Alex Rodriguez

To combat my ignorance the first time I played fantasy baseball, I did what anyone does when they need answers: consulted the Internet. This was 2005—the Industrial Age for the web—so fantasy commentary was just starting to percolate “back then”; it wasn’t as obvious where to go for information.

What I couldn’t get my head around was a concept I kept reading about—this concept of Value. Only experience could help answer questions like:  

If you've read some of my other articles, you may know that I'm a big numbers guy; I love sabermetrics and I love breaking down stats to analyze players. 

When I set out to determine the best fastball hitters in baseball, I was immediately confronted with a choice; since players' stats on individual pitches were not counted before 2002, I had to decide whether to build this list based on numbers or reputation.

Being the numbers guy that I am, I decided to go strictly by the numbers (and thus this list is only from 2002 onwards). 

For the first time in almost a decade and a half, Alex Rodriguez is not being taken in the first round of fantasy drafts.

Think about that for a second. A-Rod has been a star Major League player for almost as long as he hasn't. His breakthrough season came in 1996, when he hit .358 with 36 homers and 123 RBIs ... as a 20-year-old.

Although baseball's dark days of syringes and suspicious trainers seem to be behind us, the long ball is still alive and well. There are plenty of guys who make their living going yard and spend their afternoons trotting. 

But if we had to build a team of the league's best sluggers, what would it look like? We wouldn't look solely at a player who's a feast-or-famine hitter, would we? 

You want a guy who can take it deep but isn't always looking for the long ball, even at the expense of his own team. 

There was good news all over the place on Sunday afternoon, as the New York Yankees hammered the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-1, in Grapefruit League action.

Start with the starter, Yankee ace CC Sabathia, who looked in midseason form. During his time on the bump, Sabathia allowed only one run (on a solo homer to Jimmy Rollins) on six hits and one walk, while striking out five.

With the 2011 MLB season just around the corner, it's time to see how the these team stack up. There have been a few injuries and several off-season moves and it's now time to see how those will effect each team.

There are only a handful of dominant teams out there with world series aspirations but there are also so teams flying under the radar that could make a run.

Heading into opening day these are where the teams rank, for now.

Begin Slideshow

We have been waiting since last October for the fun of the MLB season to start anew. On Mar. 31, 2011 we will get our wish. By that day, all clubs are required to reduce rosters to 25 players and play ball! We have seen changes occurs this offseason as we typically do each year but one thing seems to remain consistent. The same powerhouse teams appear to be set to make a run at the postseason and the World Series.

In 2008, the Baltimore Orioles banked on the University of San Diego's stand out pitcher Brian Matusz becoming the future ace of their starting rotation and in 2011 there's a very good chance that future is now.

Baltimore would select Matusz with their first round pick of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. This lead to extensive and exhausting contract negotiations that would ultimately end with Matusz and his agent finally agreeing to terms with the O's on the last possible day for MLB teams to sign their drafted rookies.

The American League East is the best division in baseball. It really isn't close. The Red Sox are arguably the best team in baseball and the Yankees aren't too far behind. The Rays had the best record in baseball last season. The Toronto Blue Jays were over .500 and even the Orioles didn't play too poorly down the stretch.

Bobbleheads, t-shirts and refrigerator magnets.

Oh, my!

One of the pleasures a fan of a lousy team has to look forward to every season are the cool promotions that sucker you in to handing over a hundred bucks you may not have otherwise.

I've become an expert at this in recent years rooting on the Mariners, unfortunately. I have more dolls than any 31 year old man should, thanks to the annual Ichiro bobbles. Though, they're sucking me in again this season.