Thursday Thoughts

I talked all about baseball in last night's post, a little more baseball now among other things....

- It appears Albert Pujols will take more time to think about where he will play in 2012. Numerous reports came out last night saying that no decision will be made before the end of the Winter Meetings. I have zero clue where he's landing now. Could it be St. Louis again? Los Angeles with the Angels? However, I'm going to venture this guess. The Mets looked to look Ike Davis yesterday, there's your mystery team. Let that simmer. (UPDATE: About 10 minutes after posting this, Yahoo reported Pujols has agreed to 10 year/$260 million deal with the Angels)
- In international news, Yu Darvish will be posted by his Japanese club to go to the States to play. Darvish has been a dominating pitcher in Japan, going 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA this past season. One major issue is this, Darvish was getting 6 days off between starts as opposed to the 4 he would get in MLB. This has all the potential of a Yankees or Red Sox signing with the amount of money needed in posting fees to get Darvish plus the contract. Probably going to take over $100 million. Just don't see anyone else going after him for that kind of money.
- There seems to be a growing tidal wave wanting a college football playoff with Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby saying that a 4-team playoff is "inevitable".Would that idea be so bad? Really?
- The opening of NBA training camps and free agency begin tomorrow. It seems more and more likely that not a lot of trades are going to happen and there aren't any big-name free agents. A tweak here and there for some teams but you have to think the two teams to beat are still Miami and Dallas.
- Last but not least today, I go to high school football. A team in Massachusetts lost the state title game this past weekend because their quarterback while running in for the winning touchdown raises his arm for five yards. That brought out a penalty for taunting. Give me a break! These kids are in high school, they get excited. Why don't we just put all the players on pills to make them even the whole game, no excitement about anything and see how fun the game looks then. Shame shame on the high school association.

That's it for now, maybe more tonight if things develop....

Tuesday night thoughts

It's getting late but here's a quick group of thoughts...

- We may have a decision from Albert Pujols by the time my next blog post. 3 teams are in at over $200 million. Likely Marlins, Cardinals and Angels. Cubs may be involved too but it's looking likely Pujols is heading for South Beach. See if LeBron can host a Decision special for him.
- The Big East is adding members that are nowhere near east in Boise State and San Diego State. Last time I checked San Diego is on the Pacific Ocean not the Atlantic which puts them as far west as you can be...interesting.
- Week 14 of the NFL Season starts Thursday...get your fantasy roster ready as the playoffs begin. Hopefully you made it. Took a bunch of work but thankfully I did.

That's all for now, more in the morning hopefully....

The Saga Continues

As we reach the middle of the first week of spring training as pitchers and catchers report and their rest of the teammates are sure to follow, here's a look at what is happening and what to look for.

- The deadline has been set for today with the Cardinals and Albert Pujols. I talked about this at length yesterday but you have to believe a deal isn't happening and Pujols will believe a free agent. It doesn't mean he is leaving St. Louis and the chance is there for a number of teams to sign him, even ones who have top-flight first basemen who could be traded to clear room for Pujols. Keep an ear open and your eyes locked down to see where this goes.

- As pitchers and catchers continue to report, it will be interesting to see what the Reds will do with Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman. Last season in his brief stay in Cincinnati, the lefty had pitches clocked at 105 MPH out of the bullpen. Will the Reds keep him in the bullpen? You would have to assume for this season they would and get him prepped for a spot in the starting five in 2012.

- The Mariners announced on Tuesday that Ken Griffey, Jr. has been named a special consultant to the team and will be at spring training. This is an obvious first step for the certain Hall of Famer in helping the team that drafted him over 20 years ago get back on the winning track again. Maybe Griffey has some ideas on how to find more runs in the Pacific Northwest.

-  Michael Young is still in Texas as of today and it looks more and more likely he is staying there this season. While Young is going to be used as mostly a super utility player and DH, Young has been a loyal soldier to the fans in Arlington and should be treated that way. However, it looks like there is no room for him in Texas and a bad contract swap is going to have to happen for Young to leave. A lot of teams could use him in their lineup and in the field but Young will need to extend on his eight teams he agreed to be traded to.

The lineup is set for today. Tomorrow, we'll look at the Pujols aftermath and other MLB stories as we trek our way toward Opening Day.