Baseball

Michael Bourn was acquired to be the leadoff hitter to replace legendary Craig Biggio. Ed Wade envisioned Bourn as the next "Killer B," a speedy youngster who could be a defensive gem in Minute Maid Park's cavernous center field and could be devastating as a top of the order threat both at the plate and on the base paths.

Bourn was devastating, but only to the Astros offense. In his first full year as a starter and first in Astros Red and Black, Bourn posted only a .229 average and a miserable .288 on-base percentage. 

Puerto Rico remains undefeated through the first round of the World Baseball Classic. I must say, I'm very impressed with their team unity and great play so far. 

I say so far because we were all stunned when the Netherlands defeated the heavily favored Dominican Republic (TWICE, actually), and we may be in for another upset in the later rounds.

MLB Teams of Interest

by ChrisArena, sportsinsights.com

Just like our NBA Teams of Interest article, this article is going to examine some teams around Major League Baseball, searching for value opportunities in the sports betting marketplace.

In anticipation of the draft for The Hazean’s 2009 fantasy baseball challenge, I decided to dabble in some preseason projections.

The problem with that thought, though, is that I really do not spend as much time working on my fantasy baseball knowledge as I do football. So I brought in some fantasy baseball muscle to compile these projections.

Aaron McCoy, fantasy baseball connoisseur and a co-worker of mine, offered his fantasy baseball expertise for these rankings. I have to say they are pretty impressive and I might even use them to draft my team this weekend.

After a 2007 campaign in which the Braves saw their bullpen compile the NL's second-best ERA (3.58), 2008 was a year that saw some of the 'pen's best arms (Gonzalez carried over from last year, Moylan, and Soriano) miss significant time due to injuries.

Add to this the futile rotation, and the team's second-tier arms (Acosta, when he was healthy, Ohman, who is gone for 2009 due to free agency, Boyer, and Bennett) saw extreme amounts of time that hurt their ability down the stretch (or what can be called the "stretch" for a 90-loss team)

All 25 players on a Major League Baseball team are important. However, some stand out more than others. They are the ones who are essential to a team's success. Here are my top five essential players for the Tampa Bay Rays:

5. Pat Burrell

Burrell was the Rays' top free agent pick up this season. He was brought in to add power to an already impressive lineup.

Last night, Puerto Rico shut out the Netherlands 5-0 on just six hits. None of the eight pitchers used by manager Jose Oquendo were challenged as they combined for 13 strikeouts.

Puerto Rico had 10 hits of their own, but only one extra-base hit—a triple by Alex Rios that drove in a run. Of the five pitchers for the Netherlands, only Alexander Smit was able to prevent Puerto Rico from scoring.

Both teams used their bench players liberally, making this game seem more like an exhibition.

Last December, the Mets shipped out Endy Chavez, Joe Smith, and Aaron Heilman in exchange for J.J. Putz, Sean Green, and Jeremy Reed.

When the Nationals traded Emilio Bonifacio, P. J. Dean and Jake Smolinski to the Florida Marlins last winter for Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham, a couple of things seemed certain.

First, Olsen would become the Nationals No. 2 pitcher; second, Josh Willingham would become a sorely needed offensive weapon for the team, likely in left field.

Over his career, after all, the 30-year-old has been a solid hitter. Since joining the Marlins in 2004, Willingham has averaged .266-25-85 over a 162 game season.

On one hand, you have a 28-year-old right fielder from Puerto Rico. On the other hand, you have a 25-year-old, right fielder from America.

They are Alex Rios of the Toronto Blue Jays and Nick Markakis of the Baltimore Orioles.

As of now, Markakis has certainly had the better career, but certain players definitely develop faster then others.

Both players are five-tool talents, they both have rocket arms in the outfield, speed on the base paths, power in their swings, man their corner outfield spot well, and both know how to put the ball in play.