Baseball

Today’s edition of “Fish Bytes”, the Miami Herald’s daily blog that covers the Florida Marlins, says that the club had a scout in Fort Myers yesterday watching Mike Lowell throw the leather at first base. As was reported here last night, Lowell made his spring training debut at first base in the game, going 1-for 2 and playing three innings in the contest.

Lowell played seven seasons with the Marlins from 1999-2005 and was a very popular player both in the clubhouse and in the community. He hit .272 with 143 HR and 578 RBIs while with Florida.

Once the obvious first two rounds are drafted, the GM of your tiny team must begin to look deeper into your own knowledge of the sport.

Players begin to be less of stars and more of knowledge. The stats from previous years can often lie, you often try to stay away from losing records by pitchers and hitters that were injured or didn't hit more than 20 home runs or hit over .275.

Heres a hint for you. If the pitchers switch teams, the ERA will stay the same but the Win column will improve.

If the hitter is hurt, 75% of the time he will get better.

The Giants through the years are best known for home runs and heartbreak.

Four of the top 23 players on the career home run leaders’ list hit the bulk of their bombs while playing for the Giants.

All-time leader Barry Bonds hit most of his 762 homers in a Giants' uniform. Willie Mays (660) and Willie McCovey (521) did the same.

When Mays became the National League’s career home run king in 1966, he surpassed the mark of New York Giants' Hall of Famer, Mel Ott (511).

Whether in New York or San Francisco, the Giants have always played a prominent role in the history of the home run.

Barry Bonds is the all-time career home leader after belting 73 in 2001 to set the single-season record. He hit the bulk of them in the heart of the steroids era, but still thrilled fans across the country who were largely unaware of the controversy that would unfold later.

Willie Mays and Willie McCovey rank among the all-time career home run leaders, as does New York Giants legend Mel Ott.

With an NL Only draft on my schedule for the night I thought this would be the perfect time to offer up an NL Only draft primer.

Nate McLouth is currently penciled in as the Atlanta Braves' leadoff hitter for the 2010 season.

But following a poor 2009 season, during which he was traded from the Pirates to the Braves and battled vision problems, McLouth is starting extremely slow this spring.

All of this has many questioning whether or not he should bat first.

The main reason that McLouth is so firmly entrenched in the leadoff role is that the Braves lack a true leadoff hitter.

It is no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers have a lack of leadership in their starting rotation. Not due to lack of talent, but rather lack of experience.

Ownership didn't bite the hook this off-season for a major contributing starter, whether that be for financial reasons or simply because they didn't see a piece that would fit.

The facts are, the Dodgers want a World Championship and many would agree that you need one pitcher that can go seven to eight innings in a postseason game to get there.

I was downright shocked to see the Philadelphia Phillies pull off the Roy Halladay trade.

I figured that with Cliff Lee’s performance in the 2009 postseason, they were satisfied with the deal they pulled off to get him, and were content going with him and Cole Hamels atop their rotation.

I’m sure they probably would have been had Lee been open to signing a long-term extension. I think it needs to be pointed out that the reason they went after Halladay was because he was willing to sign long-term.

You've got nothing to lose by watching the 2010 version of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Can you feel that excitement? It's almost as thrilling as asking a question and then answering it yourself.

Is that fulfilling? You bet.

The only promise this team can make to its fans is that they will play baseball. Satisfaction isn't guaranteed, but that's been the case in Toronto for some time.

Just like how winter is slowly melting into spring, the Blue Jays are thawing themselves from the deep winter that has enveloped the team for a decade.

Despite the Cubs’ claims that top prospect Starlin Castro is destined to open the 2010 campaign in Triple-A, fantasy owners have to be taking close notice. He’s been absolutely raking in Spring Training and let’s be honest, it’s not like the Cubs are loaded up the middle. 

The 20-year-old (he turns 20 on March 24) split 2009 between Single & Double-A, posting the following line: