Diamond Rios

I'm not sure whether Alex Rios misunderstood the question, or just gave a misguided response because he doesn't know any better, but calling the White Sox the "team to beat in the AL Central" already just simply isn't the case. Historically, the 'team to beat' in the division or league is the team that won it last. At least that's how I've always interpreted it. Such a novel concept, I know. But the consummate 5-tool player from Coffee, Alabama popped off during a meaningless spring training interview and made headlines by belittling the Twins in crowning his own South Side club as the division favorites in 2011. I agree, Spring Training is worthless. It's like syllabus week in the Fall semester of college--just a reason to kick it with your buddies and have a few pops while reminiscing about all of the smokeshows you met at North Beach over the summer that slept over in your parent's basement a few nights (some of the best fabricated stories ever told). It's all peaches until someone lashes out with a story completely over the top, entirely outside of the realm of legitimate possibility, gets called out on it, and then everyone is awkward around said storyteller until he has enough G&T's to fess up and admit he was up to his neck in BS a week or so later. In a way, that's exactly what happened in the case of Diamond Rios.

In case you couldn't tell, Ozzie has the utmost respect for the Twins, and why wouldn't he? They continue to compete at the top of the division every year with in-house talent. Even now that their payroll has expanded dramatically with the signing of Mauer's monster deal, the Twins lived up to the bill (no pun intended) and have won the last 2 division titles. Although you can barely call Ozzie's speech in interviews coherent or entirely lucid, when speaking of the Twins, he usually provides no comments that undermine his rival to the north. In the same breath, however, Ozzie is never going to let his players feel like he doesn't have supreme confidence in them heading into the year, so he made a few comments to Chicago media outlets that reiterated the fact that he definitely thinks the Sox can, in fact win the division, but in no way called them the 'team to beat' just yet.

According to the oddsmakers on the strip, the odds of the Sox winning the Fall Classic are listed at 25-1, which gives them bragging rights in the city (Cubs are 35-1) but not within the Central (Twins are 18-1). With that being said, the AL Central is going to be one of the worst divisions in baseball in 2011. Outside of Minnesota and Chicago, you have the Indians (80-1), who will seemingly follow the same pathetic standard that the Cavs have preceded them with this season in Cleveland, and the Tigers, with Miggy Cabrera as their team leader, a volatile character who is one more DUI or domestic violence dispute away from having an equivalent rap sheet to their city's hero, Slim Shady. (On a side note, that loser is 40 years old. You'd think he would have gotten over thinking cursing incessantly, bleaching your hair and subjecting your child to a horrific childhood would be cool and great fodder for selling records. Sick commercial though, loser.) And lastly you have the Kansas City Royals (125-1), a franchise that can only get people in Kauffman Stadium if they let all the 11-year old die-hards play in the fountains in the outfield during the 7th inning stretch. I think the Sox are safe with at least a 2nd place finish.

Still, I'm intrigued by the Sox off-season and am looking forward to watching their games on a muted television in late spring (Hawk Harrelson is a bumbling idiot). This is Gordon Beckham's coming out party in which he has the chance to prove he's more than just a pretty face with a haircut he stole off Alex Binder from Two-A-Days. Insert Donkey Dunn into the middle of that lineup to protect Paulie and Rios and you have some power from both sides of the dish. I'd be lying if I was to say that the Men in Black didn't have the potential in place to win the division. Nevertheless, it's imperative that the Sox get off to a hot start to jump out to an early lead in the division while Morneau is on the mend in Minneapolis. Otherwise, calling them the team to beat this early in the spring is comparable to some jive talk you'd read on Oney Guillen's twitter page.

As for Pick of the Day, the WMU Broncos couldn't pull out a win in Kalamazoo last night as they dropped one to the Kent St. Golden Flashes by a bucket. For tonight, the Pulse Man likes Bradley covering the +3.5 spread they are getting at ISU. Both teams are bad, the game should prove to be even worse.

Pick of the Day: Bradley (+3.5) @ Illinois St.- BRADLEY

Record:(56-41-0)

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost