Baseball

The Kansas City Royals got off to a very good start in 2009. After 46 games last season, they had a record of 23-23, placing them second in the ultra-competitive American League Central.

That success quickly came to an end, and the Royals went 42-74 the rest of the way to finish 65-97, tied for last in the division with the Indians.

Despite a horrible finish, the Royals were able to hang their hat on Zack Greinke. Greinke won the AL Cy Young Award going 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA. He struck out 242 hitters and walked only 51 in 229.1 innings pitched.

After all of the excitement of the Hot Stove season and the never ending debates as to what moves the Arizona Diamondbacks should have made, it is now time to see what a difference a year has made.

The long dark days of the off—season are now behind us. Pitchers and catchers have reported and begun their throwing sessions. Position players have arrived and begun dusting off the bats to take a few swings.

Here are some newsworthy bits that didn’t quite have enough to make a story out of, but are important anyways:

This continues my 2010 MLB preview. I intend to touch every team in the major leagues in installments by division. The lineups I provide will be what I predict will be the most productive for each team for the MAJORITY of the season (e.g., Jason Heyward will be listed as the Braves RF even though he may not begin the season as the starter).

I will also provide the stereotypical letter grade to each team's lineup, rotation, bullpen, and depth/bench. Though it is trite, I think all baseball fans can identify with the letter grade system.

In early December of 1963, the Philadelphia Phillies made one of the great trades of all time. 

They sent outfielder Don Demeter, a Dodgers reject, along with pitcher Jack Hamilton, who is remembered for throwing the pitch that ruined Tony Conigliaro's career, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitcher Jim Bunning and catcher Gus Triandos.

Two Masterpieces

Upon reading the title, one may immediately say that Rod Barajas is the hands down favorite, but a further look at the numbers and the intangibles may show that new addition John Buck is in fact the better catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

What would it take to pry Albert Pujols away from the St. Louis Cardinals?

Cardinals fans, put away your pitchforks and disband the angry mob. I am not in any way suggesting that Pujols, could, would, or should be traded. Such a deal would be monumentally stupid for St. Louis; in addition to being the team's best player since Stan Musial, Pujols is a fan favorite and a hometown hero.

But if the circumstances suddenly shifted? What if Pujols went on a Milton Bradley-esque rant about his hatred for the city of St.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: FANTASY BASEBALL INSIDERS

As the season approaches, I will pinpoint a few different aspects of fantasy baseball which  are overlooked by most managers. This edtion’s “overlooked aspect” has to do with high innings-pitched totals, particularly in the postseason.

Preference is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Alex Rodriguez is a remarkable talent. He’s also, unfortunately, a relative tool. In 16 big league seasons, the New York Yankees third baseman has amassed Ruthian statistics—which would be better news if he weren’t doomed to be measured against the incalculable charm of Derek Jeter.

Ability is the sum of personal competence.

Applause, on the other hand, is the product of social comparison.

Welcome back to the third installment of my fantasy baseball preview.

This portion of my preview is a list of established veterans who had unexpectedly All-Star-caliber seasons, and draw speculation as to whether they can repeat their success from 2009.

Let's take a look at 14 profiled vets whose careers are now at a crossroad.

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