Opinion

Before last night's poor performance against the Red Sox, Kenny Williams assured fans that the White Sox would not be "rebuilding" next season.

"In our minds, it's still with the mindset of trying to win. Once you start using the R word, you create a different kind of mindset. I think a part of what we've done here is making sure our players understand that whatever the composition of the team is, it's designed to win."

This is simultaneously one of the things I love about Williams and one of the things I loathe.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi won a World Series last season and also was voted Manager of the Year in 2006 with the Florida Marlins.

The Chicago Cubs currently have an interim manager, Mike Quade, after Lou Piniella left the team in August to take care of his ailing mother. Quade has led the Cubbies to a 20-11 record in his short time as skipper.

They are known as the Cubbies or Baby Cubs because they are using all their young players. These kids are producing at a high level and much of the credit is going to the interim manager.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have compiled a 100-plus game loss record in 2010 that is unenviable even by recent standards. Yet this represents a mix of the truly awful and semi-respectable.

There are now signs of hope for their play in some divisions, particularly their home in the National League Central, which is arguably the weakest division in the majors.

The Pirates have "arrived" against the Chicago Cubs with a 10-5 season result, as good as can be reasonably hoped for.

Being great baseball players aren't all that Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera have in common. Both have had dark incidents in the past, but one's rehabilitation success has gotten more attention than the other's.

Last night, David Price tweeted about the lack of fan support in Tampa Bay, noting that the fact that he was pitching a potentially division-clinching game in front of 10,000 fans was "embarrassing".

The backlash from Rays fans was inevitable.  Less than two hours later, Price apologized on Twitter if he offended anyone.

Rocktober has never felt so far away.

The Rockies fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers by the score of 3-1 on Monday night, losing their second straight and their seventh in their past eight games. 

The Rockies won ten in a row earlier this month, but never were able to eclipse or tie the teams that were in their playoff path.  Now, with just six games remaining, the Rockies sit four games out of the Wild Card, and five out of the top spot in the National League West.

Now that baseball's version of LeBron James has signed his $10 million dollar deal,  the waiting game is officially over.

Late last week, Bryce Harper: SI cover boy, made his debut in the Instructional League.

There is not much that can be said that already hasn't.

Harper is a phenom for now, and only time will tell if this new version of the "next big thing" can live up to all the hype.  

Monday night, the Philadelphia Phillies won the NL East for the fourth straight season in a row.

Up in Toronto, the New York Yankees evening could have been a champagne party too. Instead, AJ Burnett imploded worse than ever on the mound and the Blue Jays won the game 7-5.

Burnett could not even get out of the third inning, and he was to blame for all seven runs scored.

Rock bottom?

“There are three kinds of lies,” the age-old adage goes, “lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

While Sabathia’s poor outing (5.1, 10-7) against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night probably put an end to his AL Cy Young Award aspirations, the Hernandez vs. Sabathia debate was certainly a fascinating one while it lasted. What it all seemed to boil down to which statistic is more important: Felix Hernandez’ 2.31 ERA or C.C. Sabathia’s 20 wins?

Before the past week, Houston was one of the hottest teams in the league since the All-Star break.

But the last six-plus games reminded fans, media, players, and coaches alike of the Astros of 2010’s past—and proof that there’s still some room to grow before the team gets to where it wants to be.

Regardless of the team’s poor play as of late, the Astros absolutely appear to be heading in the right direction.

Youth and talent abound on this promising group of Houston baseball players.