Baseball

AJ Pierzynski has been the heart and soul of the White Sox since 2005, but will 2010 be his final season with the club? Perhaps:

''No matter what happens, I will never wish bad on the White Sox organization. They have been nothing but great to me, from [chairman] Jerry [Reinsdorf] to [general manager] Kenny [Williams] to [manager] Ozzie [Guillen].''

Pierzynski is in the final year of a three-year extension he signed in 2007. He's 33 years old.

Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated is reports that the Arizona Diamondbacks have signed Dominican OF Socrates Brito. The 17-year-old, left-handed hitting Brito will reportedly receive a six-figure contract from the club.

The contract will also includes a scholarship allowing Brito to continue his education. The contract is uncharacteristically large from a Diamondbacks perspective, but the team felt confident based upon the scouting reports they received from its Latin American operations.

Originally published at TwinsTarget.com.

So says owner Stuart Sternberg: The team will do everything they can to keep free-agents-to-be Carl Crawford and also Carlos Pena for as long as they can. On Crawford specifically he said: "He's been a face of this organization, he's been a great Ray, he was a great Devil Ray, he's an extraordinary player and teammate, for the community and a face of this team. We're going to do everything we can to make sure he stays here longer.''

July 18, 1999 was Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium.

When my son Scott had told me in June that we were going to the game, there was the slightest hint that something special might happen.

An Inexplicable Feeling

It was a hot, humid day, with the temperature reaching 98 degrees. As soon as we entered the Stadium, Scott and I had an inexplicable feeling about the game that intensified when Don Larsen threw the ceremonial pitch to Yogi Berra.

We looked at each other but didn't speak a word.

One of the stories around baseball during the early parts of spring training has been Johana Santana claiming that he is still the top pitcher in the NL East despite the Phillies' acquisition of Roy Halladay.

It is hard to argue with Johan's confidence but Halladay does make a very good case for top pitcher in the division as well. An intriguing question is, who comes after them? There are great pitchers scattered throughout the NL East from the big right hander down in Florida, Josh Johnson to the slender California kid of the Phillies, Cole Hamels.

I've been getting ready for fantasy baseball and came up with this idea for a Battle of the Blogs league. I have set up the league on ESPN.com and would like to invite any bloggers interested in joining. This will be a great way to compete with other bloggers for bragging rights as well as promotes everyone's blog.

I am hoping to get bloggers from all over the country. Below are the details of the league.

Battle of the Blogs Fantasy Baseball League is open to anyone with a blog. Your blog name will be used as your team name.

Officially, pitchers and catchers were to report Sunday at the Indians' complex in Arizona.

Unofficially, just about the entire team is already there. With the report date for everyone else not until Wednesday and the first full-squad workout not until Friday, the new era of Indians baseball is underway early.

Manny Acta is pleased with the fact that some of his bigger stars in Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, and Asdrubal Cabrera have already been in Goodyear, but now he has to get to work.

This offseason saw a large number of free agents sign with new teams. Some teams were trying to fill holes while others were trying to take their team to the next level.

Whatever the reason, a lot of quality players found new homes. This is a recap of the signings with the most interesting fantasy implications.