It's the weekend finally and there seems to be some good matchups this weekend.  Here's the info on the big series of the weekend:

Yankees(12-10) @ Indians(10-12)
Let's just say that these two teams don't like each other.  Cleveland was the big dog in the AL in the mid 1990's until the Yankees stepped up and took the mantle from them.  Everyone loves being the Yankees and the Indians are no exception.  Coming off a strong series against the Royals, look for the Indians to keep the pressure on.  The Yankees will hopefully have A-Rod back in the lineup and the Yankees miss Carmona and Cliff Lee, the most consistant healthy pitchers for the Indians.  Pick:  Yankees take 2 of 3

Angels(14-9) @ Tigers(10-13)
Detroit just got done sweeping the powerless Rangers at home and they have found their offensive stride.  Having Curtis Granderson back in the lineup will make the Tigers the team to beat in the AL Central again and Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez and Co. are now hitting a ton.  The Angels won the last game in Boston, but they seem to be missing something....their starting pitching.  Pick:  Tigers sweep

Diamondbacks(16-6) @ Padres(9-14)
This is a pitching dream series, for the most part.  Friday, you have Randy Johnson(0-1) v. Randy Wolf(2-0).  Saturday, it's Micah Owings(4-0) taking the mound v. Justin Germano(0-2).  On Sunday, you have Brandon Webb(5-0) v. Jake Peavy(3-0)-why this game isn't the Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN is beyond me.  I'd much rather watch this game than do what I'm going to do(listen to it).  I think the Big Unit will get his stuff together and throw a great game on Friday, the question is will Wolf match him pitch-for-pitch?  Pick:  Diamondbacks take 2 of 3

These are the three series that I'm looking forward must to.  It should be a great weekend!

We've had everyone under the sun complain about starting the season in early April in cold weather cities(Hey, that's where the sport started!) and we've had tons of games postponed due to the weather and we even had a series moved from Cleveland to Milwaukee and that series drew more fans in BrewCrew country than a Marlins 6, 9, or maybe 12 game homestand in Miami.(around 56 K for the Angels-Indians series) But here's the big things I've gotten out of the first 2 weeks of the season.

First, how are the Atlanta Braves doing it? They’re off to an amazing start without one of their starters in Mike Hampton, who is out for the year, and then they find out at the beginning of the season that Andruw Jones wants to stay in Atlanta. I can tell you how they’re doing it…pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Their biggest problem last season was their bullpen and now that is fixed with Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez setting up Bob Wickman and their starters are pitching pretty good. Sure, it’s early in the NL East but I think it’ll be a 3 team race to the end between the Braves, Mets, and Phillies(a 1-6 start is almost a kiss of death…ALMOST) and at the end of the year, the Braves might be the team to beat.

Next, the NL Central and NL West won’t be decided any time soon. Sure the Dodgers are attempting to run away from the rest of the division, but it’s not happening. In the Central, the Cardinals are winning without Chris Carpenter while the rest of the division is not taking advantage of this.

At the beginning of the season, who would have thought that Jose Valverde, Saloman Torres, Al Reyes, Armando Benitez, Dan Wheeler, Eric Gagne, and 50 Florida Marlins relievers would have more saves than Mariano Rivera? The Yankees are 5-6 and they are either losing or blowing teams out(the exception was A-Rod’s game-winning Grand Slam against the Orioles April 8). The rotation has more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese and they can’t get Roger Clemens to the Bronx soon enough. I think, in the long run, the Yankees will fall short to either the Blue Jays or the Red Sox(or both).

Does the AL Central have a bad team? I know that the Royals are struggling right now(they need more pitching…when’s Luke Hockevar or Brian Bannister coming up?), but they will have a good team later in the season behind Alex Gordon and David DeJesus. Can I be the first to say that this is the best division in baseball….As of 4/15, the only team with a losing record was the Royals and the Indians are leading the division with a 6-3 record, a ½ game in front of both Minnesota and Detroit, with the ChiSox in 4th Place 2 games back with a 5-6 record. Just think if this division wasn’t located in cold weather locations….

The AL West has the 2007 AL Cy Young award winner in it. Take 3 guesses who that is…Rich Harden…NO….John Lackey….NO….Dan Haren….NO…..Felix Hernandez! King Felix outdueled DiceK in his Fenway debut with a one hitter. Hernandez hasn’t given up a run in his first 2 starts(an 8 inning win and then the one hitter on Wednesday). When I watched this kid’s major league debut, I thought he was going to be special. This season, he’s 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 18/4 K/BB ratio. That’s what we like to call a great start to the season.

For once, I feel that the Yankees will not make the playoffs.  They did a good job unloading some veterans(Gary Sheffield and Randy Johnson) for prospects, while signing Andy Pettitte to a 2 year deal and Kei Igawa to a 3 year deal from Japan.  Here's the preview, position by position.

Catcher
Jorge Posada is still the heart and soul of this team.  Some people will say that Jeter is the person who makes the team go, but if it wasn't for Posada the pitching staff wouldn't be as productive as they have been during the run.  Sure, his bat isn't exactly what it once was, but as he goes, the Yankees go.  Grade:  A-

First Base
This is, without a doubt, the weakest part of the Yankees lineup.  Offensively, Doug Mientkiewictz isn't a good fit for this lineup.  He's a left handed bat with no power who will give you .250 a year now.  However, he is a great fielder and maybe he'll save a few of A-Rod's errors.  Grade:  C+

Second Base
Robinson Cano is a good player who actually came from the Yankees farm system recently.  He's a switchhitter who should be able to hit to all fields.  I also like having Miguel Cairo as a backup here, I wish he would have stayed in St. Louis after 2003.  Grade:  B

Shortstop
The man that New Yorkers feel was robbed of an MVP award last year, Derek Jeter is the cog that gets the offense going.  However, he is not truly doing what a captain is supposed to do.  If he was the settling influence on and off the field, none of this A-Rod #### would be occuring.  Derek, you're probably the best shortstop of this generation but please attempt to settle this team down.  Grade:  A

Third Base
A-Rod....A-Rod....A-Rod....have you forgotten how to field?  Sure your numbers weren't up to your gaudy standards, but you had a good year at the plate.  If you could eliminate some of the errors, there is no reason why you shouldn't win a gold glove at third before you decide to opt out of your contract.  Grade:  B+

Outfield
"Godzilla", Johnny Damon, and Bobby Abreu make one hell of an outfield.  Damon is the tablesetter and hopefully all three will be healthy all year.  The only issue I have is they are all left handed.  Grade:  A-

Designated Hitter
Jason Giambi had a good bounceback season last year, but can he repeat it?  I'm guessing no.  Grade:  C+

Starting Rotation
Here is where the hard work of Brian Cashman should pay dividends.  For the Yankees to succeed this season, the two lefties they acquired need to have great seasons.  Andy Pettitte needs to get back to how he pitched before the 3 year sebatical from the Bronx, he is built to pitch at the Stadium.  Mr. Igawa needs to just do what he did in Japan to have a good season.  The ace of the staff is Chien-Ming Wang and he has the stuff that could get him a Cy Young within the next 3 years.  If I were the Yankees, I would let Phil Hughes have a shot at the rotation in spring training.  This would either make Carl Pavano work harder or he will be sent to the bullpen.  The Moose is also back as the #2 starter after a good season.  Grade:  B+

Bullpen
The greatest closer in postseason history, Mariano Rivera, is mad at the Yankees for the way they have treated Bernie Williams.  If Mo is distracted, he may struggle early on.  He should be able to turn it on come August.  Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth are the main setup men to get to Rivera.  Proctor is coming off of a career year last season and Farnsworth needs to pitch better in the clutch than he did last season.  Grade:  B

Overview
I know that I have the Yankees listed in third in my early AL East predictions.  The main reason behind that is the issues that can and will distract this team.  A-Rod needs to decide early on whether or not he is going to opt out of his contract and Mr. Steinbrenner needs to give complete control to Brian Cashman, he's earned it.  If the pitching comes along, the Yanks could be in the postseason.  If it struggles, then the Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time since the '94 strike.  I'm thinking it is going to be a fun race to watch between the Yanks, Sox, and the Blue Jays.  Grade:  B+

According to numerous reports....Todd Helton is about to be traded to the Boston Red Sox.  In a move that would be beneficial to both teams, the Sox would get Helton while the Rockies would get Mike Lowell(the issue there would be Garrett Atkins is their starting 3B and is pretty good), reliever Julian Tavarez(a sinkerball pitcher, they tend to work well at Coors) and at least 1 top line prospect(maybe Craig Hansen).  The Rockies would get a proven 3B(which they don't need...they could flip him for another reliever possibly or a 1B), an ok reliever and possibly the Sox's best pitching prospect for the player that has been the face of the franchise since he was drafted from Tennessee.  All the Sox would get is the second or third best 1B in the majors.

The reasons why I think Helton has a great shot at .400 next season, if he is traded to the Red Sox, are as follows...The lineup.  If you look at the Red Sox lineup now, you can say that Helton would be the #5 hitter, between Manny and J.D. "When am I going to get hurt again" Drew.  Here would be their lineup w/Helton

1.  Julio Lugo SS
2.  Kevin Youkilis 3B
3.  David Ortiz DH
4.  Manny Ramirez LF
5.  Todd Helton 1B
6.  J.D. Drew RF
7.  Jason Varitek C
8.  Coco Crisp CF
9.  Dustin Pedroia/Alex Cora 2B

Now that lineup is scary and, at first glance, is probably the best in baseball.  The other main reason why I think he could hit .400 playing half of his games in Fenway is The Green Monster!  Helton is an excellent opposite field hitter and fly balls to left at Coors will now clank off of "The Monsta".  Picture Wade Boggs bashing the wall over and over and over and that will be Helton.

Of course, this trade could fall through just like the A-Rod to the Sox trade did in the 2003 offseason.  I think the Rockies do need to make this trade to give them even more flexibility in their payroll.  The Jason Jennings trade was the first key trade for the Rockies and the next could be Helton to the Sox.  Other teams that might want to/could make a push for Helton include the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(some good young players and could trade Hillenbrand as well) and the New York Yankees(he would definately be an upgrade from Doug Mientkiewicz and Jason Giambi combined).