Breathing Life Again

My name is Lex Luthor and I play for Milwaukee.
Here's various headlines I'm seeing recently for baseball:
-Yankees and Rays are fighting in spring training
-Yankees signed Billy Crystal for an at bat
-Some guy is selling Bonds' 762nd homerun
-Jimmy Rollins and the Mets are bickering again
-A handful of players are mad cause they're not making 20 million and are forced to settle for 400-500 thousand

Don't care, don't care, really don't care, yawn, and really what's new?

What I did read that was interesting and worth noting is that the New York Yankees (in a perfect world, we'd hear about the yankees as much as the nationals) are playing an exhibition game at Virginia Tech. Honorably, the yankees had donated 1 million to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Notice the smooth transition from some brats whining about cash to the Evil Empire donating to a good cause? It will also be the starting unit making the trip. I am not a big supporter, no, in fact, I'm not at all a supporter of the Empire, but I will give credit where it's due. Amidst signing a man who hasn't done anything entertaining in almost two decades, complaining about a minor league nobody playing hard and taking out their own minor league nobody, and simply having George W. Bush's equally as stupid long lost brother running the show and spouting off Hank-isms, the Empire manages to pull out a credible story. In all honesty, it's not so much about them, but where Virginia Tech is now. It's the sad truth that the shootings at Virginia Tech will be remembered with the likes of Columbine as a recent attack on the youth of America by their own. Yet we have youth in our beloved sport arguing over being richer than others. Sure, they're entitled to earning a living like any other person with a job. But just consider how ridiculous some people can be over contracts and then look at something involving the yankees and Virginia Tech.

Oh, it's just crazy talk. Who wouldn't want to make the kind of money Ryan Howard or Francisco Rodriguez are going to be making. Hell, I'll take whatever Prince Fielder is whining about. But no, that's not my point. It's just a matter of some people needing to ground themselves and figure out there's more to life than *****ing to ESPN.com or Sports Illustrated. I feel no sympathy for these guys.

So there's that.
And then there's a guy like Jon Lester happy to be alive and being able to pitch in the big leagues again. I don't know, which would you rather hear about in the news?

There's no place like.. Mark Teahen's kitchen.
I recently went back and read my past articles. My habits as well as trends tend to be stats and forming jokes, in forming some sort of direction. But one of my first ever articles for Strike3forums.com was an absolute scathing and ripping report on the Kansas City Royals. So I thought I should do a small follow up. Back then, they highlighted the offseason with guys like Reggie Sanders and Mark Redman, aka crappy fillers that were only limiting young players. Now? Well, they did hit it big with Gil Meche and Brian Bannister, both acquisitions had ERAs under 4. They practically pulled in Kyle Davies for free, realized Joey Gathright isn't an everyday starting outfielder, and stayed committed to Zach Greinke (who many scouts and experts have declared he is officially back). And Mark Grudzialanek has paid off as a cheap signing, I mean, he hit over .300 and he was one guy I did bash back then. Additionally, the Mike Sweeney era ended fairly sadly and they found a closer in Joakim Soria. So what's it looking like now for the Royals?

The Good:
-Quality youth that will see significant playing time in CF, RF, 3B, SS, DH, and clusters in the rotation and pen.
-If Luke Hochevar makes the rotation, the royals will have a very underrated yet quality top four rotation.
-Most of the pen.. Gobble, Nunez, Peralta, Mahay, and Soria, all productive in 2007. They added an Asian import in Yabuta.
-They found a way to have Teahen, Gordon and Butler in the lineup all at once.
-Gil Meche is better than Barry Zito. I didn't hesitate on typing that out.
-John Buck's OBP was over .300
-The white sox don't know what they're really doing anymore
-At this point, neither do the twins
-Joakim Soria is easier to say than Ambiorix Burgos

The Bad:
-Alex Gordon looked horrible, horrible like Dallas McPherson and Sean Burroughs in their first seasons.
-John Buck's OBP was .308
-They still wasted time on pointless veterans like Brett Tomko
-Even worse, they signed Jose Guillen.. great signing if you're the mets, white sox, New York Knicks or Denver Nuggets. [don't hit me, Isaiah Thomas]
-Jorge De La Rosa is a contender for the rotation
-Detroit and Cleveland are still in the division
-Apparently Ryan Shealey can't beat out Ross Gload at first base
-Ross Gload, really?
-Are the fans buying back into the royals?
-I just realized Andy Sisco is no longer apart of the team when I typed this and coincidently, was dealt for that Ross Gload guy.

Time will tell. I'll say this and I am dead honest. In 2006, they were the worst without question. In 2008, they have promise, a decent team, and realistically could finish out of the basement. Just think if Gordon, DeJesus and Butler are consistent and the rotation keeps improving? It's ultimately wishful thinking but consider baseball could use a few feel-good stories and why not an epic rebound by the royals? Why not let David defeat Goliath just one more time? No this is not a team that wins the division. We all know that. Detroit has too much offense and Cleveland has too much pitching potential. Gil Meche is the ace for the royals, he's prolly the 3 or 4 on Cleveland. A guy like Gordon or Teahen bats in the heart of the order for the royals, they're at the bottom or on the bench in Detroit (keep in mind, they let Chris Shelton go and you fantasy geeks once declared him as the white Hank Aaron)..


I swiftly declare you a Hall of Famer.
I'm going to pick six random players, say a few prayers and splash holy water on them, and watch them effectively make a difference for their teams. Here's my Nosterdamus impression: 2 will be allstars, 1 will be a bust, and 1 will be in the world series. Things are cloudy, I can't make how which is which. Call back when the weather is clear.

OF Josh Hamilton- Texas
Sort of a homer pick cause I've always liked the guy, moreso when he kicked drugs and made a triumphant return to the big leagues. Injuries were the only thing that stopped him from hitting 35 homeruns and being an allstar. And a longterm future in Cincinnati. And this guy used to look so evil. Jeff Foster looking evil.

MR Jon Rauch- Washington
Chad Cordero is overrated and is likely trade bait again. Rauch on the other hand has battled back to being something in the majors. Rauch was once an Olympic hero. And not like Kurt Angle.

IF Ryan Theriot- Chicago (N)
Dustin Pedroia receives the glam cause he wins awards and played for a world series winner. But in terms of those spunky, unheralded, not all that talented random white guys, The Riot impresses me. As a side bit, it took me awhile to figure out how to properly pronounce his name. Thank you, WGN.

SP Adam Wainwright- St. Louis
I still hate Atlanta for trading him. He's Danny Haren good. And Dan Haren is reportedly.. good. Speaking of which, I remember declaring Haren good and Joe Blanton bad years ago. I know I speak only of the truth.

1B James Loney- Los Angeles (D)
He's got the sweet swing and plays defense like a Derrick Lee. He just doesn't carry the hype like Russell Martin and Matt Kemp. If the power elevates and you know the Dodgers could use a few homeruns in the offense, he might pass that other somewhat good 1st baseman in the division. Todd..something. Hilton perhaps?

2B Howie Kendrick- Anaheim
Because he's a black man with a geeky white guy's name, is owned by me or used to be owned by me everywhere, and is not OCD like Howie Mandel. I'm betting he's funnier than Howie Mandel too. Reggie Willits is white too. More things I never knew a year ago.