Opinion

It's the classic dilemma in sports: What do you do when all of your options result in a no-win situation? Well, I don't claim to have the answer, but that is what is facing the Cardinals with Albert Pujols.

Look, no matter what they do, they lose. If they fail to sign Albert, St. Louis fans will revolt and may come to the park brandishing weapons.

Yet if they trade The Machine, no matter how good the bounty received, there will be many fans and media around the nation criticizing the deal.

Too many articles talked about Joe Mauer heading to free agency after this season and signing with the Yankees. That was never going to happen because of Mauer's native roots and his homegrown status of being a Twins first-round draft choice and first pick overall.*

Last Sunday the Minnesota Twins all but assured that Joe Mauer will be wearing a Twins cap into the Hall of Fame by signing their star to a eight-year 184 million dollar contract extension.

Thank God, because seeing the St. Paul native in pinstripes might have been too much for me to handle.

Mauer’s deal is a huge commitment for the small market and thrifty Twins organization, but it shows that they, unlike many small market clubs, have their priorities straight.

What I’m Reading

• Tune in tonight at 7 for our unnecessarily extended sappy special, “Not Officially, But Close: The John Smoltz Retirement Story.” Sounds like a romantic-comedy.

With the announcement Thursday that New York Yankees right-handed pitcher Phil Hughes will be the team's fifth starter, a firestorm has arisen over what many now call the misuse of fellow right-handed flamethrower Joba Chamberlain.

Last season Ozzie put together 126 different lineups over the course of the season. If recent rumors are any indication, the White Sox lineup will continue to be in flux this season.

As reported by Mark Gonzales, Ozzie has floated two ideas recently, both of which gave me the same knee-jerk reaction of “SERIOUSLY!?”

1. Batting Mark Kotsay THIRD against right-handed pitchers

Sergio Santos is a name White Sox fans may need to learn going into this season, as he is currently extremely close to taking the final roster spot. Fans of other teams, however, may learn his name as well before the 2010 season starts.

The 26-year-old Santos has been one of the few surprises in White Sox camp striking out nine in five-and-two-thirds of scoreless work. His dominating pitching is only half the Santos surprise (Santos surprise sounds really dirty).

The most surprising part is that Santos has only been a pitcher for 28.2 innings before this spring.

How does any team replace a player who has averaged 46 doubles over the last six years, 39 stolen bases over the last four, and made two All-Star appearances?

More importantly, how do you replace a guy like that when you are the Orioles, and the player in question is Brian Roberts?

That is the dilemma currently facing the Orioles as they draw ever closer to Opening Day 2010.

Let’s set the debate aside for the moment over the Red Sox's shift in philosophy.

Volumes were written this winter (here and elsewhere) about the front office’s desire to transition the team more towards pitching and defense.

What can be said with near certainty is that once Theo and Company decided to head in this direction, it was clear the club should spend its $80 million on pitcher John Lackey instead of hitter Jason Bay.

The acquisition of Lackey did several things.

This week, the race for the Yankees' fifth starter spot finally ended.

In what started out as a five man race, ended up having one clear winner for the job.

Phil Hughes won the fifth and final starting job for the 2010 season and will be in the rotation with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, and Javier Vazquez.