Woody’s coming back! Monday, the Cubs signed Kerry Wood to a one-year deal worth $4.2 million. He’ll be in the thick of the Cubs closer debate. He worked in 22 games in 2007 out of the Cubs bullpen. He had a 3.33 ERA and a 1-1 record. If Wood can regain the “stuff” he had early in his career, he would be a great closer. We all know he can’t throw more than 25 pitches without his arm falling off. So the closer role might be perfect. Whether or not he can change his outlook will be the key to his success. He didn’t pitch in back-to-back games at all this season. If he’s gonna be the closer, the Cubs are going to need him to do that. All that being said, I’m glad Woody is back in the fold. Anyone who smashes Sammy Sosa’s boom box is alright in my book.

Well ladies and gentlemen, the shit finally hit the fan for Barry Bonds. He was indicted Thursday for lying during his testimony to a grand jury about his use of steriods. In the testimony he said that he never knowingly use steriods.

This will definitely taint his all-time home record set this year, when he eclipsed Hank Aaron for career home runs. There has been talk of what the fall out from this will be. Will a team take a chance on Bonds even though he’s now been indicted? Will this affect his Hall of Fame campaign?

For me, this has been a long time coming. I am glad that he was busted for lying. Obviously Major League Baseball can’t take his records away and can’t punish him for something that wasn’t against the rules at the time, but I hope that the general managers around the league will not offer him a contract. What do you think about the Bonds situation? How should MLB respond? How about the fans?

… Lowell: I feel like Theo made a good-faith offer; while lowballing Lowell to some extent, word in the air was that he’d take a hometown discount… can’t blame him for testing the waters. Money is money.

Posada is locked in and, oddly, Rivera isn’t.

You’ll all think I’m eating cannabis for lunch, but I’ll throw out the idea that Rivera and A-Rod end up here. Not saying I like it, I’m just looking at things… (I’m not saying I even expect it, I’m just saying that even though it’s way out, it is out there). I know it’s not even on the radar, and I would be surprised, but not stunned if the Sox make a run at Mariano Rivera. I know, he’s a closer; not just a closer, but the all-time prototypical HOF closer. But ever since Mariano smiled that time he was introduced to the Fenway crowd (after a rare blown save in NY their previous meeting), I feel like he could be an 8th inning pitcher here for a longer time - with more even pressure distributed among other pitchers - than he could be a closer elsewhere (wherever else he goes, he’s the guy for the next four years, with little to no safety net. I would argue that at this stage of Rivera’s life as a whole, he’d be happy to be a large but not the only cog in a fire-breathing machine). And he could be the other stellar closer when Paps isn’t available.

If things remain the same, I think we’ll have Shill, Dice-K, Lester, and Clay pitching an average of 6 innings per game. Then, Okey 7, Rivera 8, Paps 9. Allowing for pitchers’ rest, the Sox could probably set up about two-thirds of all games to go that way. Four out of six pitchers is two thirds of the rotation (you see how I just assumed they will go with a six man rotation - there’s one of many glaring flaws in the discussion to begin with, but whatever).

The Rivera notion has more holes than swiss cheese, but I do think it points to the direction the Sox will go — instead of worrying about stretching their pitchers out to do more innings, they will not just have 8 & 9 inning stoppers, but a queued up 7, 8, & 9 stoppers. I’m not sure they’re comfortable with a 7th inning rotation of Timlin and the Bullpen Percussion Orchestra to provide the lights out 7th they want.

A-Rod is another story - the reason I could see him coming here (ugh), is that the Sox would rather drop the money, as opposed to trading hot prospects in any kind of Miguel to first, Youk to third move. If they just drop the boatload of money (although I think it will end up being for less yrs and less $ than A-Borad is talking about), they keep all the up and comers, lock in third base for the future, and keep the Gold Glove at first. Oddly enough, if A-Borad ever happens, I would like our chances less to go on to the WS.

The thinking behind all of this is that with lights out pitching, all you need is above average hitting. Since the Sox can afford even better than above average hitting - and I think they are trying to make a serious dent in baseball history, they will try to add A-Borad (did I say ugh?) to the dugout.

Jacque Jones and Craig Monroe are gone. Daryle Ward is coming back. The Cubs pick up Omar Infante in a trade with the Tigers for Jacque Jones. This is a good move. Jacque Jones contributed some key hits over a stretch this summer. But, since the Cubs brought him in, he’s been a disappointment. He’s a strike out looking for at-bat. He plays moderately good defense, but overall he wasn’t a great addition. Omar Infante is a solid, young utility infielder.

Shipping Craig Monroe to the Twins couldn’t have happened soon enough. Not that he wasn’t ok, but the Cubs already have a crowded outfield. They don’t need Monroe to crowd it even further. The deal with the Twins was for a player to be named later, and frankly, it doesn’t matter who it was. Hopefully they’ll pick some young farm hands while the Twins grab some insurance for possibly losing their All Star centerfielder Torii Hunter.

The Fall Classic is upon us. One team was expected to be here, the other had to string together one of the hottest streaks in baseball history to even make the playoffs (winning 21 of their last 22). These teams are built differently and for different reasons.

The Red Sox are built to dominate. They have a big, strong, smart lineup and a pitching staff of power arms (save for Tim Wakefield, but he was left off the World Series roster). The Rockies are a team that is young, and put together based on character (not that the folks in Boston don’t have solid character). They have publicly stated that when evaluating talent, a players character and faith play into the equation a lot more than other teams.

Colorado doesn’t have a lot of All Star caliber pitchers. Jeff Francis, who will start Game 1, emerged this year as their ace. Before this year he was a middle of the road, .500 pitcher. And he’s their ace. Boston will be sending Josh Beckett to the mound in Game 1. He is 5-2 in post season for his career with a 1.78 ERA. Scary. He has been dominant and whether or not he is able to maintain that dominance is the key to this series.

Colorado has a very potent offense led by Matt Holliday and rookie sensation Troy Tulowitzki. Their lineup is really well-rounded. It has youth (Tulowitzki, Brad Hawpe and Ryan Spilborghs) , speed (Willy Taveras and Kaz Matsui), power (Holliday, Garrett Atkins and Tulowitzki) and veterans (Todd Helton). Can they handle the overwhelming pitching staff of the Red Sox?

There is the question of who has momentum? The Red Sox are coming in on the heels of coming back from a 3-1 deficit against Cleveland. Colorado is definitely riding high on their 21 out of 22 streak, but they haven’t played in eight days. That’s the longest layoff for a team between a League Championship Series and the World Series. How will that affect them? Can they maintain the intensity.

The Red Sox seemed like a team destined to win the World Series in 2004. It’s starting to feel that the Rockies are the same type of team this year.

My Prediction: Rockies in 6

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Image courtesy of Getty Images

Congratulations to Clint Hurdle and all of the Colorado Rockies. They’re headed to the first World Series in franchise history.

Obviously I missed the boat on the Rockies. I haven’t picked them in a playoff series yet. And what have they done? Won every single game. Don’t they know they’re making me look bad?

The Colorado bats and pitching have continued to be on fire throughout the playoffs. Timely hitting, and a strong bullpen have carried the Rockies over their past 22 games. The Rockies have won 21 of those.

It’s too close to call who the Rockies will play in the World Series, but it’ll be hard to pick against the Rockies.

This matchup pits two teams that have been put together very differently. Boston is an established team with dominant veteran pitching, and Cleveland is a young team whose young pitchers have led the way for them this year. The lineups for each of these teams are similar to their pitching staffs. The Red Sox have a veteran lineup led by David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, and the Indians have 2 young hitters who are establishing themselves as stars (Travis Hafner, and Grady Sizemore). Both teams can hit, both teams can pitch. Who is playing better now? Let’s look at the Key Matchups.

Key Matchups

• C.C. Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett - Both pitchers had CY Young caliber years. Beckett dominated in his outing in the Division series. Sabathia is going to have to bring his A game against such a strong and experienced pitcher like Beckett.
• Big Papi and Manny vs. Pronk and Grady - The Red Sox has the post season experience and the Indians have big strong young players who are hungry to prove they belong. Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore are destined to be stars in this league. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are currently the gold standard for post season production. Will we see the young kids over take the veterans?
• Spark plugs - The Indians have Kenny Lofton who will provide key hits and to just, generally be a pest on the basepaths. The spark plugs for the Red Sox are extra base hits. They rely on their slugging to get runs across.
• Managers - Terry Francona took the Red Sox to the promised land. And Eric Wedge seeks to do the same for the Indians. Management at this time of year is always important.

My prediction: Indians in 6

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The team with the best record in the NL (Diamondbacks) will face the hottest team over the last month (Rockies) in the 2007 NLCS. Arizona holds home field advantage due to their better record. This should make for a very interesting story. I still have doubts about both teams. Granted, they pretty much dismantled the Cubs and the Phillies respectively, but these teams are not (or should not be) much competition for the winner of the ALCS. The NL is a weaker league right now and these 2 teams are representative of that. Neither team sports both a dominating lineup and a shutdown group of pitchers. Below, I’ll highlight some key matchups and then make my prediction. Obviously my NL predictions haven’t been too hot so take the poll at the bottom of the post to share who you think will win this series.

Key Matchups

• Brandon Webb (ARZ) vs. Jeff Francis (COL) - This is the pitching matchup that will define this series. The pair will duel in Game 1 as well as Game 5 (if necessary). I have no reason to believe that Brandon Webb will falter. He’s a dominant starter who has the mental makeup to shine in the post season.
• Arizona’s bats - The lineup for the Diamondbacks shouldn’t scare anyone. Seriously, how did this team win 90 games. Their best offensive player is Eric Brynes. He’s a nice player, but he’s not the person you want leading your lineup. The thing is, they’ve been getting it done all season. They get the timely hit, and they don’t seem to make mistakes offensively.
• Colorado’s bats - Here is the flip side of the coin. Colorado has been lighting it up since the beginning of September. The middle of their order didn’t dominate in the NLDS, but it definitely did on their road to the playoffs. Tulowitzki, Holliday, and Helton are all mashers who have been hitting both at home at Coor’s Field and on the road.
• The bullpens - Both teams have innings 7-9 taken care of in terms of the bullpen. Arizona with Pena, Lyon and Valverde and Colorado with Hawkins, Herges, Fuentes, Corpas. Both teams had better strike early.

My prediction: Diamondbacks in 5

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Game 3 of the NLDS between the Cubs and the Diamondbacks was a shining example of everything that went wrong with the Cubs in this series. In game 3 alone they left 9 runners on base, were 0-9 with runners in scoring position and hit into 4 inning-ending double plays.

Critics will point to pitching as the problem in this series. Whether you want to look at Piniella taking out Zambrano in Game 1, Ted Lilly acting like a little baby in game 2, or Rich Hill’s ineffectiveness in Game 3, the problem that cost the Cubs this series was hitting, not pitching.

Aramis Ramirez, the Cubs regular season leader in RBI, second in home runs did not get a hit in the series. Alfonso Soriano cooled off significantly in October and Derrek Lee struggled at the plate as well. The offensive leaders on this club let the Cubs down.

The pitching wasn’t great… but it shined in comparison to their awful hitting. I’m disgusted with the Cubs performance. I’ll have to cool off a bit before I’m able to look forward.

We Live for This! The playoffs are here. We have some very interesting matchups here in the first round.

National League

Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
The series most near and dear to my heart. The DBacks have Brandon Webb, and not much else. The Cubs have the deepest bullpen and bench in the NL. Cubs in 3.

Colorado Rockies vs. Philadelphia Phillies
The hottest teams entering the playoffs. The Rockies fought from way back to get in, and the Phillies overtook a floundering Mets team. Tough to call, I think that the Rockies have spent too much energy to move on. Phillies in 4.

American League

Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles vs. Boston Red Sox
This is the marquee matchup. If the Angels bats can work some magic, they can hang with the Red Sox. I don’t think they will. Red Sox in 4.

New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians
I have not been a believer in the Yankees all year. I’m not going to start now. Indians win this in 5.

What are your predictions for this years MLB playoffs?