There is little doubt that heading into the 2008 season the Los Angeles Dodgers are one of baseball's most improved teams. They brought in a Japanese starter in Hiroki Kuroda. They added a gold golve to center field with Andruw Jones. And they brought in one of the games' best managers in Joe Torre. But, one of the keys to the success for LA in 2008 may be their first baseman, James Loney.

Since taking over the first base job in the middle of June last year, Loney hit 15 Home Runs with 67 RBI in just 344 AB while posting a .331 batting average. Those numbers projected over a full season translate to 26 HR and 110 RBI while maintaining a .300 plus batting average.

This spring Loney does need to 'fight' for his job with veteran Nomar Garciaparra. But Nomar is generally battling for a spot at third base with Andy LaRoche and the first base job is Loney's to lose. That lack of pressure combined with the fact that he'll be batting lower in the Dodgers lineup set up for a good sophomore performance from the young slugger. There is no reason to expect less than 20 HR and 80-90 RBI with a .300 batting average. And while those are impressive numbers for most players, his position is a deep one when it comes to fantasy baseball. 

There were 16 players eligible at first base chosen before Loney in the GSI Mock Draft. That puts him near the fourth tier at the position. Loney certainly is not the player you want to have for your top first baseman but in leagues that play multiple corner positions and utility positions, he has tremendous upside. He will hit more Home Runs than players like Todd Helton and Kevin Youkilis while maintaining a similar average. And while he may not quite provide the power of a Carlos Delgado or Paul Konerko, he won't hurt a team in average like those veterans will.

I had a chance to sit down with the Cincinnati Bearcats star wide-reciever Marshwan Gilyard this week. I had many questions for him and I also recieved a couple questions from UC fans too. Mardy was kind enough to answer alot of these.

I asked, "What does it feel like to be part of a top 25 program?" He replied, "To me it is the will to stick out and about being better. I want to be the best not the worst. I know how it feels to be the worst, like the year we went 4-7. Now it seems that we can turn it around from a couple years ago and be best we can be.

"What do you like most about the University of Cincinnati?" He then responded, "Being here and just playing football for the Bearcats."

Marshwan has his own fan club called "Gilyard's Gang", so i asked him, "How do you feel when you walk out on the field at Nippert Stadium, and see fans holding up pictures of you and screaming your name?" He said, "You just don't know how much those guys get me going when I run out and see that sign. It brings tears to my eyes everytime I see it. The only people I have here are my in-laws and my fiance. When I run out and see "Gilyard's Gang" I think of them as my little family, it gives me a real good home feeling!"

And finally,"What is your prediction for next year?" He answered,"I want to live up to the hype and keep working, then just do good."

People are starting to recognize Ramel Bradley's clutch play for Kentucky this season. His performance at Tennessee on Sunday generated talk about Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.

When asked on a teleconference Monday about Player of the Year candidates, Florida Coach Billy Donovan listed the usual suspects: Chris Lofton, Tyler Smith and JaJuan Smith of Tennessee. Shan Foster of Vanderbilt, Jamont Gordon and Charles Rhodes of Mississippi State.

Then Donovan added, "A guy who's had a phenomenal year who not a lot of people are talking about is Ramel Bradley. ... He's played so well. He's the one guy that's held their team together. He certainly deserves consideration."

UK's gutsy 63-60 loss at Tennessee showcased Bradley's contributions. As the Cats played without star freshman Patrick Patterson, Bradley led the team with 17 points. He spearheaded a defensive effort that limited Tennessee star Chris Lofton to a season-low five shots. He guided a Kentucky attack that dictated a patient, half-court game that favored the short-handed Cats.

"He was in control of the tempo of that basketball game," Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said, "and played very, very well."

South Carolina Coach Dave Odom, an unabashed Bradley fan, noticed.

"Let me put it this way: If you lose a Patrick Patterson, you better have a Ramel Bradley on your team to pick up the slack outside and control the basketball," said Odom, whose team plays Kentucky on Wednesday.

It must be getting easier to throw out some names as the mock draft goes on as we finished an entire round in less than a day. Number 19 was heavy on pitching, particularly veterans although there were a few young guys in the mix. Also, four catchers have been chosen in the last round and a half as owners remember they need to field two backstops in this league. Take a look:

ROUND  1 | ROUND  2 | ROUND   3 | ROUND  4  | ROUND  5  | ROUND  6 | ROUND 7
ROUND  8 | ROUND  9 | ROUND 10 | ROUND 11 | ROUND 12 | ROUND 13| ROUND 14
ROUND 15| ROUND 16| ROUND 17 | ROUND 18 

217) CLASGENS - Ramon Hernandez, C, BAL

218) SIMONS - Troy Percival, RP, TB

219) MURDICO - Rich Harden, SP, OAK

220) HUMBERT #1 - Kevin Gregg, RP, FLA

221) FISCHER - Carlos Villanueava, SP/RP, MIL

222) MUEHLENKAMP - Freddy Sanchez, 2B, PIT

223) DINSMORE - Barry Zito, SP, SF

224) BARTEL - Zack Greinke, SP, KC

225) BOLTON - Mark Teahen, OF, KC

226) WETZEL - Andy Pettite, SP, NYY

227) POLKING - Josh Bard, C, SD

228) HUMBERT #2 - Jon Garland, SP, LAA

Everyone thinks that the Reds signing of Corey Patterson assures that Jay Bruce will start the year (if not spend all season) in AAA. Well, there's a way to keep both Bruce and Patterson on the big league roster and get each of them regular at bats.

Remember, Ken Griffey Jr. is older and injury-prone and Dusty Baker will likely choose to rest Junior on a regular basis. Baker can come up with a rotation of Adam Dunn/Bruce/Griffey or Dunn/Patterson/Bruce or even put Bruce or Patterson for Dunn a couple times. In short, having four quality outfielders (albeit they're all left handers) is not a bad problem to have. And I think there's enough at bats and opportunities for Bruce to make the big league squad and play regularly. However, I don't think it's a terrible thing to start Bruce in AAA. Let's not forget that a year ago right now, he was starting for the Dayton Dragons in A ball. Bruce is only 20 years old and since the prospect of the Reds winning this year aren't very good, I just don't see why everyone wants to rush in Bruce. Let's make sure he's completely ready before dropping him into the fire and putting the pressure on him to be the team's savior.

How about these former Musketeers making an impact elsewhere: 

Boubacar Coly (Morgan St. – 19-9, 13-2,  1^st MEAC) – The junior is averaging 9.5 ppg, 11.1 rpg with 75 blocked shots on the season.  Had 12 points and 13 boards vs. UConn.  Coly has pulled down at least 12 rebounds on 15 different occasions.  He also has eight double-doubles for the Golden Bears. 

DuPree Lucas (Portland St – 20-9, 13-2, 1^st Big Sky) – Has seen PT dwindle from a year ago when he averaged 13.2 ppg and 3.9 apg.  In 2008, Lucas has only mustered only 6.2 ppg as injuries have forced him to nine of 12 Viking tilts.   

Churchill Odia (Oregon – 16-12, 6-7, Tied 6^th PAC 10) – The junior continues to improve his scoring average year to year having gone from 1.6 ppg as a freshman at XU to his current 1.9 ppg for the Ducks (haha).  He has just one double figure scoring outburst, only two contests with more than two assists and just three games with more than four boards on the season.  Has played 11 total minutes in the last three tilts for Oregon.

Well-oiled machine: Xavier is 35-6 in their last 41 games. 

25 is a Magic Number:  The Musketeers have won at least 25 games five times in the last seven seasons.  However, they have never won more than 26 during that time frame. 

Balance & the Bench:  Six Musketeers have scored at least 288 points, the other six players have combined for just 341 more.

20-point performances: Despite six double figure scorers XU only has nine 20-point scoring performances - Josh Duncan (3), C.J. Anderson (2), Drew Lavender (2), B.J. Raymond (2).  Derrick Brown and Stanley Burrell have yet to reach the plateau.  

Drive she said:  Adrion Graves is 12-46 from three-point range with 0 FT’s attempted this season.  He is 12-17 from inside the arc.  He has not shot a FT in a college game since Dec. 5th, 2006 (Detroit). 

Child Labor: Three seasons into the XU program, sophomore Derrick Brown is just 20 years old and won’t turn 21 until the beginning of the next school year.  

Labor of Love: Jason Love was just 10-32 from the charity stripe for his career before being inserted into the starting lineup.  Love is 46-64 from the FT line since. 

Ready for Prime Time:  Dante Jackson has averaged 12.4 mpg over the last five contests.  He played a grand total 68 minutes in the 10 games prior to that.

ESPN.com is reporting this morning that Brett Favre has decided to retire. 

"I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired," Favre, a 17-year veteran and three-time NFL MVP, told ESPN's Chris Mortensen in a voice mail message.

"If I felt like coming back -- and Deanna [his wife] and I talked about this -- the only way for me to be successful would be to win a Super Bowl. To go to the Super Bowl and lose, would almost be worse than anything else. Anything less than a Super Bowl win would be unsuccessful," Favre said in the message.

I personally am so happy to know early this year so I don't have to put up with months and months of banter about it.  Thankfully we can be worried about more important issues like whether or not Roger Clemens lied to Congress or who will win "Dancing With the Stars" the season (I am going for Steve Guttenberg personally).

Well, well.  It's about time.   Not that I don't appreciate what Favre has done for the NFL and the Packers, but you have to admit - other than last year, his recent play has been rather painful to watch.   Well, anyway.  There's the story link at the top.  I'm just glad we can all move on with the important things in our lives.

THE NUMBERS
Favre leaves the NFL with his name atop several career passing categories. In 2007, he set the record for passing TDs (442), passing yards (61,655) and wins by a starting QB (160) and interceptions (288). Including the playoffs, he played in 275 consecutive games.  He retires with 5,377 career completions in 8,758 attempts for 61,655 yards, 442 touchdowns and 288 interceptions, passing Dan Marino's touchdown mark last season.

Brett Favre started in the NFL for 16 of his 17 career seasons:
Reg season W-L: 160-93
Losing Seasons: 1
Playoff Appearances: 11
Playoff W-L: 12-10
Division Titles: 7
Super Bowls 2 (one win)

The GSI staff is one round closer to wrapping the 2008 mock draft. Round 18 included an interesting mix of young talent, seasoned veterans and a few others hoping to avoid injuries. Take a look:

ROUND  1 | ROUND  2| ROUND   3 | ROUND  4  | ROUND  5  | ROUND  6 | ROUND 7
ROUND  8 | ROUND  9| ROUND 10 | ROUND 11 | ROUND 12 | ROUND 13| ROUND 14
ROUND 15| ROUND 16| ROUND 17 

205) HUMBERT #2 - Joey Votto, 1B, CIN

206) POLKING - Jack Cust, OF, OAK

207) WETZEL - Frank Thomas, DH, TOR

208) BOLTON - J.D. Drew, OF, BOS

209) BARTEL - Joe Borowski, RP, CLE

210) DINSMORE - Eric Gagne, RP, MIL

211) MUEHLENKAMP - Jay Bruce, OF, CIN

212) FISCHER - J.R. Towles, C, HOU

213) HUMBERT #1 - Carlos Ruiz, C, PHI

214) MURDICO - Kaz Matsui, 2B, HOU

215) SIMONS - Greg Maddux, SP, SD

216) CLASGENS - Mark Buehrle, SP, CWS