Baseball

1. Robinson Cano, New York Yankees

2. Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers

3. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox

4. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

5. Dan Uggla, Atlanta Braves

6. Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers

7. Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds

8. Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays

9. Kelly Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks

10. Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves*

11. Howie Kendrick, Los Angeles Angels

12. Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles

For what it's worth, the Philadelphia Phillies made their fair share of noise this off-season. Even when lurking in the shadows, the Phillies would eventually come out on top, signing free agent left handed starter and prize of the 2011 off-season, Cliff Lee. Soon after the five year, $125 million deal became official, realizing that the Phillies had very little resources remaining was not exactly rocket science.

To successfully draft your closers in fantasy baseball, I suggest you consider my fantasy football philosophy to drafting a kicker.

You see, the best fantasy kickers aren’t always the best real-life kickers. They typically are not found on the team with the most high-powered offense, either. That is because kickers get most of their value when the offense sputters and they have additional field goal opportunities.

Same concept can be used on closers in baseball.

The closers with the most saves in 2010?

We all know the argument between Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez, battling it out for the No. 1 and 2 spots in fantasy drafts around the world this year.  Can you really lose with either of those guys, though? 

But every fantasy baseball draft is also surrounded by some hype about who is going to be the new kid on the block. You never want to be behind the curve, but you also never want to overpay for a player when there’s value left on the table. 

Baseball is, for the most part, an exact science.

That is why we can compare Tony Gwynn and Tris Speaker, even though 75 years passed between their respective debuts. We know that Speaker's .345 average is still very comparable to Gwynn's .338.

Of course the game has changed slightly. Speaker averaged 25 stolen bases a season, four more than Gwynn. But 25 steals was less impressive in the 1910s than 21 was 80 years later.

Expectations are high for the 2011 Oakland Athletics as they get ready to report to Spring Training in Phoenix, preparing to hopefully bring the World Series trophy back across the Bay Bridge for the first time since 1989.

Tier 1: Evan Longoria
To me, there is one first round third baseman and that is Longoria.  In 2010 he showed that he could bring the total package to the table, adding stolen bases (15) and a near .300 average (.294) to an already impressive package.  While the power faded a little bit, at 25-years old it is not hard to imagine him returning to the 30 HR level.   Throw in 100/100 potential and what is there not to like?

Hot stove conversation is terrific, but the start of spring training is even better.

I’ll definitely be following the hoops as closely as possible as we head toward the conference tournaments and beyond.

But the fact that big league camps are about to open means we can start counting down the days until the start of the 2011 baseball season.

Make no mistake, baseball has always been my favorite game, and I’m looking forward to another great summer on the diamond.

We are just a few days away from pitchers and catchers reporting for Spring Training.

The 2011 baseball season is getting closer and closer each day, but one thing hasn't changed yet.

The Yankees need for starting pitching.

Last week, the need got even worse when Andy Pettitte decided to retire from baseball, ending his 16-year career with the Yankees to spend more time at home with his family.

There are still plenty of players left on the free agent market that could improve a major league club. What if it was decided there would be a new expansion team? The team would have to assemble itself by whoever is left, and this is what I believe this team would look like. A team filled with former all-stars, and overlooked players.

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