The SoapBoxers

Red Sox sign Mike Cameron, John Lackey

The Red Sox snuck one past me yesterday by signing Mike Cameron to patrol their outfield.  I had been under the assumption that the Red Sox would sign either Jason Bay or Matt Holliday to patrol left field, and was a bit stunned to hear of the signing.  Cameron is a fine defensive player (a three time gold glove winner), but is a big step down from Bay or Holliday offensively. 

Cameron, who will turn 37 in January, is also considerably older than Holliday (who will be 30 in January) or Bay (32 in September).  Players tend to lose a step as they age, and their offensive skills tend to erode.  So it is pretty likely (almost a certainty) that the Red Sox will get less offense from Cameron than they would from Bay or Holliday.  Cameron is a better defender, although defensive range is less important in Fenway Park than in other ballparks because the left field wall is very shallow.  The ability to gauge where balls will ricochet off the 37 foot high Green Monster is more important than foot speed.

On the flip side, the two year deal, worth a total of $15.5 million, is a lot less money than Bay or Holliday will command (easily twice that much, and for five or more years.)  The Red Sox may have simply decided that it would be more cost effective to upgrade a corner infield sport (with either 3B Adrian Beltre or 1b Adrian Gonzalez).  Gonzalez has come into the spotlight a bit in recent years, but Mr. Eyebrows still doesn’t get the respect he deserves.  His raw numbers (3 straight 30+ homer season, 40 homers and a .958 OPS in 2009) are impressive.  When you stop to think that he plays in a park (Petco) that greatly depresses offense, the numbers are even more amazing.  Put him in Fenway, and he’ll win a couple of MVP awards.

The signing is bad news for Bay and Holliday, as it takes a rich suitor off the table. Bay and Holliday will certainly get some serious coin in their deals, but the Cameron deal may end up costing them a couple of million dollars per year. 

The Red Sox also shored up their rotation by signing right handed starting pitcher John Lackey.  This move makes sense on a number of levels.  Other than the cash given to Lackey ($85 million over five years), the marginal acquisition cost was merely a second round pick.  The Red Sox had signed Marco Scutaro (another type A free agent) earlier in the offseason, and were thus bound to lose their 2010 1^st round pick.  Signing Lackey merely means that their 2010 first rounder will go to Anaheim as compensation for losing Lackey, while reducing Oakland’s compensation for Scutaro to a 2^nd rounder.  Additionally, taking Lackey away from the Angels makes it a bit easier for Boston to get past the Angels, if they were to face them in the playoffs.  While Lackey isn’t as flashy as some of the other top pitchers, he’s definitely an ace-caliber guy.

Phillies Acquire Ace, Trade Away Ace

The Phillies made waves by finally ending Roy Halladay’s long twist in the wind by acquiring Doc from the Toronto Blue Jays.  The Phillies then turned around and traded their existing ace, Cliff Lee, to the Seattle Mariners.  Prospects were the counterweight in both trades.  Halladay is a year older than Lee, but has been a more consistent performer over the course of their careers.  Additionally, Halladay is righthanded (Lee was a lefty), allowing the Phillies to pair him with Cole Hamels for a righty/lefty combination at the top of their rotation.  While the Phillies were able to neutralize teams that were heavily left handed (the Rockies in the NLDS for example) because of the lefty-dominant rotation, having a balance of righty/lefty makes them a bit less susceptible to teams that lean heavily one way or the other.

Texas football coach Mack Brown recently got a raise and will earn $5 million per year.  Several college football coaches make more than $3 million per year.  These coaches make considerably more than the athletic directors and university presidents who are their superiors.  Are they worth the money?

Let’s take a look.  I’ll use a local example – $3 million per year coach Kirk Ferentz of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes  – as a case study.  Iowa is a successful, but not elite, program.  They frequently contend for conference titles, but aren’t at the same level as teams like Florida and Texas who are constantly in discussions for the national title.  They have a devoted fan base, but when the team falls on hard times, they fail to sell out the stadium.

How many more tickets will a team sell if they have a successful coach (let’s say, one who makes $3 million per year) versus a coach that has lackluster results and makes $500,000?  I’ll say that this can be 10,000 or more tickets.

In our case study, the Hawkeyes topped 70,000 in average home attendance in 1991 and 1992.  The 1991 Iowa team finished 10-1-1, while the 1992 team was 5-7 (but would have pre-sold many tickets on the basis on the 1991 team’s success).  In 2000, the team drew an average of just 61,123 fans per home game, due to lackluster seasons in 1998 (3-8), 1999 (1-10), and 2000 (3-9).  Legendary coach Hayden Fry had ridden off into the sunset following the 1989 season, and new coach Kirk Ferentz took over a program in need of rebuilding.

By 2004, the success of the team had once again caused the attendance to top 70,000 – topping out at a capacity average attendance of 70,585.  This represents an increase of 9,462 fans above the 1991 low water mark.  You’ll notice that this is less than the 10,000 figure I mentioned above.  However, we also don’t know how far attendance would have dropped if the team had kept losing.  The 61,123 figure from 2000 may have become a stepping stone along to path to a sub-50,000 average attendance.  For the sake of this case study, we’ll use the 9,462 figure with the knowledge that this will most likely produce a conservative estimate.  Most teams in BCS conferences play seven homes games, so that means that a good Iowa team can sell 66,444 more tickets than a bad Iowa team.

The University of Iowa’s season ticket price in 2009 was $339 ($48.42 per game).  So, how much revenue did those 66,444 tickets generate?  $3,217,218.48 – with negligible marginal cost to the University.  There’s more cash where that came from, though.  Let’s estimate $750,000 ($11.29 per person) in concession stand revenue from brats, nachos, popcorn, soda, and other high margin items.

Successful teams can also tap into a larger revenue stream outside the stadium.  A team’s hard core fans will always buy t-shirts and coffee mugs, but a successful run means that more fair-weather fans (and every team has them) will jump on the bandwagon.  Then there is the issue of money from donors.  Successful teams attract considerably more money from donors.  Every dollar a donor puts toward a project is a dollar the university can save.

Kirk Ferentz is worth the money – no doubt about it.  The revenue increase more than offsets his $3 million salary.

Am I suggesting that a successful football coach has more importance in society than a university president – or, for that matter, a social worker?  No.  But from a pure economic standpoint, hiring a successful football coach can often be worth the money.

Did you find this article interesting?  You may also like my article that asks “Should College Athletes Be Paid?“

A lot of water cooler talk around the offices this week after the games this past weekend.  Today, Johnny Goodman looks to find the truth about many of the issues in College football.

Fact- Alabama and Texas will play in the BCS Championship game

Truth- yep I can’t come up with another argument here.  These are the two most deserving teams and I have no beef with that

Fact:  Alabama beat Florida soundly

Truth:  Florida really isn’t that good.  Who have they beaten or dominated all year.  Heck I think the SEC is terribly overrated this year.  A lot of good teams yes, a lot of GREAT teams?  C’mon…no way…This conference gets more verbal blow than anything and it is totally unfounded this year.  Play a bowl game or better yet a nonconference road game outside of the southeast sometime.  What is your conference record the last 51 times you have left the southeast?  25-26.  Overrated!!!!

Fact:  Mack Brown was named Big XII 2009 AP Coach of the year

Truth:  Did you watch the Texas vs. Nebraska game?  Then tell me which team imposed their will and their style of play and was :01 away from pulling off the upset as a 15 point underdog.  Coach of the year?  This guy can’t coach at all.  If Tom Osborne would have had the talent Texas gets every year in their program the Huskers would have had about five more national titles during his tenure.  Mack Brown is a average coach in arguably the easiest place to land fantastic recruits.  Saturday night was just another example of that.  His total and complete mis-management of the game clock at the end of the game almost prevented his kicker from having a shot at the game winning kick and the Horns from a shot in the BCS title game.  This guy is the luckiest coach ever…but he isn’t even in the top three coaches in his own conference.  Frankly I am surprised that Texas fans are not piling on about this right now.  After they get wood-shedded by Alabama, maybe they will be.

Fact: Cincinnati deserves to be playing in the BCS game against Alabama

Truth – you gave up a forty spot to Pittsburgh?  The argument stops there.  The Panthers are not exactly an offensive juggernaut.  Brian Kelly likely is gone to Notre Dame, and bad coaching by Wannestadt might make it a certainty now.  The Bearcats are good, but top 3 in the county???….nope.

Fact:  The refs put back one second on the clock in the Big XII title game

Truth:  They did get this one right although I hate to admit it being a Husker fan.  If time expired it would have made LSU coaching buffoon moves at the end of the game a few weeks ago look like no big deal.  The Truth also is that the #3 team was lucky to escape and was dominated by a team with a far superior defense who unfortunately for them has an offense that would barely be effective in your kids Pop Warner league.

Fact:  This year is a toss-up for the Heisman Trophy

Truth – Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh should win the award but won’t.  Lets run down the top candidates here.  Tim Tebow – nope –  lost last game and cried on the sideline.  There is no crying in Football Timmy! – and had average statistical year, Colt McCoy, laid an egg in final game and last second (literally) gaffe almost cost team a shot at the title game.  Jimmy Clausen – hardly.  Mark Ingram – you can’t get pulled in the next to last game for being ineffective and win THIS award.  Toby Gerhart – I could see this as I think he has been most consistent – Suh –has been dominating in every big game for the Huskers defense which is very good.  He had 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles – 8 for losses – an numerous hurries in the Big XII title game.  Can you honestly say there is a better or more dominating player in the country this year?

Earlier this week, the Red Sox signed shortstop Marco Scutaro. Scutaro (who has a wicked awesome name) was a “type A” free agent who was formerly with the Toronto Blue Jays. As compensation for losing him, the Blue Jays are entitled to the Red Sox’s 2010 first round draft pick, as well as a sandwich pick between the first and second round (sandwich picks are mysteriously invented and inserted into the draft – very strange).

There is, of course, a twist. If the Red Sox sign a type A free agent with a higher Elias rating than Scutaro, the team losing the higher ranked player would get the first round pick (and a sandwich) and the Blue Jays would get the Red Sox’s second round pick and a sandwich. And if the Red Sox signed TWO higher ranked players, the Blue Jays would get Boston’s third round pick and the sandwich.

Something similar happened to the Blue Jays last year. They lost type A free agent A.J. Burnett to the Yankees, but got their compensatory pick pushed back to the third round when the Yankees signed higher rated players Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia.

In my opinion, the Scutaro signing is the tip of the iceberg for Boston. I think they will go after Matt Holliday very strongly. This would mean that the Cardinals would get their first round pick, and that Toronto would get their second round pick as compensation for Scutaro. Sacrificing a first round pick for a player of Scutaro’s ability seems to be overpaying for the talent. Sacrificing a second rounder seems like a fairer price. Not only that, but Boston would be able to boast a stronger team when they try to woo Holliday.

Clearly, Toronto doesn’t want Boston to sign Holliday, since this would decrease their compensation for Scutaro. In fact, it would be in their best interest to attempt to steer Holliday (and other players rated higher than Scutaro) away from Boston and onto the rosters of other teams.

How would they do this? One thought would be to engage Holliday (or, more likely, his agent, Scott Boras) in discussions, perhaps by making an offer that is not exactly a lowball, but not at the level it will take to sign him either. When the talks reach their inevitable impasse, direct the conversation to topics that make the Red Sox look bad and other suitors look good. Alternately, Toronto could simply leak disturbing rumors to sources in the press.

I don’t mean to suggest that the Blue Jays actually will use these tactics. I really don’t think they will. But the fact of the matter is that the current system would reward them if they were somehow able to sabotage Boston’s signings.

I don’t know what the solution is. Allowing each team to sign only one type A free agent doesn’t seem feasible. Nor would pushing back a compensatory pick into the future (for example, giving Toronto Boston’s 2011 first round pick for Scutaro if they signed Holliday).

Quite honestly, the entire system of compensatory picks is flawed and in need of a serious overhaul. Some of the statistics used in the Elias ratings are problematic.  For example, fielding percentage is one of the stats used to rank catchers.  Catchers are credited with a putout when a pitcher strikes out a batter.  This means that catchers on teams with high strikeout pitchers will have a better fielding percentage than a comparable catcher on a team with groundball pitchers – simply because they have a higher number of “chances”.  Perhaps a worse flaw is that the rating system does not adjust for age. In reality, a 27 year old has more value than a 39 year old with the same stats.

The system is starting to catch a few players who are unrealistically rated as type A. After they decline arbitration, they realize that no team wants to sign them because while they happen to be a fine baseball player, they aren’t worth a first round pick. The current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2011 – perhaps that would be a good time to tear down the current system and build a new one in its place.

We are on the cusp of the baseball free agent signing season. This means that the vilification of player agent Scott Boras will soon begin in earnest. For those who are somehow unfamiliar with Mr. Boras, he is the premier agent in baseball, representing a cadre of superstar players including Matt Holliday, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and many others.

To say that Boras is a tough negotiator is akin to saying that Warren Buffet has a decent nest egg for his retirement – a gross understatement. Boras is tough as nails, willing to use any tactic as leverage for getting maximum value for his client. His clients rarely give their team a “hometown discount”. Boras client often sign at the very last minute – and often don’t sign, electing instead to return to college (if they are eligible).

Not surprisingly, many teams – and their fans – despise Boras, blaming him for any of all of the problems with the game today. I take exception to that characterization. Boras’ role is not that of some benevolent fan ombudsman. His role is to represent the interests of his clients and ensure that they receive the best possible package of financial and non-financial benefits. He would be derelict in his duties (and a possible target of malpractice suits) if he were to leave money on the table “for the good of the game.”

One thing that seems to get overlooked in the Boras bashing is that salaries for baseball draftees lag behind salaries for top NFL picks. Stephen Strasburg’s contract – paying him $15.1 million over four years (a pro-rated 2009 salary, as well as 2010-2012) – was the subject of much debate over the summer. Many were outraged at the value of the contract.

On the flip side, top NFL draft pick Matthew Stafford (who is just a few months older than Strasburg) signed a six year contract that is worth $72 million (plus an additional $6 million in incentive bonuses) – with $41.7 million in guaranteed money. [Note: unlike baseball contracts, football contracts are not fully guaranteed].

Stafford is definitely a fine football player. However, he is not of the same relative caliber of Strasburg, who is widely regarded as a once-in-a-generation talent. Yet Stafford will walk away with $41.7 million even if he becomes a complete bust (like Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, Tim Couch, etc before him). If Strasburg busts, he’ll get $15.1 million. So, remind me again why the Strasburg deal is a big travesty and the Stafford deal is business-as-usual?

Baseball teams have long enjoyed the luxury of having more control over a player’s salary than any of the other major sports. For the first hundred years of professional baseball, teams had complete control. Baseball’s “reserve clause” made it possible for teams to re-sign players at whatever salary they wanted. The players were bound to the team for life, so they had minimal leverage. They could refuse to sign a contract, but they couldn’t sign with any other team. Finally, in 1975, the reserve clause was struck down, paving the way for free agency.

In today’s system, players are drafted (or signed as undrafted free agents) by major league teams. They are then signed to what is most often a minor league contract. Essentially, this pays them peanuts during most of their minor league years. The MAXIMUM salary for a player in their first minor league season is $1100/month. They only way for the players to earn any substantial money during their early minor league years is by getting a signing bonus with the contract. For first round picks, this can mean millions of dollars. For players in the later rounds, this can be a few thousand dollars, or nothing at all (usually for players who have no college eligibility remaining, and thus minimal leverage).

After a player reaches the Major Leagues, they are under the team’s control until they have accumulated six seasons of service. Note that this does not simply mean they have been in the Major Leagues during six seasons – it means that they have been on the active roster (or disabled list) for the equivalent of six full seasons. Most often, a player does not become a free agent until after their seventh Major League season (or later).

Players with fewer than three years of service (other than a subset of players we’ll discuss later) can be renewed by their team at a minimum salary, regardless of performance. A player could win the MVP in his rookie season and not get a substantial raise – and could make substantially less than the crappy veteran relief pitcher who has the neighboring locker.

Players with three years of service – as well as the players who are in the top 16% (in terms of service time) of players who have more than two years of service – are eligible for salary arbitration. The player and team submit offers to an arbiter. The arbiter listens to arguments and chooses one of the offers and sets it as the player’s contract for the following year. The arbiter MUST choose one of the numbers – he cannot choose a number in the middle. Players in their arbitration years earn more than in previous years, although they typically earn less than the market rate for their skills.

Finally, after accumulating six years of service – at which point the player is often knocking on the door of age 30 – the player is allowed to become a free agent and may sign with any team.

If a late round pick – one of those guys who signed for a minimal signing bonus – happens to blossom and become a good player (something that happens more often than you might think), he may have spent 4-6 years in a team’s minor league system, and then another six years at the major league level. Finally, after 10-12 years working for a team, he finally had the ability to actually negotiate a contract.

If you waited twelve years for the opportunity to negotiate a contract with your employer, you’d probably want someone like Scott Boras helping you out.

As we had into the college bowl season, (which is coincidentally the best time of the year bar none) I have a few predictions from the cheap seats this week.

The Pac 10 conference technically does not have a championship game, but they do this year. Oregon and Oregon State play in the Civil War. The winner goes to the Rose Bowl. The loser … who the heck knows! Now I am the first to admit that huge rivalry games are tough to predict. Just look at Texas A&M giving Texas all they wanted last week, or Auburn nearly knocking off Alabama. Basically no team is safe in a huge rivalry game.

Oregon is playing too well in my opinion, and are more two dimensional in the run and the pass compared to the Beavers. I give the edge to the Ducks and whatever horrific uniforms Nike decides to sport them in this week. Oregon 41, Oregon State 28

Texas will play host ( who is anyone kidding) to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big XII title game held at Jerry’s place in Dallas. Anyone who thinks this is not a home game for the Longhorns is smoking something. The Cornhuskers have been put on a pedestal all week about how great their defense is, and how they will give the Longhorns all they want. Two things give Texas trouble … a mobile quarterback and a team that is willing to take deep shots in the passing game early and often. Nebraska has neither of these things. Even being the Husker Homer that I am, I see a woodshed job here … Texas 42, Nebraska 7

Now we go to the game that everyone in SEC country is waiting for and everyone else is tired of hearing about. Florida and Alabama. This one is close to call but the difference could be the DUI arrest of Carlos Dunlap, who is arguably one of the better defensive players Florida has. Could this be the difference? I hate to pick a winner in this game because I really don’t like either team. So I will go with the Crimson Tide, who I think has a better defense and can grind it at the Gators on the ground, in a close low scoring battle Bama 17, Florida 14

One last note, if you are sports fans are looking for an interesting read, check out Jason Peter’s book Hero of the Underground. It is graphic it is definitive and it is raw and I am guessing lightly edited straight from his mouth account of football, and his spiral in to drug use while in the NFL. It is an easy but entertaining read.

What a week of bad coaching moves in football, at least some perceived coaching moves. The one getting the most scrutiny on ESPN and all of the local talk shows was New England’s Head Coach Bill Bellicheck’s decision to go for it with a fourth and two from his own 28 yard line. Mind you the Patriots had a 6 point lead at the time. What is lost is that the guy on the other side of the ball you are punting too, Peyton Manning, has just led the Indianapolis Colts on two quick scoring drives. Manning seems to have figured it out, he is in a groove.

I don’t mind the coaches decision here although he has gotten roasted for it. If the Pats pick up the first down he looks like a genius and is heralded as a go for broke gunfighter coach with you know what made of steel. Ah, the fickle business of pleasing the masses.

In THE GAME between Yale and Harvard, there was even a worse decision. Yale decides to run a fake punt on fourth and twenty-two with a 3 point lead in the game. Yale was also the underdog in this match up. Fourth and cab fare???? Even if the fake works you have to pick up roughly a fourth of the field to get the first down. BOOOOOOO! Bad decision here that may have contributed to Yale losing the game.

The most inexcusable and worst thirty seconds of coaching I have ever witnessed took place in the LSU vs Ole Miss game. First of all they call horrible plays on second and third down and lose big yards, which take them out of potential game winning field goal range. Then the inexplicably fail to call time out and let 19 seconds run off the clock. The Tigers try a hail mary and pick up the first down and then have a measly one second left. Spiking the ball to kill the clock won’t work, not enough time. Nice job by Les throwing his QB under the bus telling him he wasn’t motioning him to spike it although television replays CLEARLY show he is motioning for this to happen from the sidelines. Where is your field goal unit read to run onto the field? Where is one of your assistants or players at while 19 seconds run off the clock and you just stand around, slowly letting it slip away, giving your team no opportunity to make a play at the end.

I am guessing LSU fans are almost as unhappy as Notre Dame fans right now, but for different reasons.

So, what’s up in Kosmo’s world?

I avoided the ladder

I encountered one of my more interesting driving experiences this week.  As I was driving into work, an extension ladder suddenly appeared on the road in front of me.  The ladder was in the two right lanes (of three total lanes) and I was in the right land, so I veered sharply right to avoid the ladder, then back sharply left to avoid leaving the roadway.  I felt a little bad about the lack of control the car exhibited during this maneuver – until I looked in my rear view mirror and saw another driver perform a carbon copy of my move.  I really didn’t need my morning caffeine after that – I was wide awake.

Baywatch (and Hollidaywatch)

Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay rejected a 4 year contract offer worth $60 million from Boston this week.  This sets an apparent floor on the value of Bay and fellow free agent outfielder Matt Holliday.  The emerging consensus, based an advanced statistical measures, is that the two players are comparable offensively (albeit with different strengths and weaknesses), and that Holliday is a better defender.

An interesting quirk is that Boston would actually come out ahead in terms of draft picks by allowing Bay to leave and nabbing Holliday as a free agent.  They would forfeit their first round pick to sign Holliday, but would receive a draft pick from the teams that signs Bay (assuming that a contender signs Bay, this would be a first rounder) as well as a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds.  The sandwiches are truly a free lunch – they picks are artificially added into the draft.  That’s why there are about 40 “first round” picks every year – in spite of the fact that there are only thirty teams.

There’s one important free agent who might be slipping under the radar of a lot of casual fans.  The name is Rudy Jaramillo.  Never heard of him?  What position does he play, you ask?  Hitting coach.  Jaramillo, widely renowned as the best hitting coach in baseball, is moving from the Texas Rangers to Chicago Cubs.  Don’t be surprised if you see several Cubs players have strong seasons at the plate.  Interestingly, the Rangers lose Jaramillo just one season after poaching standout pitching coach Mike Maddux (brother of Greg) from the Brewers.  What goes around, comes around, I guess.

Novels

I recently broke ground on my novel, Casting Stones.  I’ve been kicking around plot ideas for several months, but finally began the actual writing on Halloween.  I pushed past 6000 words on Friday and am making good progress.  The infrastructure for the plot is developing pretty well, with concrete ideas for seventeen chapters.  I see 15,000 words as a turning point – if I can make it to that point, I think there is a strong chance that I an maintain momentum and finish up with a full sized novel.

I’m not the only one working on a book.  Martin Kelly is working on his, of course.  We’ll see another installment of his NaNoWriMo diary tomorrow) and few other folks I know are either in the midst of writing a book, or are seriously considering one.  Go for it!  If you finish the book, great.  In any case, writing a book is an absurdly cheap hobby.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It only took 65 official starts but a major breakthrough victory occurred on the LPGA tour this weekend. Michelle Wie, won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico

Wie has been one of the most talked about figures of all time in Women’s Professional golf. Heck she has been one of the most talked about sports figures regardless of any sport over the last 4-5 years.

She brings a lot to the table, young, spunky with her attitude, enormous power which is unusual for the women’s game, one overbearing parent in her dad Charlie, coached by the great David Leadbetter, and on and on and on.

She has played against the guys a few times in various events, and not shown up. She has played poorly in some events and even withdrawn under some scrutiny on one occasion when a high score would have prevented her in playing in some future LPGA events due to a weird scoring rule they have built in on that tour.

On the other hand as a very young player she had close but no cigar calls in all major golf tournaments. Showed flashes of brilliance at times and even was a major part of the United State Solheim Cup Victory this year at Rich Harvest Farms in the Chicago area.

Yes, Wie has secured millions of dollars of endorsement deals, has a army of fans even at this early age, good looks to go with her good game … the only thing missing was a victory. Until Sunday.

Wie beat an impressive filed, likely as strong as any major golf tourney. Kerr, Creamer, Pressel and Ochoa all finished in the top 6. Her normally average at best putting was good enough this week to take her to the place she has not been before. The victory podium

I think this could be the beginning of an impressive run. Wie appears to have been under a LOT of pressure, I believe by her immediate family, as well as herself to produce results. You could tell in her interview following her win that she was more relieved than happy. It seems the proverbial monkey is now off her back.

She has the talent, she has the following, she has game … now she just might have her head right. And if so, the rest of the LPGA better look out, as they might be in for a long ride .

WIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Soon, baseball’s free agents will be signing rich new deals. The Soap Boxers has assembled a panel of baseball fans to predict where the players will go.

The panel consists of:

• Kosmo
• Gabe Tyndal, Casual Observer Science/Nature Writer
• BA, a fan who bleeds Cardinal red.
• Fulton Christopher, a fan who bleeds Cubbie blue.

The top 10 free agents being analyzed are:

• Matt Holliday
• Jason Bay
• John Lackey
• Chone Figgins
• Jose Valverde
• Rich Harden
• Marco Scutaro
• Randy Wolf
• Vladimir Guerrero
• Miguel Tejada

Without further ado, the predictions: