It appears that Jason Kendall's wife was cheating on him, which I consider to be very serious. But, I can't help but laugh at some of the testimonies. Kendall tried to throw a baseball at her, but he missed high? Reminds me of him trying to throw out base runners. And he beat a cake with a baseball bat?

I mean, I can't make this up.

Abraham is a contributor to i94 Sports. You can find his daily thoughts at his site Wisconsin Sports Colony.

Interesting stuff from Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald:

"The Bears have made it clear that there is no tomorrow. It's all about life preservers now, and management needs to find a few more victories or go home for good. So what in the world are they waiting for on Brandon Marshall?

[snip]

Yes, the asking price will be high, but who cares? Denver placed only a first-round tender on the restricted free agent, meaning any team signing Marshall to an offer sheet would have to give the Broncos a first-round pick as compensation.

That's assuming, of course, that the Broncos wouldn't match the offer, and if they had any intention of doing that they would have placed a first and a third on Marshall.

Of course, the Broncos already own the Bears' first-round pick this year from the Cutler trade, but there's a way around that.

Denver could sign Marshall to a long-term deal the Bears agree is acceptable, and then trade Marshall to Chicago for whatever Denver wants in next year's draft, say a first and a lower pick, or if the Broncos balk, a first and a defensive player of some value.

Throw in Greg Olsen, too, if it makes them feel better."

What does this group have to lose? As currently constructed they appear to be headed out of town. If Brett Favre returns and has a season even close to 2009, the Vikings are still a better team. The Packers are getting better each year as they young core of players gains more experience, and I believe they are still a better team.

Bears management has said that the wide receiver position is not a priority this off-season, but let's be honest, the group they have out there isn't going to cut it. If the Bears can somehow find a way to get this deal done, which I know is a long shot, it would be the best move they made in 2010, Peppers signing included.

Have you seen what the Bucks have done over their last 12 games? Me neither, but apparently they have won 11 of 12 and now find themselves the fifth seed in the Eastern conference.

How are they doing it?

Well, four players in particular are playing extremely well over that span: John Salmons, Brandon Jennings, Carlos Delfino and Andrew Bogut.

Here are their numbers over the last five games:

Ex-Bull John Salmons has been impressive since joining Milwaukee, averaging 18.9 points per game.

The Bucks have all but locked a playoff berth up and are on a collision course with the Celtics for a first round match up. Do you think these two plays will be remembered?

This thing never seems to go away. In an interview with Colleen Dominquez, Milton Bradley says he felt like "a prisoner in his own home" during his time in Chicago.

"When you get paid a lot of money to play this game, they expect miracles. And when you don't go out there and perform like that, then people don't like it. People don't want to see a guy that's brash and cocky and a little arrogant and kind of does his own thing making a lot of money. They were like, 'He doesn't deserve that.'"

Is there anything to that? Probably. Was there racism involved, probably. Do we have to keep rehashing this thing?

Some good stuff from 670 The Score's Blog. Dan Bernstein outlines some particulars regarding the Julius Peppers deal and the man responsible for constructing it. For those who are worried about Julius taking the money and taking plays off, you might want to read this:

One of the Bears’ savviest-ever moves was the hiring of former agent Cliff Stein in 2002.  Three years ago, he was put in charge of all player-contract negotiations as Senior Director of Football Administration and General Counsel.  Since then, the team has balanced nicely their major expenditures and cap flexibility, maintaining the likelihood that their highest-paid players would be the best performers and allowing for relatively painless departures if the team feels otherwise.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the recent deal signed by Julius Peppers allows the Bears to pull the plug, essentially, after only one season of guaranteed money.  Mike Florio of PFT did a nice job of ferreting out the details as he followed up on some work by Peter King, revealing that Peppers gets $20 MM  up front and guaranteed.  The “guaranteed” dollars for the next two years — totalling $22 MM — are guaranteed for injury only up to a certain date each off-season, allowing the Bears to cut Peppers if they feel his skills are not worthy.

The Angelo/Smith management or the new group can decide on Peppers’s future after 2010 and each year thereafter, and Peppers also has reason to bust his butt, rather than rest on a pile of cash.

Peppers has been called out for playing hard in his contract seasons, and this is good news for Bears fans, because essentially Peppers will be in a contract year every year with Chicago.

My brothers scolded me for being late on the free agent frenzy in Chicago. I addressed some of it yesterday, but I know this video is something they will love, and something my Packer fan friends will hate. Enjoy boys.

I feel the comment section getting warmed up.

Instead of projecting how the Sox will do this season, i94 Sports takes a look at each position and asks: Is this the best the Sox could do?

Top Available Second Basemen

• Orlando Hudson: Signed with Minnesota; 1 year, $5 million
• Felipe Lopez: Signed with St. Louis; 1 year, $1.75 million
• Placido Polanco: Signed with Philadelphia; 3 years, $18 million
• Mark DeRosa: Signed with San Francisco; 2 years, $12 million
• Ronnie Belliard: Signed with Los Angeles Dodgers; 1 year, $825,000

On the criteria of these preview posts, this is one of the easier ones: At second base, this is the best the White Sox could do. Gordon Beckham’s experience as a middle infielder, and how well his bat projects as a second baseman, makes him the clear choice.

Though, Beckham may be the team’s best shortstop, too.

When the Sox announced Beckham's move to second base, some wondered why he didn't go to his original position: shortstop. That way the Sox could move Alexei Ramirez back to second. This is understandable because Ramirez was bad defensively last season; he was also a bad defensive second baseman in 2008. At both shortstop and second, according to Baseball Prospectus 2010, Ramirez allowed more runs than the average player at his position.

However, Ramirez’s propensity for the highlight reel play makes some believe his defensive lapses are the result of lackluster concentration; because of this, because Beckham’s defensive ability up the middle is a mystery, and because there were some scouts who believed Beckham was “fringy” as a shortstop when he was drafted, I think the Sox made the right choice moving Beckham to second.

Aside from Ramirez, Beckham is a tremendous upgrade over the other second basemen on the 2009 Sox roster: Chris Getz and Jayson Nix. This isn’t a tremendous feat though. Getz (who was traded to the Royals in November for Mark Teahen) is extremely grindy, but that’s about all he contributes. And Nix couldn’t overcome Getz’s grindiness for more at-bats, at least partly, because he failed to reach the “Mendoza Line” against right-handers.

But more telling than Beckham being better than those on the roster, Beckham is a better option than any of the top available second basemen, listed above. So unless you really like Orlando Hudson, you'll agree, the time has come to hand second base over to Beckham for the next few years or so.

At second, Beckham's bat is even more valuable, especially in the power categories. About the only question remaining with Beckham's skill set is his power, but this is hardly an issue up the middle. Even if Beckham just matches last season's production (14 homers), he'll be among the AL's second base leaders.

But considering Beckham was a rookie, learning a new position, it's fair to expect improvement across the board. The only question is how much more productive will Beckham be than the average second baseman.

Erick is a contributor to i94 Sports. You can find his daily thoughts at his site Outside the Clubhouse.

It was an exciting Friday at Halas Hall, when for a second straight year the Bears landed to top prize of the off-season. Julius Peppers, all 81 sacks and 30 forced fumbles of him, will wear navy and orange in 2010. No longer can Bears fans say the team doesn't spend money as Peppers $42 million guaranteed represents the most guaranteed money in the NFL.

The Bears also solidified themselves at the running back position, signing Chester Taylor and they gave Mike Martz exactly what he wanted with Brandon Manumaleuna, a prototypical pass blocking tight end.

All that being done, there is still more work to do, most notably at the safety position. The only question is how. The free agent market is slim, but it's the direction I would like them to look, at two players in particular.

The first is Oshiomogho (OJ) Atogwe. Atogwe, who spent his last five seasons with the Rams, is exactly the type of player that Lovie Smith dreams about when visions of the Tampa-2 dance in his head. In his five seasons in St. Louis, Atogwe has forced 14 fumbles and picked off 19 passes.

The second is Ryan Clark from Pittsburgh. While Clark isn't as athletic as some of the other safeties available, he might be the smartest football player. At 30 years old, he would also provide some veteran help to the secondary, but he is still young enough to play out a contract.

Darren Sharper is another option, but at 34 he could be a risky sign.

Atogwe isn't a franchise defensive back, but as long as Lovie is in charge of this defense, he is a solid fit, and he might come rather cheap, that is if they can get him. The Rams tendered Atogwe at the RFA lowest level available--the right of first refusal.

The move could potentially save the Rams millions of dollars. If they had chosen to tender Atogwe at the highest level, he would have received around $7 million. Now, they just have to match another team's offer. However, if a different team offers him a deal, the Rams have the option to match but will not receive any compensation if they allow Atogwe to move on.

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