Baseball

A little more than a month ago, Red Sox Nation learned that starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka told a Japanese magazine that he suffered a leg injury early last year while in training for the World Baseball Classic, and that he kept the injury hidden from the team.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be a good idea to run a special series today. So every hour today we’re going to run a collection of pictures of Yankees’ wives and girlfriends.

There are 10 in total. Here is the schedule:

10:00 am: Derek Jeter’s girlfriend, Minka Kelly

11:00 am: AJ Burnett’s wife, Karen Burnett

12:00 pm: Andy Pettitte’s wife, Laura Pettitte

When Red Sox pitchers and catchers report for spring training, there will be one player in particular to keep an eye on. 

29-year-old right-hander Josh Beckett is entering the final season of a three-year contract extension. He is slated to earn $12.5 million, and the major question is: Will the Red Sox sign Beckett to another extension?

1. Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves (.281 average, 21 homers, 94 RBI, 63 runs)

Today we are completing our quick tour of the NL East with our favorite team: the New York Metropolitans!  2009 was a tough year for the Mets as they were beset by a plague of injuries and ended up finishing fourth in the NL East ahead of only the lowly Nationals.

Few players have been as consistently dominant as Twins' closer Joe Nathan the past six seasons.

His ERA has never been above 2.70, and last year’s 2.10 was the second highest of the stretch. His WHIP has never been above 1.02. Only once was his BAA above .187. Only once did he record fewer than 77 strikeouts. He has had at least 36 saves every year. He’s just consistently been one of the best closers in the league.

I’ve seen multiple places rank David Aardsma as a Top 20 relief pitcher heading into 2010.  Some even have him ranked as a Top 15, borderline Top 10 option.  I have to wonder, why?  Are we talking about the same pitcher here?

I know, he was fantastic in 2010, just look at his line:

3 Wins
71.1 Innings
2.52 ERA
1.16 WHIP
80 Strikeouts (10.09 K/9)
34 Walks (4.29 BB/9)
.271 BABIP

When Trevor Hoffman signed with the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the 2009 season, there were some people out there that actually weren't excited about it.

Hoffman is Major League Baseball's all-time saves leader, a sure-fire Hall of Fame member, and one of the best closers of all time, if not the best. After the debacle that the Eric Gagne signing turned out to be...shouldn't it have been sheer relief if nothing else from the fan base?

Even still, there were skeptics. Hoffman had no problem proving those people wrong.

Position: Pitcher

Bats/Throws: Left/Left

Born: December 23, 1987 (Simi Valley, California)

School: Bella Vista High School

Height: 6'5''

Weight: 220 lbs.

2009 Ranking: 10



Breakdown

2009 Record: 87-76
2010 Prediction: 88-74
Predicted Finish: 2nd

Offensive Projections:
http://www.fan-exchange.com/mlb/teamhittingpredictions.asp?userid=53&franchid=MIN&yearid=2010