The Baseball Offseason Has Begun.

As a Chicago Cubs fan, usually as soon as the regular season is over, I really just can't wait til the off-season begins. Over the years, other teams celebrating championships has become less and less appealing to me, to the point where its tough for me to watch the World Series, I guess I'm just too addicted to me team and too bitter to enjoy others success. Lately its been nice to at least make the postseason but the hasty exist have made me care even less about the postseason. According to the TV ratings I wasn't the only one this year as the 08 World Series experienced record low ratings and an embarrassing finish.

Anyway now that, that is over we can get to the good stuff. The first trade of the off-season was made to today, with the Marlins shipping Mike Jacobs to the Royals. Over the next 3 months there will be many more to follow.

And so, my top 5 baseball off-season questions.

5. What Will the Mets do to turn things around?
Last year they went out and got Johan Santana, who had an amazing year, but it still wasn't enough to get in the playoffs. The Mets have as many stars any any team in baseball, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and the aforementioned Santana. Is it time to rebuild? There has been rumors that they may be shopping Beltran. no matter what they do, the fans in New York won;t put up with the underachieving team much longer.




4. Who will sign Mark Teixeira?
Teixeira is one of the premier names on the market this year as far as offense goes. He was nothing short of fantastic after being traded to the Angels, and is great with the glove too. He would be a huge asset to any team. The Angels will likely make a hard push to re-sign him. There may only be a few teams out there that need a 1B and can afford his salary.

3. Will Manny re-sign in LA?
So far we have already heard the dodgers offered him a contract, then we heard they actually hadn't. We do know that Manny said LA was like being on vacation all the time after the trade last year, and his numbers seem to show it. He was the best hitter in baseball during August and September. Some also believe he may go to the Bronx to stick it to his former team in Boston


2. Can the Brewers somehow hold on to CC Sabathia?
If Ramirez was the Offensive MVP during August and September, Sabathia was surely the Cy Young during those 2 months. He literally almost single handily carried the Brewers into the playoffs on his back. Losing both Sheets and Sabathia would be a huge blow to the Brewers so they are likely to offer anything and everythign they have to keep him. Still there is almost surely to be higher offers available, so it will depend on whether or not CC is willing to give a hometown discount to the Brewers.


1. Who will win the Jake Peavy sweepstakes?
The Padres have made it known they are going to shop the 2007 Cy Young winner to the highest bidder. Peavy does have a no trade clause and is said to prefer to stay in the NL. He has given the padres a list of preferred teams that includes the Cardinals, Braves, Cubs, Astros and Dodgers. The Braves are believed by many to be the favorites but they do not want to part with their top prospects. whoever lands Peavy though will get an instant ace.

Anyway, I'm sure there are to be many surprises and interesting story lines that will develop before spring training in February. Stay tuned.

Down the Stetch They Come......

Its autumn time again.... what a great time of the year. The weather is getting cooler, football is now in full swing and the playoff races in baseball are coming down the home stretch. With only 9 days left in the baseball season, we still have some interesting races to watch.

In the American League, one division has been settled for some time now. The Angels clinched the West with little resistance and is now playing only for home field advantage. Whether they succeed or not however, they will match-up with the winner of the AL Wildcard. Due to some unique and pretty stupid baseball rules, two teams from the same division can not play first round.

K-Rod and Vlad look to lead the Angels back to the World Series

As for the AL East it appears they have all but secured two playoff teams, the Red Sox and the surprising Rays. The only question is who will get home field and play the AL Central and who gets the wildcard and has to travel to Anaheim.

The AL Central is the only real race left in the AL where someone is going to be left out. Going in to Saturday's action, the White Sox had a lead of 2.5 games over the Twins. The teams still have 3 games left against one another in Minnesota. The Twins will likely need to win 7 of their last 8 games and/or sweep the White Sox to still come away with the title.

As for the National League, they also have one division where it has pretty much already been decided. The Cubs have a 9 game lead in the NL Central going into Saturday, leaving them only one win, or one Brewers loss away from clinching the division title. The Cubs are also very likely to end with best record in the NL and home field advantage. Who they will be playing however is still a long way from being decided.

The Cubs hope to celebrate in the postseason for the first time in ages

The NL East and wildcard races are definitely the most open as we head down the stretch. The Mets and Phillies are in a seesaw battle at the top. Whoever fails to tie up the division will have to out battle the Brewers for the wildcard. Just a short time ago, the Brewers looked almost certain to make the playoffs, but so far have had a terrible September. They now trail the Phillies by 1.5 games in the Wildcard. With Ben Sheets likely out for the remainder of the season as well, they have an uphill battle.

The NL West is a division that has become much more clear of late. After battling the Diamondbacks at the top of the division for months, the Dodgers, who have been rejuvenated by the deadline acquisition of Manny Ramirez, have now opened up a 3.5 game lead. With only 9 days left and a cupcake schedule remaining the Dodgers should easily hold on to the title.

Manny being Manny has been enough to vault the Dodgers to the top of the NL West

So what will the first round playoff matches look like?

I'll say the Rays and White Sox will both hold on to their division leads, setting up ALDS matchups of Angels vs. Red Sox and Rays vs. White Sox.

In the NL, I think the Phillies will win the NL East and that the Mets will out battle the struggling Brewers for the wildcard leaving matchups of Cubs-Mets and Phillies-Dodgers in the NLDS. Where things go from there is anybody's guess.

For the first time in our lives, both my Cubs and Gaddeus' Dodgers should be in the postseason though, meaning the Sportsfellas will be paying close attention this year..... and with a possible NLDS or NLCS Cubs-Dodgers showdown, things could get pretty interesting this October.