BOBBY: I just read your Cust post where you say the White Sox are "set" if they somehow are able to acquire him... but with the MLB rich getting richer -- the Yanks presumably having a loaded 2009 team, the BoSox signing Lackey and having a great 1-3 in the rotation, the Phils landing Roy Halladay who will presumably burn down the National League -- does any of this Sox stuff even matter? With so many completely loaded teams, is the MLB more like the NBA than we think? Or are we playing the always possible and always more optimistic "baseball is a total crapshoot/the Sox have a chance" card"? Maybe, after this recent Yankees World Series victory (granted, their first in, like, a decade) I'm feeling like big money teams own the sport. Am I wrong?

RICKY: When I say the Sox would be "set," I don't mean that they'll contend to win the most regular season games in the American League. "Set" would refer to the division. Because, after all, winning your division in baseball is really all you can ask for. Make the playoffs and you've got a chance.

So to answer your question: yes, the baseball playoffs are still a total crapshoot. Only three times since 1995 has the team with the most regular season wins won the World Series. What the Yanks did last year would qualify as abnormal. To prove my point, look at this pretty picture.

It ranks how every team finished the regular season. The pink box signifies the team that won the World Series.

Remember, we're only four seasons removed from the 83-win Cardinals making Will Leitch and Nelly cry October tears of joy. In the words of Bill Walton, that team was turrible. I mean, the '06 Cards won just 51% of their games! They were the equivalent of an 8-8 NFL team or a 42-win NBA team. But they got hot in a few short series and that's all that matters.

Shortly after the Yanks won the World Series, Joe Posnanski -- who, I have to say, really does live up the hype -- wrote a great piece on the unfairness of the Yankees' payroll. He argues that one of the reasons people don't get pissed off more often about the Yankees routinely spending $70 million more on players than even the second richest team is because baseball is able to hide their dominance through this goofy playoff system. After all, your season and team can only truly be verified as "great" if you win the whole thing, right? This part sums it up nicely.

At the end of the year, the best teams are thrown together in a succession of short series that are fun to watch but are not designed to pick the best teams. Quite the opposite: A short series in baseball is designed to shelter weaknesses and expose strengths. Yuni Betancourt can out-hit A-Rod in a five-game series. Livan Hernandez can out-pitch Tim Lincecum in a one-game match-up. Baseball doesn't hide this -- they slam it down your throat. October baseball! Anything's possible! And so on.

Yep. Even if the Yankees will be a juggernaut again in 2010 (they will be), don't hand them the hardware just yet.

Full story

It was a storyline that was going to write itself. The White Sox were either going to lose their last game at the Metrodome and go out with a whimper or win and "exercise the demon" of the seventh oldest...

Full story

There was an obvious line of happiness regression that began early on this beautiful Thursday and ended about midway through it.Phase 1: 9 out of 10 excitement ... disbelief mixed with happily surprisedI woke up around 7 a.m. at my...

Full story

Statistics are fun.  They're indicative of value, constantly changing, highly debatable and Joe Morgan hates them.  What's not to like?With 24 of the 30 Major League teams playing their first games, we've got all sorts of goofy one-game stats too...

Full story

Potentially a new regular late-night Wednesday feature in these here parts... It's kind of list-y so I figured most of you would probably dig that...or not...whatever. I worked the night shift tonight, starting around 4 p.m. I spent the first...

Full story

Chicago Cubs 92-70I’m all for guarded optimism and whatnot, but it’s a little surprising our resident Cubbie blogger J-Cizzle stuck the North Siders with only 86 wins. Look, no one who is currently wearing white socks wants to admit it,...

Full story

By most measures, acquiring Nick Swisher from the A’s this offseason was a great deal, even if it did gut the organization of most of their top prospects. Swisher is monster at the plate; his patience-power approach will be refreshing...

Full story

If there is one thing White Sox fans know about Ozzie Guillen, it’s that he plays favorites with the guys on his roster. Get on his good side, and you’ll see plenty of at bats. Get on his bad side,...

Full story

Despite only having a .500 record, Ozzie Guillen has to like what he’s seeing from his Chicago White Sox so far this season. While the middle of the lineup has gotten off to a slow start, the starting pitching has...

Full story