Baseball

David Aardsma of the Seattle Mariners will be this year's best closer. Seattle rebuilt itself this year by adding a defensive crew capitalized by Chone Figgins, and added Cliff Lee to make a solid one-two punch in its rotation.

Only one thing remains, a closer. Certainly with a team that many suspect to win the West and with two pitchers that will gain a pile of wins, saves would become a common feature in these low scoring games.

One of the biggest stories for the Atlanta Braves this spring has been the progression of top prospect Jason Heyward . Heyward's become a batting practice legend, shattering a car window and forcing the grounds crew to put a net up at the Braves' spring training home at Champion Stadium in Walt Disney World Resort. 

There are a number of other issues involving the Braves this season outside of their remarkable rookie.

The St. Louis Cardinals seem to be practicing the old fantasy baseball strategy of “Studs and Duds.”

In this strategy, a team uses a very large amount of its auction dollars on a few superstars and then fills in the rest of its lineup with a lot of $1 and $2 players.

The idea is that the studs will pile up enough quality stats to allow the duds to fill in a little and put your team over the top.

Unfortunately, this strategy rarely works, and it looks like it will only work in St. Louis this season due to such a weak division.

On the heels of demotions to minor league camp, the Dodgers are slimming their prospective pitchers for the major league roster.

After all the hype about the return of Eric Gagne, the rebounding pitcher was sent to minor league camp and accepted the assignment.

There is no doubt that Gagne would have been welcomed in Hollywood and given a hero's welcome jogging from the bullpen to the mound, but he has been less than impressive, and the team had to pull the string.

Four-time All-Star Chuck Knoblauch has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge filed by his wife.

His wife alleged that Knoblauch choked her and hit her in the face.

Knoblauch will get a year on probation, as well as a $1,000 fine. If Knoblauch finishes his probation, the assault charge will be removed from his record.

Knoblauch, who played 12 MLB seasons, was the 1991 Rookie of the Year and helped the Minnesota Twins win their second World Series championship that season.

Jerry Manuel all but punched Fernando Martinez’s ticket to the minors when he met with reporters in Florida yesterday, a decision that will surely cause a stir among the Mets' frustrated and disenchanted fan base.

However, despite the many blunders this organization has experienced over the course of Minaya’s tenure at the helm, this is one move that makes a lot of sense for a number of reasons.

He’s Not Quite Ready

The case for Martinez being on the Opening Day roster is a very legitimate one.

Via ESPN.com chat:

As the season draws closer the Yankees have a big decision coming up as to who they are going to pick to be their fifth starter this year. Despite my belief that it would be a waste to go with anyone other than Joba Chamberlain , there is a very real chance that he could get passed over especially considering he hasn’t really pitched all that well this spring.

So says Sid Hartman:

Damaso Marte has certainly had mixed results during his Yankee career, but he was lights-out in the playoffs last year, especially in big spots against Ryan Howard in the World Series.

Consider yesterday payback as he couldn’t even get an out in the fifth inning yesterday as he gave up three runs on a Jayson

Werth homer, four hits, and was removed from the game after Howard hit a liner off his back.