Baseball

The boys are back in Fort Myers, and there are 30-plus days until the 2010 season begins with the BoSox against the Bronx Bombers—could the season start off any other way, I ask?  

Massachusetts towns from Spencer to Swampscott and from Boston to Brookfield have become participants in the Lowell Spinners' quest to eliminate heartbreak and taunting from youth baseball programs playing in the shadows of Fenway Park.

Even a squad or two from Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and yes, Rochester, NY have been spared the wide spread humiliation that accompanies being subjected to Yankee Pin Stripes while living in the heart of Red Sox Nation.

It was just a couple of days after the Phillies' 2008 World Series win when it was announced that Ruben Amaro, Jr. would be the team's new general manager.

Pat Gillick left on top of the world, a ring on his finger and a wonderful story to ride off into the sunset with.

Amaro, now 45 years of age, had been the team's assistant GM since 1998 and had been a part of both the Gillick and Ed Wade eras.

Hired after Gillick's retirement, not many people knew what to expect from Amaro.

No one bashes the Mets more than I do. That is a fact. My Mets' glass is always half-empty.

Lately, more and more fans and pundits have begun to feel the same way.  The Mets are going nowhere, fast.  All hope is lost. What is point of watching a team that continues to fall flat in every key situation?

Well, that's the reason why I'm picking the Mets for the NL playoffs this year. No one thinks they can win.

The Tampa Bay Rays are coming back from a disappointing 2009 campaign after a World Series run in 2008. The Rays have a long list of youngsters that are ready to break free and bust open the door.

The only real acquisition of a position player came in the form of C Kelly Shoppach, who was sent over from Cleveland. He will be platooning at the catcher spot with Dioner Navarro.

Bottom line, the Yankees are the defending World Series champions.

I think they have a very good shot for pulling off the repeat. The Yankees lost Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrerea and a great prospect in outfielder Austin Jackson, however they did bring in Curtis Granderson, Javier Vazquez, Randy Winn, and Nick Johnson.

The baseball season will officially be under way today with games finally beginning after a seemingly endless offseason (maybe only to me, those four months are agonizing). Today the Atlanta Braves take on their biggest rival, the New York Mets. The rivalry has been a bit calmer the past few seasons as both have been chasing the Phillies for titles and both the Braves and Mets have had injury-riddled seasons in the past two seasons. 

Throw open the sashes of your windows and let the spring air in, grab yourself some tin foil wrapped hotdogs, and sit back and enjoy; baseball’s hibernation is officially over.

The first certified spring training game between two MLB clubs will commence today at 1:10 PM EST in Port St. Lucia, Florida, and it will feature the New York Mets against the Atlanta Braves.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: FANTASYBASEBALLINSIDERS.COM

In the coming weeks, I will attempt to create the most accurate 2010 big board available. This draft guide will be released 10 players at a time until my top 50 have been revealed.    

With the meteoric rise of Jersey Shore and the "gorilla juiceheads" that the MTV hit so lovingly glorified, I was starting to believe that America had turned a corner in its collective stance on steroids.

If you're a baseball fan, that was your hope anyway. Coming off a year in which Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Mark McGwire were either tied or outright admitted to PED use, we were juiced out on the juice.