Jose Reyes to Miami: What's next for the Marlins?

If Albert Pujols joins the Miami Marlins, South Beach will have two teams everyone is gunning for. The Miami Heat feature the 'Big 3' and all of a sudden the Miami Marlins are making off-season splashes to come into their own. Wait a minute......The Miami Marlins? That's right. All of a sudden, with one more big name acquisition Miami would be the team to beat in the NL East.

Shortstop Jose Reyes (28) agreed to sign with the Marlins on a six-year, $106 million deal Sunday. The guarantee for the first six years comes out to $102 million. The deal includes a $22 million option for a seventh year.

Here's the question..... Is he worth it?

I don't think so. Last year, Reyes missed 36 games. He has not played in more than 150 games since 2008 while playing in only 295 over the last 3 seasons. It's paying a lot for a guy that lately has proven he can't be in uniform over the course of a full season.

The Marlins are already loaded with young talent. Mike Stanton, 22, hit 34 home runs last year, 2009 batting champion Hanley Ramirez, who is only 27, and Logan Morrison, 24, who slugged 23 homers last year in only 123 games.

Albert Pujols is next on the fishes radar. Will Pujols leave a team he's won two World Series rings with? Not so sure.. But you couldn't exactly blame him with everything Miami has to offer.

2011 AL East Predictions

1. Boston Red Sox (102-60) - Additions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford add to an already tough offense in Boston. Good luck opposing pitching, this looks like an All-Star game lineup, not your everyday lineup.

2. New York Yankees (94-68) - A questionable pitching
staff behind C.C. Sabathia and Phil Hughes leave question marks for New York for 2011. Is their offense good enough to make up for spotty starting pitching?

3. Tampa Bay Rays (86-76) - Jake McGee. Name sound familiar? Most likely not but he is the likely candidate to be the Rays closer this season and has only totaled 5 career innings pitched. The Rays brought in two veterans on the decline in Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. Overall, the Rays do not have enough weapons to compete with the two top gun teams in the AL East.

4. Baltimore Orioles- (81-81) - Buck Showalter's team finished 34-23 leaving a big bright spot in an otherwise disaster 2010 campaign. Solid acquisitions of Mark Reynolds, Derrek Lee, JJ Hardy, Kevin Gregg, and Justin Duchscherer make this team capable of a .500 record for the first time since 1997.

5. Toronto Blue Jays- (73-89) Toronto features a free swinging lineup with a young and inexperienced starting five. There are questions at the closer position with top candidate being Frank Francisco. With Jose Bautista being hard pressed to duplicate last seasons numbers and face of the franchise Vernon Wells being traded to the Angels, Toronto will be in a battle for 4th place, but will fall short.

Photo by: games.espn.go.com

Bradley v.s. Drake Recap

Bradley wins in blowout over Drake on Senior Night

PEORIA, Il. -- Bradley senior guard Andrew Warren set new career highs with 33 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and tied a career high with four steals in the Bradley Braves (11-19, 4-14 MVC) 90-64 win over the Drake Bulldogs (13-17, 7-11 MVC) on Senior Night Saturday at Carver Arena.

Bradley had four players score in double figures led by Warren who shot 14-22 from the field, and 5-10 on 3-pointers.

“I’m amazed this year at the variety of ways he’s been able to score,” Bradley head coach Jim Les said. “He worked in the offseason on his strength so he got to the line quite a bit this year. He posted up quite a bit using his size, and I think really the next part was him being able to put it on the deck and create not only shots for himself, but shots for his teammates.”

Braves senior guard, Dodie Dunson, scored an efficient 17 points on 6-8 shooting to go with seven assists and six rebounds.

“It was a great night,” Dunson said. “It was very exciting, especially my last time at the Civic Center. I’m just happy we pulled through and got the win today.”

Sophomore guard, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, scored 15 points, and junior center, Will Egolf, added 11 for the Braves.

Drake’s only lead came early in the 1^st half at 6-5, before Bradley went on a 10-0 run. The Braves stretched the lead to as high as 29 late in the second half.

The Braves led 39-26 at halftime, and then pulled away when Warren scored seven straight to make it 53-36 with 14:29 remaining.

Freshman guard Rayvonte Rice, Drake’s leading scorer, picked up two quick fouls and only played 10 minutes in the first half. Rice scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, and became the highest scoring freshman in Drake basketball history.

Redshirt junior guard Kirk Alexander came off the bench and scored a career high 15 points for Drake.

Drake shot 37 percent from the field (23-62).

Bradley shot a season high 63 percent (36-57) from the floor, and shot 77 percent (20-26) in the second half.

“I just liked our aggressiveness early on the offensive end, “ Les said. “I thought that there had been some periods in the last few games where we’ve settled on the perimeter and settled for jump shots.”

Tonight’s game was a preview for the State Farm Missouri Valley Tournament showdown between the tenth seeded Braves and 7th seeded Bulldogs on Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

“We know were going to see a much different Drake team on Thursday and we’ll take some days and get focused,” Les said.

NFL Divisional Round Picks

NFC

#6 Green Bay Packers @ #1 Atlanta Falcons

Packers- 34
Falcons- 24

#4 Seattle Seahawks @ #2 Chicago Bears

Bears- 31
Seahawks- 13

AFC

#5 Baltimore Ravens @ #2 Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers- 20
Ravens- 14

#6 New York Jets @ #1 New England Patriots

Patriots- 37
Jets-24

White Sox sign Will Ohman

Today, the White Sox signed left-handed specialist Will Ohman to a 2 yr deal worth $4 million.

The White Sox already have two left handed relievers in Chris Sale, and Matt Thornton, but manager Ozzie Guillen plans to use them as closer and setup man respectively, so there was a need for another lefty for middle relief.

With Baltimore and Florida in 2010, Ohman, 33, posted solid numbers. In 68 games, he compiled a record of 0-2 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He struck out 43 batters over 42 innings while walking 23.

Photo by: inform.com

NFL Wild Card Picks

NFC

#5 New Orleans Saints @ #4 Seattle Seahawks
Seattle is the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a losing record (7-9). However, the defending champion Saints know not to underestimate anyone and Drew Brees will be too much for the Seahawks defense that allowed 250 passing yards a game during the regular season (27th in the NFL).

Saints- 31
Seahawks- 17

#6 Green Bay Packers @ #3 Philadelphia Eagles
Michael Vick and company had a great run this year, but they ran into the toughest #6 seed possible. Green Bay made a statement by beating Chicago in Week 17. The Bears played all of their players and the Packers stepped up with their backs against the wall and beat them. Green Bay's defense showed how great they can be, allowing Chicago's starters to 3 points. With Aaron Rodgers behind center, and a more than capable defense, Green Bay should be a team to look out for deep into the playoffs.

Packers- 34
Eagles- 27

AFC

#6 New York Jets @ #3 Indianapolis Colts
The Jets and Rex Ryan especially are confident that his team will make it to the Superbowl. They need to wake up. There is only one Darrelle Revis and too many capable Colts receivers. Expect Peyton Manning to look for TE Jacob Tamme early and often, and the Jets offense does not have enough firepower to keep up.

Colts- 24
Jets- 17

#5 Baltimore Ravens @ #4 Kansas City Chiefs

Ray Rice has caught fire at just the right time for the Ravens and Joe Flacco has a 15-4 touchdown to interception ratio since Baltimore's week 8 bye. The Ravens defense is # 5 in the NFL in rushing defense allowing only 94 yards a game, and although Kansas City's rushing offense is #1, look for the experienced defense to step up over the young Chiefs offense.

Ravens- 27
Chiefs- 10

Cubs acquire Matt Garza

The Chicago Cubs have watched fellow NL Central teams make splashy moves thus far in the off-season.

Today they decided it was their turn when they acquired Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays for Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, Hak-Ju Lee and Sam Fuld.

Did the Cubs pay too much? They received Garza, Fernando Perez, a 27 year old outfielder who hit .223 with a .280 OBP in 426 at bats with Triple-A last year, and a pitching prospect.

Chris Archer was ranked #1 on Baseball America's Cubs top prospects, while Hak-Ju Lee was # 4, and Brandon Guyer was #10. Archer has future star written all over him. He split time between High A Daytona and AA Tennessee where he totaled a 15-3 record with a 2.34 ERA. He struck out 149 batters while walking 65.

The Cubs had a great farm system, and just let go three players with unlimited potential in a # 1 or 2 starter with Archer who may only be a few years away if that from making an impact, a potential lead-off hitter in Hak Ju-Lee a late blooming catcher in Robinson Chirinos, and a solid outfielder in Brandon Guyner.

If Jim Hendry is trying to compete with the moves of the Brewers, it did not work out the first time although the Cubs hardly gave up any solid prospects. In 2008, the Brewers acquired C.C. Sabathia from Cleveland, and just days later the Cubs acquired Rich Harden from Oakland. This scenario will undoubtedly go better than the one in 2008, but something to think about after the Brewers acquired Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum less than a month ago.

Matt Garza can easily turn in an All-Star caliber year in 2011, but I believe the price the Cubs paid was too high for a pitcher like Garza.

Does this trade make the Cubs legitimate contenders in the NL Central with the Reds, Cardinals, and Brewers? For Jim Hendry's sake, you'd have to hope so.

Photo by: TampaBay.com