Baseball

The Red Sox have one of the most solid rotations in baseball, both in terms of on-field quality and stability.  They have six major league-ready starters and, barring injury, not many of their prospects will see a start. 

Jon Lester is one of my favorite pitchers in baseball.  I’ve loved him since 2008, when I stupidly refused to trade Shawn Marcum for him, and made sure I drafted him in 2009 and 2010.  

I mean, what’s not to like? 

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

New York Mets fans have been begging for Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez to be shipped out of Queens for a while now.  Both aging players have two of the worst contracts in the league, clearly not living up to their worth, and it will be almost impossible for the Mets to find a team that would take them in a trade.  That leaves the Mets with one option: cut both players.

It would have appeared that the Chicago White Sox had parted ways with pitcher Freddy Garcia after the 2010 season.  However, a return to the south side may still be in the cards for the veteran right-hander.

If a report from SI.com is accurate, the White Sox may be looking to bring Garcia back into the fold.

For a team with 70 or fewer wins in the last two seasons, the Arizona Diamondbacks actually have several useful fantasy players.  

The first of those players to come to mind for most people would be position players.  Guys like Justin Upton, Chris Young (still cannot believe he is useful again), Stephen Drew and Miguel Montero are all useful fantasy hitters.  

As Spring Training nears closer, baseball fever is beginning to run rampant. With only one week left in the NFL season, it's only a matter of time before people start looking south to Florida for hints at what's to come in the new season.

Over the next couple of months, I'll be breaking down a division each week before making my final predictions for how the season is going to turn out.

First up, the loaded AL East.

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With only one real big signing remaining on Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopolous' agenda before the season starts—Jose Bautista, the Jays roster looks to be almost set heading into spring training.

The Mets have skipped arbitration with starting pitcher R.A. Dickey, and both sides have agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million deal.

This is a move that I advocated for earlier this year, and I feel that the Mets made a good decision. It was included as one of my top 10 moves that Sandy Alderson should consider for this offseason.

Anyone who has been watching the Mets this decade remembers him, a.k.a. the guy with the weird name (he also went by Thrilledge and L-Milz). The Mets took him in the 2003 draft with their 12th pick after he was passed on due to his sex allegations with a minor.

No doubt controversial, he was hyped up as a major part of the future of the Mets team, a replacement for Floyd/Green in the future. He was raw, but packed immense talent and promise.

Don Mattingly's major league career with the New York Yankees started in 1982 and ended after the 1995 season. Mattingly's first full season as a regular was 1984.

From 1984-89 Mattingly batted .327, had an on base average of .372 and slugged .530. He averaged 27 home runs, 114 RBIs, 49 walks and only 34 strikeouts.