Baseball

As we've all heard by now, the New York Mets, specifically principal owner Fred Wilpon and his son-in-law, Saul Katz, are being sued by Irving H. Picard, the trustee for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, which stole as much as $65 billion from investors.

According to reports published by the New York Times, the Mets invested as much as $523 million with Madoff, withdrawing $571 million, a net profit of $48 million.

He is the Tigers' mystery man. His uniform ought to be covered with question marks, like The Riddler.

Another spring training is on the horizon. The thought of it alone should warm those cockles in your heart.

But it's becoming a ritual every February around Tigertown.

Every year around this time, we ask: Will Carlos Guillen be healthy? How much can he play? WHERE will he play?

The Reds are blessed with two of the best young hitters in the game in Joey Votto (27) and Jay Bruce (24 in April).

It is nearly impossible to not fall in love with an under-the-radar player or two each year while preparing for a new fantasy football season.

These are guys you feel aren’t getting enough love or attention from experts who bury them in the rankings.

Now that the Cliff and Andy questions have both been answered and put to rest, the biggest immediate concern across Yankee Universe going into spring training appears to be the two big question marks in the back end of our starting rotation.

How crucial is the back end of the rotation to a successful season for us?

Not as much as some might think. Certainly not as crucial as a kevlar bullpen, which we now have.

Sandy Alderson was named the New York Mets' new general manager early in the offseason.  Alderson has a big challenge ahead of him, as the Mets have bad contracts at many positions, not to mention Omar Minaya's mess.

The Mets have recently been big spenders in the offseason, but due to financial constraints, they couldn't make any big signings this year.  Alderson watched top-notch free agents fly off the market while he was forced to go searching in the bargain bin.

"Dear fellow Yankee fan,

Man up.

It's Andy Pettitte after a loss. He's going to be completely out of gas, and find a way to hold them to two runs anyway."

The news no New York Yankee fan wanted to hear came today, as pitcher Andy Pettitte is hanging up his pinstripes.
 
Not only is this a sad day because Pettitte is a legend, but it marks the end of an era, as fans will never see the Yankees' “Core Four” play together again.

Where does this leave the Yankees heading into the 2011 season?

Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, highlighted key insights while presenting revolutionary and progressive baseball knowledge.

However, I disagreed with him in two areas.

No. 1: Speed

Lewis understood from Billy Beane (Oakland A’s GM) that steals are an unnecessary risk to take, presenting high risk and relatively low reward. Transitionally, Lewis argued that since steals are not important, neither is speed.

That is where I disagree.

Over at Mop Up Duty, Matthias Koster tells us the eight men expected to start the season in the Toronto Blue Jays' 'pen are slated to make just over $19 million, making it the second most expensive bullpen the team has ever assembled. The group trails only the 2009 version that was heavily influenced by B.J. Ryan's $12 million payout.