Chi-Sox Conundrum

ESPN's Buster Olney and MLB.com's Scott Merkin both believe that Chris Sale is the likely favorite to become the Chicago White Sox closer in 2011. Bobby Jenks, the team's primary closer since 2006, recently signed a two-year contract with the Boston Red Sox. J.J.Putz, who may have been considered for the job, signed a free agent deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

When Jenks was benched at the end of last year's season because of injury, and which some claim ineffectiveness, the closing chores were shared between Sales and Matt Thornton. Both southpaws were effective, with Thornton picking up eight saves and Sale four. So who deserves to be the closer heading into the 2011 season?

The 22 year old Sale made his major league debut last season in the same year he was drafted. He was immediately regarded as Chicago's number one prospect. A starter in college, he pitched only 10.1 innings in the minors, all in relief, before being called up to the majors. With the White Sox he was dominant (12.34 K/9) while showing decent control (3.86 BB/9) in 23.1 innings, also in relief. He posted a 51GB/12LD/37FB line and ended with a stellar 1.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 2.74 FIP. These numbers all indicate an excellent skill set. There are, however, some questions. Will he be able to maintain his unusually high 87% strand rate, or .278 BABIP? And most of all, will he be able to maintain his 51% ground ball rate. If not, this can be a cause of concern, especially in the cozy confines of U.S. Cellular Field. He doesn't pitch low in the zone and his arsenal is one that is not conducive to producing many ground balls. He possesses a good fast ball that reaches 96MPH, a good slider, and a decent changeup. Sale does not have a smooth delivery, and some scouts believe his motion will cause undue stress on his elbow.

Matt Thornton turned 34 years of age in September. He is known for having only one pitch, an unbelievable fastball with great lateral movement that he throws 90% of the time. Thornton pounds the upper half of the zone with it, which jams right-hand batters up and in, and moves away from lefties. He throws it with such velocity (96.2 MPH) that it is almost impossible to hit, let alone get a good swing on. From 2008-10 he averaged 10.78 K/9, 3.23 BB/9, 4.15 K/BB all indicating superb dominance, control, and command. He also averaged a 2.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 2.45 FIP. However, his GB% has decreased from 53% in 2008 to 40% in 2010, although he was able to reduce his hr/f from 11% to 6%. He also had five blown saves in each of the past two years.

The question that Ozzie Guillen faces is whether he will trust the young Sale's lack of experience, or the elder Thornton's ability to maintain his heater's effectiveness. Who do you think will be the Chi-Sox closer in 2011?

NHL Happenings

Johan Hedberg stopped 28 of 29 shots to help the New Jersey Devils defeat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-1. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Devils. It was also the first win for coach Jacques Lemaire since he took over for recently fired John MacLean. Mark Fayne, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Ilya Kovalchuch had goals for the Devils. Dustin Byfuglien scored his 15th goal of the year for Atlanta. He leads all NHL defensemen with 40 points. Goalie Chris Mason took the loss.

James Wisniewski deflected a Michael Cammalleri shot for the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Montreal Canadians a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Wisniewski was playing in only his second game with Montreal since being acquired in a trade with the New York Islanders earlier this week. He also scored a power play goal and added an assist in the second period. The Panthers took an early 2-0 lead with goals from Stephen Weiss and Dmitri Kulikov. But Montreal then dominated the rest of the game. Alex Auld stopped twenty shots for the win. Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun played well in the loss, blocking 45 of 48 shots.

Pekka Rinne made 22 saves to earn his first win since coming back from a knee injury, as the Nashville Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Rinne had lost his previous three starts. Patric Hornqvist, after failing to register a point last night on 14 SOG, tipped in a Shea Weber shot to give the Preds a 2-0 lead. Minnesota's Chuck Kobasew made it a one goal game when he scored at 18:06 of the third period. But the Preds sealed the victory with empty net goals from Joel Ward and Sergei Kostitsyn in the final minute. Cody Franson also scored for Nashville. Niklas Backstrom saved 28 of 30 shots in the loss.

Jakub Voracek put a wrist shot past past goalie Brian Elliott's leg pads in overtime as the Columbus Blue Jackets ousted the Ottawa Senators 4-3. Voracek, who was a healthy scratch the past two games, also added an assist. The Blue Jackets had a 3-0 lead midway through the second-period on goals from R.J. Umberger, Rick Nash, and Samuel Pahlsson. But the Senators stormed back on an unassisted second-period wrist shot by Mike Fisher, and third- period goals from Nick Foligno and Daniel Alfreddson, the latter a wrist shot with just over a minute left in regulation. Elliot stopped 19 shots for the Senators. Steve Mason in the win saved 35 of 38 shots for Columbus.

Jason Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky each netted two goals and added two assists to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a convincing 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Teemu Salanne, Saku Koivu, and Toni Lydman also had two assists apiece. Rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky
continued his recent poor play, stopping only 22-27 shots. The lone goal scorers for the Flyers were Andreas Nodl and Jeff Carter, who also added an assist. Jonas Hiller was brilliant behind the net again, stopping 35 Flyer shots.

Backup goalie Cory Schneider was phenomenal, stopping 44 of 45 shots to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. It was Vancouver's fourth consecutive win. Dallas netminder Kari Lehtonen suffered his second difficult game in the past two nights and was pulled after allowing four goals on only ten shots. He was relieved by Andrew Raycroft who saved all eight shots he faced. Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Raffi Torres, and Kevin Bieksa all scored for Vancouver. Brenden Morrow's power play goal was the only marker for the Stars.

Alexander Steen scored a goal and added an assist, and Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves as the St. Louis Blues won their fifth straight game beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3. Brad Boyes, Erik Johnson, and Alex Pietrangelo also scored, and Barret Jackman added two helpers for the Blues. Shane Doan potted two goals, Laurie Korpikoski scored once, and Scottie Upshall had two assists for the Yotes. Ilya Bryzgalov took the loss, saving 18 of 22 shots.

Tom Kostopoulos and Tim Jackman each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames got the best of the Colorado Avalanche 3-2. Mikka Kiprusoff stopped 19 of 21 shots for the win. Jerome Iginla continued his strong December play, netting a goal. Daniel Winnik and Tomas Fleischmann scored third-period goals but the Avalanche rally fell short. Craig Anderson made 23 saves in the loss.

P.A. Parenteau lifted a snap shot passed goalie Jimmy Howard in overtime as the New York Islanders defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3. The Isles, arguably the NHL's weakest team, has beaten the Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins in consecutive nights. Dwayne Roloson was stellar, stopping 38 of 41 shots. Despite winning only six of 19 games, he maintains a decent .916 SV% and a 2.64 GAA. John Tavares, who recently broke out of a lengthy slump, had a goal and two assists. Matt Moulson and Jesse Joensu also scored for the Isles. Detroit rookie Tomas Tatar scored his first goal in his NHL debut. Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula also netted goals for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard was only able to stop 19 of 23 shots in the loss.


NHL Nomads:
The Montreal Canadians traded fan favorite Maxim Lapierre to the Anaheim Ducks for Brett Festerling and a 2012 fifth round pick.
Edmonton sent Linus Omark down to Oklahoma City.
Phoenix sent Brett MacLean down to the San Antonio Rampage.
After clearing waivers, Canuck's defenseman Ryan Parent has been sent down to the minors.
Florida center Steve Reinprecht was placed on waivers.
Edmonton defenseman Shawn Bell has been called up from Oklahoma City.

Injuries:
Evander Kane returned to action after missing his last game with an injured arm.
Devil's Colin White missed tonight's game because of the flu. He remains doubtful for Sunday.
Carolina forward Jussi Jokinen will probably miss Saturday's game with a lower body injury.
Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen is also doubtful for tomorrow's game. He is suffering from the flu and also has a lower body injury.
Red Wing center Patrick Eaves suffered an upper body injury after scoring a hat trick on Wednesday. He is considered day-to-day.
The Islanders placed defenseman Radek Martinek on IR with a wrist injury.

Fantasy Futility:
Richard Peverly minus 3 +/-
Andrew Ladd minus 3 +/-
Cam Barker minus 3 +/-
Danny Briere minus 3 +/-
Mike Richards minus 3 +/-

NHL Happenings

Rookie goaltender Cedrick Desjardins picked up his first win in his NHL debut as the Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Montreal Canadians 4-1. Desjardins was traded by the Canadians to Tampa Bay before the start of this season. He made 27 saves. Montreal goaltender Carey Price was chased after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Steven Stamkos had two goals and two assists. Pavel Kubina and Martin St. Louis also scored for the Lightning. Max Pacioretti had a goal for the Canadians.


Tobias Enstrom scored two power play goals, and Brian Little and Tim Stapleton each scored in the first two rounds of a shootout as the Atlanta Thrashers defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2. Ondrej Pavelec picked up the win when he stoned Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin during the shootout. Tim Thomas was the hard-luck loser.

R.J. Umberger tipped a Rick Nash wrist shot past Jonas Gustavsson for the game winner as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. Steve Mason stopped 20 of 22 shots for the victory. Kristian Huselius had two goals for the Blue Jackets, while Nikolai Kulemin and Tyler Bozak each had a single tally for the Leafs.

San Jose snapped its two game losing streak when Joe Thornton tipped in the game winner as the Sharks topped the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3. Antti Niemi stopped 26 shots for the win. Marty Turco making his third straight appearance was saddled with the loss after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Patrick Sharp, Troy Brouwer, and Brian Campbell scored for Chicago. Scott Nichol, Benn Ferriero, Dany Heatley, and Ryane Clowe each found the back of the net for San Jose. Dan Boyle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic each picked up a pair of assists.

Milan Hejduk scored the lone goal in a shootout to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The Avalanche darted out to a 3-0 first period lead on goals by TJ Galiardi, Paul Stastny, and Thomas Fleischman. Edmonton tied it on a second period goal by Taylor Hall, and third period goals by Ales Hemsky and Andrew Cogliano. Dustin Penner had two assists. Colorado goalie Craig Anderson picked up the win, while Devan Dubnyk suffered the loss for the Oilers.

Michael Leighton picked up his first victory of the season as the Philadelphia Flyers outlasted the Los Angeles Kings 7-4. Leighton had not played since last year's Stanley Cup final. He was finally activated after spending the entire season on IR rehabilitating from back surgery. He stopped 32-36 shots. Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier was ineffective allowing six goals on only 22 shots. He was finally relieved by Jonathan Quick. Mike Richards scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. He was joined by fellow teammates Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, James van Riemsdyk, and Ville Leino who each scored a goal. Ryan Williams potted two goals, while Justin Williams and Jack Johnson each scored once for L.A. The Kings Kyle Clifford, Wayne Simmonds, and Michal Handzus were a minus 3 plus/minus for the night.

Injuries:

Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf has been put on IR after sustaining multiple sinus fractures when a deflected puck hit his face a couple of days ago. He will miss at least two games.

The swelling is so severe, it will take two weeks to determine treatment for Oiler defenseman Ryan Whitney's ankle. If surgery is needed, he will miss the remainder of the year.

Atlanta's Nik Antropov was placed on IR with an injured hip. The injury was worse than originally thought.

Thrasher winger Evander Kane was unable to suit up for tonight's game with an undisclosed arm injury. He attempted to practice but was forced to leave the ice after six minutes.

Blackhawk forward Jonathan Toews will miss two weeks with a shoulder injury. Fortunately, the injury was not as severe as originally feared.

Awesome Race Fans

Awesome Race Fans, a forum for the avid and casual NASCAR fan alike, was launched on December 21, 2011. The website in its first week online, during NASCAR's off-season, has already seen impressive web traffic and lively fan interaction. The site Administrator, who goes by the name Vinny, has provided a wonderful web venue for race fans to share news, details about tracks and race strategy, a fan forum for each driver, history, race day weather, traffic reports to and from the race, tailgating tips, recipes, and more. I will be a regular visitor and contributor to the forum, and I intend to share with my readers much what is learned there.
Thanks Vinny and good luck!

Brandon Webb

Brandon Webb agreed to a one year contract Sunday night with the Texas Rangers. He is slated to be their fourth or fifth starter. ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that the deal is worth $3 million dollars in base salary with a possibility of earning an additional $2 million in performance-based incentives.
Webb only made one appearance in 2009 lasting just four innings. He was forced to leave the game when he experienced severe bursitis in his right throwing shoulder. He tried to let the injury heal with rest, but finally opted for surgery towards the end of the year. His rehabilitation cost him the entire 2010 season.
Webb did, however, work out for a number of teams during the latter part of the year, pitching in a number instructional league games. His fastball was reported to be peaking in the low 80's, a drop of 5 MPH compared to when he was pitching prior to the injury. And although he threw the fastball with his trademark good sink, one scout claimed, "Scary that that is all he's got after such long rehab."
Webb averaged 227 innings pitched, 178K's, 7.1 K/9, and 2.96 BB/9 from 2004-2008. He was able to compensate for his above average strike out rate by never inducing less than an average of 64% of balls hit in play as grounders. His superb sinker made him one of the elite pitchers at that time.
If Webb is able to make his debut with the Rangers, he will essentially be pitching for the first time in two years. He has several factors working against him. One, he will be close to 32 years of age at the start of the 2011 season. Two is his marked drop in velocity. Third is recent history. Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Chien Ming-Wang, Justin Duchscherer, and Erik Bedard all failed in their 2010 comeback attempts from arm surgery. Last is the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is notoriously known as a difficult place to pitch, especially in the heat of summer.
Therefore, it is likely that Webb will not be effective this season. Yet fantasy leagues are many times won with late-round sleepers or low dollar acquisitions of those that were shunned, some because of injury. Josh Hamilton in 2010 and Chris Carpenter in 2009 are two that should come to mind to any fantasy GM.

J.C. Romero

Philadelphia has come to terms with left handed pitcher J.C. Romero after declining his $4.5 million dollar option two months ago. The Phillies earlier this month had an apparent deal on the table with Dennys Reyes. However, it is believed to have fallen through when doctors had questions about Reyes' health.
Romero was limited to 36.2 IP in 60 appearances because of elbow problems in 2010. In addition, control problems once again continued to plague him. He struck out 28 batters (6.87 K/9) while walking 29 (7.12 BB/9). He still is able to induce batters into hitting ground balls (61% GB/12% LD/ 26%FB), and is effective against left-handed hitters holding them to a .174/.278/.251 batting line over the last three seasons.
At this stage of his career, however, the Phillies will have to contend with his wildness. He ended last season with a respectable 3.68 ERA. But because of walks, he posted a considerably higher 4.99 xERA and an ugly 1.61 WHIP. These are numbers that will find him on many fantasy waiver wires this coming year, even in leagues which count holds.

Andrew McCutchen

MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates may be contemplating a multiyear extension for 24 year old outfielder Andrew McCutchen. This follows on the heals of Jay Bruce's recently signed contract extension with the Reds. However, Luke Adams in his article rightly points out that McCutchen's extension should be modeled after that of Justin Upton's six-year $51.25 MM extension which he signed last winter. McCutchen finished last year with a .286/.365/.449 slash line, and 16 HR's, 94 R's, and 56 RBI's in 570 PA's, numbers very similar to Upton's pre-2010 signing. And like Upton, he is looked upon more for his speed than his power. McCutchen stole 33 bases in 2010, but also was caught stealing 10 times.

The question the Pirates now face is whether or not McCutchen's service time qualifies him for Super Two status. He has accumulated one year and 123 days of service. If the cutoff in 2011 is similar to last year's one year and 122 days of service, it can pose a problem for Pittsburgh's future payroll. Both sides will most likely opt, therefore, to wait for clarity on this issue before pursuing an extension. McCutchen is now under the Pirates control through 2015, and regardless of when arbitration may take place, he remains a vital key to the Pirates future hopes.