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Colorado Rockies Could Be Surprise Team Out West In 2011

The Colorado Rockies did their best impression of the New York Yankees this offseason by giving stud shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and last year's National League batting champion Carlos Gonzalez huge long-term deals.

Those two are the foundation for this Rockies team, but they have some nice pieces mixed in with those two, and the reason that there is a lot of optimism surrounding this Rockies team in 2011.

Here's a scout's take on this team from Sports Illustrated.com:

"They're one of the best teams in the league. Tell me a team with a better core than Ubaldo Jimenez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Carlos Gonzalez? Jimenez's mechanics got out of whack in the second half last season [but] he's the next guy they're going to lock up long term. Todd Helton is showing more raw power than last year."

While I wouldn't call them one of the best teams in the league, they do have a lot of talented young players. Jimenez overachieved in the first half of 2010 and underachieved in the second half. He has electric stuff, but his command will probably never be above average.

The pitching staff can be very good with Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge De La Rosa behind Jimenez.

The problem comes from the offense. There's not a lot there besides Tulowitzki and Gonzalez.

"The Rockies play great defense," wrote ESPN.com analyst Keith Law, "roll out three good-to-great starters and use a two-man lineup with a lot of easy outs."

If the Rockies can get any production from anyone in the lineup not named Tulowitzki or Gonzalez, they can compete with the Giants in the National League West.

They may not be the favorites, but with some luck they can challenge anyone in the league.

Related Story: The Rockies' Big Future

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Can Boston Possibly Live Up To All The Pressure They Have Put On Themselves

Boston finds themselves in a position that they haven't been in many times over the last 100 years: The best team in baseball entering the season. It's happened a lot recently, but never has the team looked this good on paper before a season.

Not that anyone will feel sorry for them if they don't, but can this team possibly live up to the expectations heaped upon them?

They acquired one of the best first basemen in baseball when they traded for Adrian Gonzalez. They signed Carl Crawford, the best position player on the free agent market this winter, away from division rival Tampa Bay.

Add to that full seasons from Dustin Pedroia, Josh Beckett and Jacoby Ellsbury and this Red Sox team looks dominant.

They won 89 games in 2010 without Pedroia, Ellsbury, Beckett and Kevin Youkilis for a large portion of the season, and they finished second in the American League in runs.

So how do you beat this team when they are healthy?

You probably can't.

From Sports Illustrated.com:

""That's some kind of deep lineup. If you take a cylinder away from this engine, it's still a Ferrari. Adrian Gonzalez could very possibly be a monster on that team and Carl Crawford's a big game-changer for this club but they have to keep Kevin Youkilis healthy. He has to provide that righthanded presence, much like Dustin Pedroia, who's the igniter for his club. David Ortiz has been great this spring. He's got his bat speed back."

They aren't without their question marks, though. The rotation has to be better, with better overall numbers from Josh Beckett and John Lackey, and Jonathan Papelbon needs to walk fewer guys, but their pitching problems could be overstated.

From ESPN.com's Keith Law:

"The Red Sox are the most complete team in the league right now, although I think their run-scoring may fall a little short of expectations, but their run prevention should be among the league's strongest."

Boston did everything right this offseason. They added a ton of potential to their lineup. Their defense will be better. The rotation will be solid, at worst. The bullpen, with the additions of Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler, should be great.

The Sawx, for the first time ever, look like "The Evil Empire."

Related Story: Can Jarrod Saltalamacchia Handle Being An Everyday Player

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The Philadelphia Phillies Are In Trouble This Year Thanks To Their Weak Offense

When Philadelphia made the deal to bring Cliff Lee back to town, the question wasn't would they win a World Series but how many would they win.

It's easy to understand why. They have two legitimate No. 1 starters - Lee and Roy Halladay - and two top of the rotation starters behind them - Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee. Oh yeah, they have Joe Blanton, too. This kind of rotation hasn't been seen since Atlanta in the early 90's.

One Sports Illustrated writer, Steve Rushin, wrote that the Phillies would sweep their way to a World Series in his predictions for 2011 back in December.

"Fortunately, the fall brought other thrills, namely the World Series," Rushin wrote, "which saw the Phillies sweep the Yanks behind four consecutive shutouts by Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, whose name is an anagram of Camel Holes, which is what chain smokers called their mouths in 2011. All National League managers, and many hitters, were chain-smoking unfiltered Camels when facing the Phillies in 2011."

To be fair, that was back in December when the lineup had Chase Utley in it.

But looking at that offense, there are a number of holes that can be picked apart. As good as the pitching staff can be, the offense will have to back them up at some point.

Buster Olney from ESPN.com wrote "I went to spring training assuming that I would take the Phillies to win the NL East, but their injuries are significant, a major concern for a lineup that appears very thin. Charlie Manuel is scrambling to identify a No. 3 hitter and a No. 5 hitter, and as one veteran pitcher said to me this spring, there is absolutely no reason to throw Ryan Howard anything but breaking balls."

I don't see the Phillies missing the playoffs. They can win their division, but the path to the once guaranteed World Series is a lot murkier today than it was the day Cliff Lee signed with the team in December.

They aren't better than Boston. They aren't better than San Francisco. I don't think they're better than Atlanta.

Their problems, and age, will cost them a World Series in 2011.

Related Story: 10 Bold Predictions For The Phillies In 2011

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Mike Brey Named AP Coach Of The Year, But Did He Deserve It?

One of the worst things about postseason awards in sports is that unless the person who gets the award wins a championship, the pick will often times be scrutinized.

Take for instance Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, who was named The Associated Press' Coach of the Year on Friday. The Irish had a great year, they finished second in the Big East conference and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament as a result. But they were knocked out in the second round of the tournament by Florida State.

Plus, if you want to look at best coaching job, there are a number of different places that you could look. Mike Krzyzewski at Duke got his team a No. 1 seed in the tournament and an ACC tournament championship, without Kyrie Irving for most of the year. San Diego State was brilliant all year, losing only two games to one team, but Steve Fisher finished second in the voting. Or how about Thad Matta at Ohio State or Jamie Dixon at Pitt, who won the Big East conference?

There's no doubt that Brey and Notre Dame had a brilliant year, but I would bet that if you took the voting after the season someone like Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens would get consideration from the voting panel.

I mean what's more impressive: A Big East team that won 27 games or a mid-major team like VCU running through five major conference teams to make it to the Final Four?

I know that you can't look at just one small sample size to make a decision like this, but it would still be interesting to see how many people would give someone like Smart support for this award if it were voted on today.

Congratulations to coach Brey. He did a terrific job and was as good a choice as anyone in the country to receive it.

Related Story: Putting The Final Stamp On Notre Dame's 2010-11 Season

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Former NBA All-Star Allen Iverson Gets In Trouble Again

Allen Iverson made a great career out of defying the odds. He was only 6-feet tall and about 175 pounds when he entered the NBA, but his lack of size didn't stop him from putting together a Hall of Fame career. He led a 76ers team to the NBA Finals in 2001 with no one else on the roster.

Despite all that success, he was always clashing with somebody about something. He got into it with his former coach Larry Brown about practice, not a game. He clashed with the sixers organization and was eventually shipped to Denver in 2006.

Off the court, Iverson has had his issues as well. The latest in a long line of problems occurred Thursday in Atlanta, when, according to the report on Foxsports.com, he was pulled over and his car was impounded because of expired dealer tags.

This is hardly the most egregious thing to ever take place, but it just continues the downward spiral of one of the best NBA players of the last 20 years. He may have deep rooted problems that could shorten his life.

From Stephen A. Smith in March 2010:

"Allen Iverson is in trouble, folks, deep trouble. The combination of alcohol and gambling - and a once-promising career in tatters because of the first two - won't culminate in anything short of disaster if help does not arrive in short order.

If numerous NBA sources are telling the truth - and there's no reason to believe they'd do otherwise in a situation of this magnitude - Iverson will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away."

As that article pointed out a little later on, Iverson's wife had filed for divorce and took their five kids with her. That kind of thing can't help matters.

Maybe the problem is that the only thing he ever felt good doing was playing basketball, and now he is at a point in his life where he can't do that as well as he once did. He isn't the electrifying star who was able to cross over Michael Jordan anymore.

We don't know what's going on in Iverson's head, but he continues to make or be around, when mistakes are made. You hope that one day something will click for him and he can straighten his act, but it could be too late.

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Dennis Rodman Had One Of The Most Unique Careers On And Off The NBA Court

The Detroit Pistons are going to honor Dennis Rodman during their game with the Chicago Bulls this evening. His No. 10 jersey will be retired at halftime of the game tonight.

It's a fitting game, and date, to honor his career because he made his name early on with the Pistons but had a number of big years with the Bulls. Today, as everyone knows, is April Fool's Day, and as one Yahoo sports writer pointed out, "a cynic could joke that the Pistons properly picked April Fool's Day for this ceremony..."

For all Rodman's eccentricities, he was truly a larger than life figure for a long time. He had some deep psychological issues, which really hurt his reputation, but he was a fantastic player for an 11 year stretch. And, he did it without being a good scorer.

Rodman was a force on the defensive side of the ball, leading the league seven consecutive years.

Off the court, Rodman had his quirks. He wore a dress, had tattoos all over his body, more piercings than you could count and was very stand-offish with the media. But you can never say that he wasn't entertaining.

Whether you agree with the way that Rodman lived his life is irrelevant. He is worthy of this honor that the Pistons are bestowing upon him. He did things that very few people in the NBA could do.

As LZ Granderson from ESPN.com wrote, "The Carmelo Anthonys and Kevin Durants may have a place in the hearts of fans, but players like Rodman will always be the love of their coaches' lives. A player who can fill in the holes at a high level makes the road to the championship so much easier."

Every team would be better with a player like Rodman on it, and the world was a much more fascinating place because of a man like Rodman.

He has had one of the most legendary careers on and off the court.

Related Story: Dennis Rodman Gave Current Piston Greg Monroe His Blessing To Wear No. 10