The SoapBoxers

I have already finished and filed my taxes for the year…which is an achievement for me. 2011 was different than past years. I had 1099’s this year from my writing, had started my writing gig, we moved….it was a busy year. I was learning what I could and couldn’t deduct (business cards and office supplies are deductible; a “family size” bag of circus peanuts not so much), what I did right and what I did wrong last year. But I got it done, the tax software checked for errors and it sent it on its way.

And then H&R Block sent me an email from the IRS (panic!!). The headline read “Refund funding issues” (what?). Yes, apparently the IRS has “funding issues” and it would take over a month to get my return sent back to me.

Really, IRS. Really. I wonder, if I ever have to pay in the future, if the IRS would just accept my delay in payment to them, if I sent them an email and said I was having “Payment Funding Issues”. Somehow I don’t think their response would be so nice.

Pro Tip for the IRS: people who get refunds generally file pretty early, while the people who owe money usually file much later. You might want to plan for this cash flow discrepancy in your budget. I’m guessing this happens fairly frequently … like, say, every single year?

Oh, well. I guess I can at least track the status of my refund on the “Where’s my refund” site the IRS runs. What? That site’s having problems? Does the IRS have a “funding issue” with its IT department, too?

So I’ll just wait for my refund. With another baby on the way, we’ve already decided we’re going to use it as a down payment on a new (to us) vehicle. My 1993 Dodge Caravan just isn’t cutting it anymore. While I love my “broke-ass soccer mom van”, I would like a vehicle with a muffler…and a speedometer that works all of the time, not just when it wants to. I’m not picky.

Tax related articles from our other writers:

Starting a small business in 2012? The details can get a little tricky, especially if you’re forming a separate legal entity. Check out Kosmo’s guide to starting a small business so that you can get off on the right foot.

Sell a lot of items on eBay? You’ll want to be aware of the new 1099-K form. Johnny Goodman takes a break from sports writing to discuss the 1099-K and how it can even affect collectors.

Baseball is just around the corner.  Pitchers and catchers will report to spring training in a few days.  I’ve been looking for a copy of the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) ever since it was announced that an agreement had been reached.  I still can’t find one, but there is a downloadable summary that does give a few more details.  I gave my thoughts on the new CBA a few months ago, but here’s an update version based on the details in the summary document.  Some of this article will rehash the details of my previous article, but there’s also some new content in this article.

Two wild card teams per league – I hate, hate, hate this idea.  One of the things I love about baseball is that it’s very hard to make the playoff.  Currently, just 8 of the 30 teams make it.  I also hate the one game “coin flip round” of the playoffs, because one game is a very poor judge of which team is better.

Free agency – MLB is finally dropping the Elias rating system for free agents.  This was an incredibly flawed system.  Among other things, one of the rankings for catchers was related to the number of putouts.  A catcher is awarded a putout on a strikeout by the pitcher … so a catcher on a team with a dominant pitching staff would see his ranking artificially inflated.  Stats like runs and RBI – heavily dependent on the players around you – were also included, and there was no attempt to normalize statistics for the player’s park.

Additionally, an older, quickly fading player could be a Type A free agent and scare off potentially suitors because of the fact that they’d lose a top pick to sign him (the Braves lost a 1st round pick to the Mets when they signed an aging Tom Glavine.  The Mets used the pick to draft Ike Davis).

The new systems awards compensation when a team offers a pending free agent a one year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries.  In other words, you have to demonstrate the player’s value to your team – by putting your money where your mouth is – before being awarded compensation.  (Note: under the old system, a team had to offer arbitration to  a player, and have the player decline the offer, in order to be eligible for compensation.)

Draft bonuses –  My opinion is that a true commissioner should be an unbiased arbiter between the owners and the players.  Bud Selig has instead become merely the president of the owner’s group.  For years, the commissioner’s office has recommended draft bonus amounts for each slot in the draft.  I’ve always chafed at this, because I feel that the free market is a better way to handle this.  Beginning this year. there will actually be penalties for going above slot.  There will be an amount assigned to each team, based on where their picks fall.  This is the amount that can be signed on picks from the first 10 rounds.  Exceed this amount by 5%, and you start losing draft picks.  If you exceed the amount by 15%,  and you lose 1st round picks in the next two drafts.

What baseball is trying to do is avoid having teams with lots of cash to spend (Yankees) have player drop to them because of signability concerns.  The core problem here is that teams can’t maximize that value of a pick by trading it.  Eli Manning didn’t want to play for the San Diego Chargers.  Did the Chargers just skip him because of signability concerns and grab the next player?  No, they drafted him and immediately traded his rights.  This can’t be done in baseball.

If draft bonuses are going to be capped, then I think it makes sense to reduce the amount of time a player is under a team’s control (currently at least six years).

I think this can have a real impact on dual sports athletes.  These players often fall in the draft because a team is taking a risk that they won’t sign, or will choose their other sport over baseball (case in point: Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson has announced that he is choosing the NFL over baseball).  If often takes extra money to get these players to commit to baseball full-time.

A similar system will be in place for signing of international amateur free agents (but not international professionals, such as Yu Darvish).

The top 200 draft prospects and top 100 international amateur free agents will also be subject to pre-draft drug testing and a pre-draft medical program.  The medical program should not be overlooked – this may allow teams to spot undiagnosed medical conditions that could affect a player’s ability to succeed at the major league level.

Competitive balance lottery – Teams that are in the ten smallest markets and teams that have the ten lowest revenues will be entered into a competitive balance lottery.  There’s certain to be a lot of overlap in this group, so I’m guessing this will usually be 12-15 teams.  A team’s chance of winning a lottery picks is based on their winning percentage (I assume that the teams with the worst records will have the best odds).  There will be six lottery picks between the first and second rounds.  The non-winners are put into a second lottery for picks between the second and third round.

I’m not sure if post-season revenue is included in the calculation or not.  If post-season revenue is included, you might see a team drop out of the lottery by winning a few games down the stretch in October.  Conversely, you might see some teams attempt to limit their late season revenue in order to get into the lottery.

As a fan of a small market team (Rockies), I’m not a fan of this idea.  A billionaire owner (Mark Cuban, for example) could also turn this idea on its head by purchasing a small market team, grabbing lottery picks as birthright of being a small market team, and then spending freely in free agency.  Basically, he could build the Royals into a better version of the Yankees.

Is there anything at all I like about the competitive balance lottery?  Sure.  You can trade these picks – that’s a step in the right direction.

Do you have any new thoughts on the new CBA?

Are you ready for baseball?

Not getting much bench time these days. Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I haven’t followed the NBA much since Magic.  I don’t mean the Orlando Magic, even the vintage variety with Shaquille O’Neal tearing down baskets (literally).  I mean Magic Johnson, who retired (for the first time) nearly twenty years ago.

Since then, I followed Isiah Thomas and the bad boy Pistons for a while, and then followed Alonzo Mourning for pretty much the duration of his career.  But my interest in the NBA was in a gradual decline and dropped to almost zero by the time Alonzo retired.

After all these years, I once again have an interest in the NBA.  Not because of LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, but because of Jeremy Lin.  I’m getting live in-game updates of Knicks games.  The Knicks.  I’ve never been a fan of the Knicks, and they have often been on my “hated teams” list.

As a high school player, Lin was the player of the year in his state.  His state wasn’t Iowa, Idaho, or Montana.  It was California.  The most populous state in the nation.  And yet, the scholarship offers didn’t come  No interest from his dream school, UCLA.  No interest from hometown school Stanford.  So Lin packed his bags and traveled cross-country to his fallback school.

When was the last time you heard Harvard referred to as a fallback school?  But for Lin – talented both on the court and in the classroom, Harvard wasn’t where he wanted to be.  He wanting to be banging bodies with the hoops stars at the big schools, proving his mettle on the big stage.  Instead, he became a big fish in a small pond, starring for Harvard – and facing racist commends from opposing crowds and at least one opposing player.

The Harvard grad couldn’t find a job immediately after graduation.  He finally latched on with the Golden State Warriors in 2010 and played sparingly.  He was waived before this season began and claimed by the Rockets, who had him for twelve days before waiving him themselves.  Then the Knicks gave the Jeremy Lin carousel a spin.

Last year, Lin played a total of 284 minutes and scored 76 points.  Prior to February 4, Lin had played a total of 43 minutes this year and scored 27 points.  Then came the Linsanity. Crippled by injuries and running out of players, the Knicks were forced to play Lin. The results:

He sealed the Feb 11 game from the free throw line (after a lackluster second half performance) and won last night’s game in dramatic fashion by drilling a three pointer with less than a second to spare.  In addition to skills, the guy has ice in his veins.  He’s still a bit turnover-prone, but I’d expect those numbers to come down a bit when he gets used to the game a bit more.  And the most important statistic of all?  The Knicks are 6-0 in these games, rising from the ashes of a 8-15 start to pull to within a game of .500 at 14-15.  The Knicks are now firmly in contention for a playoff spot – something that seem an impossibility ten days ago.

Why is everyone suddenly a fan of Jeremy Lin?  It’s not because he’s Asian-American.  While that’s unusual in the NBA, it’s not the reason.  It’s because Lin is the consummate underdog, proving that he can play once the coach finally gave him the ball.  Seriously, when he went head to head with Kobe Bryant last Friday, was anyone actually cheering for Kobe?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

You know who he reminds me of?  A guy who played football in one of the largest cities in his state, was passed up by the two largest universities in the state, starred at the state’s 1-AA school and bounced around football’s minor leagues before getting the ball due to a teammate’s injury – and then excelling once he had the opportunity to play.

Yeah, you know who I’m talking about.  Hy-Vee’s most famous former employee – Kurt Warner.
 

 

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Phil Mickelson picked up his 40th career PGA tour win this past weekend at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am. He made putt after putt while pocketing a smooth $1,152,000 for his efforts.

The media has touted this as a Phil versus Tiger deal. Yes it is true that they played in the same group on Sunday. Yes it is true that Phil played a much better round than Tiger as well. Phil played better than everyone to be exact, coming from 6 shots back to win on Sunday.

Mickelson shot a 64, highlighted by two par saving bombs to keep his round going. His 64 was three shots better than any other golfer in the field on Saturday.

 Tied for 9th All-Time

Phil moves into a tie for 9th place of all time behind an extremely impressive lists of folks on the all-time wins list:

 
Phil has always been a very popular player among the golf fans. He is very outspoken, very personable and appears to be very genuine. He has done a lot of work with Special Olympics, and even brought attention to cancer when his wife Amy was diagnosed and going through treatments a couple of years ago.

The Ones That Got Away

Even with forty career wins, Lefty is more often remembered for the ones he didn’t win.

There is no doubt that Mickelson will go down as one of the most popular golfers of all time. His swashbuckling style of play over the years is part of what endeared so many fans towards his camp, but in the end that is also what ultimately may have caused him not to win a few more tournaments.

He has finished in second place at the U.S. Open an astonishing 5 times. He also has two other 4th place finishes to his credit in that tournament. He has never been ranked as the #1 golfer in the world, primarily as he has played a large part of his career during the same span as Tiger Woods.

Mickelson was selected to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame this year for his career efforts. Players on tour are not eligible until they are at least 40 years of age. Mickelson turned 40 this past year and was basically immediately voted in through the selection process.

Congratulations Phil. This is a great achievement and here is hoping that you add a few more wins to your tally this year.

Augusta is just seven weeks away…..

Until next time

Stay classy Carmel, California!
 

 

Image via Wikipedia

Why Syria, why now?

All of last week the various news sources have been banging away at President Obama about his failure to intervene in the violent uprising in Syria.  The regime of Syrian president al-Assad has no defense for slaughtering their own people.  This has been going on for quite a while, so the question is why now?

The Egyptian Example

When the Egyptians rose up against tyranny, the world stood by and let the Egyptians sort out their problems.  This has work well, with no foreign interests mucking up the works.  What ever solution they choose, be it a western style democratic republic or a religious autocracy or another tyranny, is will be their choice.  Many political analysts have criticized this lack of intervention.  They each have their own solution to the problem.  Most of these solutions are clothed in the ideal that they are for the good of the Egyptian people, but with little effort, these solutions are exposed as meeting the agenda of the proposer.

The Libyan Example

In Libya, the Europeans and the United States joined in to supply weapons and provide air support including bombing raids.  There was no perceivable reduction in blood shed compared to Egypt.  In fact, based on population, it could be argued that the blood shed was worse with outside intervention.  As the situation in Libya stands now, it appears that the chosen group has prevailed.  As people who are accused of supporting the old Gaddafi regime are executed, the world will have to figure out if they like the group that they supported.

The Syrian Example

Syria is now in the throws of a civil war.  There have been horrible incidents of blood shed and other atrocities.  There have been calls for the Arab League (a body that Syria is a member) to enforce their rules for the protection of civilian populations from attack.  The League has done little except monitor and document the violations of the basic responsibilities of leadership by the Syrian Government.  The United Nations has been called upon to intervene.  Determining the winners and losers in civil wars is not the prerogative of the UN.  And then there is the drum beat for American intervention.

Taken in context of the other uprisings in the Arab world, intervention by any outside entity would be a mistake.  Adding in the conflicts that America is currently engaged in and the reduction of our military readiness as proposed by the Secretary of Defense, American intervention can only be seen as ridiculous.  If the United States is to act as the police force of the world, the defense budget will have to double not be cut in half.

And then there is Iran

Another topic that has filled the airways is the suggestion that Israel may attack the nuclear facilities of Iran.  There have been many reports about how bad that would be and how America should stop the Israelis.  The main reason is because there may be retaliation by Iran within the boarders of the United States.  There are so many interesting spins in that logic.  First of all, if you back away from the bully because of what he might do, then he has already won and you should just give him your lunch money.  Secondly, the press and the experts have apparently forgotten that Israel and Iran are at war.  They have been since 1967 when Iran declared war on Israel.  No peace treaty or even talks have taken place.  If a state of war exists, what right does the United States have to tell Israel how to prosecute that war?  It is on par with the United States telling England not to bomb Berlin during WWII because there were German operatives in America who could do bad things.

For thirty years, Iran has been trying to get a nuclear bomb.  During those years there have been various efforts to prevent that development by the world community.  When they promised to stop, the sanctions were lifted.  When they threw out the UN inspectors, there were loud complaints.  When they let the inspectors back in and claimed they had made great progress, but only for civilian energy use, the world sighed in relief that they had stopped working on a bomb.  Now, the Iranians are building secure, deep bunkers to build bombs.  The Israelis are rightfully concerned since the current Iranian government has stated that their primary goal is the elimination of Israel.  The rest of the world can laugh that off as rhetoric, but the Israelis have to think about there own preservation.

Image via Wikipedia

Oh, joy.  Random odds and ends in today’s column 🙂

I’ve finished off  a free freelance jobs in the past couple of weeks.  I have a pretty decent backlog of articles and could keep pretty busy with the freelance work if my schedule allowed for it.  While The Soap Boxers makes a negligible amount of money, it’s nice to have freelance gigs where I get paid.  The cash is nice, but so is the underlying meaning – someone things my writing is good enough to pay me for it.

Johnny Goodman wrote an interesting article and submitted it to me.  You won’t be seeing it on The Soap Boxers, though.  I found a market for the article and brokered the sale for him.  It’s Johnny’s first professional sale, and he’s nearly as happy about it as I am.  I guess technically it makes me a literary agent.

The murder-suicide in Washington state saddened me greatly.  Unfortunately, we’ve had a couple of case of parents killing kids in Iowa City in the last few years.  As a parent, I find it extremely disturbing.  Personally, one of the strangest details about the whole incident is that he emailed family and friends about where his money was and how to get utilities shut off (I’m guessing the gas company is going to shut off gas supply to the raging inferno without being explicitly asked).  So he was able to think through all these insignificant details, but overlooked that whole “killing my kids is very bad” aspect?

Rick Santorum picked up wins in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado.  Mitt Romney finished second in Missouri and Colorado, but third in Minnesota (Ron Paul was second).  Gingrich wasn’t on the ballot in Missouri and failed to hit 15% in the other states.  At the moment, it looks like Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich will all stick around for a while.  Santorum and Gingrich would be better off if one of them dropped out, and it would allow the “anyone but Romney” faction to consolidate behind one candidate instead of fracturing the vote.  I suppose Ron Paul is also taking votes from someone.

Scouts from the Baltimore Orioles have been banned from attending games in South Korea after signing a 17 year old who hadn’t yet begun his senior year of high school.  While Major League Baseball allows teams to sign foreign players (those not subject to the draft) at age 16.  However, the governing body of Korean baseball does not allow players to interact with professional teams until their last year of school (applicable to both high school and college players).

The band Alabama is touring once again, sans longtime drummer Mark Herndon (there was a lawsuit over some royalties).  I’m hoping to see some new music from the guys very soon, but will definitely miss Mark’s drumming.  I’m a huge fan of the group, owning more than 30 of their albums (including some very hard to find stuff).  I’ve been reacquainting myself with a lot of their work lately, and can’t help but enjoy some of the forgotten songs from their albums – such as Pete’s Music City, Pony Express, and Clear Across America Tonight.  None are signature hits for the group, but these songs – and dozens of other – are very enjoyable to listen to.  Hard to believe that some of these songs are 25-30 years old.

The Pony Express has a special place in the history of this country.  Care to guess how long it was in operation?  10 years?  5 years?  Nah – a mere 18 months.

Image via Wikipedia

This is certainly a busy week for interesting political news. We have Rick Santorum winning the Republican caucuses in Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota. In California we have Prop 8 being ruled unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We even have a news story that’s an extremely interesting read; more and more countries are moving away from a United States style of constitution. Yet, I’m not going to cover any of those. I’m going to talk about something that quietly reared its ugly head in the US’s neighbor to the north.

Open your imagination for a bit and picture something many people have pictured before: 24’s Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland.  Somewhere there’s a bomb ticking away, set to explode. Jack has one of the suspects in custody and needs to find this bomb before it blows up, possibly killing thousands of innocent civilians. The suspect sits there, hands cuffed behind his back. A fresh welt on his cheek clearly shows he’s taken a hard punch or two in the last minute. Jack pulls out his trusty sidearm, and puts it up against the suspect’s knee, clearly intent on using harsh and violent methods to extract the information he needs to save the day and be the hero.

Too overblown? In the Tom Clancy book The Sum Of All Fears the United States has been the victim of a terrorist nuclear attack, the perpetrators have been caught, and vengeance is being sought. Good-guy hero John Clark gets the evil-doers to ‘fess up by breaking all their fingers, preventing the US from mistakenly nuking the Muslim holy city of Qom located in Iran and making good vibes spread all around. Tom Clancy has been hailed as ultra-realistic, so how can this be unfeasible?

So what does Canada have to do with this? Well, it was revealed this week that the Canadian federal government had directed the CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, to use any and all information – including information derived from torture – when public safety is at stake. I know, I know, some of you are saying to yourself “but this is information that was simply passed on to them, and it could save innocent lives, what’s the big deal?” The big deal is that previously the Canadian government said if there was any indication that intelligence was “tainted” – essentially derived in any way from torture – that intelligence would be discounted. Some of you are still wondering what the big deal is, because The Bad Guys would do anything to hurt us, including lying and torturing, right? The big deal is actually a lot of little deals, including honor.

First and foremost it has been proven on many occaisions that torture is not a reliable method of extracting information. Legitimate bad guys will give false information simply to make the pain stop. Innocent folks will confess to crimes they didn’t commit simply to make the pain stop. Pain has the effect of removing the mind from long-term decisions; if you’re being tortured you do the most expediant thing to make the torture stop. Former Army Interrogator Travis Hall goes even a step further saying that when a person is subject to extreme stress due to torture or the threat of torture, they will have trouble recalling exact information. Do you really want a government’s secret agencies using information that may not be correct over direct intelligence usually obtained through years of hard work? The idea of using any method necessary to save people might be a romantic one, but you’re going to end up flat-out wrong at some point if you attempt to save people based on false information, and then you end up not only not saving people, but you’ve then tortured for no good reason too.

Second, torture is immoral. Part of being a civilized society is not torturing people. Once you start waterboarding, breaking fingers, sleep deprivation, etc, you’ve already lost your civilization. Torture is not part of a zero-sum game, either. Higher stakes do not merit “harsher” methods of interrogation – once you’ve exacted that first amount of deliberate pain with the intention of gaining information you’ve already revealed yourself as so scared that you’ll do “anything” to gain said information. Part of what makes, and made, the United States the best place in the world to live is the fact that we’re better than that. We signed the Geneva Treaties. We decried torture as wrong in World War II when it was used against us. We said it’s wrong, we need our actions to speak louder than our words.

Third, torture breaks the “Golden Rule.” In almost any instance of diplomatic protest the country protesting is stating that the country they’re protesting is doing something that’s just downright wrong. “Hey, we wouldn’t torture your people, you shouldn’t torture ours.” Treat others as you yourself would want to be treated. Devil’s advocate asks, “If we don’t want to torture people, why do we train our soldiers to withstand torture, then?” We also train our soldiers proper protocols for biological, and chemical attacks, but you don’t see us using biological and chemical weapons on people. Part of why Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) works is because we don’t want those same weapons used on us. By using torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantonimo, we have at the very least increased the possibility it will be used on our citizens.

Finally, torture is not only against our own constitution, but also against the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Under the general idea that torture is degrading and usually permanantly damaging, and after witnessing what the Nazis had done to prisoners in World War 2, the nations of the world all came together and signed the UDHR.

Why is the Canada issue a big deal, then? Well, in my first point I noted that information extracted under torture is unreliable. Secondly, if you put torture up against other capital crimes like rape and murder, condoning it is almost as heinous as committing it yourself. It’s a shame that the issue keeps popping up, in part thanks to the glamorization of Jack Bauer getting the job done – despite the US Army’s protests to the image it portrayed. It doesn’t change the fact that torture is not only wrong, immoral, and inhumane, it’s ineffective.

OK, OK.  These are my favorite movies of all time.  You’re not going to see the same old movies that pepper everyone else’s All Time Best list, and this list leans very heavily toward movies from the last 20-30 years (sorry, Charlie Chaplin).

Without further ado, my top 9 list.  (Hey, who says the list has to be 10?)

 
 Which movies are on your top 9 list?  Any obscure films among them?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Keep Yo’ Mouth Shut!

The Super Bowl is over, and the only thing being talked about today is Tom Brady’s wife, Gisele, throwing fellow Patriot teams members under the bus.

There are a few different videos with audio (I am assuming they are taken on camera phones) of Gisele leaving her luxury box seats at the Super Bowl and waiting to get onto an elevator. In the background you can hear what to me sounds like an inebriated New York Giants fan yelling at her and bashing on the Patriots and her husband in particular.(wait, this is a news flash, an obnoxious Newww Yahkahhhh yelling at someone, no way this could possibly be happening!)

Gisele is heard firing back “You (have) to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball,” she takes a drink of bottled water. “My husband cannot [expletive] throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.”

Granted I think if someone was yelling at me about my spouse or my kid immediately following a sporting event, I would take it rather personal as well. I would likely not be very pleased about it and I would likely think pretty long and hard about firing back some verbal salvos of my own.

But….you are married to whom many claim to be the “greatest quarterback of all-time” You are a Super Model. You are constantly in the news, chased by paparazzi, and frankly, you know better.

This should make for some interesting locker room conversations between Brady, Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, and Deion Branch – – who it could be argued all did drop catchable passes late in the game.

I doubt this will go away quietly. Football season is over and the New York/New England Media has to have something sports related to talk about.

Greatest of All Time?

Last night, in the wake of another road loss at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers, Kobe Bryant passes Shaquille O’Neal on the NBA career scoring list and now sits all alone in 5th place all-time with 28,601 points. He trails just Wilt Chamberlin, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, although he sits nearly 10,000 points behind Jabbar at this point.

Kobe is 33 years old and had been able to achieve a lot of scoring success as he was drafted right out of high school by the Lakers. Last night on television, Earvin “Magic” Johnson proclaimed him the “Greatest Laker of All-Time” That is high praise coming from Johnson who many concede would be the current holder that title.

The fact is that Kobe will likely end up on top of the career scoring list, will have a fistful of NBA Championship rings, a myriad of All Star Game appearances and even an MVP title.

As with all sports some will argue he is the best ever, some naysayers will dispute that as a possibility.

If he stays healthy he is at least in the conversation of being considered the greatest player in the history of the NBA.

Until Next time….Stay classy Octagon, Alabama!
 

Image via Wikipedia

With the Super Bowl now little more than a distant memory and spring training coming up quickly, it’s time to talk about baseball.

Tulo

Most of you know that Troy Tulowitzki is my favorite player.  I truly believe that Tulo will eventually win an MVP – could it be this year?  It’s true that Coors Field inflates a hitter’s numbers, but I think Matt Holliday has shown that the true value of a Rockies hitter is somewhere between his home and road splits.  Holliday didn’t turn into a mediocre player when he left, and Tulo likewise would adapt and thrive in a different environment.

Tulo provides something that no other shortstop in the game does – power.  He has 89 homers in the last few years.  Hanley Ramirez as the second most homers among shortstop in that period, with 55.  The position is so weak in terms of power hitters that Clint Barmes – whom Tulo shoved aside at SS for the Rockies – is 8th on the list with 43 homers.

Rockies

And what of the rest of the Rockies team?  The front office showed its recent willingness to spend money by signing OF Michael Cuddyer to a three year deal.  They also picked up Casey Blake to play third base (although prospect Nolan Arenado could make a push for the spot at some point in the season) and traded for Red Sox shortstop Marco Scutaro.  The Red Sox made the Scutaro deal mostly to free up money and keep them under the luxury tax threshold.  From a pure talent perspective, it was a great trade for the Rockies.  Scutaro will play second base for the Rockies and should provide good on base skills near the top of the lineup.

There will also be a change at catcher, with Chris Iannetta being traded.  Ramon Hernandez will hold the job as long as he can hold off top prospect Wilin Rosario.

Whereas the lineup for the Rockies will be more veteran-infused than last year, the same can not be said for the pitcher staff.  Ubaldo Jimenez will be gone and Jorge De La Rosa will not return until around Memorial Day.  I’d expect Jhoulys Chacin to be the staff leader early in the year.  His record in the past two year is 20-25, but with an ERA around 3.50.  That’s an outstanding ERA for someone who plays half their games in Coors, especially at a young ago.  I think Chacin is going to blossom into a consist 16-18 game winner very soon.

There are a lot of people competing for the other rotation spots.  I see Drew Pomeranz and new acquisitions Guillermo Moscoco and Josh Outman.  In De La Rosa’s absence, I can see Alex White or Jamie Moyer nabbing a spot.  Closer Huston Street was traded and the job will fall to Rafael Betancourt, who should to a fine job.

NL Central changes

The National League Central will see huge changes in 2012.

The most notable change was the Cardinals losing Albert Pujols to free agency.  They did sign Carlo Beltran and will also benefit from the return of co-ace Adam Wainwright, but  when you lose the best hitter in baseball, the impact will be felt.  Financially, it may have been wise for the Cardinals to pass on Pujols – especially when his skills begin to erode – but right now, he’s still an excellent hitter.  This is Matt Holliday’s time to step from behind the Pujolsian shadow and lead.

The rival Brewers also lost their first baseman, with Prince Fielder going to Detroit.  While the Cardinals had a fighting chance to retain Pujols, there was no chance the Brewers would be able to make a competitive offer.  To rub salt in the wound, Fielder’s partner in crime, reigning MVP Ryan Braun, will miss 50 games due to a PED suspension.  The Brewers did sign 3B Aramis Ramirez to add some pop to their lineup.

The Cubs finally rid themselves of Carlos Zambrano, who had become a major distraction.  This might actually be addition by subtraction – which is sad to say, considering that Zambrano has immense talent.  They also lost Aramis Ramirez to the Brewers.  Shortstop Starlin Catro was questioned by police regarding a sexual assault allegation, although there hasn’t been any news on this in several weeks.

With all this unrest at the top, is this the year the Pirates win the Central?  Perhaps?

Around the horn

The most under-rated player in the game is Rangers catcher Mike Napoli.  He had 30 homers in a mere 369 at bats last year – as a CATCHER.  Napoli never seems to get 500-600 at bats, but it he does, his numbers could go through the roof.  Last year was a fluke in the homers department for Napoli, either.  He’s emerged as a safe bet for 20+ homers, regardless of how much playing time he gets. Make sure you get Napoli in your fantasy league, as catcher is always a thin position.

Will Yu Darvish be a stud or a bust?  Although there have been comparisons to Daisuke Matsuzaka, the truth is that while Matsuzaka was very good in Japan, he wasn’t nearly as dominant as Darvish was.  Darvish also has the benefit of being in a smaller media market, rather than be thrust into the Red Sox – Yankees rivalry.

Brian Matusz is a far better pitcher than his 2011 numbers (1-9, 10.69 ERA) indicate.  Injuries likely contributed.  Don’t undervalue him as a fantasy player.

On the flip side, Ivan Nova isn’t nearly as good as his 16-4 record in 2011 would lead you to believe.  Expect worse numbers in 2012.