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Chicago Cubs have a strong starting line-up and few rookies are getting there chances to play, but 29-year-old rookie Micah Hoffpauir has big power and is beginning to give Lou Piniella something to think about.

Hoffpauir smashed his second home run of the season in the Cubs 10-3 win over the Cardinals when he started for the injured Derek Lee.

Derek Lee is suffering from neck spasms and could be out a few games, but the seriousness is unknown at this time.

Welcome back my friends to the most in depth free agent and waiver pickup blog anywhere, The Hot Eight! As we close out the first month of the MLB season, I am happy to have recommended free agents such as Dexter Fowler, Nelson Cruz, Colby Rasmus, Scott Downs, Nyjer Morgan, Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner well in advance of their most productive games so far.

I want to take you on a stroll down memory lane to remember a time when being a Red Sox fan was a curse. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

The best being that you could buy a ticket for a game at Fenway an hour before the game started, and the worst was that Boston would probably lose the game, which made for a long ride home on the Green Line.

The 2008 Seattle Mariners had the second-worst record in baseball (61-101); it was a campaign of no power and no pitching.

They paid a Carlos Silva $12 million over the season to lose 16 games—almost $1 million per loss.

They gave up five promising prospects for an ace—Erik Bedard—who pitched just 81 innings. GM Bill Bavasi probably thought he was buying job security when he swung the deal, but he was actually ringing up his own ticket out of town.

Those comparisons to great hitters of recent yore have long since died down. Suddenly, Delmon Young was just another talented, but struggling outfielder who had his current employers wondering if he would ever develop into something special.

It's still much too early to ascertain whether Young, the first pick in the 2003 amateur draft, will turn into an offensive presence like Albert Belle, a hitter to whom he's most often compared. But Young, after a slow start in 2009, is definitely showing signs of life.

"Flamethrowers" is our Monday topic at thesportspa.blogspot.com during the MLB season. In these articles, we attempt to showcase the hot pitchers, as well as the not-so-hot pitchers.

These pitchers, in no particular order, are Hot/Not in my eyes.

HOT:

1) Zack Greinke- Royals

Greinke, the story of the year so far in 2009, stayed hot by throwing his second complete game in a row. He gave up an unearned run in the fifth inning, which snapped his 38-inning scoreless streak that went back to last season.

The last time these two teams met, both were in a fight for the playoffs. The Rays sought their first division title in their franchise's history, while the Twins were simply trying to stay afloat in the AL Central race.

Needless to say, this series is pretty far removed from a September pennant chase, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be followed fairly closely.

For the Twins, this series is finishing strong.

There are your players, your stars, your superstars, and then there are the icons.  Performers who change everything for a team. By necessity, there are only a few icons, and the Dodgers have one of these now in Manny Ramirez.

It goes beyond what he is able to produce in the lineup or on the field. It becomes part of the mindset of a team and its fan base. It puts some style in the swagger, swinging the hips and bringing a dance step to the feet.

There are two games I need to write about; one was great, the other not so much.

Depends on your perspective which was which, but most of you are Cardinal fans, so it's safe to say Saturday was a blast and Sunday was a day to turn off the game early.

Saturday, anything else that happened was overshadowed by one swing of Albert Pujols's bat.