The Ryan Express defeats the Maverick

As you might have already heard, Nolan Ryan and Chuck Greenberg finally won ownership of the Texas Rangers early Thursday morning, after a lengthy auction against high-profile Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. By all accounts of those who were there, the auction was drama-filled, contentious, and most of all, captivating. I'm not sure if I should be considered gullible for thinking this, but Nolan's victory came as a relative surprise to me. Cuban seemed like he was willing to spend like a drunken sailor on shore leave in order to purchase the team, and with each Cuban bid, Ryan appeared as if he was barely able to outbid him. Since I'm no financial expert, all I know is that for some reason or another, Ryan was able to come up with more money up front, and that appeared to be good enough for the judge.

While I am not opposed to Cuban owning a MLB team, I do not think the Rangers would have been the right fit for him. First of all, Nolan Ryan is a Texas legend, and despite Cuban's recent run in popularity, he doesn't hold a candle to the Ryan Express in terms of appealing to the fan base. Second of all (and most importantly), it is because of Ryan that the team is where they are in the standings right now. If Cuban would have won ownership of the team, there would have been the risk of Cuban cleaning house and putting his own people in there, which likely would not have sat well with Rangers fans. Also, his ownership would have probably resulted in Nolan Ryan leaving the team, which would have been a PR disaster from the Rangers' standpoint.

Don't get me wrong, I really think Mark Cuban would be great for baseball. Unlike many of the stodgy old owners that are in the game, Cuban would be a breath of fresh air. He's funny, he's vocal, he's visible, and most of all, he would be very willing to spend whatever amount of money it would take to put a winner on the field. Unfortunately, Cuban's outspokenness and his iconoclastic nature does not sit well with many owners in baseball, so it will be very difficult for him to gain approval of being a majority owner of any team in MLB, and that is a shame. However, one can only hope that he can eventually get the opportunity to purchase a moribund franchise like Pittsburgh, Kansas City, or Baltimore and bring them back to their former glory. In the meantime, I am pretty sure that many Rangers fans are content with the Ryan Express owning the franchise.

Sox win...barely

A win is a win, right? After the Sox hung on to defeat Detroit 6-4 in 10 innings today, they are still sitting comfortably atop the AL Central, a game and a half ahead of the Twins. The win also ensured a series win for the Sox over the Tigers, taking three out of four in a very important series.

While I am still very happy that the Sox pulled it out and took the series, I am NOT at all happy about how it ended up getting accomplished this afternoon. This all rests squarely on the shoulders of Bobby Jenks. In case you haven't watched the Sox during the second-half, or heck all year for that matter, Big Bad Bobby just ain't what he used to be. From 2005 through last year, he was a force out of the 'pen. Once he entered the game, you could all but count on him closing it out in quick fashion, using his blazing fastball and knee-buckling curve to shut down the opposition. However, Bobby's expiration date as a closer seems to have passed, since he has been blowing games in spectacular fashion lately.

Let's just begin with the last three he has failed to close out, shall we? The first one was back on July 18 in Minnesota. With the Sox leading the Twins 6-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, it appeared as if they were primed to leave Target Field with a series split, which is really the best you can hope for whenever you play a four-game set with the Twins. Jenks had already had his shaky moments earlier in the season, but after a solid month of June, my confidence was restored in him once again. Unfortunately, that confidence was soon broken as he immediately walked the first two hitters he saw before giving up back-to-back RBI singles to Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer to cut the lead to one. Ozzie wisely yanked him from the game after that, but the damage was already done, as the Twins would eventually win on an Alex Rios throwing error a couple of batters later.

Even though that loss sucked, you would think it was just an isolated incident against a good team. If it was a sub-.500 team he was pitching against, it would have been game over, right? Wrong. Let's fast forward three days later to July 21 in Seattle, when Jenks entered the game after the Sox took a 1-0 lead on the Mariners in the 11th inning. Jenks coming in against a sorry Seattle ballclub that's already playing out the string? I was thinking that this would be easy work for Bobby, and a nice confidence boost as well. Once again, I was wrong though, as Jenks gave up two runs in the bottom of the 11th for the Mariners to win 2-1, and avoid a three-game sweep. Making matters worse, the Twins won earlier that night against the Indians to gain a game on the Sox. Damn, damn, damn.

So with those two incidents already in the back of many Sox fans' minds, Jenks enters today's ballgame with the opportunity to slam the door on the game, and on the series. What does he do though? After getting the first out, he surrenders a single to Don Kelly, then hits Ramon Santiago to put two men on with one out. He strikes out Austin Jackson for the second out, then gives up a three-run homer to Ryan Raburn to tie the game at four. Ryan @#$&^%* Raburn. The same Ryan Raburn who has only hit two stinking home runs all year before that at-bat. Thankfully, Mark Kotsay got Jenks off the hook in the 10th inning, as he hit a two-RBI triple off of Jose Valverde to give the Sox a 6-4 win.

How mind-numbingly aggravating have these recent struggles by Jenks been? Ozzie Guillen was nearly speechless after the game as to what to do about him. When do you EVER see Ozzie speechless?

While I can understand the loyalty Guillen might have toward Jenks, you have to wonder how much rope he'll leave for him before he decides to make a change in closers. When you're in a tight pennant race, you don't have much room to simply hope that Jenks will snap out of his funk. Those games could potentially end up being the difference between playing in October or going home. There are three other viable options for closers in the 'pen, including J.J. Putz (who already has experience with closing games), Sergio Santos and Matt Thornton. All three are hard throwers, with good off-speed pitches to keep hitters off balance. After today's meltdown, it might be time to hand the ball to one of those three to close out games instead of Jenks.

Good stuff Edwin

Before a nationwide audience on ESPN tonight, Sox starter Edwin Jackson pitched seven effective innings, scattering nine hits while striking out six and allowing just one earned run, helping the Sox cruise to a 4-1 victory over the Tigers. While I most certainly appreciated his pitching performance tonight, I can also see some of the reasons why so many teams gave up on him. ESPN color analyst Rick Sutcliffe did a great job of breaking down his delivery by pointing out the flaws in it, which often times will lead to his erratic and inconsistent starts. However, he showed a lot of poise in being able to work out of each tough jam he got himself into tonight. Keep him in the five slot in the rotation, and I think he's going to be just fine.

Tonight's win was nice, and it will be even better if the Sox can put the nail in the Tigers' coffin tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile, congratulations to Edwin Jackson for getting his first win in a Sox uniform, and may it be the first of many more to come.

Time to take out the Tigers

After the Sox's solid 4-1 win over Oakland yesterday, they finished their seven game home stand with a 6-1 mark, and they improved their overall record to 59-45. The only problem is that Minnesota refuses to lose, as they won their eighth in a row yesterday, shutting out the lowly Seattle Mariners 4-0. The Sox's hold on the AL Central remains at just a half-game, as they enter a big four game series with Detroit beginning with a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday.

Since the Sox are already seven games up on the third-place Tigers, it is absolutely imperative that they put the final nail in the coffin of the Tigers' season. This could have the potential to be a big statement series for the Sox, because if they can finally wax off Detroit, they can concentrate their energy solely on Minnesota, and not have anybody else in the division to worry about. What better way is there to do that other than humiliating them in four straight games at Comerica? Even though a four-game sweep against Detroit might be wishful thinking, was it not wishful thinking back in June that the Sox would be in first this late in the season?

Want to know another cool thing about this four-game set? All four games will be nationally televised. Game one of tomorrow's doubleheader will be on WGN, while Game two of the DH will be on MLB Network. Game three of the series will be on Wednesday Night Baseball on ESPN, and game four will be back on WGN on Thursday. It's always nice to see the Sox get some extra attention on the national stage. Let's hope they can make the most of it.

Are you @#$#&^% kidding me?!?

Since I was working most of the day, I missed the 4 pm trade deadline, and all of the excitement (or disappointment, for some) it brings. Lance Berkman was traded from the Houston Astros to the Evil Empire, Ryan Ludwick ends up in San Diego as part of a three-team deal that also sent Jake Westbrook to St. Louis, and the Yankees also added another bullpen arm in Kerry Wood. While some of the more flashy deals did not go down, one of those in particular caught my eye.

Apparently, after the deadline passed, news emerged that the White Sox tried to land Manny Ramirez in a deal. That's right, THE Manny Ramirez. The Sox were not willing to give anyone up for him, but they were willing to pay the Dodgers $1 million of his remaining $6.7 million of his contract, which ends after this season. Ramirez is on the DL right now, and wouldn't be available until sometime in August. As you might have expected, the Dodgers said "no" to this offer.

While I cannot blame GM Kenny Williams for trying to make this team better at any cost, why would you go after someone who has as much baggage as Ramirez? He already has a reputation for not necessarily giving his full effort out on the field, and with his numbers being sub-par for his standards this year (.317 average, eight home runs and 39 RBIs), he hasn't exactly earned a free pass for that type of play. Plus, wasn't the goal at the beginning of the year for the Sox to become a more athletic, versatile team? While Ramirez would have been featured exclusively at DH if he joined the Sox, I don't think he has enough power left in him at this point in his career to justify acquiring another base-clogger on the basepaths. While Andruw Jones and Mark Kotsay aren't exactly the best hitters on the team, the platoon of those two has been working out just fine so far.

Also, the mixture of Ozzie Guillen and Manny Ramirez has the potential to become very volatile, very quickly. I cannot imagine what would happen if Ozzie felt Manny was not giving his best effort out there on the field (or better yet, on the basepaths). However, the club seems to click in spite of the distractions surrounding them (like the Guillen/Williams near fist-fight over the spot Ozzie's son was selected in this year's draft). Despite that, I'm sure that Manny Ramirez is one more distraction the Sox could do without. We'll see what happens with the Sox in the next month, since the waiver deadline is on August 31.

In the meantime, let's hope that the Sox can pull one out tomorrow and take two of three from the A's heading into this week's big series against Detroit!

Welcome Back!

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you back to this blog. I would like to offer you my sincere apologies for my prolonged absence from here, mainly because school nearly had me in a choke hold over during April, May, and part of June. Now that school has been out for over a month, I can get back to offering you my opinions on the world of baseball, with special attention to the Sox.

A lot has happened since I was last here with you. There have been a whopping five no-hitters, two of which were perfect games. We have also witnessed one of the most agonizing near-misses in the history of no-hitters/perfect games, when Armando Galarraga came within inches of perfection, only to have it snatched from his hands by an errant call from first base umpire Jim Joyce.

In addition to the rash of no-hitters that have been thrown this year, there have also been remarkable stand-outs in the world of pitching. Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, despite slowing down in recent weeks, has still been one of the best pitchers in baseball, as he continues to sport a 16-2 record, with a 2.67 ERA. Josh Johnson has also been right on Jimenez's heels in the National League Cy Young race, as he is featuring a 10-3 record and a major league-best 1.72 ERA. Other major league pitchers that are having standout seasons include Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia of the St. Louis Cardinals, David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays, Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers and Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Also, who could forget about the dynamic debut of Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals? Before he went on the DL yesterday with shoulder stiffness, he has been rock solid in his rookie year, going 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA and with an excellent strikeout-to-walk ratio of 75-15 in 54.1 innings. You could almost make the case that what Bob Costas said during his first start was correct: the performance has exceeded the hype.

Plus, there have been many compelling division races in baseball through this point of the season. There have been many surprises in the National League, including the outstanding performances put on by the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds, who are both leading their respective divisions as of July 30. Also, the Atlanta Braves have returned to their perch atop the National League East, as they continue to lead their division by two and a half over Philadelphia.

There has been just as many surprises in the American League as well. The Chicago White Sox, who trailed the Minnesota Twins by a whopping nine and a half games on June 8, have stormed back to take the division lead, as they are up by a game and a half entering tonight's play. The Texas Rangers, after acquiring ace pitcher Cliff Lee in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, have plowed ahead of the Angels and A's, leading the West by eight and a half entering tonight. In addition to those races, the Rays and Yankees are continuing their battle atop the AL East, as the Yankees lead by two games over Tampa entering tonight.

Also, who can forget about the trade deadline tomorrow? There has already been a flurry of activity, as we have already seen Roy Oswalt get dealt from Houston to Philly, Edwin Jackson get dealt from Arizona to the South Side of Chicago and Matt Capps get dealt from Washington to Minnesota in just the last couple of days. With tomorrow's 4 pm deadline still looming, we should not be surprised to see more big trades go down in the next several hours.

It has been an absolute blast following baseball this summer (as it always is), and it has been even more of a blast watching the Sox make an incredible comeback to take over first place in the Central. With two months left before the postseason, you can all but gurarantee that there will be a lot more fun surprises headed our way in MLB. Rest assured, that whenever those surprises occur, I'll try to give you my thoughts on at least some of them! Once again, I would like to offer you my most sincere apologies for my prolonged absence, and you will definitely hear back from me soon!

2010 MLB Predictions

Welcome back everybody! I apologize for my prolonged absence, as school had me bogged down for the past month. We are fast approaching New Year's Day for many baseball fans, as Opening Day is just days away. Since most of the teams have their 25-man rosters set, we can finally take a look at how each team will likely finish in 2010. Who will be left standing at the finish line at the end of October (or, in these days, early November)? Here are my predictions, beginning with the good ol' American League (the asterisk denotes my pick for the Wild Card):

American League East

1.) New York Yankees- With their strong lineup and starting rotation, getting back to October should be no problem at all for the Bronx Bombers.

2.) Boston Red Sox*- The strength they lost in their lineup (Jason Bay) they made up for by strengthening their rotation, as the signing of John Lackey bolsters an already formidable starting five. When you combine a strong starting rotation with a lineup that is still pretty good even without Bay, you have yourself a playoff team.

3.) Tampa Bay Rays- While this is a solid team on paper, they are not quite good enough to take down New York and Boston. Expect Carl Crawford trade rumors to surface if they begin to slip early.

4.) Baltimore Orioles- The O's have a great young nucleus in their lineup and a whole stable of young pitchers ready to make their mark in the big leagues. They probably will not contend this year, but if all goes well, New York, Boston and Tampa Bay better watch out in 2011-2012. The Birds are almost back.

5.) Toronto Blue Jays- Cito Gaston's final season as a manager won't be nearly as pleasant as Bobby Cox's will be in Atlanta, and that is a shame. The team is practically in a rebuilding mode since trading Roy Halladay, and they will miss him dearly in the starting rotation. It remains to be seen who will step up and become the ace of the staff, whether it will be Opening Day starter Shawn Marcum or Ricky Romero, whose performance last year almost earned him Rookie of the Year honors. Also, look for Adam Lind and Aaron Hill to be the anchors of an otherwise porous lineup.

American League Central

1.) Chicago White Sox- The Sox easily have the best starting five in the division, and an argument can be made for whether or not they have the best five in the American League. If all goes well between Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Freddy Garcia, their lineup will not have to score that many runs to win games.

2.) Minnesota Twins- The whole baseball world will be watching to see how well the Twins will play outdoors this season. My guess is that they will be just fine. The Twins will bring back a solid starting lineup, and a decent rotation that is not quite as good as Chicago's, but will be good enough to keep them in ballgames. Missing Joe Nathan will probably hurt this club, but remember, these are the Twins. They always seem to find a way. Don't be surprised if the AL Central comes down to another one-game playoff.

3.) Detroit Tigers- Despite the addition of Johnny Damon, expect the Tigers to be a bit weaker this year. They will miss Edwin Jackson in the starting rotation this year, and they will be starting two rookies this year in the field (Austin Jackson in center field, Scott Sizemore at second base). While Jackson and Sizemore have a lot of upside, they are still unproven. An aging Magglio Ordonez in right field will not necessarily help matters, either.

4.) Kansas City Royals- We all know about Zack Greinke, who was last year's Cy Young Award winner. Nonetheless, what about some of the other young talent on this team? Will Billy Butler continue his ascent as a major league hitter, or will he fall victim to inconsistency? Will Luke Hochevar live up to his potential and provide another stabilizing force in the starting rotation, or will be become plagued with inconsistency? Ownership can continue to tell Royals fans to be patient, but considering that it has been 25 years since they made the playoffs, patience has to be running very thin in Kansas City. On-field progress of the team as a whole needs to be seen soon.

5.) Cleveland Indians- Has any team fallen faster in the last three seasons? They went from being just one win away from clinching the AL Pennant in 2007 to finishing in the AL Central basement last year. Between a bad starting rotation and a mediocre lineup that has only two bright spots (Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo), things will probably get worse for the Tribe this year.

American League West

1.) Los Angeles Angels- They may have fallen back towards the pack a bit after losing some key people to free agency (primarily third baseman Chone Figgins and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero), but the Halos still have what it takes to win their fourth consecutive division title. They don't have the sexy one-two punch at the front of their starting rotation like Seattle does, and they may not have a blistering offense like Texas does. What they do have is a good balance between the two; they feature a strong starting five that as a whole, is more complete than Seattle and a lineup that can manufacture runs more efficiently than Texas.

2.) Seattle Mariners- They have the good one-two punch at the front of their rotation in Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee, and they added Chone Figgins in the offseason as well to give their lineup more speed. However, the back three of their rotation is still very suspect, and their lineup still needs more pop to keep up with the Angels. If they want to take down Mike Scioscia's boys in L.A., they'll have to give them a taste of their own medicine by manufacturing runs themselves.

3.) Texas Rangers- Team President Nolan Ryan is predicting 92 wins and a division title from this club, who has not seen the postseason in 11 years. They certainly have the bats to carry them, but will their pitching hold up? Can staff ace Scott Feldman provide an encore performance of what he did last year? We'll see.

4.) Oakland Athletics- They aren't the worst team in baseball, but they certainly are the most boring one by a mile.



National League East

1.) Philadelphia Phillies- The addition of Roy Halladay, along with an absolutely explosive lineup, will ensure the Phils of their fourth straight division championship.

2.) Atlanta Braves*- Let the Jason Heyward show begin. The presence of this 20-year-old right fielder will ignite a spark throughout this team, and his play will be a major contributing factor to Atlanta making their first postseason appearance since 2005. The Braves also feature a solid starting rotation that will also help carry them to October.

3.) Florida Marlins- Much like their in-state brethren to the north, this will be a good team, but not good enough to take down Philly and Atlanta. Their rotation is suspect beyond Jason Johnson and Ricky Nolasco, and their lineup, as a whole, can be streaky at times.

4.) New York Mets- Now that the Mets play in a park where home runs go to die, they really need to become stronger in pitching and defense. Signing Jason Bay does not exactly help with this, especially since the Mets are in desperate need of pitching beyond Santana. I would not be surprised at all if manager Jerry Manuel and General Manager Omar Minaya were shown the door at the end of the season if the Mets do not contend.

5.) Washington Nationals- The Nasty Nats won't be good this year, but the day they call up Stephen Strasburg will be one of excitement in the Nation's Capital. It should also be interesting to see who they take with the number one overall pick in this year's draft, too.

National League Central

1.) St. Louis Cardinals-- The Redbirds will be flying high back into October, on the strength of their four best players: Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.

2.) Chicago Cubs- The talent is there, but will they stay healthy? Plus, getting rid of Milton Bradley should help with the clubhouse morale this year, too. I do not expect them to make the playoffs, but I expect them to perform better than they did last year.

3.) Cincinnati Reds- They probably won't contend this year, but if everybody stays healthy, a winning season should definitely be a lock for Dusty Baker's crew.

4.) Milwaukee Brewers- Outside of Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee will have their adventures with their rotation. Look for a lot of slug fests with the Brew Crew this summer.

5.) Pittsburgh Pirates- They have a decent young core in their starting lineup and their rotation was not dreadful at all last year. Since Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen will both be with the team for the entire season, the Bucs will avoid the NL Central basement for the first time since 2006. Unfortunately, they will endure their 18th consecutive losing season.

6.) Houston Astros- This team has been slowly eroding over the last few years. Lance Berkman will have his injury woes throughout the season, and their rotation is very thin behind Oswalt. If Oswalt misses any time, this team will be doomed to a last-place finish.

National League West

1.) Colorado Rockies- Get ready for Rocktober, part three. The lineup is already rock solid (pun intended) and if the pitching lives up to expectations, there will be no second-place for the Rockies this year. They will be champions of the NL West.

2.) Los Angeles Dodgers- Will the lineup produce enough to keep up with Colorado? Also, the divorce of the Dodger's owner will be a very big distraction this summer.

3.) San Francisco Giants- They have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, but they also have one of the more anemic lineups in the game, too. The lack of quality bats on this team will cost them.

4.) Arizona Diamondbacks- If Brandon Webb returns to form, they will have a great one-two-three punch at the top of their rotation, along with Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson. Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds will also be tough outs once again for opposing pitchers. While the rest of their lineup is talented, they are also very inconsistent. This inconsistency has doomed the team each of the last two years, and this year will not be any different.

5.) San Diego Padres- Outside of Adrian Gonzalez, I dare you to name three people on this team. This team is largely unknown, but Kyle Blanks should garner some attention with his power bat this summer. Expect trade rumors for Adrian Gonzalez to pick up steam this summer, as well.

Postseason

American League Division Series
New York Yankees defeat Chicago White Sox 3-2
Los Angeles Angels defeat Boston Red Sox 3-2

American League Championship Series
Los Angeles Angels defeat New York Yankees 4-2

National League Division Series
Philadelphia Phillies sweep St. Louis Cardinals 3-0
Colorado Rockies defeat Atlanta Braves 3-1

National League Championship Series
Philadelphia Phillies defeat Colorado Rockies 4-3

World Series
Philadelphia Phillies defeat Los Angeles Angels 4-1