Alfonso Soriano and the Chicago Cubs are piling up wins at Wrigley Field. Ditto for Ken Griffey Jr. and the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Braves can’t wait to get back to Atlanta after another dismal road trip. Soriano homered, Jim Edmonds drove in two runs, and Chicago beat the reeling Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Sunday to complete a perfect seven-game homestand.

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Due to a series of unforeseeable circumstances, we are going to break from our Two on Two format and simply go around the room with three of us. Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue has joined Marc Hulet and me. You can find the previous Two on Two's below: AL Central AL West NL West Sully: Well guys, what do we think about the NL Central in 2008. Just like the American League Central, which pits Cleveland and Detroit as the only two teams one can really see winning it, in the NL Central we have Chicago and Milwaukee. I don't see Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Houston or even the consistently competitive St. Louis Cardinals mustering much of a threat to the Cubbies or the Brew Crew. Al: This is the first time in a while that the Cubs go into the season as, legitimately, the favorite to win their division.  read more »

BY ADAM RONIS Glen Perkins has been quietly having a very good start for the Twins. The lefthander went 7 2/3 innings and allowed seven hits, one run, two walks and struck out four against a Tigers team that scored 19 runs yesterday. His success has been helped by just four walks in 26 innings. He is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA and should be owned in AL-only leagues. Justin Verlander is issuing too many walks, but he pitched well for the third straight start. He went seven innings, allowing five hits, one run, four walks and struck out three in a no-decision. Dan Uggla hasn't slowed down yet. He hit his 16th homer and has 36 RBIs with a .320 average. Uggla will cool off, but he likely will set a career high in homers. He has struck out 50 times in 175 at-bats, though. I'd still sell high because his average will decline and it's difficult to envision him having higher value than he does right now.  read more »

• Jeter has earned a monument at new Yankee Stadium.

Additionally, Supermodels around the world are collecting money (from their food allowance) to have Derek's dick bronzed and placed in the fashion district.

• From the Library of Congress here is Branch Rickey's scouting report on Don Drysdale. It is also a reminder about how much typewriters sucked.

• It could not be an complete football off-season without a Chris Henry arrest. Tuesday Pedro goes down, yesterday Chris Henry gets arrested, what next another Rocky film?  read more »

So here's a common situation that many fantasy players find themselves in; It's late in the draft and you've spent a lot of money and draft picks on solidifying your lineup, have a decent bullpen going, and your rotation is looking pretty.  read more »

Game One Hundred Six - Cubs 6 Brewers 4
WP - Chad Gaudin (7-4, 2-1) LP - Salomon Torres (5-3) Save - Carlos Marmol (5)

The Chicago Cubs waited 106 games to put together their best performance on the road this season. Many did not give Lou Piniella's crew much of a chance on Monday night against CC Sabathia and the Milwaukee Brewers....but that is why they play the game.  read more »

I think those were the three biggest factors in Roy Oswalt's mastery of the Cubs on Labor Day. Piniella mentioned the shadows as a problem, due to the late Summer 3:05 start. Thing is, the Astros didn't play at noon.

"The shadows go for both teams," [Jason] Marquis said. "It's not like they disappear when they hit or appear when we hit. You have to play the field as it is, and it's equal opportunity for both teams."

Thank you. Sometimes it takes a New Yorker to set things straight.

So, that eliminates Shadows as a factor. Cross Chickens off the list, it was just a freak triple by Miquel Tejada.

Tejada tripled to lead off the Houston fourth, lining the ball off the left-field wall. The ball then caromed into foul territory, and because it hit the dirt and not the grass, it rolled all the way to the Cubs' bullpen mound with Alfonso Soriano in pursuit.  read more »

UPDATE : (4/22) 9:10am (EST) - Alfonso Soriano hit off of a tee on Monday, and felt fine. He’s been placed on the 15 day-DL due to the calf strain, and he has begun jogging lightly. If there are no setbacks, Soriano should be ready to go when he is eligible to come off the DL on May 1st. Nate Robertson has since pitched since exiting his prior start with shoulder issues. He yielded 5 runs in 5 innings against the Blue Jays. Apr 15th - It’s sad that it has come to this. That we have to write daily updates on injuries to key players throughout the league. First up on tonight’ list is Tigers’ starter Nate Robertson. Robertson came out of the game this evening with a shoulder injury . No word on the severity of the injury, but an already depleted Tigers staff gets hit even harder in losing another arm.  read more »

I'm a bit late on yesterday's Fantasy Errata column -- damn you Guitar Hero! Sorry.

-- Manny Parra was a decent enough looking sleeper coming into the year, but I'm not sure how much we can glean from his domination of the Major League, technically, team based in San Francisco. Same goes for Gagne. Still, if I'm a Gagne owner, I'd breathe a sigh of relief.

-- It seems like Edwin Jackson has been around forever, but he actually wasted a lot of years as an outfield prospect. He tore the Yankees a new one yesterday. Maybe he finally figured out how to harness that arm (you know it has to be electric if they converted him so late in his career). AL-only leagues should keep an eye on him. When pitchers with stuff like his turn the corner in terms of control, they can be dominant.  read more »

Here are six more fantasy baseball sleepers for the 2008 season.  Remember any one of these could be a sleeper in deep AL-only leagues or standard mixed-leagues or shallow NL-only ones.  These are not tailored for any specific league.  They are just my thoughts on players who are under the radar.

1. SP Jeff Neimann Tampa Bay Rays:  With the AAA rotation filling quickly with more highly-regarded prospects, Neimann could be the 5th starter this season.  I think using him in the bullpen would make him a closer-in-waiting though, and maximize his value given the hoard of younger, more-highly regarded starting prospects right behind him.
2. 2B/OF Alexei Ramirez Chicago White Sox:  Regardless of the waiver status of Juan Uribe, Ramirez is turning heads in White Sox camp.  With comps to Alfonso Soriano being bandied about, one must keep an eye on Alexei.