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I watched from start to finish and couldn't tell you. My guess is that something must have been wrong. MSU started some scrub against Killer in the 2nd half. Gray never came back in after the first 4 minutes. I don't think that made a difference in the outcome, but I believe Trannon's loss certainly did. He's a rough matchup for IU.

Oh, it ain't over! Big 15th win. Most importantly, 4th win vs. RPI top 25. At Purdue and Michigan to finish the season. Should at least finish with 16 wins and a .500 conference record. One win in the BTen tourney, and they're in. This win puts them in the driver's seat for a 5 seed in the conf. tourney. Actually, it would be much better for IU to be the 6th or 7th seed, as a matchup with NW or Purdue in the 1st round is a lot better than a bye and Wisconsin or Iowa in the 2nd round.

Buck has always been one of my favorites. I still think he could hit for power. He apparently puts on quite the batting practice show. No tools stick out a ton, but he can do a little of everything. Above average arm, Better than average speed, quick bat which makes contact, better than average defensive OF (below average IF). He could make the majors as a utility player.

Sheets will have the worst defensive team in the league behind him. Weeks and Fielder are weak on the right side. OF defense is weak. Hardy is strong defensively, but Bill Hall will get time at SS and 3B and he's not a good fielder. The Brewers are a trendy sleeper pick, but it ain't happenin' this year.

If I was still in the area, I would just browse Ebay. Heck, I got a $24 ticket in a great seat for Game 1 of the imfamous Cubs/Cards DH a couple years ago. I went to games on Fridays for a month or two, buying tickets on Ebay 2 weeks before the game.

Yes, Pittsburgh is closer to Cleveland than Cincy. Over twice as close. Yep, Mapquest says 4 to Cincy and 2 and a quarter to Pitt. Plus it's an easier drive with the turnpike. I can get to Cleveland in an hour and a half.

Yes, Pittsburgh is closer to Cleveland than Cincy. Over twice as close.

Does the whole golden age of 27 thing really apply to pitchers? I didn't think it did. No, but it helped my argument. :D

As in Brandon Webb? No chance. The Brandon Webb profile. Burst onto the scene in 2003 with a 2.84 ERA in 180+ innings. 2004 walked a crapload of people. 2005, in 20 more innings he walked 60 fewer men. 60! His GB/FB ratio is absolutely amazing. Went from 3.55 to 4.34 from 04-05. And as can be imagined, more of those groundballs found holes causing him BAA to go up nearly 20 points. He will be at the golden age of 27 this year. If he gets luck on those ground balls this year, with the way he has completely turned things around with his control....he could very easily win an ERA title. He has a pretty good MIF defense with Hudson and Counsell. I also think he could win a ton of games. The west is wide open (and not that good), and he was 14-12 last year on a sub-.500 team.

I gotta get to Camden. It looks like a great place. Haven't heard anyone who doesn't like it. I haven't been to many. Wrigley's obviously the best. PNC is great. Other than that, I've been to Coors (which is vastly underrated), Busch when I was a kid, Commissery Park and the Cell, old Cinegy, and the BOB, for a tour during spring training a few years ago. Bank One is interesting. It's more like a sports complex. I think it would be better for a football game or a concert than baseball. It's really a great place, but not a baseball stadium.

I don't think Atlanta is gonna be that good. They have a lot of questions. Can Chipper play 120 games? Can Andruw carry them again? Can they keep finding lightning in a bottle with guys like Langerhans, Laroche, McCann, and Sosa? How's the pitching without Mazzone? They'll still win the division (because it's a law or something), but I don't really see them as a 90+ win team.

Willis isn't as good as those three, despite his results of last year. If I were going to add to the list of Cy favorites, though, it would be Prior, Peavy, Pedro, Webb and Hudson. Agreed. My pick for the NL Cy Young is Peavy. ERA title, followed by strikeout title. No reason he can't do both next year, with a great defense behind him. I think Webb and Zambrano could make a legit run for it. Oswalt was the Zambrano of Houston last year. Probably was their best pitcher, but got 3rd billing. Pedro's always a threat. Strangely with Prior on that list, I question Hudson's durability most, and wouldn't count on him being a contender for the CY.

Len exudes sex appeal.

Amazing talent on the left side of the IF. Wow. 11 of the top 30 either SS or 3B.

Yeah, but he's 6'5" and can throw 90 mph with his left hand, let's see you do that!

It's not that shocking since in the team-by-team rankings, Pawelek was ahead of Cedeno. The reason Cedeno is lower is because he doesn't have a long record of sustained success while Pawelek has a higher ceiling. BA is always enamored with the toolsier, higher-ceilinged player. I agree with the order they ranked Pie, Pawelek and Cedeno. That doesn't completely explain it though...If BA is more enamored with toolsier guys, that was always Cedeno until he hit AA. He was a young guy in his leagues who was a stud defensively but hadn't figured it out offensively. He always fit the toolsy high ceiling description until he found success at AA and up. In terms of ceiling and tools, Cedeno isn't in Pawelek's league. Let me ask you this then: If Cedeno was on another team, would you trade Pawalek for him? I would in a heart beat. 18 yr old high ceiling high school pitchers are a dime a dozen, such a small percentage don't pan out. Cedeno is worth well more than Pawalek at this point in both of the players stages of development. Thus, I'd rank him quite a bit higher. If that were the only basis of evaluating a prospect, the highest rated ones would be at AAA, then AA, etc. The point of evaluating and rating prospects is to determine which player is most likely to be the most successful in the big leagues. The prospects who are higher up the ladder are more likely to reach the big leagues than ones lower, but that doesn't mean they will be the better player in the big leagues. You have to account for the players ceiling, physical tools, ability and current production too. Otherwise, you're getting an incomplete picture. Of course, the question is how much do you weigh each of these categories. There is no doubt Pawelek is less likely to become a big leaguer, let alone a starter, than Cedeno is. But I also believe Pawelek is more likely going to be a perrenial all star than Cedeno. I wouldn't trade Pawelek for Cedeno. Let's not forget, there are still questions as to whether or not Cedeno can be a successful everyday major leaguer. I understand how they rank prospects. But you're acting like Cedeno's ceiling is that of a utility guy, when it's more like potential all-star candidate, and he's ML ready now. This is the same guy that had everyone scratching their heads when Hendry put on the 40 man roster when he was what, 19 or 20, and not hitting well in Daytona? When he was put on the 40 man roster, that was because of his tools and ceiling, not because of his performance or proximaty to the bigs. In order for Pawalek to be rated higher while being so young and just beginning his minor league career, his ceiling would have to be more like that of a multi-Cy Young winner. I haven't seen him pitch nor do I know that much about him so I'm not going to dispute accounts of his ceiling, but that would be a huge assertion regardless. In my book, Pawalek = somewhat higher ceiling than Cedeno, while Cedeno = much higher likelihood of reaching his ceiling. I would trade Pawalek for Cedeno 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. Correct on Cedeno being more likely to reach his ceiling, of course he'll be a major leaguer this year, and Pawelek probably won't be til next decade. Not really a fair comparison. And I don't think Ronny rates as an All-Star (of course, there isn't much at NL SS). He rates as an average-to-above average league SS. Similar to Julio Lugo, IMO. Pawelek's ceiling is of a #1 starter.

East C- Loduca 1b- Delgado 2B-Utley SS-Rollins 3B- D Wright OF- Cabrera, Beltran, Abreu (A. Jones if you count Cabrera at his 2006 pos. of 3B) SP- Pedro, D. Willis, Smoltz, Hudson, L. Hernandez West C- Matheny 1b- Helton 2B- Kent SS- Furcal 3B- C. Tracy OF- Bonds, B Giles, Drew SP- Peavy, Schmidt, Webb, Lowe, Lowry (wow, that's bad)

I'd be interested to see if Hairston's OBP last season was inflated by his HBPs. He'd definitely be a better option than Neifi. I wouldn't be disappointed if Hairston wound up starting 150 games at 2b. I think he could have a break out year if that happens. His OBP increased each year from 2001 to 2004 (.305, .329, .353, .378). He regressed when he switched leagues. Walks usually account for about 70 points of his OBP, which is pretty solid, which indicates he should still be capable of putting up a .350+ OBP, especially since he's more familiar with the league now. The main concern is his ability to play 150 games without getting hurt. He's not quite Nomar-fragile, but he's probably about as durable as ARam is right now. I'd rather see Walker, but I still think he gets traded before opening day, and Hairston is a very good 2nd option after TWalk. The only other problem with Hairston at 2nd is we don't have anyone else that can back up CF. That means Neifi gets significant time if either JP or Hairston go down to injury (or even Cedeno, for that matter, knock on wood...), and that is not good. Fortunately, Pierre doesn't take too many games off or get injured much.

Why the Reds haven't traded players for prospects is beyond me. Seriously, what good are Griffey and Kearns doing them? Almost anyone can hit in that park, and for a lot less money. Bring up prospects, let them play. I can understand building around Dunn, Pena, and Lopez, but the rest of that team is expendable. A team that is constantly in the bottom 1/3 of the league has no business with the 29th best farm system.

Don't know why it's so laughable. Being the best pitcher in the best hitting era in baseball is an amazing accomplishment. And he was so much better than the rest, with all due respect to Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens.

We should do an All NL East and West too.

when did the cubs sign david cone? Wow. He does look like David Cone. And why is Jones throwing the ball from behind his head?

I don't understand how a picture of ARod running down the first base line tells us all we need to know about him. He could be running down the baseline spiking babies in their foreheads and that wouldn't change the fact that he's one of the best baseball players any of us will ever see.

Washington HS in Washington, PA is nicknamed the Presidents. Prexies for short. That would work. I think the name change is good for the Nationals. Heck, they led the majors in merchandise sales last year by having the newest stuff on the block. Change the name, more new merchandise to sell.

I actually believe ARod can be exploited at the plate with 2 strikes. He seems to have a hole low and away and with a high overpowering fastball. If I was a major league pitcher I would much rather pitch to ARod than many of the other great hitters (Bonds, Pujols, Manny). Which is remarkable, considering he's still a better player than all of those guys.