Baseball

One of the biggest misconceptions in baseball is when people refer to teams such as the Seattle Mariners as small or mid market teams. A casual fan exclaims "The Mariners are going all pitching and defense given their lack of funds." The Mariners may have a fairly unique winning strategy, but that is in spite of their market size, not because of it.

After almost two years of blogging on Jorge Says No! , I have decided to start a new venture in the baseball blogging world.

The Yankees cut five more players from the big league camp yesterday: outfielder Greg Golson, righties Mark Melancon and Jonathan Albaladejo, and infielders Juan Miranda and Kevin Russo, according to Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger.

The cuts of Miranda and Russo have pretty much cemented the Opening Day bench, ensuring a spot for Ramiro Pena.

Imagine you were chosen to select an all-time rotation and pitching staff for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Who would you select?  Who would make your all-time pitching staff?

Your fantasy team would then have to compete against all of the other all-time rotations and teams selected.  How would it fare?

Young outfielder Tyler Colvin will make the Chicago Cubs' Opening Day roster if the team can find him sufficient playing time, according to manager Lou Piniella . Colvin, 24, would need to get somewhere in the neighborhood of two starts per week in order to justify keeping him on board, by Piniella's reckoning.

According to Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger, the Yankees have released righty Chad Gaudin just two days after they put him on waivers.

With spring training almost over, it’s time to take a look who is tearing up both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues.

Here are the Spring Training All-Stars...

(All stats are through Wednesday, March 24.)

C—Mike Napoli, LAA—.313/5/9/.405

If Mike Scioscia had any faith in Napoli behind the plate, he could hit 40 home runs during the regular season. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that will ever happen.

The Yankees drafted Christian Garcia in 2004 and by the end of that summer the third round pick was already making a name for himself thanks to a mid-90’s fastball and the makings of a nasty curveball.

He started out quickly out of the gate, his stuff was raw, but he showed a lot of promise. In 2004 he was able to harness it while putting up a 2.84 ERA and 47 strikeouts in just 38 innings.

Picking players in the first round is always a hot topic. And while your first round selections WILL NOT make your team, it is those players who are on the cusp of being first rounders that could significantly impact your team’s performance.

J.A. Happ is one of those players.

Last year Happ enjoyed a very promising season going 12-4 for "Dem Phightin Phils" while posting a 2.93 ERA.

Here’s a look at some relief pitchers who could take a step back in 2010.

David Aardsma, Seattle Mariners
Aardsma was brilliant last year, racking up 38 saves with a 2.52 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Seattle was his fifth team in five seasons. He pretty much struggled every other year. I want to see another good year out of him before I’ll say he’s turned the corner.