1) Detroit Tigers
2) Cleveland Indians
3) Minnesota Twins
4) Chicago White Sox
5) Kansas City Royals

Projected Lineups:	Projected Rotations:
Detroit Tigers
Curtis Granderson Placido Polanco Gary Sheffield Maguel Cabrera Magglio Ordonez Carlos Guillen Edgar Renteria Jacque Jones Ivan Rodriguez	Justin Verlander Jeremy Bonderman Dontrelle Willis Kenny Rogers Nate Robertson
Cleveland Indians
Grady Sizemore Asdrubal Cabrera Travis Hafner Victor Martinez Ryan Garko Jhonny Peralta Jason Michaels David Delucci Franklin Gutierrez Casey Blake	C.C. Sabathia Fausto Carmona Jake Westbrook Paul Byrd Cliff Lee
Minnesota Twins
Jason Kubel Branden Harris Joe Mauer Michael Cuddyer Justin Morneau Delmon Young Mike Lamb Jason Pridie Adam Everett	Livan Hernandez Francisco Liriano Boof Bonser Scott Baker Kevin Slowey
Chicago White Sox
Orlando Cabrera Nick Swisher Jim Thome Paul Konerko Jermaine Dye A.J. Pierzynski Joe Crede Carlos Quentin Danny Richar	Mark Buehrle Javier Vazquez Jose Contreras John Danks Lance Broadway
Kansas City Royals
David DeJesus Mark Grudzielanek Mark Teahen Jose Guillen Billy Butler Alex Gordon Joey Gathright Miguel Olivo Tony Pena, Jr.	Gil Meche Brian Bannister Zack Greinke Brett Tomko Hideo Nomo

]]> http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/18/2008-al-central-preview.html/feed 0 http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/13/clemens-speaks-before-congress.html http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/13/clemens-speaks-before-congress.html#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:53:09 +0000 Sport Talker http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/13/clemens-speaks-before-congress.html Roger Clemens testified before Congress today that the only injections he received from Brian McNamee, his former trainer, were the vitamin B-12 or the pain reliever Lidocaine. McNamee, on the other hand, insisted before a House panel that that he injected Clemens with only testosterone, the steroid Winstrol or human growth hormone. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, stated the obvious by saying, “Someone isn’t telling the truth.”

McNamee’s allegations originally surfaced in ex-Senator George Mitchell’s report to Congress on the state of steroids in Major League Baseball. Also named in the report, from McNamee’s allegations, were Clemens’s former teammates, Chuck Knoblauch and Andy Pettitte. Both Pettitte and Knoblauch have acknowledged that the allegations about them were true.

Pettitte, Clemens’s good friend, who has played with him since 1999 for either the New York Yankees or Houston Astros, weakened Clemens’s credibility by testifying about a time several years ago that he recalled that Roger mentioned taking human growth hormone. Clemens dismissed Pettitte’s testimony saying he must have misheard the remark.

1) Milwaukee Brewers
2) Chicago Cubs
3) St. Louis Cardinals
4) Houston Astros
5) Cincinnati Reds
6) Pittsburgh Pirates

Projected Lineups:	Projected Rotations:
Milwaukee Brewers
Rickie Weeks J.J. Hardy Ryan Braun Prince Fielder Corey Hart Mike Cameron Bill Hall Jason Kendall	Ben Sheets Dave Bush Jeff Suppan Carlos Villanueva Chris Capuano Yovani Gallardo
Chicago Cubs
Alfonso Soriano Kosuke Fukudome Derrek Lee Aramis Ramirez Mark DeRosa Felix Pie Ryan Theriot Geovany Soto	Carlos Zambrano Ted Lilly Rich Hill Jason Marquis Jon Lieber
St. Louis Cardinals
Cesar Izturis Rick Ankiel Albert Pujols Chris Duncan Troy Glaus Yadier Molina Brian Barton Adam Kennedy	Adam Wainwright Braden Looper Joel Pineiro Anthony Reyes Mark Mulder
Houston Astros
Michael Bourn Kaz Matsui Miguel Tejada Lance Berkman Carlos Lee Hunter Pence Ty Wigginton J.R. Towles	Roy Oswalt Woody Williams Wandy Rodriguez Brandon Backe Jack Cassel
Cincinnati Reds
Ryan Freel Brandon Phillips Ken Griffey Jr. Adam Dunn Edwin Encarnacion Joey Votto David Ross Alex Gonzalez	Aaron Harang Bronson Arroyo Jeremy Affeldt Homer Bailey Matt Belisle
Pittsburgh Pirates
Nate McLouth Freddy Sanchez Adam LaRoche Jason Bay Xavier Nady Jose Bautista Ronny Paulino Jack Wilson	Tom Gorzelanny Ian Snell Paul Maholm Matt Morris Sean Burnett

]]> http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/11/2008-nl-central-preview.html/feed 0 http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-al-east-preview.html http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-al-east-preview.html#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:49:08 +0000 Sport Talker http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-al-east-preview.html Projected Standings:

1) Boston Red Sox
2) New York Yankees
3) Toronto Blue Jays
4) Tampa Bay Rays
5) Baltimore Orioles

Projected Lineups:	Projected Rotations:
Boston Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury Dustin Pedroia David Ortiz Manny Ramirez Mike Lowell Kevin Youkilis J.D. Drew Jason Varitek Julio Lugo	Josh Beckett Daisuke Matsuzaka Curt Schilling Clay Buchholz Jon Lester
New York Yankees
Johnny Damon Derek Jeter Alex Rodriguez Bobby Abreu Hideki Matsui Jorge Posada Jason Giambi Robinson Cano Melky Cabrera	Chien-Ming Wang Andy Pettitte Phil Hughes Mike Mussina Ian Kennedy
Toronto Blue Jays
David Eckstein Lyle Overbay Alex Rios Frank Thomas Vernon Wells Scott Rolen Aaron Hill Adam Lind Gregg Zaun	Roy Halladay A.J. Burnett Dustin McGowan Shaun Marcum Gustavo Chacin
Tampa Bay Rays
Akinori Iwamura Carl Crawford Carlos Pena B.J. Upton Rocco Baldelli Jonny Gomes Evan Longoria Dioner Navarro Jason Bartlett	Scott Kazmir James Shields Matt Garza Edwin Jackson Brian Anderson
Baltimore Orioles
Brian Roberts Melvin Mora Nick Markakis Kevin Millar Aubrey Huff Ramon Hernandez Luke Scott Jay Payton Luis Hernandez	Jeremy Guthrie Daniel Cabrera Adam Loewen Matt Albers Radhames Liz

]]> http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-al-east-preview.html/feed 0 http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-nl-east-preview.html http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-nl-east-preview.html#comments Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:00:16 +0000 Sport Talker http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-nl-east-preview.html Projected Standings:

1) New York Mets
2) Philadelphia Phillies
3) Atlanta Braves
4) Florida Marlins
5) Washington Nationals

Projected Lineups:	Projected Rotations:
New York Mets
Jose Reyes Luis Castillo David Wright Carlos Beltran Carlos Delgado Moises Alou Brian Schneider Ryan Church	Johan Santana Pedro Martinez John Maine Oliver Perez Orlando Hernandez
Philadelphia Phillies
Jimmy Rollins Shane Victorino Chase Utley Ryan Howard Pat Burrell Geoff Jenkins Pedro Feliz Carlos Ruiz	Cole Hamels Brett Myers Kyle Kendrick Jamie Moyer Chad Durbin
Atlanta Braves
Kelly Johnson Matt Diaz Chipper Jones Mark Teixeira Brian McCann Jeff Francoeur Yunel Escobar Mark Kotsay	John Smoltz Tim Hudson Tom Glavine Chuck James Jair Jurrjens
Florida Marlins
Hanley Ramirez Dan Uggla Jeremy Hermida Josh Willingham Mike Jacobs Dallas McPherson Cameron Maybin Matt Treanor	Scott Olsen Sergio Mitre Andrew Miller Mark Hendrickson Ricky Nolasco
Washington Nationals
Felipe Lopez Paul Lo Duca Ryan Zimmerman Nick Johnson Austin Kearns Lastings Milledge Wily Mo Pena Cristian Guzman	Shawn Hill John Patterson Jason Bergmann Joel Hanrahan Tyler Clippard

]]> http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/10/2008-nl-east-preview.html/feed 0 http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/08/bedard-to-mariners-finally-completed.html http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/08/bedard-to-mariners-finally-completed.html#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:26:14 +0000 Sport Talker http://www.sporttalker.com/2008/02/08/bedard-to-mariners-finally-completed.html Erik Bedard’s trade to the Seattle Mariners seems to have finally been completed. This deal has been in talks for a couple of months now and has been announced as on & off several times. The Orioles are expected to acquire Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler for Bedard. Bedard took and apparently passed his physical Thursday, so an official announcement should be coming shortly.

Bedard is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but will turn 29 years old before Opening Day, has yet to throw 200 innings in a season and can become a free agent following the 2009 season. He’ll form a fantastic one-two punch atop the Mariners’ rotation alongside Felix Hernandez, but Seattle paid a huge price to acquire him and may regret the move if they aren’t able to sign him to a long-term contract extension. The move to Seattle’s pitcher-friendly ballpark should help Bedard and with Johan Santana gone he’s now the top fantasy pitcher in the AL. Bedard’s arrival knocks Horacio Ramirez out of the rotation and makes it likely that Brandon Morrow will remain in the bullpen.

The game was a rematch of both teams’ regular season-ending game on December 29, 2007, which the Patriots won to finish the regular season 16–0, with a score of 38–35 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

New England opened the bye week as 14-point favorites, but dipped to 12-point favorites by kickoff. In the end, after falling behind late in the fourth quarter, the Giants won 17–14 on a final-minute touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress. Manning was named the Most Valuable Player and the Giants became the first NFC wild card team to win a Super Bowl.

The telecast was the most-watched Super Bowl in history, with an average of 97.5 million viewers in the United States. A record 148.3 million total viewers tuned into the game. It was also the second-most-watched TV program in the United States, behind the 1983 M*A*S*H series finale.

This deal slides the Mets into the driver seat in the National League East. This trade should put last year’s catastrophic collapse to lose the NL East Title to the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Brave’s previous stranglehold atop the division in the past for Met’s fans. A potential 1-2 punch of Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez (barring injuries) could propel even a poor offensive team to many victories. Though with a strong lineup including Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, and Carlos Delgado, Willie Randolph should pilot the Mets to an easy first place finish and compete for a World Series.

San Diego certainly had an uphill climb against the undefeated Patriots. A crushing blow was losing running back LaDainion Tomlinson for the game after the first two series to a sore knee. Tomlinson carries the ball just twice for 5 yards and caught one reception. Quarterback Philip River’s sprained right knee didn’t keep him sidelined, but he certainly wasn’t at 100% and that showed with a two interception performance.

The Patriots will attempt to cap off their season of perfection with a Super Bowl win in Arizona. They will face off against the winner of the NFC Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the NY Giants.

In the American League East, the Boston Red Sox are in control and hold a 11 1/2 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles. Though Red Sox ace, Josh Beckett, is mid-way through a DL stint for blister problems on his throwing hand, he still is close to the major league lead in wins with 7, just trailing Los Angeles Angels’ John Lackey who just won his 8th game.
Yankee third baseman, Alex Rodriguez’s hot April, where he hit a record tying 14 home runs, didn’t lift the team as high as he would have hopes. Though the Yankee’s will vastly improve their rotation with the addition of aging ace, Roger Clemens, who may start as soon as June 4th against the Chicago White Sox.

For Baltimore, Erik Bedard has been brilliant, racking up 83 strikeouts in only 68 innings pitched. Poor run support and a poor bullpen has been costly for Bedard, who’s record is a dismal 3-3. Baltimore, 11 1/2 games back from Boston, is holding onto second place in the division by a mere half game over Toronto.