Soooooo…Paxson is going to interview Avery Johnson for the Bulls gig. You know, take your time and stuff, Pax. Like with Mike D. To the morsels…

Speaking of Mike D, I dare link to the hated one–Jay Mariotti–for a great take on the whole Bulls situation. I’m not saying I agree with it all, but it’s worth reading. “Since when did we become Sacramento? And why are the Bulls so sluggish and wishy-washy about every big decision that comes their way? Aren’t we all tiring of Kevin Garnett going to Boston, Kobe Bryant staying in L.A., Gasol going to L.A., D’Antoni going to New York — and Reinsdorf and general manager John Paxson just sittting there, making excuses, spinning bull to the gullible local media and letting life pass them by 10 years after a dynasty was prematurely dismantled?” I’m starting to wonder if agreeing with the Bulls’ defensive philosophy means matching the price they have in mind for a contract.

Sportsjuana rips into Carol Slezak over the column she wrote about the White Sox blowup doll deal: “Carol is a lousy columnist who only has her job because of her sex. This comes through when you actually waste your time reading her columns. She is fuming mad that the Sox had some blow-up dolls in their locker room. Who Cares? She claims it was offensive to women and represents how the Sox organinzation views women. Get a life, Carol. This was something that was intended to be funny, plain and simple.” Ouch.

Dugout Central has a nice post on “How To Make a Better All-Star Game”. I totally agree with him that not every team should have a representative at the game. Do we really need to see the closer of the team playing .297 ball with his 10 saves and ERA of 6? No we don’t. The rosters are too big to begin with.

I know–it’s hard to fathom–but Mark Prior is yet again experiencing “discomfort”. “I think you can call it a setback,” San Diego manager Bud Black said, “but we’ll know more [Sunday].” Setback=horsecrap? Yeah it does.

And finally, T.J. Simers rips on Andruw Jones for being a ‘tubbo’. Jones has 1 homer, 4 RBI and is hitting .179/.279/.268. I thought he would come back this year for at least 25 homers.

Awfully quiet in here lately indeed, which makes it the perfect time for The Zoner to go on vacation. I’m writing from lovely Orlando, a place that does not make the Cubs any better at baserunning. Seriously, someone tell Ryan Theriot to quit trying to steal bases.

Haven’t read much about Ced Benson yet, but I did laugh out loud when I saw it on the crawl–whilst watching the Cubs at the ESPN Club here in Disney,

Check out some of the blogs in my roll until I get back, And if you haven’t seen Buzz Bissinger go bonkers on the Costas show, definitely check it out,

So have a good week and tell the White Sox they do not have to wait until I return to win a game.

Mike Downey writes today about Alfonso Soriano’s return, and about the fans who aren’t exactly thrilled to see him back in the lineup.

“Unbelievable, the short memories some people have. Soriano had a super 2007 season and led the Cubs to their first playoff series since 2003. Yet Soriano alternately has been described in print and on radio as “inconsistent,” “slow-starting,” “disappointing” and a postseason flop.

Do you have any idea how many good things this guy did? He had 80 extra-base hits. He hit 14 home runs in September alone, breaking a Cubs record for that month held by no less than Ernie Banks.

He led off a dozen games with a home run. He hit a ninth-inning home run in the All-Star Game.”

Man, that 9th inning home run in the All-Star Game was so awesome, all the Cubs were like, “Oh man, that’s gonna give us momentum for the 2nd half! I think we are going to go out and win the division. And what’s crazy is I didn’t think that before his last at-bat! World Series here we come! I mean, an All-Star game homer? In the 9th? WHOA!”

Look. Soriano had a good year. But he didn’t lead the Cubs to the playoffs. Was he a big part of why they got there? Most certainly. It’s entirely stupid to not want him back in the lineup, although where exactly he should be hitting should remain up for debate. He was off to a crappy start before he got hurt (.175/.230/.298) and the Cubs are rolling at the plate. Do you plop him right back into the leadoff spot? I don’t know. But even in his “off” year last season he almost made it to .900 OPS. That has value.

But let’s also not lionize the guy either. He has a power bat but is also an out machine. He’s not the best hitter with runners in scoring position. It all lies somewhere in the middle. It’s good he will be back, but he’s not the greatest thing since Tivo.

Phil Hughes, Yanks:

The Tigers battered Hughes to an early exit last night in New York. His ERA now sits at 9.00. He has 13 Ks and 13 BBs. But most alarming, and actually insane, is that the league is pounding him for a .362 average. His hits + walks per nine innings are over 19. Maybe we will see Joba as a starter soon.

Adam Dunn’s slugging percentage: .342. Oddly, Dunn’s OBP of .381 is higher than his measly slugging number. Dunn is hitting just .192, but his 23 walks are second to only Albert Pujols. His lack of production is a huge reason the Reds are ranked 23rd in runs scored, and why they are near the cellar of the NL Central.

Derek Jeter’s extra base hits: 4. Jeter is off to a lousy start hitting .282/.305/.359. He has 2 doubles, 2 triples and no homers. This is interesting because from 2005-2007, Jeter’s April stats have been great: .362/.458/.517

Carlos Zambrano’s walks: 9. Big Z has allowed only 9 walks in 6 starts, a total that usually would come from two of his outings. This is remarkable for a pitcher that walked over 300 batters during the last 3 seasons. If he keeps this up, Zambrano may finally be considered among the elite starting pitchers in the league, and not a volatile Bartolo Colon facsimile.

Cliff Lee’s everything. Wasn’t this the guy that was going to be the odd man out of the rotation? Lee’s April has been insane. He’s 4-0 with an 0.28 ERA. He has 29 Ks to just 2 BBs and he has allowed only 11 hits in 31.2 innings. If the Tribe makes the playoffs, they’ll look back to Lee’s April as one of the main reasons–no matter how he does from here on out.

San Diego’s OPS: .626. It’s hard to criticize the tenure of Kevin Towers. Until now. It was painfully obvious that the Pads needed at least one more solid bat after last season. Towers chose to add Jim Edmonds and Tad Iguchi to bolster the lineup. Perhaps he did not have license to spend major dollars on a free agent. But he certainly could have done better than he did in the offseason. In turn the Padres are wasting the one of the best pitching staffs in MLB.

Chase Utley’s homeruns: 10. Could the Phillies have three different MVPs in three consecutive seasons? Maybe. Utley had a dominant April, adding 9 doubles to his 10 homers. He’s hitting .374/.448/.788.

Overall I thought the Bears did a decent job of addressing their needs. But I think they should have flip-flopped their 2nd & 3rd rounders. Before the Bears picked Matt Forte, a run of receivers had just occurred. 5 of the 1st 11 picks of round 2 were WRs. Staring the Bears in the face were several receivers that were ranked as possible first rounders with big play ability: Limas Sweed, DeSean Jackson and Malcolm Kelly were all their for the taking.

The Bears instead chose Forte, a guy that really doesn’t look all that different than Benson to me. Certainly I hope am wrong. But they could have drafted one of those receivers and drafted a real burner from Texas–Jamaal Charles–in round 3. Like Benson, Charles had a very impressive career at Texas. Unlike Benson, he also dominated at the combine. He’s known for his pure speed and slashing ability. I don’t think the same can be said about Forte.

Forte and Bennett may turn out to be better than all the players I mentioned. But what about QB?

Why is Jerry Angelo so afraid to draft QBs? He’s so sold on Grossman and Orton. Which may turn out to be his demise. Angelo also picked players with some severe injuries, as well as those with records. Listen for his name to be called out a few times this week on “Who Ya Crappin’?” (local radio bit), especially after he recently said this: “We’re in business to win football games, [but] we’re not going to prostitute character,” Angelo said. “We don’t put winning in front of character. We did eons of work on these kids. We missed [in 2004] on Tank [Johnson]. We made a mistake, but I’m not going to let [that] interrupt how we do business.”

Thoughts on the Bears picks or the draft in general?