Today is D-Day for Daniel Hudson. D as in delivery.  Today, at US Cellular Field, it is up to Hudson to deliver a performance worthy of joining the Chicago White Sox starting rotation.  Provided the kid comes through, he's probably in.  If he holds his own against Royals' ace Zack Grienke, he's probably still in.  If he channels the ghost of Arne Munoz, Kenny Williams will be running his cellphone minutes into the stratosphere.

With Jake Peavy lost for this season (and I am guessing at least half of next, if he ever pitches again), Hudson is the organizational choice to take his place.  Hudson has a lot of upside.  He's the glass ceiling at Charlotte and teams tend to like to promote their own.  If he pans out, he is another young gun under team control through the first part of the next decade that helps free up cash for other players   Don't kid yourself.  That's how it's done now.

It's that, or he's basically auditioning for interested scouts. Let's hope Kenny learned a little something from last summer, although, in fairness, no one could have predicted the outcome with Peavy this year.

Given the timetable with the trading deadline on July 31,  Hudson will probably get three starts, today at home against Kansas City; July 19th at Seattle and July 25th at Oakland.  At that point, if Hudson is getting lit up, Kenny will work the phones and do whatever he needs to do to acquire the best possible starter he can get.  Depending on who is available at that point will determine who Kenny will get.  If Hudson is 0 and 3 at this point, but is giving the Sox six to seven solid innings (which is the metric the Sox will use in evaluation him), Kenny will use his trading budget to find either a lefty swatter (doubtful) or a spare piece to the puzzle (more likely.)

Hudson's start today is a big one.  If the Sox win and Detroit lose, the Sox would take over first place at the all-star break to the shock of the oceans of fans and media types who jumped off the bandwagon as early as May 15th.  If the Sox win today, they would end the first half with an eight game winning streak, which follows an earlier eleven day winning streak.  If the Sox win today, it means a sweep of a seven game homestand before the break and before they leave for Minnesota, Seattle and Oakland, three places that have not always been kind to them.  And most important, the start is big for Hudson himself as his place in the organization an/or his value as a trading chip will be determined in what he does today.

Hopefully, the kid will come through, peace will reign throughout the valley and we'll all continue to move forward.  Less than that, it becomes a game of chess that Kenny Williams may or may not be able to win.

Lightning Round

• While I am writing this, I have "This Week" on in the background because I enjoy their round table discussion portion of their show.  In the tease, the host, Jake Tapper. said that they would be talking about LeBron.  I will now invoke the ABC/Disney conspiracy theory in which Disney/ABC believes that LeBron is big ratings and everyone wants to hear about it.  Even NBC's David Gregory mentioned it to White House Press Secretary Robert Gates this morning in jest, (proposing a one on one between Lebron and Gates' boss)  using a technique pioneered by his late predecessor, the great and irreplaceable Tim Russert. When serious news shows have to talk about LeBron, the hair stands up on the back of my neck.  In the words of our hero and role model "Mommy, make it stop!"