So, Jon Lester no-hit the Royals. It's a good story and he's been through a lot. It would really have upset me had this been Steve Trachsel or Kenny Rogers or (insert your favorite junkballer here). I'm not that upset because Lester is no slouch. The kid can pitch and seemed to have a little something extra for this game of his career. It just got me to thinking; Who's the Royal pitcher most likely to throw a no-hitter? Brian Bannister just doesn't seem to strike out that many batters. I think he'd have trouble tossing the no-no when he pitches to contact almost exclusively. Meche is a great pitcher, but I couldn't see him tossing one. Greinke certainly has the stuff and I could see him throwing one before his career is over. But, the guy that I'd have to choose would be Joakim Soria. He has been damn near untouchable this year and (as I never let anyone forget) he did throw a perfect game in winter ball two offseasons ago. Watching him last Spring in a few starts just making batters look stupid got me excited about his potential. And those guys weren't even the scrubs. I think this kid could become one hell of a starting pitcher and I think the Royals may be thinking so too due to the clauses in his new contract. So, what do you think? Am I wrong? Who could you see throwing the no-no for the boys in blue (if anyone)?

So, I'm not too keen on the Shane Costa calls (sorry RR), but Mitch Maier could be interesting. He's played in 19 games and he's putting up some decent numbers. If he keeps it up, he may work himself onto the big club. That would only work if you were to go with 11 pitchers because who else would you be able to dump there? It wouldn't be a bad idea to send Yabuta down to adjust to American baseball, but if you wanted to stick with 12 pitchers, there really isn't anybody with impressive stats pitching in Omaha. Roman Colon has a 0.00 ERA in 3 games, but that's hardly enough to gauge. Tyler Lumsden is looking like a bust BTW. Maybe sticking with the current roster isn't that bad after all. I mean, we have won 5 in a row. Anyway, I was thinking about Ryan Braun. I think the guy could eventually be a serviceable reliever, but I was wondering where he is. Does anybody have any info on him? He must be hurt, but what's the injury?

Live from behind enemy lines, it's a report from inside the belly of the beast. So, last night's game was awesome. I was going to make a live post from  my mobile device, but I spent a lot of time just taking in the stadium. It is beautiful! Y'all probably remember how we went to the Metrodome last year. Well, this stadium will show you how truly crappy the Metrodome actually is. The television does not do justice to "Ameriquest" or Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (I saw nothing about Ameriquest in the whole park).  The people were super friendly and many KC hats were in the stadium. I talked to one guy in a KC hat who said that he was from Arlington, but was a friend of Trey's from college. Another guy (after our 3 run first inning) asked me if he could borrow my KC hat. Anyway, we went up to the Rawlings Grille just over rightfield. My wife ( a little drunk because the kids were with my folks back at the hotel) and I were treated to a buffet of hot dogs, hamburgers, hot wings, bbq chicken and beef, chicken tenders, baked potatoes, and salad for only $12.95. I washed that down with a couple of frosty Miller Lites as we could watch the game through the glass or on the tv at our table. It was amazing! I found some Boulevard on the way back to our seats because it was the "beer of the homestand" (thank goodness). Then, we headed back to our seats to watch the end of the game. Nice little win for our boys in blue and a great stadium experience. If you want to take a Royals roadie, I'll give this one a big thumbs up. I'll make a live post from the stadium tonight. Go ROYALS!!!!

It's time for the division winners and awards predictions. Let's see what you got and we'll compare at the end of the year.

AL East

1. Red Sox- Duh!

2. Yankees- They need pitching and they might get it, but a little too late.

3. Devil Rays- These aren't the Rays you're used to.

4. Blue Jays- First manager fired: John Gibbons

5. Orioles- They are terrible, but McPhail has them in the right direction

AL Central

1. Tigers- Only the bullpen is a question mark

2. Indians- Pitching depth is amazing

3. Royals- Optimistic, but possible. The Twins will be looking to fit in here.

4. Twins- Could be number 3, but young pitching must show up.

5. White Sox- They're fairly old and injury prone

AL West

1. Mariners- Yep, I said it. They aren't bad.

2. Angels- Pitching injuries mounting and Vlad is in decline

3. A's- Not as bad as you think

4. Every bit as bad as you think

NL East

1. Braves- Hard fight, but they have the players to pull it off.

2. Mets- Tough battle, but they get the wildcat

3. Phillies- Guys, you need pitching to win divisions

4. Marlins- As tough as the fight will be for 1st, the fight for the cellar will be hot too.

5. Nationals- Young and improving, but not going anywhere this year.

NL Central

1. Cubs- Like beating up the kids from the short bus for their lunch money

2. Brewers- Braun and Fielder can't get them to the top.....yet.

3. Reds- They've got a decent team, but pitching concerns keep them from the top.

4. Astros- Just look at that lineup. Yeah, now look past Oswalt in the rotation.

5. Cardinals- Ha Ha Ha! They suck!

6. Pirates- Pittsburgh still has a team, right?

NL West

1. Diamondbacks- Baby backs looking good.

2. Rockies- In the wildcard hunt all season.

3. Dodgers- Not as good as the hype would lead you to believe.

4. Padres- Very bland and mediocre

5. Giants- Remember that movie Major League?

AL Cy Young- Justin Verlander

NL Cy Young- Johan Santana

AL MVP- David Ortiz

NL MVP- David Wright

AL ROY- Adam Jones

NL ROY- Kosuke Fukudome

Hello all. I'm sure you're all aware that random thoughts flood my mind constantly. Sometimes I like to share them with you because I value your opinions and I often learn something by listening to you guys.

- I don't know if any of you guys watch the show Psyche on USA, but you should check it out if you get the chance. Good humor and a good cast make it easily the best show on Friday nights. They're on break right now, but they'll pick up again in the summer.

Okay, so I overestimated the amount of people wanting to play fantasy baseball this year. I think most everybody got into the keeper league too. But, I set up a 12 team single season league for those who didn't get into the keeper and those who would like to play in more than one league. There are some different scoring catagories in both leagues so it won't be boring to get into both and they can be changed by team votes if needed. The point of all this rambling is that I still need 6 teams in the league so that we can make 12. Please don't make me beg. Join the league and we'll have a lot of fun. Thanks y'all. It is in Yahoo. The league number is 113897 and the password is brett.

If you got into the keeper league and feel up to a single season league too, come on along. If you didn't get into the keeper league and feel that single season may be more your speed, I invite you as well. If you're a fantasy baseball newcomer and would like to get your feet wet with friends rather than strangers, you as well are invited, but I'll warn you that some of these guys are ruthless and it will be baptism by fire (Don't let that scare you off). There are 12 openings for this league. Once this one fills and there are still some wanting to play, it would be nice if someone would set up a second division.

Scoring is set up as follows, but are subject to change if there are any objections:
Offense- Runs, HR, RBI, AVG, SB, OPS
Pitching- Wins, Saves, ERA, WHIP, Holds, Ks, Quality Starts

The league is in Yahoo. If you're new to fantasy baseball, go to baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com and register your team. The league ID is 113897 and the password is brett.

Hey y'all. Last year's fantasy baseball league was fun. I know most of us turned in our keepers for this season, but I'm getting a little worried. We haven't heard from Greg in quite some time. Are we still on for this year? I certainly don't want to step on anyone's toes, but I just don't know if that league is still going to happen. In any event, we will have to have more than one "division" this year. There are a lot of people wanting to play from what I have heard. My suggestion is to have 2 or 3 (depending on how many people want to play) leagues of 12-16 teams each. These would basically be called "divisions". Now, of course, we wouldn't be able to have the "division" winners play each other, so we could just say that there are division winners and the "champion". The "champion" would be determined by the best overall record of the division winners.  I may be completely off base. Maybe this is the dumbest idea you've ever heard of. That's okay. It's merely a suggestion and we can modify it anyway you folks want to. I would be willing to commish one of the "divisions" if necessary. Please leave your feedback. I'm ready to set up a draft because I have a really bad case of the winter blues. All this snow and cold weather is killing me!

Mike Maroth was downright awful last season. Even in the amazingly weak NL Central, he couldn't get back on track. Well, enter pitching guru Bob McClure. Last year McClure helped Gil Meche by showing him to land on the ball of his foot rather than hard on the heel. Maroth is hoping the same thing will work for him. One of the spring training notes on the team website says that McClure is showing this technique to Maroth and if it works like it did with Meche, I think we will have our #4 starter. If the Maroth of old can show up in the # 4 slot of our rotation, we could be in a good position to win every night out. A healthy, productive Maroth with even a pedestrian effort from Tomko in the # 5 (or even better if Hochever can show up and take that spot) would make our rotation very solid (if not slightly scary.) Let's just hope they get some run support. So, what do you think. Can McClure turn Maroth around?

Just a quick heads up. Tonight on FSN (at 6:30 according to my directtv box), there will be a Royals Fanfest show. It's a half-hour show and may well be fairly corny. But, any Royals television programming right now is very welcomed at my house. Also, it might provide some more insight for those of you that were unable to attend (and gear you up for a roadie next year).