It's just about official.
The NFL Lockout that has plagued us since March is ending. Players are signing off on the deal today and within the next couple days, should recertify as a union. It sounds like the league year will start in early August, although ESPN is reporting rumors that transactions will be allowed as early as today or tomorrow, they just won't take full effect until the league year starts. Players will report to camps this week.
Football is happening.
No sure word on when preseason games begin; the Hall of Fame game, which opens the preseason, was canceled last week (it would have been next Thursday).
As the 2011 NFL Season begins, prepare yourselves for these things in the next month:
1) Surprisingly no fallout from the lockout. With no real games missed, football-starved fans will flock back to the game as per normal.
2) One of the sloppiest preseasons in history. With little-to-no training camp to prepare rookies and free agent acquisitions for training camp, there are going to be some really hairy games out there.
3) One of the most insane free agent/trade frenzies in history. Get ready for a barrage of trades and signings this week and next. The free agent period that's typically 1-2 months long is being crammed into a 1-2 week period.
I've done my best not to think too much about football while it was locked out, other than keeping up on the latest major lockout news. My thinking was, hey, if they're locked out, it virtually doesn't exist, why pay attention to the greedy people? Well, it's over now, and I feel like I'm behind the 8-ball when it comes to fantasy football preparation. In the coming weeks, there will be division previews, division predicitions, trade/free agent analyses and fantasy football primers. Get ready folks, it's football season!
Tigers top the Twins again.
Got to watch three of the four Tigers/Twins games this weekend. Missed Verlander's start (figures), but saw the other three. Observations basically come down to this - Baker's good. If he stays at the level he is, he's the closest thing to an ace the Twins have. You can't really give that Tigers lineup any leeway, as Liriano learned - just took a couple walks and the damage started. Not sure what to make of Wilson Betemit yet - he struck out a lot over the weekend, but he might be trying too hard to impress a new team. His range isn't what Inge's is, either.
The Tigers look poised to win the division still, but that fifth starter is worrisome. A move has to happen.
The Twins look perfectly average. I'm going to rant and rail about it until the trade deadline, but they need to sell. I realize there's a certain degree of expectation and pride coming in, since they expected to win this year, but they need to give it up. They will factor into the race - they'll serve some crucial losses to the three teams ahead of them - but they won't win it. If I'm the Twins GM right now, I'm shopping everyone with an expiring contract and seeing what we can get. They should be setting a foundation for next season.
I actually expected the series to split, but the Tigers pitched better than I expected and the Twins played worse than I expected, in general. I'm not sure what difference a pitching coach change makes, but since the Tigers fired Rick Knapp and promoted Jeff Jones to pitching coach, their starters have been doing better. Then again, it's a small sample size. Porcello's win last night made Detroit the second team to have three pitchers hit the 10-win mark so far this season (Texas was first). I said it before and I'll say it again - Porcello is the key to this season - if he can pitch well, be reliable as that 3rd playoff starter type of guy (behind Verlander and Scherzer), they can go all the way. I trust Porcello before I trust Penny.
Around the MLB -
Chi. White Sox 4, Cleveland 2 - Edwin Jackson and Justin Masterson dueled, but it was three unearned runs for the Sox that made the difference. Cleveland has only beaten Chicago once so far this year.
NY Yankees 7, Oakland 5 - Bartolo Colon's strong seven-inning, two-run start pushed the Yankees along before the bullpen almost blew it. The Yankees shelled six of their runs against Gio Gonzalez.
Florida 5, NY Mets 4 - Behind 4-3 in the eighth, Logan Morison and John Buck stood up with a homer and RBI double (respectively) to ensure a comeback victory.
LA Angels 9, Baltimore 3 - Hot prospect Mike Trout hit his first career home run to assist in the Tyler Chatwood-led rout of the Orioles.
Philadelphia 5, San Diego 3 - Roy Halladay took center stage, going eight innings and allowing three runs en route to his 12th win.
Boston 12, Seattle 8 - Tim Wakefield threw his 2,000th strikeout and obtained is 199th win, as Seattle made a new franchise record with their 15th straight loss.
Pittsburgh 4, St. Louis 3 - It was Chase d'Arnaud's walk-off sacrifice fly that closed the game for the Pirates in the 10th to help keep the NL Central knotted up.
Tampa Bay 5, Kansas City 0 - Rays rookie Alex Cobb went seven scoreless innings to record his third career victory as Ben Zobrist led the charge with 2 RBIs.
Chi. Cubs 5, Houston 4 - Jeff Baker played hero for the Cubs, with a walk-off RBI single in the 10th after the Cubs tied it in the eighth. It was the first series sweep for the Cubs all season.
San Francisco 2, Milwaukee 1 - Madison Bumgarner and Yovani Gallardo dueled for seven-plus innings, but it was Bumgarner who took the win after only allowing Ryan Braun's solo home run.
Arizona 7, Colorado 0 - Micah Owings went five shutout innings and Zach Duke covered the other four to give the D-Backs a two-man shutdown effort.
Detroit 5, Minnesota 2 - Rick Porcello notched his 10th win of the season with a solid six-inning, two-run start as Twins starter Francisco Liriano lasted less than 3 innings after allowing four runs, mostly on walks and wild pitches.
LA Dodgers 3, Washington 1 - Chad Billingsley let a run go in the first, but regained form after that, striking out ten and only allowing the one as he led the Dodgers to the win.
Cincinnati 4, Atlanta 3 - Dontrelle Willis had a solid start for the Reds, but Drew Stubbs turned out to be the game's hero with the walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.
Toronto 3, Texas 0 - Brett Cecil pitched the complete game and notched his first career shutout, striking out seven and outdueling Alexi Ogando in the process.
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