Baseball

The Baltimore Orioles return to glory isn't too far away considering the stockpile of pitching talent they have ready to take over. In fact, should they be in contention by this year's trade deadline, the mere depth of the impressive arms in their system should allow Andy MacPhail and his staff the pieces to acquire the "over the hump" type of player teams in a playoff hunt look to acquire.

Brandon Erbe, RHP

The Mariners traded for Cliff Lee and signed Felix Hernandez to solidify the top of their rotation, but the back end of the rotation was still a glaring weakness that has many questioning how good the M’s could be.

After a couple weeks of spring training, not only have the questions not been answered, but more questions are piling up.

It’s the most romantic, glorified position in our most romantic, glorified sport.

Even when baseball was played with mushy balls by men wearing baggy uniforms and pillbox hats, and you traveled to the ballpark by horse and buggy or traipsed there by foot, center field was the glamour position.

Ty Cobb started it, pretty much.

Cobb used his freakish speed and sheer determination to patrol center. And he slap base hits all over the field at a robust .370-plus clip every season.

It’s official, the Minnesota Twins will be without All-Star closer Joe Nathan for the 2010 campaign.

Nathan elected to undergo Tommy John ligament replacement surgery today after feeling continued pain and discomfort following a bullpen session with pitching coach Rick Anderson.

Ray Tannock is the Managing Editor for Fantasyknuckleheads.com , and a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Ah, Fantasy Baseball! So many leagues to choose from, so little time, which is exactly why I am bringing you this short little tidbit about a league I have available for all to join.

Dmitri Young, a 13 year veteran and career .292 hitter with most of his success coming with the Detroit Tigers in the mid 2000s, has been named vice-president of the Oakland County Cruisers of the Frontier League.

“What you’re going to see is good old-fashioned baseball and people able to take their families to the baseball game,” said Young, who also signed autographs and answered questions from a number of youngsters in the gathering.

Paul Konerko gets little respect from fantasy owners, though as fantasy drafts have come upon us he has quickly become a player that I’m targeting.  No, not in shallower leagues, but if I’m in a league that requires a corner infielder he is one of the players on my list.  Why?  He’s a cheap source of power that no one else seems to care about.

First let’s look at his statistics from last season:

For years Major League pitchers have been cringing about taking the mound at Coors Field.

Gerald Laird might have been the best catcher in baseball in 2009—defensively.

But Detroit's catcher forgot to pack his bat when he left Spring Training.

His seventh campaign was his most disappointing at the plate. In 413 at-bats, Laird limped to a .225 batting average, four homers, and 33 runs batted in, all while providing top-notch defense. With an on-base percentage well-below .300 (.278), he was a major blockage in Detroit's light-hitting bottom of the order.

So the Tigers' backstop worked endlessly in the offseason to improve the weak point in his game.

As a fantasy baseball manager since 2003, I have experienced moderate success.

With the 15 teams I have managed, I have won the championship twice, while finishing in the top—three five other times. Both championship victories I have both came last season, because it was then I realized what the secret was.