Baseball

We've read the accounts and chronology of how Andy Pettitte reconsidered retirement and signed a one-year minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the New York Yankees.

General manager Brian Cashman is said to have wanted Pettitte to return since the end of the 2010 season, but that Pettitte felt it was time to retire.

In a move that shocked nearly everyone in the baseball world, Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees agreed on a one-year deal, this morning, worth $2.5 million, effectively ending Pettitte's retirement.

The deal is a minor league pact with an invitation to the Major League Spring Training.

Pettitte retired after an 11-3 season with a 3.28 ERA in 2010, leaving many fans wanting more. He was an All-Star that season, and many believed that he had retired too soon.

Closers are to fantasy baseball what kickers are to fantasy football. They can put up good points and may ultimately help your team out a lot, but at the same time, there are very few worth taking early and too much of their production relies on chance.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, taking a closer early means passing up on players who are in a much better position to help out fantasy teams.

In the end, the Atlanta Braves just plain ran out of gas in 2011. Their collapse wasn't quite as bad as that of the Boston Red Sox, but it was just as disappointing.

The Braves didn't use their collapse as an excuse to go out and completely revamp their team over the offseason. On the contrary, they stayed eerily quiet, making very few moves and generating very few headlines. The Braves laid low.

It's been a good start to spring training for the Boston Red Sox, winning every game they've played thus far with minor speed bumps along the way. 

This past offseason brought a lot of changes to Boston, including a new manager, a new general manager, a slew of new coaches, and, most significantly, some new players.

With all these soft openings, the Marlins are starting to realize their interesting creation in left-center field might pose a problem for batters. 

Already, the batter's eye in straight-away center field has been repainted black from the green color that is evident throughout the walls of the outfield. 

Last year at this time, Rick Peterson was getting ready to take a trip to Italy, not the place where one of pitching’s most innovative minds usually spend March. It was just the second time in more than 35 years that Peterson had been away from a baseball diamond for any substantial stretch of time.

Nobody takes more time between pitches than Jose Valverde, but whatever he's doing is working.

Valverde converted all 49 save opportunities last season while posting a 2.24 ERA.  Jose's 49 saves led all of baseball and were a career high.

Valverde has been a consistent closer throughout his career, averaging 32 saves per season.

Honorable Mention: Joakim Soria, Kansas City

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Talk about beating a dead horse, right?

Just when I was fully prepared to turn the page on the whole Roy Oswalt coming to Boston notion, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo had to lure me back into the saga.

I'm like Michael Corleone, just when I thought I was out...

Spring is a time of renewed growth, rebirth and rejuvenation. New blooms, new crops and new life are all a part of nature’s cycle.

Baseball is no different and no exception to the cycle of life, as teams, players and fans all look toward wiping the slate clean from last winter and beginning another season anew. The win-loss records are but replanted crops, ready to sprout; hitters’ batting averages and pitchers’ ERA records are newly sown. Most importantly, teams’ World Series aspirations are reseeded, ready to blossom throughout the summer.