Baseball

If I told you that you had to fill 34 starts throughout the course of a season and offered you the choice between the following stat lines, which one would you take?

11-7, 3.23 ERA, 214.1 IP, 178 H, 24 HR, 58 BB, 160 K, 1.101 WHIP, 24 Quality Starts

14-7, 5.22 ERA, 194.2 IP, 226 H, 39 HR, 64 BB, 100 K, 1.490 WHIP, 14 Quality Starts

Is there even the tiniest little chance that you'd select line two? I suppose that if you were selecting a starting pitcher for your chief rival, you might go that way.

Pardon my boldness in this, my rookie attempt at writing for the B/R, but I genuinely believe that what you're about to read in this column is a potent rationale to reconcile the divide and to end decades of a truly bizarre era of major league baseball: an era in which a very significant rule was allowed to stay on the books that clearly divided the leagues in a fundamental way that no other professional sports league has ever permitted.

The Atlanta Braves, in what has proven to be their last notable signing of the 2009-10 offseason, signed Eric Hinske to a one-year, $1 million contract back in January.

The Yankees start playing spring training games on March 3 against some former-Yankees the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s going to be a 1:05pm game televised on the YES Network.

They play 32 spring games in total and 15 of them will be televised. Here is the schedule . Here is the TV schedule:

My last article looked at the Texas Rangers' rotation. I gave their group a C+ overall, dragged down mainly by a D rating for Colby Lewis.

Next up is the Los Angeles Angels' rotation, an interestingly balanced yet unspectacular group.

At the end of this article, I'll compare the Angels to the Rangers and see who has the better rotation.

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The Yankees' bats were on fire last season. They led the league with 915 runs as one of only three teams to break 800 runs scored in 2009 (the Red Sox came in second with 872).

Enter John Lackey, who's now a member of a revered Red Sox rotation. With Boston and New York the clear one-two front-runners for the AL East crown, the Red Sox could certainly use some ice-cold pitching to cool down their nemesis in 2010.

But will they get it from Lackey?

Here are his career numbers against some of New York's finest hitters:

If you missed my predictions for the Three Late-Round Bargain hitters, click here:

I refuse to place any closers in this article, since they should always be left undrafted and picked up in free agency.

I live by the "Don't Pay For Saves" mantra, because Health Bell (42), David Aardsma (38), Ryan Franklin (38), Andrew Bailey (26), and Leo Nunez (26) were among the MLB save leaders in 2009.

If there’s one word that makes fantasy owners ears perk up like Tiger Woods at a sex convention, its sleeper. Everyone thinks they have a few gems, but usually keep their names under tighter wraps than Al Capone’s vault. Most would rather lose a limb than divulge such top secret information to even their closest of confidants.

Why such secrecy?

As a Mariners fan, I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't slightly apprehensive about the arrival of new outfielder Milton Bradley this year.

Along with other new arrivals such as Cliff Lee (starting RHP), Chone Figgins (1B), and a few other capable contributors, Bradley (who I'll now refer to as MB) comes with all the tools to help boost the M's into October this year. 

But he also brings with him quite a bit of baggage—a hot temper and what seems to be a distaste for authority figures (in which umpires and some managers might qualify). 

What are the most important considerations that will help to determine the outcome of the AL East divisional race in 2010?

Is it the performance of new Rays closer Rafael Soriano or Yankees starter Javier Vazquez? Maybe it's the comeback of Red Sox DH David Ortiz or the development of Rays OF B J Upton? Or is it the productiveness of the Red Sox offense in contrast to the effectiveness of the Yankees starting pitching?

Here are my Top Ten Questions for the AL East for 2010.