Baseball

People often forget how rare it is to find a truly great switch hitter.

In general, the switch hitter himself is not all that rare of a commodity, you see them in nearly every game. But once in a great while you will find one that is head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to utilizing this special skill.

I have compiled a list of, who I consider to be, the top ten switch hitters of all time.

Enjoy. I look forward to your feedback.

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What impact does the A's resigning Jack Cust, their main source of power for the past three seasons, have on players like Jake Fox, Eric Chavez, Chris Carter and other DH-eligible players?

What if (and I know it's a huge if) Chavez does comes back next season and is able to at least swing the bat? Or what about the one-in-a-million possibility that Chavez returns to the hot-corner next season? What happens to the newly acquired Fox?

Casey Kotchman, his hands in his lap, waits patiently as his plane lands in Seattle. The Emerald City is particularly resonant today, the horizon shimmering blue in the Pacific Northwest as the chill of winter bites at the coastline. But there's still that sparkle, that tiny gleam that you can only see if you're looking for it.

It's the hope embodied by the entire city of Seattle.

It's the hope of a World Series team.

Getting Adrian Beltre for a guarantee of just one year and $10 million has to be viewed as a steal for the Red Sox. It's a huge come-down from Scott Boras's early demands of four years and $40 million, or more.

It seems hard to believe, but we are already in the year 2010. As with any new decade, it only seems fair to look back at the best players, teams, etc. of the previous 10 years.

So with that, I present my top 10 picks from each position between the years 2000-2009. This installment will be the outfielders. (For this list, I decided to do the top 30 given the large number of outfielders in the league.)

As with any rankings, there will always be snubs.

It looks like the Oakland Athletics will retain their main source of power from the past three seasons by bringing back Jack Cust for a one-year, incentive-laden deal. The deal is reportedly similar to the $2.8 million he made last season. 

Cust was targeted by several teams this offseason, but decided to stick with the A's instead. In 2009, the A's slugger had a .240/.356/.417 season, blasted a team-leading 25 homers, and walked 93 times.

The other day, Baseball America released their Top 10 Indians Prospects for 2010 .

This announcement is always fun, because not only does it list the best up-and-comers in the organization, but it also looks at the best tools and tries to predict a future lineup. In this case, BA looks ahead to the year 2013.

The Lowell Spinners, Class-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, have announced that the team and the city of Lowell have been awarded the 2011 New York-Penn League All-Star Game and are kicking off preparation with a contest to create a logo for the event.

Spinner Vice President and General Manager Tim Bawmann shared the news and was excited to announce plans for the upcoming logo contest.