AL East

The boys are back in Fort Myers, and there are 30-plus days until the 2010 season begins with the BoSox against the Bronx Bombers—could the season start off any other way, I ask?  

With the meteoric rise of Jersey Shore and the "gorilla juiceheads" that the MTV hit so lovingly glorified, I was starting to believe that America had turned a corner in its collective stance on steroids.

If you're a baseball fan, that was your hope anyway. Coming off a year in which Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Mark McGwire were either tied or outright admitted to PED use, we were juiced out on the juice.

The Boston Red Sox came so close but they failed to make it past the ALDS by losing to the Angels in the first round of last year’s playoffs. However, it was an up and down year for the Sox that saw them finish with a 95-67 record.

The Baltimore Orioles are looking to make a run in the AL East or at least trying to improve on their past seasons. Last year the Orioles finished dead last in the AL East with a 64-98 record, worse than their 2008 season. Already this season they started off losers by not signing Matt Holliday and letting go long-time third baseman Melvin Mora.

AJ Burnett is 33 years old, 2010 will be his 12th season in the major leagues, he’s played for two World Series winning teams, and despite all of that experience he is still learning valuable pitching lessons to this day.

Chan Ho Park spoke with reporters about becoming a Yankee even though he had a better offer from the Phillies and also had an offer from the Washington Nationals.

Here are some quotes from his first day in camp :

The Yankees are fresh off a World Series championship.  They have no steroid-scandal distractions, no major injuries, and all but about two or three spots of the roster have been solidified.  Yes, things are good for the Bombers.

However, the Yankees have issues that could flare up this season.  I’ll try to address the 10 biggest, or at least most obvious, questions (potential problems) the Yankees could have in 2010:

Two years ago, the Red Sox drafted 18-year-old Casey Kelly in the first round of the MLB first-year player draft (pick No. 30 overall) out of Sarasota, Florida. At the time, he was a 195-pound two-sport schoolboy star who had signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at the University of Tennessee.

But then the Sox lured him to baseball with their checkbook and a promise that he could both pitch and play shortstop in the minor leagues. The agreement between the player and club was that he’d have to choose one or the other at the end of last season.

First published on Beantown Sports Observer

This past offseason was not only big for the Boston Red Sox, but for the teams in their division as well. New York, Tampa Bay, Toronto, and even Baltimore made some significant moves on their roster and though some more bad than good, the division will be tough this season.

In an article about the Yankees outfield depth beyond their starters , I made the assumption that Marcus Thames was going to make the team and made it seem like the only way Jamie Hoffmann would stick with the team is if the Yankees worked out a trade with the Dodgers to keep the Rule 5 pick.