5. Pat Burrell playing like he’s not making an average of $8 million a year or that his nickname happens to be "The Bat."

Burrell is hitting .231 with only 12 homers and 46 RBIs, and 85 K’s. He also spent time on the DL with a neck strain. Talk about money well spent. It’s a good thing his contract was only for two years.

4. Just how badly they would be missing Edwin Jackson.

Jax has had an outstanding year for the Tigers, winning 10 games and posting a 2.86 ERA. He’s been nearly unhittable, holding opponents to a .232 BA, and his WHIP is a career best 1.19. Meanwhile, the Rays staff hasn’t had the same success and could have used him in the rotation.

3. Jason Bartlett hitting like he’s not, well, Jason Bartlett.

Bartlett had 11 homers for his career coming into this season. Right now he’s already matched those 11, and there’s still 40 more games to be played. He’s 3rd in the AL with a .343 BA and earned his first trip to the All-Star game. Wasn’t he brought in for his defense?

2. Jeff Niemann pitching like the team’s ace.

Who would have thought the 6 foot 9 right-hander would be the Rays’ most consistent starter? He leads the team with 11 wins, has the best ERA on starting staff (3.71), and has two complete-game shutouts. He’s arguably the leader to win the AL Rookie of the Year, and if won, would make it back-to-back years a Ray has accomplished the feat (Longoria).

1. Ben Zobrist is an All-Star.

"Zorilla" exceeded all expectations filling in for injured starter Aki Iwamura. He’s 3rd on the team in homers (22), RBI (67), 4th in SB (15), and first in OBP (.405). He too just made his first All-Star appearance. Also worth noting, he has only made 5 errors while playing six different positions for the Rays this year.

Club Seat

5. Raef LaFrentz - FC - Portland Trail Blazers: $12,722,500

Hasn’t played a single game this season, only 39 last season, and only 27 the year before that. Even his career year in the ’00-’01 season where he averaged 14.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 3.0 BPG didn’t warrant a contract of that amount.

4. Jermaine O’Neal - C - Miami Heat: $21,352,500

Over the past five years the injury plagued O’Neal has only played in an average of 55 games per season (that’s including this year as I added in the five games the Heat have left). He hasn’t been anything like the O’Neal of the past for some time now. He’s averaging just 13.6 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.0 BPG this season, nearly identical to the numbers he posted last year with the Pacers.

3. Ben Wallace - FC - Cleveland Cavaliers: $14,500,000

Wallace could make this list for the sole reason of somehow being the Cavs’ highest paid player (LeBron James should feel appalled), however, his horrid play will do. That’s an awful lot of money to pay someone who only averages 3.0 PPG for your team, half of his career average of 6.3, and grabs 6.6 RPG. I know defense wins championships and that’s what Big Ben is paid for, but his defense has been non-existent as well. 1.4 BPG is pitiful. Basically, Wallace made $193,333 for each of the 75 blocks he recorded this season. Oh, and him shooting 43% from the free throw line isn’t exactly helpful either. Addition by subtraction Cleveland, come on.

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1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Detroit Pistons

Season Series: Cavs 3-1

Breakdown: The Cavs boast the best record in the league and arguably the best player in the league in LeBron James. With the off season addition of Mo Williams, they now have all of the parts to make a run at the title. The Cavs have lost one game at home all year while Detroit is one game over .500 at home. Even if the Iverson-less Pistons somehow steal a game in Cleveland, they will still have to win all three at home. They’ve been to the past six conference championships but that won’t happen this year. I do not see the Pistons as a threat to dethrone the King as they have had problems with him all year. We would not be discussing the Pistons at all if they were in the Western Conference. I mean, they don’t even have a winning record.

X-Factor: Detroit’s Front court

Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess, Kwame Brown, and Jason Maxiell team up to form a better group of big-men than the Cavs have. This is a deep group of guys who will use most of their allowed fouls. If these guys all contribute on the boards while Wallace and Prince do their thing on offense (nailing threes), they can put some pressure on LeBron to do it all himself. The problem is, none of these guys can match up with him one-on-one so they will have to be ready to foul hard and rotate. If the big boys do not come to play, forget about it.

Prediction: Cavs in 5

http://clubseatsports.com/?p=2124