West Spotlight: Scott hits 3rd home run!

Scott Podsednik went 4-5 with a double and a home run along with 3 RBIs as the White Sox beat the Cubs 8-7. For the season, Pods has 3 home runs, 20 RBIs, and raised his team leading batting average to .319. He could be the White Sox All Star representative if he keeps playing like this for the next week.

Marlon Byrd-Victor Conte Relationship Unsettling

A couple of days ago news broke that Marlon Byrd has been receiving supplements from BALCO founder Victor Conte. This is the same Conte who supplied Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds, and Marion Jones among others with steroids of all kinds. He is the same steroid dealer who was made famous in the book Game of Shadows (excellent book) and the same guy who thinks that professional players should be super humans and the public wants to see juiced athletes.

So why does Marlon Byrd want to get his supplements from this guy? This is like someone who wants to buy a gun and decides to go see the Taliban instead of their local gun store. Why does Byrd choose to put his name in the same sentence as this guy?

Well apparently he has been doing this for the last 18 months and has not failed a drug test but don't think that this story is going away. This will not be the last piece of news to come out on this subject.

Byrd's 2009 stats: .285 avg, 4 HR, 33 RBI

Pods hit game-winning hit....Again!

West product, Scott Podsednik, has another walk-off hit for the White Sox as they beat the Dodgers in the 13th inning today, 6-5. Scott went 2-6 with a walk and RBI and broke out of 0-15 slump with a 12th inning single. It is the 2nd time Scott has won a game for the Sox in as many weeks and he raised his team leading average to .305.

What a year for Pods!

Mavs Draft Talk

Looks like the Mavs will end up with two guards: Rodrigue Beaubois, an athletic French PG, who is suppose to be at a press conference tomorrow and according to Rick Carlisle will be with the team this summer and should make the roster. It was believed that this guy would have to stay in Europe for at least another year but the Mavs are saying otherwise. The other guard is Nick Calathes, a combo guard who went to the University of Florida but has already signed a contract to play for a professional team in Greece. He put up some solid numbers at Florida and has good size at 6-5.

Note: Pay close attention to DeJuan Blair out of Pitt who is with the Spurs. They picked him up well into the 2nd round and I have a feeling that Mavs are going to regret passing him up much like Big Baby Davis a couple of years ago. Thank you Mavs for Nick Fazekas: how did that work for us?

What do you think of these two picks? Are they worth getting excited about?

Mavericks Draft Spotlight: B.J. Mullens

The Mavs 1st Round pick is B.J. Mullens out of Ohio State. It is an interesting pick primarily because the guy didn't even start in college. He is a very raw talent but is 7-0, 275 lbs, and athletic. He average 8.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 1.1 bpg as a freshman at OSU.

The most exciting note about this selection is that Donnie didn't pick a European who is years away from playing in the NBA. This guy might not play a lot minutes next year but he will be in 09-10.

*Update* Looks like Mavs are trading this guy to OKC for some French guy that nobody ever heard of. **Pulls hair out**

Spurs get Jefferson

San Antonio got a lot younger and better with the acquisition of Richard Jefferson from the Bucks for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, Fabricio Oberto according to Espn.com's Chad Ford. This gives them the Big 4 instead of the Big 3 with the others being Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili.

Jefferson is a big time wing scorer that average 19.6 points a game last year and played in all 82 games. He is only 29 years old which makes him one of the youngest Spurs instantly (tongue in cheek).

For fellow Mavs fans: This is not good news because the Spurs instantly become better and more athletic and the worst part is dallasbasketball.com's Fisher suggested that the Mavs jump on Jefferson before the Spurs go after him. Now the Mavs have to make a move if they want to compete this year in the Southwest Division.

Do you want Shaq, the other big center from Orlando, Rondo and Ray Allen, Vince Carter, or Marcus Camby/Chris Kaman? Which one do you want?

Rangers woes continue

The Texas Rangers struggles continued today with the completion of the three game sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants. Starting pitching has not been a problem of late but the bullpen and offense has struggled mightily. Here a few things that Ron Washington needs to think on over the off day:

Chris Davis: He went 0-3 today with 1 K and is now hitting .194 with 101 Ks. Washington needs to seriously consider sending him back down to the minors to regroup and allow Blalock to play first base. Hank is getting paid $6 million to play sparingly at the moment. At the very least it allows Blalock to get consistent playing time making him a commodity at the trade deadline.

Eddie Guardado: His E.R.A. has ballooned to 5.40 over the last two weeks and he does not seem to have the magic he had last year. Last season the bullpen needed his leadership but now with O'Day, Jennings, Wilson, and Francisco....the bullpen has leaders and if they need another veteran it will be via trade...i.e. Saito from Boston or Street from Colorado

Michael Young: He cannot hold down the #3 slot any longer with a .172 avg with runners in scoring position. Kinsler needs to be in that role with Young returning to #2 and Andrus taking the helm at lead-off. Andrus has showed patience at the plate that most of the team lacks and he knows his role wherever he is placed in the lineup.

What do you think of these moves? Do you have any other suggestions?

West Spotlight: Pods red hot!

Scott Podsednik is 6-12 in his last three games after his latest multi-hit game today as the White Sox beat the Reds 4-1. Scott hit his 2nd home run yesterday and has now raised his average to .319. He has solidified the lead-off spot for the White Sox over the last month and a half helping the Pale Hoes record hanging around .500. This could be the kind of year that resurrects Scott's career.

Keep it up Scott!