ROUNDOFFS: AT LEAST BETTER THAN CARL PAVANO

It was yet another exciting opening week of Major League Baseball, unfortunately with some tragedy thrown in. Our thoughts and prayers are with Nick Adenhart and the other victims of that car crash and their families. Let's take a look at what else went on in baseball's opening week:

• Who flipped the AL East standings around? The Jays in first, followed by the Os, Yankees, Rays and Red Sox. Literally the exact opposite of my prediction for the season.
  
• Other division leaders: Mariners, Padres, Cardinals, Marlins and Braves?
  
• Text sent to my friend Matt after Carl Pavano's return, "So much for Carl Pavano's triumphant return." The response, "There's nothing triumphant about being Carl Pavano. It's not like being John Malkovich." So true.
• Our quote of the week though, comes from a Nats-Marlins game last week. Now because I was flipping through different games, I'm not sure which announcer was responsible for this, but nevertheless here it is, "Nick Johnson's mother is Larry Bowa's brother. So Larry is Nick Johnson's uncle." Well any way you slice it, Bowa would end up being Nick's uncle, but I guess we'll have to wait until another game to find out how Nick's mom, in fact, became Larry Bowa's brother.
• Albert Pujols: still pretty good at hitting.
• Remember in 2008 when Cliff Lee carried the Indians rotation? Well, Cleveland, it's not 2008 anymore.
• Evan Longoria may be for real. He may not finish with the 135 homers he's on pace to hit, but 30 seems very reasonable.
• Emilio Bonifacio sure can run, but amidst his week one heroics, many may not have noticed the Pirates Nyjer Morgan having a solid week of his own.
• I'm not sure if I'd say Josh Johnson outdueled Johan Santana on Sunday, since Santana had slightly better numbers, but he did win, and he is for real.
• After the Rangers pounded the Tribe on Opening Day, they looked like they could have a fightin' chance this year, but it didn't take long to remember the Rangers can't pitch (they surrendered 28 runs in the next three games).
  
• The more I look at the AL Central, the more I think the Royals have a legitimate shot at making the Playoffs.
• For those that doubt my fanatsy strategy of not drafting "aces" early, peep these numbers: Tim Lincecum (0-1, 7.56 ERA), CC Sabathia (1-1, 4.50), Jon Lester (0-1, 9.00), Roy Oswalt (0-2, 6.23). Sure its early, but wouldn't you rather have a bunch of sluggers? Odds of all of your bats slumping at the same time, not as great.
  
• Meanwhile, some pitchers you could've snagged in the 7th round or later, after loading up with sluggers, in most fantasy leagues: Josh Johnson (2-0, 0.57), Aaron Harang (1-1, 0.64), Chris Volstad (1-0, 1.80), John Danks (0-0, 0.00), Paul Maholm (1-0, 1.32) and Zack Grienke (2-0, 0.00).
• One team that has lived up to expectations thus far is the Nationals. They are very much as bad as everyone thought. John Lannan is their ace, for pete's sake! George Dubya Bush looked pretty good throwing out the first pitch last season, maybe they could use him as a middle reliever, he's got some free time.
  
• Your buy low fantasy pick up of the week this week is of course Nyjer Morgan, cause chances are Emilio Bonifacio went faster than a tray of cheeseburgers at fat camp! Now Nyjer is not gonna give you power, but he should get on and run around quite a bit!
  
• Jason Motte is making me look stupid, which I think you all know is, extremely hard to do.
• The Nationals may be the "sexy" losers, but the Astros are no slouches themselves. Well, why sell them short, they're tremendous slouches.
• For those who don't hold much stock in the year-after-effect for pitchers who throw more than 30 innings over their previous season highs, take a look at this list of the pitchers who had the biggest increases last year: Lester, Hamels, Billingsley, and Lincecum. Just some food for thought.
• This week's series of the week, is this weekend's Cubs-Cardinals series. Already a bitter and storied rivalry, the fact that the two teams head into the week atop the NL Central should only add fuel to the fire.
  
• I guess I was wrong when I said the Yankees did not fix their bullpen needs with their offseason spending spree. Nick Swisher looked pretty solid in his first, and hopefully not last, relief outing of the season.
  
• Most underrated 1-2-3 of a rotation? Meche, Greinke, and Davies. Unfortunately, the Royals 4-5 starters are Sir Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez.
  
• The Indians must be glad they Shin-Soo Chose, Shin-Soo Choo. He's not as flashy as former Indian Taka Tanaka, but he'll get the job done.
• Your "Bitterness" Baseball Beer of the Week for Week 2 is Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55 in honor of both New York teams opening up their new parks.

Well, that wraps up another edition of Roundoffs. Hope you enjoyed and here's to a great week of baseball.