Baseball

If the Washington Nationals are planning on extending the contract of first baseman Adam Dunn, they had better do it soon because it looks as though the period of contractual sanity is over.

One question, hundreds of answers: Which Astro had the greatest offensive season at his position?

Major League baseball has been asking fans this same question in an effort to choose each team's best-ever collection of stars.

They are calling it MLB 9s.

Scroll down to find out why Lance Berkman doesn't make the cut, why Dickie Thon should be remembered as a Hall-of-Famer whose career got cut short, and why Craig Biggio was so much more than just "Mr. Hit By Pitch".

Welcome to another edition of Thaddeus' Tampa Bay Rays Offseason Report. Each and every Friday, we're going to recap the moves, trades, signings, and other nonsense of the previous week in the wonderful world of Tampa Bay baseball; keeping you, Dear Reader, up to date with the team until Opening Day in April 2010 against the Baltimore Orioles.

If you knew nothing about the path 23-year-old Aaron Crow took after entering the 2008 draft, you would probably just assume that he’d already be making an impact in the Major Leagues. 

Armed with a fastball that can touch the mid-90s, as well as a slider (which mlb.com called his best pitch) and changeup, that would’ve been a fair assessment after he was selected ninth overall by the Washington Nationals.

Like most sports fans, I take a lot of pride in my predictions that come true. I said the Red Sox would win the 2004 ALCS even when they went down 3-0. I predicted Kurt Warner would be a great NFL QB before he ever took a snap in the league (and I was only nine at the time). I've made a number of other far-fetched predictions that came true in different sports.

However, baseball is a game that is largely random. The year-to-year player variations are staggering, and nobody, no matter their expertise, gets them all right.

Not sure if anyone read the latest foot-in-mouth interview from Chicago's North Side, but this time it isn't one of the usual suspects.

No, it wasn't Milton Bradley talking about how racist the fans were. And it wasn't Geovany Soto talking about the proper way to pack a bong during the World Baseball Classic.

This time, it was closer-to-be Carlos Marmol. And he was jumping all over the hot stove.

The Chicago Cubs took the first concrete steps toward crystallizing their team in 2010 today, trading right-handed pitcher Aaron Heilman and re-signing would-be free agent John Grabow. 

Those steps were preliminary, though, and general manager Jim Hendry knows that in order to make more drastic and necessary changes, he must first resolve the single most dauntingly enigmatic question that faces Chicago during this offseason: To whom will Hendry send outfielder Milton Bradley?

By Ryan of The Sportmeisters

The MLB Free Agency season is upon us, and after the New York Yankees' excessive spending led to a World Series title, will another season of open piggy banks arise?

Probably not, but there are still quite a few players that could break the bank and teams that will shell the dough for their services. Let’s take a look at 10 free agents and what they bring to the table.

Dolan creates a Korean pipeline to Cleveland. 

The Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan and Kia Motors have agreed in principal to a 250 Million cash and stock swap deal. The Tigers gain a 35 percent share of the Indians for 180 Million in cash and a 70 Million common stock. The Indians gain a 51 percent controlling interest in the Kia Tigers.