Baseball

With Opening Day on the horizon, River & Sunset once again offers Yankees fans a quick and easy way to get to know their team. We can verify that 91 percent of the information below is both accurate and relevant to this year's defending World Series champions. The rest is a mixture of hearsay and outright falsehoods.

STARTING ROTATION

This article is Part Two of a six-part series in which I analyze each division in baseball and tell you exactly how I believe things are going to shake out this season.

I am by no means a credible source—merely a casual fan who knows a little about baseball and would like to share his observations and thoughts.

Today, I turn my focus to the NL Central.

Nelson Figueroa got his final tune-up of the spring on Wednesday against the Florida Marlins, as he took the mound to fight for his big league career.

Figueroa—his start against the Marlins five days ago aside—has looked very strong this spring, but he indicated that he may head across to Japan should he not make the 25-man roster.

If you've been to Minute Maid Park recently, you've probably noticed maintenance crews removing Jeff Bagwell's retired jersey No. 5 from the rafters.

It might remind people of that line from the movie Short Circuit: "Number Five ALIVE !"

No, Bagwell hasn't been implicated in the steroids scandal. No, he hasn't been caught betting on baseball or cheering for the Texas Rangers. And no, ex-wife Shaune Bagwell isn't writing a tell-all book about their brief marriage.

Kris Medlen is listed at 5'10'' and even that may be a stretch.

His small stature and the fact that he played mostly shortstop at Santa Ana Junior College prior to being drafted had many questioning whether or not he could ever be a productive professional pitcher, which resulted in a 10th round draft selection in 2006.

Despite the slights against him, Medlen dominated the minors, posting an FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) higher than 4.00 just once, and he saw even more success once he transitioned to starting pitcher in the summer of 2008. 

Last year I predicted that Zack Greinke would win the American League Cy Young award, and I nailed that one.

I thought Cole Hamels would win the National League version of the award, and, well, that didn’t turn out quite like I expected.

The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball, one each for the American League and National League.

A soft opening, a sneak peak, a glimpse of the future—whatever you call it, Target Field is now officially a baseball facility.

The brand new home of the Minnesota Twins was finally used for its main purpose Saturday, hosting its first ever baseball game—a contest between the University of Minnesota and Louisiana Tech.

The Twins opened the doors from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a total of 37,757 fans paying $2 a head to get their first look at the Twins’ new digs.

2009 regular season record: 64-98, Fifth place, AL East

Major Offseason Acquisitions: Mike Gonzalez (ATL), Miguel Tejada (HOU), Garrett Atkins (COL), Kevin Millwood (TEX)

2009 regular season record: 95-67, Second place, AL East, Clinched Wild Card

Playoff record: 0-3, lost in ALDS to Los Angeles Angels

Major Offseason Acquisitions: John Lackey (LAA), Mike Cameron (MIL), Marco Scutaro (TOR), Adrian Beltre (SEA), Jeremy Hermida (FLA)