Whose House? Bobby's House.

Gone are the days of Jim Thome's classic stance and gone are the days of Billy Wagner's adrenaline pumping warm-up ritual. This is the Year of Abreu and Citizens Bank Park is now officially Bobby's house. His name is on the deed. I love Bobby Abreu and Bobby Abreu loves me.

After last year's coming out at the Home Run Derby, everyone thought that Bobby was going to finally get the respect that he deserved. Didn't happen. He had a poor (in Abreu terms) second half and the Phils didn't make the playoffs. His derby display long forgotten, sportswriters went back to making love with Pujols and looking at Canseco, MacGwire, and Palmiero for all the wrong reasons.

Bobby Abreu is now the number one go-to guy in Philadelphia. He's entering the fourth season of his five-year deal and will be looking to showcase his skills for future negotiations. He's got a great supporting cast in Rollins, Utley, and Howard but for the first time, he is alone at the top and he's got something to prove. I'M PREDICTING A BREAKOUT SEASON.

The picture above is Bobby Abreu and me in front of my old office downtown. He was shooting a Nike commercial right in front of the food truck where I used to buy a breakfast sandwich every day. I asked if he would mind posing for a picture with me and one of the crew shot this with my cell phone camera. He was all smiles and very cool. I was pretty stoked.

p.s. - Trade rumors? What trade rumors?