FanHouse OzzieGuillen

Latest OzzieGuillen Stories

MLB Power Rankings: Week 13


MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.

Windy City Generalizations and a Faux-Rivalry


Each year the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox play six times. Six. Out of 162 total games. Those games aren't any more relevant than six games between the Twins and Cubs or Brewers and White Sox. Of course, there are millions of misguided fans who believe there's a rivalry between the two teams, a notion that is only perpetuated when our President talks about how the White Sox play "real baseball." FanHouse's resident Cubs fan (Matt Snyder) and resident White Sox fan (Tom Fornelli) got together to discuss the aura surrounding what shouldn't be a rivalry.

Starting Five: Count With Milton Bradley

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Milton Bradley has often been called a five-tool player. Guess one of those tools isn't math.

The Cubs outfielder had a bad day. He caught a one-out fly ball in the eighth inning and then flipped the ball into the stands as a runner scored from third on a sacrifice fly. Bradley probably had no play at the plate, so the error was more strange than costly.
"I wasn't embarrassed," Bradley said. "I've done a whole lot of things to be embarrassed about. That's water under the bridge. The run was going to score, the fan got a souvenir. Worst case scenario."

More Coverage: Scoreboard | Standings | Statistics

MLB Power Rankings: Week 10


MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

We had to break the trend. Sure, the Dodgers might have a better record than everyone else -- but competition has to count for something, doesn't it? The Dodgers have mutilated the mediocre-at-best NL West to the tune of 26-9. This means they are 14-11 against everyone else. Is that a top-two team in baseball? Hardly, I'll take the heated-rivals: Yankees (who have overcome a slow start to go 19-7 since May 12) and Red Sox (18-8 against the best division in baseball) as the top two.

Starting Five: Getting Crowded in AL East

Toronto Blue Jays Boston Red SoxStarting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the AL East is tight.

Just four days ago, the first-place Blue Jays led the Red Sox by three games and the Yankees by 4 1/2.

Now Boston is a half-game back after a three-game home sweep of Toronto, while New York is 1 1/2 games out.

The Red Sox out-scored the Jays 15-5 in the sweep. Toronto is 19-6 against teams that currently have a losing record and 8-11 against over-.500 clubs.
More Coverage: Scoreboard | Standings | Statistics

Report: Peavy Deal 'Unlikely'

Have you heard? The White Sox and Padres have agreed to a deal that would send Jake Peavy to Chicago for what is being reported as four players, two of which are believed to be Clayton Richard and Aaron Poreda. The teams have agreed to the deal and now the only thing we need to sit around and wait for is Peavy's approval.

There was some doubt that Peavy will accept the deal because of possible apprehension about either playing for Ozzie Guillen, playing in the American League, or pitching in US Cellular Field. The San Diego Union Tribune's Tom Krasovic originally reported the deal, and now according to Krasovic, it's "unlikely' this trade is going to go through.

Jake Peavy to Chicago ... White Sox?

Jake Peavy may be heading to Chicago after all, but if he does in the next few weeks, it will be to the South Side, not to the Cubs. According to a report by Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres' ace right-hander would net the Padres four players from the White Sox.

As we heard throughout the winter rumors, Peavy does have a full no-trade clause and he prefers to stay in the National League. There were even reports that said he's only ok a trade to the Cubs. Does that mean this deal definitely won't happen? In a word: No.

Checking in on Gordon Beckham

These Kids Are Alright is FanHouse's look at minor league prospects who could have a fantasy impact in the near future. Pay attention, we gave you Mat Gamel and Nolan Reimold the day before both were promoted.

The White Sox are scuffling right now, and one of the several reasons is the lack of production from their middle infielders. Chris Getz (.231 average, .590 OPS), Brent Lillibridge (.162, .451) and Jayson Nix (.241, .806, has been playing some outfield) aren't cutting it. Alexei Ramirez has yet to get on track (.215, .527) either, though they should be patient with him. Still, the White Sox have an option -- they can see if Gordon Beckham is ready.

Paul Konerko Is Captain Obvious

The White Sox are off to a 15-18 start to the 2009 season, and that record is pretty misleading. The fact of the matter is that the White Sox have played a lot worse than their record would indicate. They're at or near the bottom of the American League in any significant offensive, defensive, or pitching stat that's kept. They were also shut out for an MLB-leading sixth time on Wednesday afternoon, and as Fletch mentioned it in the Starting Five on Monday, when they lose, they lose big. They've now been outscored 125-39 in their 18 losses.

So what's the reason for the team's lackluster play? Is it injuries? Maybe it's just the cold weather during the first few weeks of the season? Nope, according to Paul Konerko the answer is pretty simple. The White Sox just aren't that good.

Bobby Jenks Should Play Dumb

On Saturday night with the White Sox up 3-2 on the Texas Rangers in the top of the ninth, Ian Kinsler came up to the plate with two outs. White Sox closer Bobby Jenks then reared back to throw his first pitch to Kinsler, and it was a 96 mph fastball delivered behind Kinsler. It was a purpose pitch.

Anybody in the stadium or at home on television knew this. The White Sox had been talking the last few days about how they were tired of being used as target practice and were going to respond sooner or later. After Rangers pitching beaned two more Sox players on Saturday, you knew a response was coming. So Jenks threw that pitch, got a warning, and got Kinsler to pop out to end the game. It was a perfect response to everything, and then the postgame interviews came and Jenks messed up.

Featured Writers

Featured Voices