Since its commencement, I have never considered, nor wanted, this site to be a forum for the endless criticism and public humiliation of other bloggers and baseball writers.  Every writer or website has its flaws; nobody’s perfect.  Still, as both a writer and general baseball obsessive, I can always look past any petty grievance that I may have and appreciate the analysis and creativity at the heart of someone’s work.  It’s like when you are a pitching and one of your fielders makes a costly error behind you: it’s not like the guy did it on purpose.  At the same time, when a player isn’t giving a wholehearted effort, it’s painfully obvious.

That might be why I was astonished at the blatant lack of thought and effort that Chicago Tribune sportswriter, Phil Rogers, put into his Saturday column.  Rogers, who covers the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox for the Tribune, wrote an article titled, “Here’s a not so modest proposal for Chicago baseball,” that suggested the Cubs and White Sox should not only swap General Managers, but also execute an 11-player trade between the two organizations.

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There will be a minor increase in the price of White Sox tickets in 2011…..prices and promotions will still be aimed to draw families to the ball park…..chief marketing officer Brooks Boyer says that there will be even more “Value Mondays.” [ESPN Chicago]

Ken Davidoff believes the White Sox are still the leading candidate to sign closer Rafael Soriano……all of their attention is on landing Adam Dunn…..looking like Matsui is still the backup plan if Dunn doesn’t work out…..Matsui wants to play for a team whose home games are on grass. [Newsday]

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Today on The Baseball Show, co-host Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers and I went strong for a little over an hour. Topics for discussion included but weren’t limited to:

-Thoughts on the Justin Upton trade rumors
-We skim through the free agent class and the moves that have taken place thus far around baseball
-Thoughts on the NL Rookie of the Year
-Thoughts on Felix Hernandez winning the AL Cy Young Award
-Final thoughts on the AL/NL MVP awards

In his first televised professional at-bat, 18-year old Bryce Harper ripped an RBI single to put the Scottsdale Scorpions ahead 2-1, in the Arizona Fall League Championship.  Harper came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning with one out and Diamondbacks outfielder Marc Krauss on second base.  Harper got straight to business, ripping Kyle Greenwalt’s first pitch fastball past an outstretched Jose Iglesias at shortstop.

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Bryce Harper will finally make his highly anticipated television debut on Saturday afternoon, as the Scottsdale Scorpions take on the Peoria Javelinas for the Arizona Fall League Championship.  The Scorpions will attempt to derail the Javelinas, who are seeking their second consecutive title and are lead by the 2^nd overall pick in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft, Dustin Ackley.

In a game that is loaded with some of the most exciting young players in all of baseball, all eyes will inevitably be on the 18-year old Harper, who is now in today’s starting lineup. Despite the skepticism surrounding the Nationals’ decision to send their 1^st overall selection in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft to the AFL, Harper has continued to show that he can handle virtually every situation, on and off the field.

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