Felix Pie's hitting woes seem like the least of his worries these days.

Finally the streak is over! Here's to my beloved Boston Celtics making a run deep into the NBA playoffs. And here's to the Houston Rockets being a total non-factor this summer. Anyway, on to baseball...

Going along the lines of what Mark mentioned yesterday, I too mentioned Cameron Maybin in the first round of my recent mixed league auction draft. I had to put him up for bid first – I was wearing his West Michigan Whitecaps #30 jersey. As a devout Detroit Tigers fan, I absolutely love the guy. He's gonna get my team back to the World Series, or so I hope. By the way, he went for $7.

If you haven't noticed, the Cincinnati Reds may be a force to be reckoned with this year. They may finally have some pitching if Dusty Baker doesn't pull a…… Dusty Baker. He has a couple of young pitchers absolutely tearing it up this spring, and neither of them is named Homer Bailey. Johnny Cueto has appeared in four games, the last two of them starts. He overcame some nerves the other day against the Tigers, who may have the best lineup in all of baseball. He allowed two runs on two hits, and walked in a run. He then quickly settled down to throw four solid innings. He mixed in a changeup that I think reminds me of something I saw Pedro Martinez throw about ten years ago. The pitch is that good. This spring he's allowed only eight hits and three runs in 13 innings. He's struck out 12 and walked just four batters. The Oakland Athletics just offered Joe Blanton for Cueto, and the Reds quickly declined. The other youngster, Edinson Volquez, came over in the Josh Hamilton trade. He's finally gained confidence in his changeup to go with his mid-to-upper 90's fastball. He's tallied 19 strikeouts in 13 innings. Both are making a serious push at the starting rotation. Homer Bailey will begin the season in the minors. And did you really think Matt Belisle, Josh Fogg, and Jeremy Affeldt were the answers to the Reds’ problems?

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo, he of the arthroscopic knee surgery on February 19, threw a simulated game yesterday and will likely make his first start of the spring this Friday. This team is really going to need Gallardo this year because Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano cannot stay healthy. Their batting order could be absolutely dominating, but it won't matter if the starters can't stay healthy and Eric Gagne can't bounce back to his form of a few years ago. The loss of closer Francisco Cordero to the Reds will hurt more than Brewers fans think. Hold off on your optimism for the Brewers this year. I know they're a trendy pick to make some noise this season, but I just don't see it. Even in that division. The National League Central is Chicago's to lose. And we all know the Wild Card is coming out of the East.

The Orioles named George Sherrill their closer Tuesday. He came over in the Erik Bedard deal and is probably their best option at the back end of the pen. I consider him a situational lefty, much in the mold of the Rangers' C.J. Wilson, but the O's pen is awful and he's the best they have. Many people think Sherrill is a prospect since he was mentioned in a deal with a guy like Adam Jones, but this guy is 30 years old. He's no rookie; that's for sure. I still like the 25-year-old Jim Hoey to close some games this year. He's an imposing 6-foot-6, and throws some major gas.

The New York Yankees may not be as confident in their starting rotation as they are leading on. We all know Joba Chamberlain will start in the bullpen with an eventual move to the rotation after a couple months. What if he does what Jonathan Papelbon did for the Boston Red Sox? If so, he'll never leave the pen. The team is supposedly interested in acquiring A's pitcher Rich Harden. You know Harden, the guy who is always hurt and has no trade value.  If he's healthy, the A's want too much for him. Well, when Yankees' General Manager Brian Cashman dialed up A's General Manager Billy Beane and asked about Harden, Beane naturally wanted something good. After all, Harden is relatively healthy. For now.  Beane wants pitcher Ian Kennedy and a couple other pitchers. Stay tuned...

According to WSCR out of Chicago, the White Sox are expected to place second baseman Juan Uribe on outright waivers. He was in the mix for the starting job at second baseman since Danny Richar has been battling a bad back. If, in fact he does get placed on waivers, it does not mean the team is releasing him. They're just saying to all the other teams, “You can have him if you pay his $4.5 million salary this year.”

A couple days ago Seth Frankel brought up the strange injury that Cubs outfielder Felix Pie sustained. It was something the team doctor said was a testicular torsion. One of my favorite websites, Wikipedia, says this: “in testicular torsion the spermatic cord that provides the blood supply to a testicle is twisted, cutting off the blood supply, often causing orchalgia.  Prolonged testicular torsion will result in the death of the testicle and surrounding tissues.” I think his struggles at the plate pale in comparison. Wow.... And here's another, this one from Houston Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui. He underwent surgery to repair an anal fissure, which is a tear down there. I wonder what the hell, Japanese pre-game ritual he was doing? What is the deal with all these new injuries? Really!

I'll have my fearless predictions next week.

By the way, my Final Four is North Carolina, Stanford, UCLA, and Georgetown. Four teams with good post players. Carolina beats the Bruins and cuts the nets down.

See ya next Wednesday!