Roberts deal dead?

After all the talk about Brian Roberts being traded to the Chicago Cubs over the last few months, it's not being reported that the deal is dead.

Baltimore Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, "we worked at it this long, and we don't have a deal."

Cubs fans were looking forward to this deal going down, bringing a legit 2nd baseman and leadoff threat to their lineup would have made their offense that much better. Now that the deal seems to be dead, the question becomes, are the Cubs now looking elsewhere or are they content to go with what they have for the time being?

Giants "going in another direction"

The Giants have finally washed their hands of Barry Bonds, and it's about time. Owner Peter McGowan was asked if the Giants would consider bringing Bonds back at a reduced price, to which he responded "No, not this team. We're going in a new direction, that would not be going in a new direction. The time has come to turn the page. With Barry Bonds gone, this is a club at the beginning of a new era."

Not only is the clubhouse going to have a different feel to it, but also AT&T Park is removing anything that had Barry's face on (ex. left field wall) as well as the "756" that was posted towards the Right Center area. The Giants did say however, through a team spokeman, that they would post a plaque where Bonds' last HR with the team landed.

Even though the Giants are picked to finish dead last in the NL West division by just about every major sports network, the team is headed in the right direction to putting together a very good team for year's to come.

Now that they're out from under the distraction that Bonds was, they can finally become a team again.

Can the Cubs end the 100 year curse?

With a new season fast approaching, fans will dig in their heals and hope it's their team that will be celebrating a World Series Championship come October.

For Cubs' fans, that hope is stronger than probably any fan of any team in baseball. When you go 100 years without a World Series Championship, you hear words like "cursed," as we did before Boston broke their long winless streak in 2004. There's an article from Mark Newman of MLB.com yesterday that talks about that long winless streak, but are the Cubs really good enough? I have serious doubts of that.

The one concern that I have, and it's not a small concern, is their starting rotation. As of right now, you're looking at a rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Rich Hill, Ryan Dempster and Jason Marquis. We all know what Zambrano is capable of, but we also know that he's capable of a complete melt down as well. The one player I'm concerned about in this rotation is Ryan Dempster, especially since he hasn't been a full time starter since 2003 with the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, he's started only 6 games combined between 2004 and 2007. Can he come out of the bullpen from the closers roll to a starter and be effective?

The other place that I have a concern is their bullpen, especially with Kerry Wood closing for them. I'm not saying that he can't do the job, there's no question he can, but the one question that comes up every single year is, "can he stay health?" He's yet to show that he can stay healthy for an entire season, something the Cubs desperately need from him this year.

They do have a very potent offense, especially with guys like Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, not to mention the addition of Kosuke Fukudome, but how will these guys do against some of the best pitching in baseball? How will Felix Pie do as the every day center fielder?

This team has a lot of question marks, and although we won't have answers to these questions right away, I think you'll start to see the answers within 2 or 3 months. If the starting rotation can stay healthy, and I'm talking about all 5 guys, then I think the Cubs will be just fine. There's no question they are the best team in the NL Central, the race shouldn't be close in my opinion, but the big question of this article is, can they finally win the World Series?

My answer....no. This team just isn't good enough, key word, yet. There's just too much that can go wrong with this team, and usually does.

Brewers cut Vargas

In a surprising move, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal, the Milwaukee Brewers have released veteran right-hander Claudio Vargas.

Later the same day, manager Ned Yost announced the Brewers official starting rotation:

Ben Sheets
Jeff Suppan
Dave Bush
Carlos Villanueva
Manny Parra

Looking for new music?

For any of you wanting new music to listen to or any local bands that are looking for someone that can put together a demo video for you, this will give you both.

The band is called "The Breach" the song is called "Blue Eyes," take a listen and I hope you enjoy it.

On the flip side, the guy that directed the music video is Evan Kaufmann who is one of the best directors in the Dallas area. You can reach him here if you're interested in having someone professional to work with.

Twins, Nathan agree on new 4-year deal

The Minnesota Twins finally got a contract extension done with one of their top players.  This time is was closer Joe Nathan.

Nathan and the Twins agreed on a 4-year $47M contract on Tuesday which will include a team option for 2012.

Joe Nathan, “We’ve shown that we’re committed to winning. A lot of people are counting us out, but we’re going to be good this year and for years to come, because we’re young and a lot of our guys are hungry.  With the way they handle the pitchers here, they take care of us.  They worry more about careers than they do seasons. They think long term more than they do short term.”

Canseco targets A-Rod in new book

Won't or can't Jose Canseco just go away?  The answer to that seems to be an emphatic "NO."

The former Oakland Athletic slugger has a new book coming out and, apparently, is targeting a star of today's game...Yankees' 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez.  Canseco alleges that he introduced Rodriguez to a steroid distributor and that Rodriguez was trying to sleep with Canseco's wife.  Although Canseco says he never injected ARod himself, but says "he introduced Alex to a known supplier of steroids."  Doesn't mean ARod took anything or was injected, so why make accusations he can't back up?

Now, this whole story comes from a free lance writer, Joe Lavin, who says he picked up Canseco's book at a bookstore in Cambridge, Mass but the book isn't due to be released until April 1st.

What I find so hilarious about this whole situation is, Canseco thinks he's going baseball a favor by outing these so called "steroid users," and that he's "saving baseball," but didn't he cause this problem in the first place?  So why is he trying to take credit for it?

You hope people are smart enough not to put more money in his pocket by picking up his book, but there are those people who just have to know who took steroids and who injected who.  

Can't Jose just go away....probably not.

Rolen may not be ready for Opening Day

New Blue Jays' 3rd baseman Scott Rolen may not be on the field when the Blue Jays open the 2008 season.

During a fielding drill on the back fields on Sunday, Scott Rolen suffered a broken finger when the ball hit him on the fingernail, ripping it completely off and breaking the top knuckle on his right middle finger.

GM J.P. Ricciardi, “It’s a non-displaced fracture, which is the good news. I’m not a doctor, but the early prognosis is it isn’t going to be six weeks, so I don’t even want to throw a schedule out there. Our best-case scenario is that it’s quick and our worst-case is it isn’t as long as most things we have had to deal with. My instinct is I am preparing for the worst-case scenario but I can say this, he won’t be lost for the year.”

Tigers, Cabrera agree on 8-year contract

According to the AP, the Detroit Tigers and 3rd baseman Miguel Cabrera have come to a prelimnary agreement on an 8-year $153.2M contract.

The details of the deal are not yet final. In January, Cabrera agreed to a $11.3M deal with the Tigers for the 2008 season, so Cabrera will get an additional $141M over the next 7 years.

Javy Lopez retires after being cut by Braves

After the Atlanta Braves optioned veteran catcher Javy Lopez to Minor League camp, he decided to call it a career.

Lopez hit .188 in his bid to be the backup catcher to Brian McCann. Lopez made his decision after he had a meeting with manager Bobby Cox on Saturday.

Javy Lopez, "It didn't happen in spring training. This is the only chance I get. They give me the opportunity to come back and prove to myself that I can still play. I had the chance and didn't do what I'm supposed to do, or at least not good enough."