The last bit of sporting news I heard before going to bed last night was that the White Sox managed to trade Jim Thome to the Dodgers and Jose Contreras to the Rockies in exchange for two minor leaguers. The first thing I did this morning when I woke up was I did a quick google search on the players they got to see if they’d be worth a damn.

The first one, Justin Fuller, was acquired from the Dodgers for Thome. He’s 25 years old and has never made it past advanced A-ball in the 4 years he’s been a professional. It also looks like he rarely plays. In other words, the suck. Scratch on Fuller.

Ah, but the 2nd one who was acquired for Jose Contreras, I had actually heard of. At least I thought I had. Brandon Hynick: the name sounded familiar. So I did a quick Google search and the first link got me to rotoworld.

Oh yeah, now I remember. He’s that guy who pitches despite not having a face. I knew he sounded familiar.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in a White Sox uniform, Brandon. Keep your eyes on the prize. Or, well you know what I mean.

Now that the MLB amateur draft is less than a week away, I thought it would be extreme torture for all of you fun if I did a fake Q&A with myself that hopefully will answer some of the more common questions nobody in their right mind people have. I promise to do my best in order to answer them both thoughtfully and correctly. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Jerks, fetch here. As you may or may not know, we are in the midst of conference tournaments in the college baseball world, so I just thought I’d update you on all the goings-on around the nation.

Starting in the mid-major ranks, there was a major upset in the CAA as top seed George Mason was upset by Georgia State and UNC Wilmington, knocking them out of the double elim tournament. Fear not though cbh, although they are not a lock I think George Mason will get into the field of 64.

In the Ohio Valley Conference, top seeded Eastern Illinois was knocked out of their tournament by Murray State. The OVC was definitely going to be a one bid  league, but Eastern Illinois has a decent chance at an at-large. As of now they are 56th in the RPI, are 36-13, won their regular season title, and have some key non-conference wins including Oklahoma, South Florida and Indiana. The inclusion of Eastern Illinois and George Mason likely bursts the bubbles of teams like Troy, College of Charleston, Illinois and Duke.

But not so fast, says Duke. The Blue Devils beat Clemson earlier in the ACC Tournament and with a win over Virginia coupled with a UNC loss would have Duke winning the pool and would send them to the ACC Title game where they would (obviously) be a win away from an automatic bid and could get there as an at large.

Speaking of unlikely at-large teams from the ACC, congrats to Boston College who likely earned themselves a spot by beating Georgia Tech and waxing Miami at the ACC tournament. It would be their first NCAA bid since 1967.

In the Big 12, Kansas State and Texas play today to decide the winner of Pool A. KSU foolishly wasted Big 12 pitcher of the year AJ Morris against 8 seeded Baylor, so I expect Texas to win that one. Pool B is an absolute mess that I’m not even going to try to decipher. I think Oklahoma will end up winning the pool because the second tiebreaker is higher seed and OU is the highest seed in the pool.

And as a reminder, MLJ will be previewing all 16 regionals coming up this week, in addition to having a bracket challenge where you can all pick your 8 CWS teams and national champion. Winner gets a sweet prize.

PETA gets a perfect 10 for execution.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gd9pfV2MwU]

Too bad NBC thought it was a bit too racy. NBC’s official concerns with the commercial after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

This settles it – next year, I’m making a tree out of PBR cans. Then maybe a Keystone Light Menorah.

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Ahh prospect season. One of the best times of the year. A time for fans of awful teams (looking at you, Baltimore) to dream of what could be in the future. 

A quick note before we get started with the AL East, all of these rankings are preliminary and very fluid. My top 100 comes out in February-ish, and by that time the #5 guy on this list could be the #3 AL East player ranked in my Top 100. Let’s get to the names, shall we? Read the rest of this entry »

Rookies and other young members of the Brewers organization experienced something they will never forget.  While they were in town for fall conditioning, they entered the Tent City Jail as part of a Scared Straight program used to educate young people about the consequences of a DUI.  The players saw all aspects of life as an inmate, from clothes, to food to recreational activities.  Brian Barnum, a player, said that Tent City would not be a fun place to go, and plans on never stepping foot there again.  From the Arizona Republic:

Tony Diggs, the assistant director of player development for the Brewers, said that while the players are in Phoenix for fall conditioning, he wanted them to have this experience because it makes them all well-rounded players.

“I encouraged our involvement in this program because I wanted them to get a chance to see what real life is about,” Diggs said.

From what I know, the Brewers haven’t had too much trouble with young players getting DUI’s.  However, their first round draft pick in 2006, Jeremy Jeffress, has been suspended due to his love addiction to marijuana.  I don’t know about putting this kid in a Scared Straight program for drug addicts, but I do know a visit from Matt Foley probably wouldn’t hurt the kid.

That’s not the Olympic team, I just liked the picture. Sue me. Hef already has, so next time I post I’ll be coming to you in a shanty down by the Red River. Can’t wait.

Anyways, Team USA had its gold medal dreams dashed by Cuba, losing 10-2 very early this morning. The game was fairly close most of the way, with teams trading runs back and forth until the 8th inning, when Cuba hit two 3 run homers to break open the game.

Stephen Strasburg threw just 75 pitches in 4 innings due to his large workload so far this year, and he gave up a pair of runs while striking out 5. Mike Koplove threw another scoreless inning, and he was probably Team USA’s MVP for the tournament, but the 3 earned runs charged to Jeff Stevens in just a third of an inning crippled Team USA’s chances. Once again Casey Weathers, the best power arm on the staff, was not used in the game.

While the US will be disappointed playing for the bronze, I think they will come back and defeat Japan to take a medal in what could be the last bronze medal game in the Olympics, although I think it will be back for 2016, especially if Chicago or Tokyo get the bid.

One bright spot for the US: Terry Tiffe set the US record for doubles in an Olympic games.