AL Central

I feel bad writing this after a win (the White Sox won today, 7-6 over the Yankees), but there is indeed no rest for the wicked, and this is a question that needs to be answered.

Let me get things started with this: I'm not an Ozzie "fan."

I think he is one of the more overrated managers in baseball, still riding high from can't-miss pitching and power hitting in 2005.

His blowups in the media are infamous, ranging from derogatory terms used to describe hometown sportswriters to his now-tired "blame me, fire me" routine.

Detroit Tigers fans remember Curtis Granderson.

Don't they?

Granderson was ushered off to New York in a multi-player deal, and the former fan-favorite is now a distant memory to the MoTown faithful.

In exchange for Granderson in the three-team merry-go-round, the Tigers received Austin Jackson, Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth and Phil Coke.

And the Arizona Diamondbacks got shafted.

The Cleveland Indians are toiling at 9-13 right now, and while their won-lost record isn't really a surprise, the biggest concern is their lack of offense. With the Indians closing in on a month of games, I really only have one question: Wasn't the Indians' offense supposed to be the strength of this baseball team? There wasn't a lot of doubt that the Indians had some talented sticks heading into the season.

The White Sox are awful.

There are a few other adjectives and nouns to describe the White Sox so far in the 2010 season, but those would be bleeped out.

The Sox have had terrible starting pitching mixed with a streaky offense that can't get on base, but has provided a lot of home runs.

The question marks on the Sox have actually been pretty good, whereas, the thought to be solid guys have been terrible.

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In one of the most anticipated roster moves of 2010, the Texas Rangers promoted highly-touted prospect Justin Smoak last Friday. In six games since being called up, the switch-hitting first baseman is 1-for-15 with two runs and one RBI. He does, however, have seven walks.

Despite Smoak’s rough start, fantasy owners should take notice of the 23-year-old’s promotion.

It was a picture-perfect fall day in Minneapolis.

I was back in town to resume my collegiate studies, the sun was shining on my face, and the Twins had charged back into the playoff race, coming up on the slumping Detroit Tigers.

Life was good.

Then "The Text" came.

The Twins were playing an afternoon game that particular day, and rookie phenom Francisco Liriano was pitching against Oakland. He had been battling forearm pain and was making his first start back after a rehab stint in the minors.

The White Sox begin a six-game road trip in Texas tonight and are currently on a three-game winning streak, winning the team's first series of the year against the Seattle Mariners.

The White Sox offense simply doesn't make sense.

There is really no other way to put it.

The team is batting a Major League-worst .222 to go along with the seventh worst number of runs scored, sitting on 74.

Okay, that makes sense.

A casual Cleveland Indians fan flipping through the sports section would let his face fall if he noticed Justin Masterson's numbers so far this year.

At 0-3 with a 5.68 ERA, his basic stats are bad enough to make Joe Six-Pack put down his coffee, stare into space, and mumble something about the good old days.

After surrendering seven runs in four innings Sunday against Oakland, even diehard Tribe fan Samantha Bunten was compelled to ask, "What on earth is wrong with Justin Masterson?"

• Francisco Liriano faces off against Justin Verlander tonight in what should be a very interesting battle. This is the first meeting between the Twins and Tigers since game 163 last October. Liriano is off to a great start while Verlander continues his April woes for the third consecutive year. Being as both players are playing out of their "norm," there's really no use in posting their career numbers against the opposition. But I'm excited to see how Liriano fairs against the hot-hitting Tigers.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Clevelanders love to complain.

We certainly have just cause: with rampant unemployment and poverty, miserable weather, and heartbreaking sports teams, Forbes recently named us the most miserable city in America.

But as I listened to the increasingly drunk fans sitting behind me at Progressive Field the other night (they were pretty loud, it was kind of hard not to), I realized that some of their beefs really didn't hold water.

Some of their complaints were about things that were preventable, others were hypocritical, and the rest were simply stupid.

Here's