Ozzie Guillen

With all of the hoopla surrounding the Boston Red Sox (Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Bobby Jenks), the Washington Nationals (Jayson Werth), the Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee) and the Milwaukee Brewers (Zack Greinke), it seems that the Chicago White Sox have been dismissed as a contender for 2011.

With the signing of Adam Dunn for four years and $56 million, Kenny Williams asserted his power over White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

Williams stood tall and in one fell swoop declared: This is the American League. This is the AL Central. This is U.S. Cellular Field. We will hit the ball. We will hit the ball far, and we will win. Take your National League, small ball crap and shove it.

At this rate, you're probably sick and tired of reading stories of speculation about the next possible Marlins manager. But despite all the speculation about who will be the Marlins' next manager, with potential skippers ranging from Bobby Valentine to Bo Porter, it may come down to Edwin Rodriguez, who managed them down the stretch last year. 

Despite all of the supposed rancor between Guillen and GM Kenny Williams and the supposed interest in managing the cross-town rival Cubs, you can book the following:

Guillen will manage the Sox in 2011.

For one, he is under contract. For another, the reports that Guillen is demanding a contract extension are false. What Guillen wants is an assurance that he is wanted. Something that Williams gave to the insecure Sox manager today.

With the seats getting emptier at Sun Life Stadium in the wake of yet another Marlins late-season collapse, the surging Miami Dolphins snatching the local sports headlines, and the impending start of the NBA season with the Heat Elite of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh about to take the hardwood, the Marlins are in need of a revival.

The Los Angeles Dodgers phoned the Boston Red Sox today to tell them they finally pulled a prank equal to the one done to them three years ago when they got Manny Ramirezed. The Dodgers famously fell for a classic Manny Ramirez, one of the most popular juvenile pranks, when they took Manny off waivers from Boston in 2007.

For the past two seasons, 162 games were not enough to crown the AL Central Division Champion.

In 2008, the Chicago White Sox hosted game 163 at U.S. Cellular Field, defeating the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on a Jim Thome home run. 

In 2009, the Detroit Tigers were leading the division by three games with a mere 10 games remaining, including a four game against the second place Twins.

Some take the hard-hand, run-suicides-until-you-puke approach. Some give the motivational “Go get ‘em” speech. Some throw you in the fire and force you to fight. 

Wind the clocks back five years

 The White Sox team that went coast-to-coast in first place were truly a complete team that had it all. In June of that season Bobby Jenks stepped up to become the man that Ozzie Guillen went to in the 9th after injuries hampered Dustin Hermanson. Ozzie did have some other options at the time with Cliff Politte and Damaso Marte as options.

I love the game of baseball. In fact, I'd call myself a baseball enthusiast.

That being said, there's a topic that seems to stick in my craw more often than not. While I have my own opinion on players' salaries and how most aren't worth half of what they're getting, that's not one of the biggest issues in the game today.

What is? Controversial managers.