of, “Oh my God!!!” players in baseball) [as you can tell, I have a lot of baseball lists….]. Freddy Gonzalez is no Bobby Cox, but since Cox is one of the greatest managers to ever walk the face of the earth, he doesn’t need to be. The Braves improved their roster from a year ago when they made the playoffs over the Padres and should enjoy another wildcard this year.
I’ve been predicting a Marlins run for the last 4 years now, and am going to stop. Hanley Ramirez is on the same list as Heyward, Mike Stanton was rumored to be talked about in exchange for White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen and Gabby Sanchez is probably for real. But no, I refuse to let the Marlins be a cruel mistress to me again. They are a talented roster with a cheap-as-Scrooge owner and a shrewd front office. I’ll give them 88-90 wins, but no playoffs. The Mets still have David Wright, so they have a pretty face on the field. But oh boy….is there a whole lot of badness in Queens otherwise. Johan is breaky, there’s no one else in the rotation (the Chris Young signing isn’t bad though) and the bullpen is a mess. Plus, you know, they are the Mets. So, good luck with that.
As for my actual favorite NL team, things are looking up. Yes, they gave out the winter’s worst contract (7 years, $126 million for Jayson Werth) after totally screwing up at the trade deadline and not trading Adam Dunn, but the future in Washington looks good (think 2012/13). Bryce Harper will be up and slugging at a corner outfield spot (I’m thinking left), Stephen Strasberg (who was just damn brilliant before his arm got hurt) will be back, plus they’ll have other top draft picks coming out of the pipeline and a healthy Ryan Zimmerman (criminally underrated) and Jayson Werth (a really, really good player, just not for 7 years and $126 million) around. Just won’t be a pretty 2011. But get ready America….the Nationals wont’ be a laughing stock forever.

Post Season Check

The job hunt becomes a real pain in the ass when one wants to do nothing but write a baseball blog. I refrained from posting this summer, because as a White Sox fan….Jesus H. Christ. It was either totally agony or total ecstasy. Mostly agony. Another year, another ball-kicking in August by the Twins (more on them later).
Looking back at my preseason predictions, I was actually pretty good. San Francisco proved me right, as did Philly, Minnesota, New York and Tampa Bay. I want credit for the Reds, because they did win despite their manager (and really, he’s an idiot), but deserve a firm rock kicking for my embrace of the Angels. Oh well. Good for Texas. They’re much easier to root for now that they aren’t chalk full of raging steroid monsters.
The Rangers have continued this impressive year by going in to the ALDS matchup with the aforementioned Rays and beating them. Soundly. And repeatedly. Tampa looks flat out over-matched, which is very difficult to do. The Rays, after all, won more games than any other team this year, in the hardest division in baseball, with no payroll and while being no hit twice. Yes, twice. And three times over the past calendar year (shout out to Mark Buerhle of the White Sox!!!!) I’m very impressed with the Rangers this year, but doubt they will be able to replicate this feat next year. Cliff Lee (acquired in a mid-season deal with the Mariners [YEESH!!!!]) is going to leave for a multi-year deal in free agency this October (first demand of his deal will be a no-trade clause), and over the past decade, there a ton of one team wonders (’01 Dbacks, ’02 Angels/Giants, ’03 Marlins, ’05 Astros, ’06 Tigers
Roy Halladay continues to just destroy the National League, as evidence by his no-hitter in Game 1 of the ALDS against Cincinnati (and really, Philly fans….I don’t know what good karma you put out there…but good God the last 4 years have just been unreal). Lincecum (Tim, The Freak) of the Giants was almost as good against the Atlanta Braves the other night, going the full nine and giving up just 2 hits. Unreal. I’d put my money on a Phillies-Giants NLCS, with the Phillies wining in 6 games, because the Braves just can’t hit and are giving up a hit too many.
I’m still LOL’ing at the Minnesota Twins inability to play the New York Yankees. Guess what, Twins fans? This is exactly what White Sox fans go through every August. Maybe you should try designing your team for October baseball and not just April-September baseball. I wish I could be a bigger man, but I just love the smell of Twins failure.
All in all, not a bad season of prediction by myself. I’ll take a Rangers birth in the WS this year, going up against the Phillies. I say…..Phillies pull it out in 6 games.

The Snap-Back

Obviously, I still love baseball, but I have come to a sharp realization.

What the White Sox need to do, in order to improve their baseball club, is to fire the best General Manager and Field Manager the club has ever had. Right now.

Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen both have to be replaced in order for the White Sox to change their history. Now, I like Kenny Williams and like Ozzie, both have been mainstays for the White Sox over the past 10 years, both were largely responsible for the '05 title and both are, like I said, the best that the Sox have ever had at their respective positions. But they both have to be fired.

With the failure of 2009 behind them, the 2010 White Sox set out to remake themselves into a more versatile ballclub. Out went Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome and Scott Podsednik. In came Juan Pierre, Mark Teahen and Andruw Jones. Bad was replaced with worse under a misguided notion that the White Sox were going to be a faster ballteam. Faster, yes. Better, no. The saga of the 2010 White Sox has been the feud between Kenny and Ozzie about one Jim Thome (or a larger disagreement about an everyday DH player).

Plain and simple: Ozzie was wrong about not wanting a slugger DH. Kenny was wrong to not put his footdown and force a DH on Ozzie.

Ozzie's job is to make requests and talk to the GM. It's the GM's job to give the manager what he needs, even if that differs from what he wants.

The 2010 White Sox have, as of tonight, lost 15 one run games. 15 one run games. Too many nights (tonight's game against the Tigers (Porcello vs. Jackson) being the perfect example).

Kenny's model of trading for damaged players with something to prove (Quentin, Thome), fallen prospects (Floyd, Danks, Jenks, Teahen) or just plan old (Andruw Jones, Ken Griffey Jr, Juan Pierre) only works until August. And then it invariably goes to pot. I know, I know, I know everyone's going to yell, "'05! '08!" Well, in '05 they did the exact same thing, pissed it all down their leg in August. It was only that the AL Central was so bad that year that the White Sox held the division lead. And 2008 is rather hollow, the fun of that season was beating the Twins in Game 163 (The Blackout). But you know what? Teams that suck play 163 games to determine division winners. Not good, World Series contending teams. Those teams (the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Rangers and usually Angels) all kick your ass in 162 games.

Also, Kenny's last phenomenal trade was the Danks-for-McCarthy swap in 2007. The list since then (Jake Peavy, Nick Swisher [TWICE!!!!!], Mark Teahen)....bad.

Ozzie's issues are well documented and need no further expounding here. The fundamental flaw in his baseball theory is that big, lumbering sluggers are bad. No, they are not. Get as many of them as you can, or at least have one.

Anyone who watched the MLBNetwork's, "The Club" knows that at minimum, Kenny and Ozzie love the White Sox and love Jerry Reinsdorf. That's fine. But you know what? I don't want my GM and my Manager to love my team. That's my job. I'm the one, as a fan, who loves them through and despite their glaring faults, weaknesses, ugly moments, stupidity, glory, pain, agony and ecstasy. That's the fans job, not the job of those in charge of the organization.

Kenny and Ozzie deserve to be fired for their lack of foresight, inability to get along with each other, ignorance of the bounds of their job and (both of them) for their big mouths.

That pains me to say/type, because they are (in tandem and separately) the best GM, Manager and combination GM/Manager the Chicago White Sox have ever had.

Pleasure

I have not written a blog for months. I have gone from agony to ecstasy to 'oh-my-God-I-have-no-finger-nails-left' to 'whoop-their-ass!' from April to May to June to July to now, August 12th.

Turns out I have been ALMOST right.
The Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are punching each other in the AL East.

The Twins and White Sox are TIED as of tonight with identical records [64-50 EACH). I hope Gavin Floyd destroys the Twins beyond recognition forever tomorrow/[today].

The Rangers are well in front of the LA/A Angels, so I conceded: Jason Czyk: you were right. The Angels will not win the AL West in 2010. The Texas Rangers will.

The National League.....does anyone care? Really, the biggest markets that matter are all AL..(New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles County and Tampa, Florida have the highest viewership). Okay, I'll give you Atlanta (crushed by Chicago AL in Late June), St. Louis (luckiest WS winner EVER) and San Diego. Do you have anyone that scares me?

No. The Yankees, Rays, White Sox/Twins and Rangers......one of those 4/(or 5) will win the WS this year. Game 5 may be in a National League park, but the American League will win.

I. Love. Baseball. This time of year.

-ADH.

After a long nap...

I'm going to have to change some of my preseason predictions. I'm not so sure about Seattle anymore, for a few reasons. I've changed my mind about the Cubs, and something in the AL Central just doesn't feel right. One of those three teams is going to fall flat fast and hard. I just don't know who. I'm sticking with my thoughts on the Nats, with room for a real step forward.

Well, I'm still sticking with my AL East picks. I think the Rays can just come out swinging this year, and I'm looking forward to it.

Over in the NL, the Braves might end up better than I thought. Heyward is supposed to be The Thing, and really, more of these similar stories have succeeded than failed. I speak of other can't misses like Evan Longoria and Joe Mauer. I've been subject to a lot of the Stephen Strausburg kool-aid here in the District, and I've let his numbers do the talking. They would indicate he's going to be close to the predictions. He's got the stuff, now can he learn where/how to throw it? The Mets...I'm not impressed with Jason Bay and David Wright's gotta hit the ball out of the park. The Phillies look impressive even without a closer. They have the best 1stman in the division, one of the 5 best players in MLB at second, J-Roll is an All-Star, Polanco is an upgrade over Felix, Ibanez still has something in left, Victorino is just fun and Jason Worth wasn't a fluke last year. Though I don't think the pitching staff as a whole is dominant, it certainly is top heavy: Halladay is Halladay, Hamels is reportedly healthy and the lil' ones have some promise. But lil' ones have been known to disappoint, as well. Atlanta is better than I thought and is a wild card. As are the Marlins (I said last year they were over due and they underachieved. Be aware).

I'm least certain about the NL Central. Other than the Pirates (who knows what direction they're going) and the Astros (clearly going backward), any team could win that division. Or suck. Hard. The Brew Crew will beat you (I like Fielder and love Braun) but they have to, with a 'meh' inspiring rotation. St. Louis has the game's best player and a really nice back up (Pujols & Holliday) and yes, Wainwright and Carpenter dominated last year, but I know for a fact Chris Carpenter will get hurt. I don't know for how long, but he will be on the DL at some point. He always is. The Cardinals have no closer (cause Franklin won't be gettin' the job done). Some of their better players (like catcher Yadir Molina) are already ouchie. And they don't really have back ups. Not good, but they are a talented team.

The Cubs will bounce back, I just don't know how much. Or, given that they have NO ONE in the bullpen, they could suck suck suck to high heaven. I know that 2011 will be a disaster, but 2010 could just be an epic failure. They'll def be better without Milton Bradley, however. The Reds need for the manager not to be Dusty Baker, which is hard for him, given that the manager of the Reds is Dusty Baker. He has a history of burning out young, talented arms and that's exactly what he's got now in Cinncy. I'd pick them if they had a different manager.

I'm good with what I said about the NL West. The AL West, however...ugh. Milton won't be the sole cause of Seattle's failure, but he will play a role. Lee is hurt (and facing a suspension for some beanball stupidity), they still don't have a rotation other than Lee and King Hernandez. They have 2 of the best table setters in baseball, but who is going to get Ichiro and Figgens from 2nd and 3rd to home? Bradley (even when behaving) isn't a power hitter. Never has been. Griffey is done. Kotchman's OPS is only in the .770s. Lopez can bop a bit, but he's your only real power threat. And then, of course, there's the problem of Milton's personality.

Look, Milton, I get it. Wrigley smells and is cramped. But dude, seriously, you're not Kanye West. Kanye, though a jackass, isn't kicked out of places over and over and over. And actually does make really good music. You've played for 8 teams in 11 years, 7 in the last 8. That's beyond insane. You have the lives of a cat. And stop accusing Cubs fans of being racist. If you say you got racist hate mail, then you give it to the PR department of that team immediately. You keep a copy and give it to the local press if the team does nothing. You have proof. The Mariners a few years ago had a fractured clubhouse, and they brought in Griffey to help fix it. He fixed Ichiro, but Ichiro is a transcendent talent who TAKES THE FIELD EVERYDAY. Milton is always broken. So it's a vicious cycle. And it's already started in Seattle: two games in a row, Milton Bradley was ejected from a spring training game. His manager defended him. But here we go again...

Any of the four teams in the West could win. Texas, like the Braves, will be better than I thought. I forgot how much better they were last year, and their pitching is getting towards average, which for them is amazing. A lot of injury questions (Kinsler, Hamilton, Gurerro, etc) and some other legal questions (Hamilton, the manager Ron Washington [hint: sniff sniff]), but a talented team that picks the ball defensively. A's are always a sleeper team. Even in years when they end up sucking. Angels are still headed by the brilliant Mike Socia and have smart run front office.

And there's still a lot to like about Seattle. Ugh...I'll play it safe, and change officially from the Mariners to the Angels.

And now....the meat and potatoes. My favorite division: The AL Central.

Uuuuuhhhhhhggggggghhh......

Mediocre, middling, muddled, bad and worse.

That's the adjectives, in order, used to describe each of the five teams in this division. Minnesota is mediocre, Chicago is middling, the Tigers are muddled, the Indians are bad and the Royals are worse. You've gotta love the Twins top half of the order. Span, Hudson, Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel/Thome/ is almost elite level. You've got some holes, and not having Joe Nathan isn't a death blow, but does hurt and has a psychological effect. And even if Liriano succeeds in the role as a closer, you've still created a hole in your already thin and mild rotation. And there is an immeasurable mental loss. Nathan was particularly good against the division.

Chicago...one can see good to great things from the starting rotation, and even a lot of promise in the bullpen is people stay in one piece. That starting 4-some (Peavy, Buerhle, Floyd & Danks CAN match up with anyone's in baseball) and the bullpen guys all have decent track records. Could be something really special. And it needs to be, because the line up (and in particular Ozzie's new bizarre philosophies) is uninspiring at best. Carlos Quentin should be closer to his MVP form, Gordon Beckham should put up some very nice numbers, Alex Rios can't possibly be as bad as he was, and Konerko is Konerko, but I hate Juan Pierre. And this DH stuff is just a joke. It's absolute baseball stupidity. Andruw Jones is your DH, or at least he damn well better be until you can trade for an honest-to-goodness thumper (gimmie big ol' Adam Dunn out there as the DH swattin' away). Mark Kotsay as your three hitter? Omar Vizquel as lead-off AND DH?!!? Are you insane? If this team stumbles (or rather can't score runs) then Ozzie should be fired. And yes, I'm an Ozzie guy (I follow him on twitter) and I like Ozzie and think he's a good manager, but this is just stupid. This division is winable, and with that starting staff, thoughts of the World Series aren't crazy. But you are giving up runs with this offensive structure in this division and in this league. You play in an incredible hitters park. Use it. Your 'grindy, scrappy' 2005 team still hit over 200 home runs. You gotta bop the ball, Ozzie.

Detroit will either be really good or really bad. And if they're really good, I think they'll be really good for the first half and then slowly sink in the 2nd. Cabrera is the real deal and the old guys still have some life in 'em, but there will be a slow down in the second half. Verlander is the best individual starter in the division though (doesn't mean he can't be beat, either).

Cleveland is bad and Kansas City....what are you doing? You have totally abandoned the concept of on base percentage with this lineup. Podsednik, Gordon, Kendall, Ankiel, Guillen, Getz, Dejesus, Anderson, Fields....what is the matter with you? Zack Grienke, oh that's somethin' fierce and the closer is legit too. But there's nothing in between but bad road.

I think I'm going to go with the Twins, and I hate myself for it. Forgive me...