Opinion

Northern California, like her sunnier Southern counterpart, is prone to drought.

Despite the Hollywood imagery, the Golden State is not a naturally lush paradise with green hills rolling down to meet blue ocean. In reality, most of the State was a desert and eventually will be once again.

Our very nasty, not-so-secret secret is that Cali simply does not get enough water to sustain our current rate of growth.

Going from the starting rotation to the bullpen is like going from the penthouse to the outhouse if you are a pitcher—especially when you aren’t even getting a chance to be the closer.

The Chicago Cubs' hotheaded workhorse Carlos Zambrano has made the move from the first inning to the seventh and eighth innings, and while his fantasy value will definitely dip in the short term because of the job change, this might not be the Titanic-like disaster some fantasy owners are making it out to be.

Here are two things to consider about Zambrano’s new role.

Caption: Is Ibarra’s signing a signal that Victor Martinez’ days as the Red Sox backstop are numbered?

We were all thrilled when the Red Sox acquired Victor Martinez last summer. We had witnessed the decline of Jason Varitek’s offense and the various struggles of the never-ever-ready-for-prime-time collection of catching ‘prospects’ the organization has assembled in the minor leagues.

Martinez held promise as the franchise’s answer behind the plate for the foreseeable future. We felt content.

New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman hit the headlines with a "blockbuster" trade in the offseason that brought Curtis Granderson to the Bronx.

The Yankees gave up one-time first round draft pick, starting pitcher, Ian Kennedy; left handed reliever, Phil Coke; and top prospect outfielder, Austin Jackson, to the Detroit Tigers.

Coke is 3-0 in Detroit coming out of their pen.

And if you haven't checked on AJax lately, he's playing pretty well!

I know, I know. You’ve never heard of Tom Milone. He’s just another no-name pitcher toiling somewhere within the deep recesses of the Washington Nationals’ minor league system.

You’ve seen the various top-20 prospect lists for 2010 and he’s nowhere to be found.

*Yawn.*

“Wake me when we get to the All-Star break," you might be thinking.

OK, you’ve never heard of Tom Milone. I got that. But I’m very sure that, prior to his call up in mid 2007, you had never heard of John Lannan either.

I've been debating recently why it is that Javier Vazquez has been put on this Earth.

If you asked Javier, he'd probably say he's here for his wife and three beautiful children. That would certainly make sense. His Wikipedia page states he's a huge wine aficionado, so maybe he's just here for the fermented grapes. Then again, he may go the religious route and say he was here for God. That's kind of the safe choice when asked these types of broad-based questions.

But you and I know none of that is true.

There are probably fewer things more frustrating to a sports fan than watching an expensive, recently imported veteran player repeatedly fail in his efforts to help the team.

The more prior success he's had, the more money he's making, the more you had to give up to get him...well, that all just makes it worse.

And then there's Javy Vazquez.

Vazquez had all of those things against him:

The White Sox begin a six-game road trip in Texas tonight and are currently on a three-game winning streak, winning the team's first series of the year against the Seattle Mariners.

The White Sox offense simply doesn't make sense.

There is really no other way to put it.

The team is batting a Major League-worst .222 to go along with the seventh worst number of runs scored, sitting on 74.

Okay, that makes sense.

The 2010 MLB season is a young three-weeks-old. After watching plenty of games, seeing highlights, and looking at too many stats, I’ve already come to many conclusions about many of the teams this year.

These are just my opinions and many are going to disagree with me, but  I’m not going to care if you agree with me or not. Remember, it’s just how I see it.

How I see it is this

The Tampa Bay Rays are going to be in the playoff race throughout the whole season and could very well win the AL East if they keep up their offense.

In the beginning of the 2010 season, a lot of things have gone right for the Yankees.

Curtis Granderson is fitting well into the center field spot for the Yankees, as is Brett Gardner in the left field spot.

Phil Hughes is doing a tremendous job as the fifth starter while for the most part, Joba Chamberlain has done a good job as the setup man.

However, there has been one glitch so far in the 2010 season: Javier Vazquez.