Great Weekend For Chicago Sports Fans

With lots of sports on the docket this weekend, fans of all Chicago teams had to be feeling good Sunday night. 

After getting their brains beat in by the lowly New York Mets, the Cubs limped into Milwaukee and Wrigley North hoping to salvage what was left of their road trip. They came into the series facing a Brewers team that had just lit up the Pirates for 36 runs in 3 games, including a 20-0 beat down on Thursday. With Carlos Zambrano being sent to the bullpen to help bridge the gap to Carlos Marmol and make way for Ted Lily to come off the DL, it seemed to be a recipe for a shootout. Except it was only a one sided affair as the Cubs brought their offense out of winter hibernation to sweep the Brewers in remarkable fashion. 8-1, 5-1 and 12-2 were the final outcomes, with the Cubs starting pitching leading the way. Ryan Dempster, Ted Lily and Randy Wells gave up a total of 3 runs in 20 innings of work, allowing only 20 baserunners. Keeping runners off base will help you win a lot of ballgames, especially against a team that many consider to be the best offensive team in the NL Central. The Washington National come to town next for 3 games and it could help the Cubs get a few games above .500. 

Meanwhile, the Madhouse on Madison was rocking on Saturday afternoon as the Blackhawks and Nashville Predators played game 5 of their series. The series was split 2 games a each when the puck dropped and after an early goal by the Predators, the Blackhawks scored 3 straight goals to give for a 3-1 lead. Nashville got one back with about 4:30 left in the second and all the momentum shifted to the Predators as they scored 2 more goals to give themselves a 4-3 lead. With the Blackhawks goalie Antti Niemi pulled to get an extra attacker, Marian Hossa hit Dan Hamhuis from the side near the Predators net, shoving him hard into the boards and earning himself 5 minute major. With that penalty, it looked like the game was over, but the Blackhawks pulled their goalie again and Patrick Kane stuffed in a Jonathan Toews rebound to tie it with 13.6 seconds left in the game. And 10 seconds after his penalty expired, Hossa was there to send a Brent Sopel shot into the back of the net for the OT game winner. 

Celebration gave way to fear that Hossa would have to miss game 6 in Nashville on Monday because of a potential suspension for his Boarding Major, but NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell ruled that the hit didn't warrant any further action and Hossa will be on the ice when the Blackhawks try to send the Predators to the golf courses. 

The southsiders got late game heroics on Friday and Saturday, winning both games with walk-off homers in the bottom half of the 9th. White Sox outfielders Andruw Jones and Alex Rios did the honors on Friday and Saturday, respectively, with Saturday's coming after a fan help gift the Seattle Mariners a run in the top half of the 9th. Casey Kotchman hit a shot down the RF line and a Sox fan who obviously wasn't paying attention to the game, reached down to pick up the ball and after being scolded by the people around him, dropped the ball. It was too late, however as thirdbase umpire Fieldin Culbreth ruled that Jack Wilson would have scored regardless and awarded him home. Ozzie Guillen came out to argue and was rewarded with an early shower for his efforts. Paul Konerko hit a homer in the 9th to bring it to 4-3 and with 2 outs and a runner on, Rios deposited a David Aardsma fastball into LF for the win. Konerko ended up getting the game winning homer on Sunday afternoon, but it was only in the 8th instead of in the 9th to give the Sox a 3-2 win and a sweep of their own over the Mariners. The White Sox are off Monday to help them recover from the last minute victories this weekend. 

The Chicago Bulls played this weekend as well and won one of their two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but I don't follow basketball anymore and can't offer up anything interesting, nor relevant for what transpired. But, um, congrats on not getting sweeped?

Good Pitching Takes You Halfway

With a rotation of two aces in Jake Peavy and Mark Buehrle, two up and comers John Danks and Gavin Floyd, Chicago White Sox fans think they have what it takes to make a run at the division title and a run in the playoffs like 2005. But pitching only takes you so far.

With their typical everyday lineup in today's game against the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox got the pitching they needed, this time with Freddy Garcia going 7 innings and only giving up 2 runs on 3 hits. Of course, walking 5 isn't going to help you in most games, but this time it didn't hurt that much.

What did hurt is that they only managed 6 hits and scored one run. What's scary is that of those 6 hits, 3 were extra base hits and they still only scored 1 run. A 1-8 performance with runners in scoring position will not win you many games, no matter how many runs your starter gives up. In fact, after today's game, the lineup for the White Sox is hitting a combined .186. Going into today's game entirely, the White Sox are hitting only .185 as a team, 2nd to last in the majors. Even the Astros, who have scored 6 runs in 4 games are hitting better. Slugging .304 as a team is going to get you blown out of a lot of games. Of course, it's only 5 games, White Sox fans shouldn't be panicking yet, right?

Peavy Finally Heads to Chicago...

But it's not for the Chicago Cubs. GM Kenny Williams flew under the radar again and traded for Jake Peavy, formerly of the San Diego Padres, again, but this time, Peavy didn't say no and agreed to a deal that sends him to the Southside of Chicago to pitch for the White Sox, eventually.

The White Sox gave up quite a bit in the deal, including their top pitching prospect Aaron Poreda, current 5th starter Clayton Richard and 2 more pitching prospects, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter. This was the same deal that Williams originally offered the Padres in May.

Picking up a former Cy Young award winner at the deadline is a coup reserved for the teams with the best farm system. And the hual that the White Sox gave up was a good one. But there's a few slight problems.

Peavy is owed $52 million over 3 years, which will severely limit the money that the White Sox will have in each offseason. The White Sox have quite a few contracts that expire at the end of this season, but with them moving two of their young starters, it'll make it that much harder to replace them without dabbling in the FA market.

But more concerning for the White Sox is whether you view this as a win now trade for the White Sox. Peavy has been on the DL since the middle of June with a tendon problem in his right ankle. The earliest he's be back in very late august or early September. Will the White Sox still be in the race at that point? And what's the guarantee that the Peavy you get is the Peavy that won the Cy Young in 2007?

In Peavy, you get a pitcher that is dominant when he's on, but doesn't finish a lot of ballgames, completing only 7 in his major league career. And achilles heal of the 2009 White Sox as of late, has been their bullpen. Getting a 6 or 7 inning pitcher isn't going to help as much as one would hope.

But the trade makes you wonder just what exactly would it have cost the White Sox to get a different Cy Young award winner, Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays. Besides Poreda and Richard, how much more would the White Sox need to give up? Gavin Floyd or John Danks? Would that have been a better price for a pitcher that would pitch in August and who's deal ends in 2010?

Turning Back the Clock to 2005

After placing OF Dewayne Wise on the DL for the next couple of months with a seperated shoulder, the Chicago White Sox turn to a familiar face to maybe play CF soon, signing former OF Scott Podsednik to a minor league contract. Podsednik, 33, has been sitting around waiting for a job after not making the Colorado Rockies OF this spring and hoping for some idiot GM to give him a call. Kenny Williams is that idiot. You're picking up an OF who couldn't make the Rockies and you think he'd be a good move for your team? What's next, calling up Carl Everett and seeing what he's doing? Signing Sandy Alomar to back up AJ? There's a reason why Podsednik couldn't make the Rockies. You're signing a player with a career OPS of .711, a career OBP of .337, which isabout 60 points higher than his career batting average. His last full season as a starter, his line was 261/330/353. There isn't very many players who's slg percentage is barely above his on-base percentage. On the bright side, at least he's still married to a former playmate, so hopefully she'll show up at the ballpark during gamedays.

Coming Soon... Spring Training

With the end of January upon us, it usually means 2 things in the land of sports.

1. The Super Bowl in near. More on that in a second.

2. Pitchers and Catchers are reporting soon.

This year, with the World Baseball Classic being played in the month of March, the mandatory reporting dates for teams have been pushed up. The Chicago Cubs pitchers and catchers report on February 13th and the Chicago White Sox reporting date is February 14th. The dates being pushed up means that a baseball fan like me has a lot of spring training reports to look forward to. The downside is that because of the WBC, the season will start later this year. Opening day is set for April 6th this season, a week later than this past season. It'll be good for most of the midwest and northeast teams as the later start will hopefully make for some warmer games in those seasons and lower the chance of snow outs.

As for the Super Bowl, this year's matchup obviously has less appeal for the country than last years matchup of the undefeated New England Patriots vs the New York Giants. Lots of people tuned it to see if the Giants could be the teams to hand the Patriots their first defeat of the season. To add into it that you have a team from the #1 TV market in North America and the NFL has a match made in heaven.

On the other hand, this year we have the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. One team that has been the league doormat for many, many decades. The other is trying to become the winningest team in Super Bowl victories. Add into the fact that one team is a 6 and a half point favorite and you have a drama-less game. The Cardinals can surprise people and there is a chance that they end up winning the game, but what NBC is probably rooting for is a close game so people won't tune out as quickly. I'm actually going to say that the Cardinals win this one 34-31 in a close shootout and Kurt Warner picks up the MVP.

Congrats to Jim Hendry

Going into the winter meetings, Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry had 3 priorities.

1. Get a lefty hitter, preferably a power hitting RF.

2. Find someone to take Jason Marquis off his hands and give that team money to help with the deal.

3. Finish the trade with the San Diego Padres and strengthen your rotation by getting Jake Peavy.

After 4 days in Las Vegas and daily teasing with trade rumors, Hendry left Vegas for Chicago with none of things accomplished.

Sure he laid some groundwork for that hitter by having conversations with Milton Bradley on becoming that RF, but Friday morning, word came down that Raul Ibanez took a 3 year, $30 million dollar deal from the Philadelphia Phillies to play LF for them. I'm not that torn up about it since Ibanez would have been a poor choice for RF because of his defense, but at the
same time, its another potential RF off the market. Will Hendry be able to get Bradley or will someone else swoop in and grab in.

As far as Marquis goes, its going to be hard to find someone who will take Marquis' deal, even if the Cubs throw in some cash to go along with it. There was talk that the New York Mets were sniffing around Marquis, but with them trading potential Cubs targets Scott Schoeneweis and Aaron Heilman in separate deals this week, I'm not sure the Cubs will be able to matchup on a deal.

As for the cocktease that was a potential Peavy deal, there is always that possibility that the talks can be rekindled, but at this point, you have to believe that unless the Padres stop asking for 6 or 7 players in a potential deal, you have to imagine that Hendry is going to stay away. And while I understand why, you have to wonder if making the deal would have been the right move. Mortgaging the future is never a great move, but with window for the Cubs winning a World Series only a few years, can you wait for players like Josh Vitters to be ready?

So where do the Cubs go from here? Bradley seems to be the priority for their RF vacancy, but does one wonder if maybe Hendry might touch base again with the Baltimore Orioles to see if Brian Roberts might be available and maybe get the Cubs a leadoff hitter and move DeRosa to RF? Talks for Peavy will probably not be revived unless Marquis gets moved and even then
it probably won't happen.

As far as the Chicago White Sox go, I sometimes wonder if Kenny Williams was even in Vegas or if he just sat by the pool everyday. None of the players that he would need to move to help lower the payroll was even talked about, except Jermaine Dye and the rumor for him was killed before the meetings ever began. Does Williams have any irons in the fire? I guess we'll see.

The Big Tease

With proposed Jake Peavy to the Chicago Cubs losing steam on the 3rd day of the winter meetings, some Cubs fans have to wonder if the trade will go the way of the dinosaur, much like the Brian Roberts talk of 2007.

Right now, the Cubs don't need Peavy. The truly don't. He would be a luxury on this team. Not matter how you look at it, even if Ryan Dempster regress' a little, the Cubs will have the best rotation in the NL Central next season. But when you can add a pitcher of Peavy's caliber, a former Cy Young winner, sometimes you just have to pull that trigger. Sometimes, you have to mortgage the future a bit. This wouldn't be another Brock for Broglio trade here. At least, you hope it wouldn't.

As far as the Chicago White Sox? All seems to be quiet. Not a peep, not a whisper, nothing. One has to wonder if Kenny Williams has even made a phone call or two.

The Busiest Baseball Week of the Year

With the Winter Meetings to start on Monday in Las Vegas, this week will be one of the busiest weeks of the baseball offseason. There is when most of the groundwork for offseason deals is laid and when a lot of the free agents get a chance to see what teams are interested in them and at what price. Last year at the winter meetings is where the Detroit Tigers pulled off the blockbuster trade they thought would help springboard them to the playoffs and a possible World Series berth (it didn't). It was also last year when Chicago Cubs fans were teased almost daily that they were on the verge of acquiring Brian Roberts from the Baltimore Orioles for prospects (they didn't). This year doesn't appear to be any different, especially if you're fans of the Cubs.

The free agent market has been slow to develop for most players so far this offseason, mostly due to the slumping economy. Teams are reluctant to spend the money on players when they aren't sure what the attendance is going to look like for next season and whether baseball fans will be able to afford to go to games. Sure, teams like the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox expect to be big spenders as always, but teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which play in the #2 or close to the #2 TV market in the US are reluctant to try and over commit themselves on the players out there. The Angels are looking at CC Sabathia, the top starter on the market, but are reluctant to offer Mark Texiera a contract, the top hitter on the market, until their offer for Sabathia plays out, afraid that they cannot afford both. But things are expected to pick up this week for certain.

On the south side, Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams might be looking to offload some hefty contracts in order to get younger and faster, trying to bring the team closer to the "grinder" team that won the World Series in 2005. But in order to do that, they're going to have to find someone willing to take on the massive contract of Paul Konerko, who has a no-trade clause or Jim Thome, who can really only play DH. A rumor that was swirling around earlier had the White Sox offloading Jermaine Dye to the Cincinnati Reds for former #1 pitching prospect Homer Bailey, but that's been shot down by both teams as of right now. It doesn't mean that there isn't the groundwork for that deal laid out already, it just means that both teams are still trying to figure out how they can fleece the other team so it looks like they win the deal. I would still expect that deal to happen sometime before Thursday of this week. As for the White Sox moving Konerko or Thome, I can see them moving closer Bobby Jenks before they are able to move either one of them and actually expect Jenks to be wearing another uniform by next season. Some teams value the closer way, way too much in this age of baseball and it would be stupid for a team to not make the deal if they are blown away by an offer.

As for the Cubs, I don't expect them to be able to pull off the deal for Jake Peavy from the San Diego Padres at all this week, if ever. Right now, the Cubs have the advantage in the market, even if they don't have the pieces needed to get the deal done right now. Once the top starting pitchers from free agency start to get snapped up, the advantage swing back to the Padres as they will be able to court the teams that missed out on the pitcher they wanted with arguably the best trade option available. However, if the Cubs can find a team willing to take Jason Marquis and his almost $10 million dollar contract off of their hands, the Cubs might again find themselves ready to pull the trigger on a series of deals to pull in Peavy. But in all honesty, I don't expect the Cubs to make much of a splash during the meetings unless it's to pick up the left-handed hitting RF they want. Unfortunately, none of the players available are all that attractive.

Any way you look at it, starting Monday, rumors and news will be starting to flow hot and heavy and hopefully jumpstart a slow offseason thus far.

A Look Back At 2008 And a Look Ahead to 2009...White Sox Edition

After the sting of yet another failed postseason here in Chicago, it's timer to take a look at the 2008 editions of both the Cubs and the White Sox and a look ahead to what may lie in the future of the two franchises. First up in the cross hairs are the White Sox.

Before the season, unless your name was Kenny Williams, you would have picked the White Sox to finish 3rd, at best in the AL Central. All the experts were picking the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers as the eventual champs, especially after the Tigers swung a deal during the offseason to pickup 3B Miquel Cabrera and P Dontrelle Willis. Cleveland was coming off a division title and an almost World Series berth in 2007. But the Tigers started slow and really never got it into gear to try and make it back into the picture, while the only two people who showed up to play in 2008 for the Indians was CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, who was banished to AAA during his awful 2007 season. But Sabathia was traded in July and Lee never got support from anyone else on the pitching staff and the Indians were never in it. Meanwhile, the White Sox out homered every team in baseball on their way to winning their 2nd division title in 4 years and while it wasn't the runaway success that 2005 was, it was still a season for them to be proud of. Most of them.

One of the things that Williams is known for around baseball is not sitting on his hands. Williams is not afraid to tinker with his team and move pieces that were once thought to be too valuable to too indispensable to move. Before the 2005 season, the White Sox moved slugger Carlos Lee, one of their top hitters on the team to the Milwaukee Brewers for Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino. And this was during the same offseason where Williams blasted Scott Boras and his client, the White Sox best hitter at the time, Magglio Ordonez, for going to Sweden or Denmark or wherever to get an experimental knee surgery that the White Sox never approved of. They got Jermaine Dye, who was coming off 3 very bland years in Oakland, to replace Ordonez and the White Sox were on their way to winning the 2005 World Series.

After 2007, Williams showed he wasn't afraid to trade away a key piece of the puzzle to upgrade a position that was seriously in need of one. Williams sent starter Jon Garland to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for Orlando Cabrera and helping move Juan Uribe, who he had resigned just a few days earlier, to the bench where he deserved. The White Sox also picked up Carlos Quentin from the Arizona Diamondbacks, who was coming off a shoulder injury and Nick Swisher from the Oakland A's, who has always been a high on-base guy, but never the hitter Billy Beane envisioned when he was drafted. Together, with the holdovers from 2007, allowed Kenny Williams to comment, when asked about the moves for Cabrera and Willis by the Tigers, "All this has done is put the Tigers in a better position to contend with us." He was laughed at amongst the baseball world for his brashness at the time. He ended up being wrong, but not the way the rest of the baseball world thought, since the Tigers were never able to contend with the White Sox.

But for the White Sox, the first round was as far as they would make it in the 2008 playoffs, losing 3 games to 1 to the young, running and possibly World Series bound Tamp Bay Rays. The White Sox showed that while hitting homers during the regular season is great, when you go into the playoffs without your team MVP, you better get shutdown pitching to lead you down the stretch. Unfortunately for the White Sox, they came up well short in that area. As we look to 2009, pitching along with a couple of other places are where the White Sox clearly need to improve to make another run at the playoffs for 2009 and further.

First thing up for the White Sox is to solve their revolving door in center.Over the course of the season, the White Sox used Jerry Owens, Dewayne Wise, Brian Anderson, Nick Swisher and Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey will most likely not be back for the 2009 season unless he takes a discount(his contract calls for a 16 million option in 2009, with a 4 million buyout) to come back and play with the White Sox or Williams is out of his gourd. Griffey is too old to be playing a meaningful CF these days, not to mention the poor hitting his experienced while playing his home games in August and September in a hitters park. In 74 ABs in US Cellular field, he hit 1 homer. Thats the same number he hit in 20 ABs in Petco Park, an extreme pitcher's park. So Griffey should not be back unless he's playing DH, occasionally. But, therein lies the problem for the White Sox. They are a team full of 1B/DH and only should be playing 2 at a time. Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Swisher and Griffey are all players that should only be seeing playing time there. Thome exclusively to DH and Griffey probably as well. But you can't keep 4 guys on the roster for just those two spots, can you? Konerko, Thome and Swish are all coming off down years. Thome will be a free agent after 2009 as his option was picked up automatically towards the end of the season for reaching 1,100 PA over 2007 and 2008 combined. So, you might be able to move him if you were to eat a significant portion of the money that is owed, but who is going want a 38 year-old DH? Konerko became a 10 and 5 guy (10 years in baseball, 5 with the same club) early this season, which gives him an automatic no-trade clause. On top of that, he's owed 24 million over the next 2 years and makes it highly unlikely anyone would want him, even if they could get him to waive his no-trade clause. That leaves Swisher as trade bait unless they want him to play CF again next year. Swisher is on the cheap for the next 3 years and has an option on his contract for 2012. But Swish still has not been able to hit for average and while he gets on-base at a high rate, there are plenty of GMs in baseball that will see that Billy Beane traded him away, despite the high OBP and take that as a sign of bad things. Solving CF needs to be high on the priority list for 2009 and the option cannot come internally. What's out there? FA wise, not much. Rocco Baldelli from the Rays is a FA, but his days might best be served as a DH or on the DL, like has been the past few years. Other than that, no one really sticks out. On the trade market Reed Johnson from the Cubs is arbitration eligible, but might the Cubs opening day CF next season, the Pirates may be looking to move Nate McLouth but would be wanting pitching, something the White Sox don't have an abundance of. Coco Crisp of the Boston Red Sox always seems to be available and will probably be again this offseason. He might be the best bet for the White Sox, but can Williams and Theo Epstein matchup on other pieces?

The White Sox finished up 2008 with Uribe playing 3B which says a lot about the White Sox faith in Josh Fields. Fields was part of the blockbuster trade that almost happened with the Florida Marlins a year ago for Miquel Cabrera, but for whatever reason, didn't work out. Was it Williams' lack of interest including Fields that doomed it? If it was, I bet Williams would like to take a time machine back and get that deal done now. Fields has shown an ability to strike out a lot, while hitting a few homers, but not being able to draw walks. And his ability at 3B is far below incumbent Joe Crede. But Crede will not be back with the White Sox for 2009 and hopefully neither will Juan Uribe. Will the White Sox hand over the job to Fields and hope he learns how many balls it takes to walk to first? A very lackluster 3B FA class leaves the White Sox with either taking Fields or looking to make a deal.

When the White Sox acquired Orlando Cabrera from the Angels, they probably envisioned him re-signing with the club and being the stable SS the White Sox have been looking for since Ozzie Guillen was there everyday. But after numerous run-ins with Ozzie, the broadcast booth and everyone else near the Cell, O-Cab punched his ticket out of town long before throwing his teammates under the bus in Minnesota during the last week of the season. The White Sox could be ok for next season with moving Alexi Ramirez to SS, but then that leaves a hole at 2B. Not a permanent hole, as they hope that #1 draft pick Gordon Beckham will be there shortly. But with no current answer in the system, could the White Sox be looking at making a trade for someone who only has a couple of years left on their deal? Or might they reach out to former 2B Ray Durham for a 2-year deal till Beckham is ready?

Most of the pieces from the bullpen are in place for next season, barring them trading Bobby Jenks for a different need. Would they move Jenks to help get a CF and then use Octavio Dotel or Scott Linebrink to close instead? The bullpen was good last year and maybe a little tinkering here and there would shore it up that much more. Will the White Sox revisit trade talks with the Oakland A's for closer Houston Street?

After trading Garland, most people were wondering exactly who was going to step up and take over the 4th and 5th spot this season for the White Sox. Both Gavin Floyd and John Danks had lackluster seasons in 2007 but stepped up in 2008 and provided stability to the staff. But what about 2009? Jose Contreras is coming off an Achilles injury, one that might keep him sidelined until the middle of 2009. 2009 is the last season of his contract, but its $10 million and will be impossible to move. Javier Vasquez has shown, again that he can't pitch in big games and this time, admitted that he doesn't care that he doesn't. But he's owed 23 million over the next 2 seasons. which will make it hard to move him.

I think the obvious places for the White Sox to improve is center field and second base. Moving Ramirez is probably a smart move with his arm and with Beckham in the minors. Picking up someone like Durham for a couple of seasons will keep second warm, waiting for his arrival and not committing too much in payroll. In CF, making a move for Crisp probably makes the most sense, especially if you can get rid of Swisher in the deal also. It would be an even payroll swap for the most part and give you a true CF playing out there. And whatever you do, do not pick up Griffey's option.

White Sox Have Their Backs Against A Wall

After being swept out of Minnesota by the Twins again this season, the Chicago White Sox enter tonight's game against the Cleveland Indians in trouble and not controlling their own destiny. Since July 27th, the White Sox had been at least 2.5 games in front of the always pesky Twins. But now, facing their toughest challenge of the season, they find themselves a half game back.

The hardest part for this weekends series against the Cleveland Indians is that the White Sox truly do not control their destiny. If the White Sox want to make it to the playoffs without playing an extra game on Monday, they have to sweep the Indians and have the Twins lose 2 games at home this weekend, to the Kansas City Royals, on of the worst teams in the AL Central. If the White Sox sweep, and the Twins win 2 of 3, then the White Sox would have to play an extra game on Monday against the Detroit Tigers to make up a game from 2 weeks ago. And the White Sox must win that game against the Tigers, or they will be forced to play another game on Tuesday, at US Cellular Field against the Twins. If the White Sox and Twins both win 2 of 3 this weekend, the White Sox again will have to play Detroit at home on Monday and must win the game to force the game on Tuesday against the Twins. Any scenario you look at, the White Sox must win at least the same number of games as the Twins do, in order to force an extra game on Monday and potentially Tuesday. Its not looking very good for the White Sox.

Looking Forward While Looking Back

With the Chicago Cubs clinching their second straight NL Central Division Title last night, its time to take a look at the possible matchups for the first round. The Cubs making the playoffs 2 years in a row hasn't happened since the Cubs went to the playoffs 3 straight years, from 1906-08.

The Cubs have pretty much locked up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Both the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets still have outside shots at it, but the Cubs would have to lose all of their remaining games and both the Mets and Phillies would have to win all of theirs. So, for the sake of argument, let's just say they have it. Along with home-field advantage, the Cubs would play the wildcard team in the first round of the playoffs, unless that team is the Milwaukee Brewers. And while the Brewers have blown their 5 and half game wildcard lead that they had at the beginning of September, they haven't been eliminated as of yet, but it's not looking good for them. So, it's basically coming down to the Met and Phillies. Whichever team wins the NL East, the other becomes the wildcard and the Divisional Series matchup for the Cubs.

This season vs the Mets so far, the Cubs are 2-0. After today's final game of the season, the Cubs head to Shea stadium in New York to take on the Mets and give the fans a preview of what might come. But I'm not really sure how much of a preview it might be, since the Cubs have already locked up their division and I'm not sure if they plan on keeping their pitchers on their 5 days and how long the starters will go when in the game.

Against the Phillies, the Cubs are 3-4 and even that record is a bit deceiving as when the Phillies were in Chicago late last month, the Cubs split the series with the Phillies, but only won the first two games with late inning heroics. Of all the possible playoff matchups, this one scares me the most.

As of this moment, the Los Angeles Dodgers are leading the NL West 3.5 half games over the Arizona Diamondbacks. But either team would be a good first opponent for the Cubs, because so far this season, they are a combined 9-4 against the two and generally have played well versus teams from the west. But I will say that all of the Cubs games against the Dodgers was without Manny Ramirez playing for LA and they have looked like a different team since they picked him up.

From best to worst, this is how I see the potential matchups for the Cubs:

1.Mets
2. Diamondbacks
3. Dodgers
4. Phillies

On the southside, the White Sox enter today with a 2.5 game lead over the second place Minnesota Twins, with a key series against the Twins starting on Tuesday. If the Sox lose the game today and the Twins end up beating the Tampa Bay Rays, they could come into the series only with a 1.5 game lead. The White Sox do potentially have a make up game left against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, September 29th in case it's needed to decide the division and that would mean that they would have a game against the Twins on the 3oth, in case that is needed with a division tie. But, enough about whether the White Sox will make the playoffs, let's talk about them like they have.

Going into the Playoffs, the White Sox will be the lowest of the division winners. Right now, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have the best winning record and the Tampa Bay Rays are second. If it stays this way, the White Sox would take on the Rays in the first round. If the Boston Red Sox were to take over the AL East from the Rays, then they would be the Divisional Series matchup. Those two teams are the only ones the White Sox could play. And unfortunately for the White Sox and White Sox fans, they have a losing record against both.

Against the Red Sox, the White Sox are 3-4, but haven't played them very well, as they have been outscored by the Red Sox 37-20 in those 7 games. In Chicago, the White Sox split the 4 game series, but in Boston, the lost 2 of 3.

Against the Rays, they are 4-6, but have actually outscored the Rays 37-35 in those 10 games. After taking 2 of 3 from the Rays in St. Pete in April, the White Sox are 2-5 since, including losing 3 of 4 in late May/Early June, when after the final game of the series, manager Ozzie Guillen threw just about everybody under the bus, including his boss Kenny Williams. The scary thing about that postgame tirade, the White Sox were in first place after the game still. Of course, they reeled off 7 straight wins after that game. So, maybe Ozzie Guillen should blow up about his team just before the playoffs begin. They win 7 straight to start the playoffs and they would be setting themselves up for a sweep at the hands of the Cubs in the World Series.

September Has Come

Right around this time of year in the Chicago area, Chicago Cubs fans are reminded by White Sox fans what they jokingly like to tell people CUBS stands for. Completely Useless By September. But for two years in a row, the Cubs not only aren't completely useless, they are right in the thick of things when it comes to playoff talks and World Series chances. Meanwhile, it seems like the White Sox are slowly starting to buckle as the season wears on.

As of today, September 1st, the Cubs magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 12. A combination of 12 wins or 12 Philadelphia losses will give the Cubs at least the wildcard berth. But obviously, that's not where the Cubs want to be. At 85-52, they have the best record in baseball and continuing to play that way will allow them to have homefield advantage through the National league playoffs. And with a 51-21 record at Wrigley, home is exactly where they want to be. As of late, they have played better on the road and are currently over .500 away from Wrigley, but the team seems to hit and pitch better at home. Of course, it wouldn't be the Cubs if something wasn't a bit amiss.

Carlos Zambrano was pushed back from his scheduled start yesterday to give him some extra rest between starts. While not injured and not hurting, the tired arm is a bit of a concern. Especially since he was placed on the disabled list for a couple weeks earlier in the season and despite being placed on the DL, is 6th in the majors in Pitchers Abuse Points. And while PAP isn't a measurement of who will be hurt, usually pitchers who are high on the list have a tendency to break down a bit. In 2003, Kerry Wood was 2 and Mark Prior was 4 and they were never the same since. Of course, #1 this season is CC Sabathia, so buyer beware. A 3 game set in Houston kicks off the month of September for the Cubs and a matchup with Roy Oswalt. And while Houston isn't towards the top of the division, they are playing above .500 ball and aren't going to lay down for the Cubs. September is going to be a tough stretch for the Cubs but if they can pull through it well, it'll only help them come October.

The Southsiders limp into September 5-5 in their last 10 game after losing 3 of the past 4. They head into September a half game up on the Twins for the division and 2 games behind Boston for the Wildcard. And they have a tough stretch ahead of them. It starts with tonight with them taking on Cliff Lee and the Cleveland Indians. Lee headed into the season unsure if he would even make the team and has done nothing but prove the Cleveland Indians front office right, by going 19-2 with a 2.43 ERA through the first5 months of the season and right now is the the favorite to win the Al CY Young award. Unfortunately, for Lee, he plays on a team that is performing well under expectations and might get passed over for the award in favor of Francisco Rodriquez of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who is 5 saves away from breaking the major league record for saves in a season.

And after this series with the Indians, it really doesn't get any easier for the Sox. They come home to play a 3-game set with the Angels this weekend in the beginning of a 10-game homestand, with series' against Toronto and Detroit to follow. But then it's 10 on the road to pretty much decide if they are going to win the division or fall out of the race entirely. They play 4 games in New York against the Yankees who might still be fighting for their playoff lives, travel to Kansas City to play the last place Royals and then head to Minnesota to battle the Twins for the division title, if it's not already wrapped up by then. And since the White Sox are going to be throwing junk out there every 5th day in the form of Clayton Richard or whatever else they can scrap together from the minors since Kenny Williams didn't go out and land Jarrod Washburn or any other pitcher who was available after Jose Contreras went down, I expect Minnesota to have the division wrapped up before the White Sox even show up in the Homer Dome.

White Sox Need Help

After last night's loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox are starting to slowly fade down the stretch and find themselves now a half game behind the Minnesota Twins. But the game isn't the only thing that they lost as they lost starter Jose Contreras for the season with a torn achiles tendon. The injury will also probably keep him sidelined for a good chunk of next season also, but that's the least of their concerns.

Right now, the White Sox are in need of someone to step up and take the spot that Contreras leaves behind. When Contreras was last on the DL, the White Sox called up Clayton Richard and he was very unspectacular in holding down the spot for 3 weeks, so chances are he's not going to be the one. D.J. Carasco has been a starter in the minors and pitched well in relief last night after Contreras left. But he's pitched well in the bullpen and taking him from that role with also leave a hole there. The could call up one of their top pitching prospects in Lance Broadway, but he hasn't exactly been lighting up AAA this season, with a 4.68 ERA in 138+ innings. And then after that, the pickings are slim. They can call up another of their top prospects from AA, Aaron Poreda. But I'm not sure if the answer would be to call up someone who has never pitched above AA and is only in his second professional season in the middle of pennant race.

The White Sox did make a trade after the game last night, adding lefty reliever Horacio Ramirez from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for a A OF named Paulo Orlando. And the White Sox could plan on using him as a starter, which he has done in the past, however this season, he has spent it in the bullpen and last season, he finished the year with more walks than strikeouts (42/40) and a WHIP of 1.85. Not to mention an ERA of 7.16. So, not exactly someone who strikes fear in the hearts of batters everywhere. Other than that, not many pitchers are left out there. A few pitchers have supposedly cleared waivers and could be available for a trade, but don't seem like an option at this point. Hopefully the White Sox can do something to right the ship, otherwise they might be looking to book their winter vacations instead of where they might be swinging the bats into the middle of October.

In other small news, Ozzie Guillen has decided to pencil in Juan Uribe and his .234 batting average the starting third sacker until Joe Crede comes back and if you're a White Sox fan, you should be hoping that Crede come back and fast. While Uribe's batting average is better than both Paul Konerko and Nick Swisher, at least those guys can boast an on-base percentage of 100 points higher. I guess you can't pay him 4.5 million to sit on the bench all season.

Ok, Now That The Trade Deadline Is Gone...

I guess I should try and weigh in on what both teams did and didn't do. And since the Chicago White Sox were the only team to do anything on the 31st, then I guess I should start with them.

Yesterday when I posted that the White Sox had made the trade for Ken Griffey, Jr, at the time, we had no idea who was included or what position they intended for him to play. And from the articles that I've read about why it took so long for Griffey to approve the trade, he didn't know either. He seems to be reluctant to play CF, the one position on the White Sox where they could probably play him. But some convincing by Kenny Williams and Griffey appears to be ok with it. Unfortunately, if you're a Sox fan, you shouldn't be.

At this point in his career, Griffey is a butcher in CF. Actually, he's not much better in RF either, but I don't think the Sox are planning on moving Jermaine Dye to CF. At least, not if they want him in the lineup everyday. Sure, maybe the Sox will put Griffey in RF on days that they want to give Dye off, but Dye has been one of two bright spots for the White Sox offense, and the number of days off he gets for the rest of this season should be limited. But back to Griffey.

Griffey has played only one or two games so far in his entire career at 1B, so at this point, he might be a little old and a little slow to start to learn a new position. 1B isn't hard, but not exactly someplace you want to start teaching a player to play during the middle of a pennant race. Especially one where you're only a half game up on the 2nd place team.

At this point, his best position on this team is at DH, at a spot where they currently play Jim Thome. After a slow start, Thome has rebounded pretty well to start having a very typical Thome season. And while Thome played 1B earlier in his career, at this point, playing everyday there is just going to lead to an injury to Thome, which could be good thing for the White Sox as it could possibly prevent them from having to automatically pickup the option on his contract for 2009. But that would be kind of underhanded by the White Sox and I can't see them doing that. Right?

The only bright spot to this deal is that they didn't give up much to get Griffey and that Cincinnati is paying half of the rest of the money this year and half of the buyout for his 2009 option. But how much are you going to get out of Griffey in CF for the rest of 2008? I'm surprised that Kenny couldn't pull off a trade that involves them moving Paul Konerko or Thome to open up a spot for Griffey, but I also don't see why any team would take Paulie's contract for the next 2 years or if Paulie would want to waive his no trade clause to move anywhere else. Maybe a waiver trade will happen as I don't see any team taking the risk of claiming him off waivers and being saddled with the remainder of his contract.

So, Kenny Williams finds Ken Griffey, Jr To Be The Right Fit?

A trade out of nowhere as the Chicago White Sox pickup Ken Griffey Jr from the Cincinnati Reds today. Not sure what's heading to the Reds as they are awaiting Griffey's ok on the no trade clause, but where do they plan on playing him? His days as a CF are way, way past and I don't think Carlos Quentin nor Jermaine Dye are capable at playing CF or Jim Thome. Does Griffey move to 1B and Paul Konerko to the bench? Or has Kenny found someone to take Paulie's massive contract off their hands?

Also, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Williams has shown interest in Closer Houston Street from the Oakland Athletics, but the White Sox might not have the right people for GM Billy Beane to pull the trigger. Should be an interesting few hours as the trade deadline approaches at 3pm central.

Cubs Not Looking To Make A Deal?

This is according to a article on MLB.com. With the emergence of RHP Jeff Samardzija, a former WR for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Chicago Cubs feel that they have their bullpen help already in uniform. And while I like what Samardzija has done so far for the Cubs, let's be real here. He has pitched 4 innings in the major leagues so far. They were against a very good hitting team in the Florida Marlins and he did strike out their 1st and 2nd hitters yesterday on his way to his first career save, but he doesn't have the major league experience that you're looking for in someone to help you along the way towards October. Especially with Kerry Wood nursing a blister problem that has yet to heal fully. Their are two closers available on the pitching market right now that the Cubs could be looking at and it appears they have little interest in either, which I think is a bit misguided. It's one thing for the Cubs to say that they don't have the prospects to go out and get either of them, which I don't think the Cubs do. But to just say that they aren't expected to make a move for them is quite ludicrous. Especially since both of the pitchers are under team control for at least the next two years. The pitchers are closers Houston Street from the Oakland Athletics and George Sherrill from the Baltimore Orioles. Both are having decent, but not stellar seasons and one would think that the price for both of them might be a little down. Could either of them be had for less than what they might get during the offseason? Yes. But the Cubs are just "fine". And I haven't even brought up their anemic offense since the 2nd half started.

As for the Chicago White Sox, Kenny Williams said that the current trade climate is "awful". But where can the White Sox improve their team without giving up on a couple of players with big contracts? Their weakest spots so far this season on offense has no doubt been SS, CF and 1B. Orlando Cabrera has been a bust. But with him being a free agent at the end of the season, will any team be willing to pick him up from the Sox and part with a starting pitcher, especially with Jose Contreras starting to show his age, whatever that age may be? And, by the way, is still owed $10 million in 2009. And if you move Cabrera, do you move Alexi Ramirez to short, which he will play in a couple of years if he's still with the Sox when their #1 draft pick Gordon Beckham arrives. And if you do that, who do you plug into 2nd? Danny Richar didn't exactly wow people in his tryout at 2nd last season and he isn't exactly lighting it up in Charlotte for their AAA team right now? Make a move for Brian Roberts? That would likely mean that the Sox would have to part with Danks, something that team could ill afford. At 1B, moving Paul Konerko to the bench isn't going to be an option, not while he's still owed $24 million for 09 and 10 and trading him isn't very likely as he hit his 10-5 rights at the end of April this season and can reject any trade made. The White Sox could bench Jim Thome which would help them not be responsible for his 09 option, but again, you're paying him a prorated amount of $14 million to sit on the bench? Their bullpen has been very good up until this point in the season, but with the prices so high for some of the relievers the White Sox covet, I don't see them making a move there either. So, yeah Kenny, while the trade market is "awful", you're team doesn't have a lot of flexibility to begin with.

At the Break

With the All-Star break here, its time to look back at baseball on both sides of town and see what the second half holds.

Starting with the Chicago White Sox, because quite frankly, only the optimistic Sox fans expected their team to be in first place at any point past April 30th. And they are doing it mostly the same way as 2005, except for one thing. Hitting.

In 05, the team was carried by their pitching staff. And carried big time, with getting career years from just about all their starters and most of their bullpen. They picked up a closer from the Angels scrap heap, and he's been lights out since. The trio of Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Jose Contreras all had their lowest ERA output and that didn't include the postseason numbers that they put up. As a pitching staff, they had the lowest ERA in the American League and none of the regulars in the bullpen even had an ERA above 4.00. This season really hasn't been any different.

Their pitching staff again has one of the lowest ERA in all of baseball, Mark Buehrle is having as good of season as he had in 2005, after starting off the season very poorly and possibly injured according to Ozzie Guillen and he doesn't even have the best numbers of the starters this season. Both John Danks and Gavin Floyd have come out of nowhere this season to lead the White Sox staff so far to this point and if the White Sox hope to continue to lead the Central, they are going to need them to point the way. Other than LF Carlos Quentin and RF Jermaine Dye, the Sox have had a serious lack off offense this season, especially when it comes to their two biggest offseason acquisitions, Orland Cabrera and Nick Swisher. Of the two, Cabrera has the highest batting average at.264, but has shown almost zero power, with only 25 extra-base hits to his credit. Cabrera has never shown that much power so far in his career, but you would figure that coming into a hitter's park like U.S. Cellular, his Slugging percentage might go up, instead of going down? But, at least he wasn't the one who the White Sox brass were looking forward to the most showing up in town. That honor belongs to Swisher. Thought to be coming in as the answer to their CF woes that have plagued them since movie Aaron Rowand in the Jim Thome trade, Swisher has been a bust. He's been getting on base at almost a 120 points above his batting average, which normally would be great, if your batting average wasn't hovering around .220. And with a slugging percentage around .400, he has provided less than ideal power numbers. At least, not for the players they have given up for him. And the 2nd half doesn't start off too easy for the White Sox. After a 3-game set with the bottom dwellers Kansas City Royals, the White Sox entertain the Texas Rangers for 3 games at home before spending the next 7 games playing their two biggest problems for the Central on the road, starting with 3 in Detroit and then 4 in Minnesota. It's hard to say that games played in late July can make or break a season, but it will be an important stretch.

As for the Cubs, their hitting has carried them to this point in 2008 and the big difference between them and the White Sox, everyone in baseball expected them to be leading the Central at this point. In fact, most experts would say that anything but a World Series berth this season would be a major letdown. And I said a couple weeks ago that without getting a big game pitcher, the Cubs might not even make the playoffs, let alone a World Series. Do I still think that after they picked up Rich Harden? Yes.

Don't get me wrong, Harden is the type of ace that the Cubs need to go after and his one start before the all-star break showed exactly what to expect from him. Lights out stuff, for a short period of time. He struck out 10 Giants in 5 and a third innings pitched, but was pulled after 96 pitches. And that's really not going to help the Cubs that much because of late, their bullpen has been less than stellar. Even the lights out Carlos Marmol has been anything but, limping into the break with an ERA of 4.13, and that has done nothing but go up since May 31st, which was the last time that it was below 2. And Bobby Howry has been less than ideal in the bullpen also this season, sporting an ERA of 4.5o. The only bright spots besides Kerry Wood has been righty Michael Wuertz and lefty Neal Cotts. But Wuertz's last appearance makes kills all the progress he has made so far this season, giving up 4 runs to the Cincinnati Reds in a inning and a third. As for Cotts, he goes into the break sporting a 2.81 ERA after starting the season in AAA and has helped the Cubs miss Scott Eyre when it comes to needing a lefty out. Let's hope he continues that in the 2nd half.

But most of what the second half rests on is the Cubs offense. The Cubs have struggled since Alfonso Soriano went down with his broken hand and no one has picked up the slack. A few games here and there by a couple of players, but no one has emerged to carry the team, which is what teams need when someone goes down. A stellar start to the season is what put Geovanny Soto into the starting Catcher spot in the all-star game, but he has slowed since May 31st and needs to start hitting again to give the Cubs some depth in the lineup. And the Kosuke Fukudome of May and early June needs to show up again if the Cubs hope to help maintain their lead in the Central. But it's not going to be easy. After the break, the Cubs start on the road, which has not been a great play for them to win. 3 games with Houston and then 3 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks is what awaits the Cubs post all-star game, before coming home for 4 games with the Florida Marlins and then a big 4 game set with the Milwaukee Brewers, who along with the St. Louis Cardinals, are waiting for the Cubs to falter. Let's hope this year isn't like all other years.

Cubs Limp into Weekend Series With White Sox

The Chicago Cubs are going into this weekend series against the Chicago White Sox very banged up. Besides having LF Alfonso Soriano, CF Reed Johnson and SP Carlos Zambrano on the disabled list, the might also be without RF Kosuke Fukudome and RP Scott Eyre.

Fukudome is nursing a tight calf, most likely due to playing 6 straight games on Artificial Turf in Toronto and Tampa Bay last week. He missed the last two games of the Baltimore series and the Cubs have been sending out Mark DeRosa to play RF. Hopefully Fukudome will be able to recover in time for the weekend series.

Eyre was removed after pitching to 3 batters on Thursday, complaining of a tight groin. The Cubs have no plans on placing him on the DL now, hoping that he responds to treatments instead. Hopefully the Cubs injury woes are only temporary and that once the Cubs get through this stretch, they'll be healthy for the remainder of the year. Hopefully.

After losing two of three to the Orioles this week, the Cubs are hoping to rebound with another series win in Chicago, this time playing in U.S. Cellular field on the southside of Chicago. But the White Sox come in with a bit of momentum of their own, after taking 2 of 3 from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The pitching match ups are expected to be Ryan Dempster vs Jose Contreras on Friday, Sean Gallagher vs Javier Vasquez on Saturday and Sean Marshall vs Mark Buehrle on Sunday. I would expect the White Sox to take 2 of 3 from the Cubs this weekend, but still giving the Cubs the season series.

Chicago, Choose Your Side

Today marks the beginning of the annual Chicago Cubs-White Sox interleague series. The most baseball fans, they understand that all this series really is just a combination of 6 wins/losses to your record when the end of the season rolls around. But some casual fans might base the outcome of this series as to whether the season is a success or not for their team.

But it really isn't. Sure, if you work with a lot of White Sox fans, as a Cubs fan, you can needle them at work about beating them this season, but if you don't win everything, does it really make a difference? Especially if the other team ends up having a better season? Same can be said for White Sox fans. Beating the Cubs would be great, but if the Cubs finally end their 100-year drought, does it really matter? Well, I guess since I still hear Sox fans chirping about 2005, I'm guessing they still would make a big deal about it. Being a fan of a second class team in this city must suck.

But back to this weekend series, I would expect the Cubs to take the series 2-1 in Wrigley this weekend and next at U.S. Cellular to win the season series 4-2. I just don't think the White Sox offense can keep up with the Cubs. We'll see.

For Those of You Who Still Don't Believe Mark Buehrle Is Injured...

Here are some numbers that help support what I believe. This is Mark Buehrle's numbers on different days of rest.

4 Days(standard) 18 ER 18 1/3IP 6BB 15K 2HRA and a 8.83 ERA
5 Days 1ER 15IP 2BB 8K 0HRA and a 0.60 ERA
6 Days 3ER 6IP 2BB 5K and a 4.50 ERA
7 Days 2ER 7IP 1BB 4K and a 2.57 ERA

Now, it's still a small sample size since it's only May 13th, but when Buehrle gets more than 4 days of rest, his number stand at 6ER 28IP 5BB 17K and a 1.93 ERA. 3 Starts so far this year on 4 days rest and 4 starts on more. I'm going to keep logging this for the rest of the season, or until he goes on the DL, whichever comes first.