Ken Williams, the general manager of the Chicago White Sox, isn’t known for biting his tongue. On Monday, he talked about how upset he is with his team.
Said Williams: “We’ve thrown away a dozen games that way this year. We’ve deserved what we’ve got. I’m not happy. I’m not happy with a lot of what I see, we’re underachievers, period.”
On the season, the White Sox are 61-58. In the AL Central, they trail the Detroit Tigers by two games. Manager Ozzie Guillen agreed with Williams’ assessment.
“Look at those guys we’ve got on the field, look at the guys we have …read more

The San Diego Padres agreed to trade Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox. However, Peavy had the final say in the matter since he had a no trade clause in his contract. After deliberating about the potential move, Peavy decided to reject the trade and stay with the Padres.
The White Sox undoubtedly have to be depressed by Peavy’s decision. They desperately need an improvement in their starting pitching and he would have definitely made the team better. It has to hurt even more considering that the Minnesota Twins had just scored 20 runs against the White Sox.
Some league experts …read more

Depending on who you believe, San Diego Padres star pitcher Jake Peavy could be headed to the Chicago White Sox in what will be the first big baseball trade of the 2009 season. According to multiple reports, the Padres will receive multiple players in return including Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richards.
However, other sources indicate that the trade isn’t very close to happening. While a third commonly held opinion is that the Padres and White Sox have agreed on a deal and Peavy now has to decide whether or not accept the trade. Since Peavy has a no trade clause in …read more

The United States recently lost a game to Venezuela in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Against Puerto Rico, the United States didn’t just lose — they got destroyed. When all was said and done, Puerto Rico had won 11-1 after the mercy rule came into play.
Carlos Beltran and Felipe Lopez hit homeruns for Puerto Rico, while Carlos Delgado had two RBIs and Ivan Rodriguez had three hits. Puerto Rico remains undefeated in the 2009 WBC.
American starting pitcher Jake Peavy got rocked in his two innings of work. He allowed six hits, six homeruns and only struck out one batter. At …read more

The San Diego Padres are reportedly trying hard to trade Jake Peavy. By trading their ace, the Padres will try to get a lot of young and cheap talent in return to build around.

Where might he end up? Here are some likely Jake Peavy destinations.
Chicago Cubs
The latest Jake Peavy rumor has the Cubs hot on his trail. The Cubs may be willing to trade four players to get their hands on Peavy. If they can get him, he’ll give Chicago one of the best rotations in baseball.
Atlanta Braves
While the talks between the Padres and the Braves appear to be …read more

What to watch on a Friday?

Yankees at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — You’ll be watching this one whether you want to or not. It’s what pays the bills, eh? Chien-Ming Wang goes against Clay Buccholz.
Angels at Mariners, 7:10 p.m. PT — Jered Weaver and Felix Hernandez… Vlad and Ichiro!… Monkeys and mooses (meese?)… This one’s got it all. Here’s your game of the day.
Padres at Dodgers, 7:40 p.m. PT — Jake Peavy and Brad Penny hook up for the second time in a week. The big story — at least among people who don’t know much about baseball — …read more

Not a lot of great pitching matchups today. Eh, that happens…

White Sox at Tigers, 12:55 p.m. PT — At 0-4, Detroit is the only team without a win so far this season. Baseball is a strange game. Dontrelle Willis makes his Tigers debut. For a guy who should be in his physical prime, Willis sure has fallen fast. Where’s Steve Avery when you need him?
Dodgers at Padres, 12:55 p.m. PT — This is by far the best matchup of the day: Brad Penny goes up against Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy. Penny is 0-2 with a 6.67 ERA over …read more

Ah, Opening Day. I hope you had as much fun as we did (full report at Ducksnorts). Beyond the thrill of a packed house at Petco Park watching Jake Peavy spin a shutout, here are a few items from Monday that caught my eye:

The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-2. The planet’s best pitcher against a Triple-A squad — who could’ve have anticipated such a result? Uh, everyone.
The Pittsburgh/Atlanta game was insane. The Pirates took a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves tied. Then the Bucs jumped ahead in the 12th, 12-9, before allowing two runs …read more

We’ve got our staff predictions up at Hardball Times. I go into greater detail about Padres-specific items over at Ducksnorts.
At THT, I’ve gone with the popular pick except for AL West (I chose Mariners over Angels), AL Wild Card (Indians over Yankees), and NL Cy Young (Jake Peavy over Johan Santana — there’s my Padres bias kicking in because, hey, someone’s got to have a Padres bias).
I also have the Diamondbacks beating the Tigers in the World Series. We’ll see what happens…
How about you? Any predictions you’d care to share?