Baseball

As time went by this offseason, many of my predictions and hopes for the Florida Marlins did not happen.

The first being Josh Johnson's contract negotiations reaching an impasse and not getting any starting pitching help.

In past posts, I had mentioned what I had expected from the Marlins' front office, some of these posts talk about Nick Johnson, Dan Uggla, and other players who are on the trade block or their contracts are up. 

So, during the span of time since those posts, a lot has changed. 

Though the trade talk between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres surrounding first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has died off, there could be a new rumor floating to the surface.

The Chicago Cubs have had previous interest in Jacoby Ellsbury; there's no question the Red Sox would love to add Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to their lineup; and the Padres have already asked for Clay Buchholz and top prospects Casey Kelley or Ryan Westmoreland.

Maybe Albert Haynesworth hates Greg Blache , and maybe he’s exactly right to require a better system by which the Redskins can wreak havoc. And yes, maybe $100 million dollars should buy him a little more input on how to improve a system that is pretty darn good.

But even if the Redskins’ defensive scheme was the worst in the league, is it a stretch to ask one of the best defensive players in the league toiling in it to suck it up and roll with the punches?

Grabbed with the seventh overall pick in the 2008 amateur draft, Yonder Alonso is the face of the Reds minor league system.  And for good reason.  The kid can flat-out hit a baseball.

Alonso is another left-handed bat hoping to make an already lefty laden lineup.  His 6'3", 215 pound frame is reminiscent of another Reds' first baseman...fan favorite, Sean "The Mayor" Casey.

One of the most fascinating rumors to come to life over the past few weeks has been the Adrian Beltre to the A's rumor. The normally frugal Athletics are taking a "serious look" at signing Beltre, who at just 30 years old, is one of the best free agents left on the market and by far the best free agent third baseman. As ESPN's Buster Olney writes:

It is time for the final field position to be graded for the 2009 campaign.

Ryan Hanigan, who did catch most of the games this past season, is now on the grading block. In actuality he almost caught twice as many as the “big money” catcher Ramon Hernandez managed to play only 50 games behind the plate.

As we do our annual look at the top 10 Boston sports stories of 2009, there were some that didn't make the final cut but did take up some time in our collective conscious over the past 12 months.

If you haven't figured it out yet, we care about sports here in Boston to a point that is almost scary.

A mix of Red Sox player moves and non-moves, Patriots wide receivers appearing on the national media radar for the right and wrong reasons and more, this list represents the Honorable Mentions for the Top 10 Boston Sports Stories of 2009.

Jackie Howard was a Giants' fan who grew up in Flushing. He was 10 years old when the Giants won the pennant in 1951, but the Yankees beat them in the World Series.

That's when Jackie Howard started his hate affair with the Yankees, which grew more intense during the 1962 World Series.

What the New York Yankees have done with the recent Javier Vazquez signing is strengthen their bullpen to the point that it resembles the one they had during their run in the late 1990’s.

Effectively the Yankees have five front line starters that can hang with any in the American League East.

From CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, the newly acquired Javier Vazquez, and Phil Hughes, a weak link is seemingly missing.

Missing from the rotation is reliever, turned starter, Joba Chamberlain.

Met fans have been clamoring for Omar Minaya to make a splash and sign a big name free agent. I'm not sure that this signing counts, but according to a report by Joel Sherman of the New York Post , Kelvim Escobar is on his way to becoming a New York Met :