MLB

Look, I know that every team has issues in their bullpen, so this isn't an attempt to discuss the obvious.

But for a team that is supposedly the best team in the NL Central, Cubs GM Jim Hendry has built a club that is flawed in one very critical area, the pen.

Yes, the Cubs allowed Kerry Wood to leave because they figured Carlos Marmol was ready to assume the closer role, but just to make sure, Hendry acquired Kevin Gregg; who blew the most saves of anyone last year.

Gregg has not instilled much confidence thus far. Neither has many of his mates.

Is B.J. Upton the next Willie Mays?

I know it sounds crazy, but if you happened to see a couple of his catches this week, you might want to give the idea some thought. 

B.J.'s speed enables him to play a VERY shallow centerfield, which gives him a lot of opportunities to go back on some balls hit directly over his head. Twice this week he has made sensational catches; Both reminded me of Willie Mays.

I had the pleasure of watching Willie play centerfield at Candlestick as a young boy. I'll never forget it.

Now, on to B.J. Upton.

DOB: 05/02/1988

Frame: 6'3'' 180 lbs

Stuff: Four seam fastball(94-99 MPH consistently, plus plus pitch), curve ball(promising), and a change up(improving).

The Past: The Atlanta Braves signed Neftali at the age of 17 out of the Dominican Republic during the 2005 season. After two short stints in RC ball with the Braves, Feliz was traded, with a few other prospects, to the Texas Rangers through the 2007 Mark Teixera deal.

What the (insert explicit term here) happened to Wang?

Three consecutive pitiful outings, and a shaken self-esteem, has done no good for the Yankees thus far.

It appears the ball is up, and his secondary pitches are hanging. The sinker is sinking into the batter's wheelhouse, with the slider and splitter just turning into batting practice fastballs.

It appears to me that Dave Eiland has been stressing this body before the arm thing too much. Look at the photo above, Wang is getting under the ball via this new mechanical philosophy, not on top.

For a game that started off based around the small ball the ending was much more powerful and much more dramatic.

Lyle Overbay came up to bat with two outs and Jose Bautista on first. He then sent the 1-0 pitch Dan Giese threw to deep right-centre to seal the game. The homerun came in the 12 inning to give the Jays a 4-2 win Saturday.

“I was either going to pop that straight up or hit a homer,” Overbay said. “I was glad it went the way it did.”

5.3 IP, 34.50 ERA, 23 hits allowed, 23 runs allowed, .622 BAA, six walks, two strikeouts.

Surely this all must be some sort of nightmare for New York Yankees fans.

As of this writing, Yankees sinkerballer Chien-Ming Wang was the primary culprit of the most recent bloodbath at the new Yankee Stadium, surrendering eight runs on eight hits in 1.1 innings of work.

With the way Wang has struggled early on, one can only wonder what the Yankees can do to fix this.

Have the Indians woken up?  After a scoring frenzy in today's game, I would like to assume so. 

Hit after hit, the Indians ran around the bases and racked up the runs.  The last time the Indians had scored 20 runs or more in a game was back in August of 2004—against who?

You got it, the Yankees. 

After a disappointing start by Wang (0-2), Yankees pitching continued to give up runs, which proved to be beneficial to the Cleveland Indians. 

With the first 14 games of the season in the books, the remarkable Toronto Blue Jays are back in the game and sitting on top in the American League East with a record of 9-4. No one could have hoped for a better start.

Through an offseason in whcih financial woes seemed to be on everyone's mind (even MLB GMs), J.P. Ricciardi decided not to make any big moves and did not spend any money.

Some critics tore him a new one, suggesting that this method was the furthest thing from progress the team could possibly get, but what do those critics have to say now?

Recently, Mike Kent put together a nice article on what he believed to be the top 10 fan-favorites in the state of New York.

I was lucky enough to spend the first three years of my life in New York and, while I cannot remember many athletes (or remember anything in general), I thought I should give this list a shot of my own.

I hope you enjoy the following, and don't forget to check out Mike's either for a second opinion!

10. Leon Washington, Running Back for the New York Jets