Predictions

Time for me to make two baseball related predictions that only tangentially have anything to do with the Pirates. They're actually two things that aren't very original at all and I'm sure a lot of people are thinking/saying the same things. But I have to get it off my chest, so here goes...

1. Barry Bonds will absolutely not retire after this season without the all-time home run record. The only reason any of this is in the news is because it's always all about Barry. And it can't be all about Barry if he retires without the record. If he's so sick of baseball and this is tearing his family apart and yadda yadda yadda, why not just retire now?
2. If the World Baseball Classic happens this year, it's going to be the only one. Star players are backing out left and right, even not-so-star players like Jose Castillo are backing out. I have yet to find a person that cares. The most dramatic storyline so far involving the whole thing may have been entirely fabricated. Plus, this whole tournament is going to be a gigantic one-horse race like the '92 Olympics when the Dream Team showed up. There's no way the American team or anyone holds a candle to the Dominican. I'm not actively rooting for this thing to fail, I just can't see how it won't with the way MLB has botched up the handling.