Chase Utley is locked in. Seven home runs in his last eight games, 21 on the season, and on the way to MVP.

Something is supposed to happen in Chicago today. Just exactly what that is, nobody is really sure. I am referring of course, to the most recent tirade from the mercurial manager of the Chicago White Sox – check that – the first place Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen. The Pale Hose have been up and down more than the seesaw in the kindergarten playground this season. They win three, then lose three, then win eight and lose three more. The starting pitching has been fairly consistent, with the exception of Kenny Rogers, who has not been good. It’s the offense that is most puzzling about this team. There are times when the bats seem to just go to sleep, sometimes for long stretches of time. But the bottom line is, that the White Sox play very well against, and mostly win games against the bad teams in the league, and play very poorly against, and mostly lose games against the better teams in the league. They most recently lost three out of four games against the Rays, and it was during that series that Guillen blew a gasket and threw his boss, GM Kenny Williams, under the bus; which is never a good idea.

Guillen basically demanded that Williams do something, anything really, to change the team as constituted. Guillen was not specific about what he wanted done, but he did mention a few possibilities. The two most significant options he spoke of publicly were the firing of hitting coach Greg Walker, and his own dismissal as manager. Walker has been under fire all season, and it’s believed that Williams wanted him gone back in April when the team was initially experiencing a hitting malaise. Back then, Guillen came out in support of Walker, and gave him a public vote of confidence. This time, Guillen specifically mentioned Walker as someone who might get fired, and he said that he “will not protect anyone any more.” It’s not clear that he meant Walker when he said that, but it’s also not a great leap to assume that’s who he meant.

As far as players go, it’s hard to imagine which players he might want gone. Juan Uribe has hit below the Mendoza line since the beginning of the season, but Guillen seems to have a soft spot in his heart for Uribe’s glove, even though he has an offensive machine in Alexei Ramirez, who seems to finally be settling into life in MLB and hitting like he did in Cuba. Then there is a trio of players, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, and newcomer Nick Swisher, whose combined batting average is .209 so far this season. Thome and Swisher aren’t going anywhere, but Konerko’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors before, as recently as spring training there was talk that Konerko was being shopped around by Williams. The only problem is that Konerko may be damaged goods. He has been nursing a wrist injury that required a cortisone shot recently, and there is some indication that the injury remains unhealed. There may not even be much of a market for his services right now anyway. Although, the Rangers are in need of a first baseman, and the Mets could certainly use an upgrade for Carlos Delgado.

Orlando Cabrera was recently involved in a flap with Guillen, though that issue is supposedly closed, as Guillen and Cabrera had a sit down and worked out their differences last week. So it looks like Cabrera will be with the team at least until the end of the season. They cannot afford to deal any pitchers, as the farm system is already devoid of talent after a winter of trades that netted Swisher, Cabrera, and the one really good player that Williams acquired, Carlos Quentin. All of which brings us back to the question – what is going to happen in Chicago today. I don’t pretend to have any answers, but my guess is that Ken Williams will fire hitting coach Greg Walker. The only question is whether he also dumps Guillen. It’s certainly possible, mainly because I seriously doubt that Williams appreciated being thrown under the bus by the likes of Guillen.

Let’s take a quick look at what’s going on in the boxscores.

Is Chase Utley locked in or what? Monday night he mashed his 21^st home run of the season. Utley has hit a home run in each of his last five games, and in seven of his last eight games. Plus, he is maintaining a .320 average. I’ve written it before, but I am compelled to write it again. Chase Utley is your 2008 season MVP – take it to the bank.

Cincinnati Reds uber-prospect Jay Bruce is living up the hype so far. Since his arrival, he is 15 for 25 (.577) with three home runs, including a walk off in extra innings. He can’t possibly keep this up, but is ever fun to watch. Can you say Rookie of the Year?

There are several interesting pitching happenings going on today; Joba Chamberlain gets his first start of the season today, and Justin Masterson comes back for another spot start for the Red Sox. And let us not forget the return of Pedro Martinez to the Mets starting rotation. Chamberlain and Masterson both have bright futures ahead of them, but something tells me that we may not see too much more of Pedro, so enjoy him while he is still around.

Joe Mauer hit his first home run since last August.

Since taking over the closers job May 24^th, Salomon Torres has five saves and a win in six appearances. He has given up two hits and one walk, and struck out four in five and one-third innings.

John Smoltz’ return to the Braves didn’t go so well. He blew his first save, giving up two runs on three hits in his inning of work. If you own Smoltz, don’t worry; he’ll come around soon enough.

Those of you wondering whether Prince Fielder was ever going to come around need not wonder any more. He’s mashed three homers in his last four games, and over his last 30 games he is batting .304. The buy low window is about to slam shut on Big Daddy’s son.

Now that Manny Ramirez has hit the 500 home run plateau, and bashed right through it, watch out, because he is about to go off on one of his patented hitting tears. With Big Papi David Ortiz on the DL for the next month, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ramirez pick the Red Sox up and carry them through to the All Star break, hitting .350 and knocking in 40 runs with 8-10 homers along the way.

Looking over the All Star voting results so far, there is an interesting phenomenon occurring, which will probably horrify the Yankees and Yankee fans all over. If the vote continues along current trends, we could see a starting field that includes Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, and Manny Ramirez for the last All Star game in The House that Ruth built. All five of those Red Sox players have comfortable leads in the voting for their positions. If it weren’t for Alex Rodriguez, Mike Lowell would also be in the running, as he is second to A-Rod in the voting at third base. I can just imagine how ticked off Hank Steinbrenner will be, not to mention George, to see all those Red Sox in the lineup, and Terry Francona managing them too.

That’s all for me today folks. Shake it easy.