Chicago

It's time we all take a breather from worrying about the sports themselves and focus on the players involved. This article is written with the intent of recognizing that there are bigger things that we should be focusing on at this time in the world rather than sports. On 3/11/2011 an unprecedented 8.9 earthquake rocked the country of Japan. It brought devastation, injuries, life loss and widespread panic but that was only the beginning.

Bobbleheads, t-shirts and refrigerator magnets.

Oh, my!

One of the pleasures a fan of a lousy team has to look forward to every season are the cool promotions that sucker you in to handing over a hundred bucks you may not have otherwise.

I've become an expert at this in recent years rooting on the Mariners, unfortunately. I have more dolls than any 31 year old man should, thanks to the annual Ichiro bobbles. Though, they're sucking me in again this season.

With the recent debate about "experts" finally reaching a decision on which Chicago Cubs game Ferris Bueller attended, it's important to also recognize some of the greatest showcases of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field to appear on the silver screen.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

One of the most interesting races in baseball should be the AL Central Division.  The Midwestern division isn't the sexiest in baseball, but it's highly underrated. 

ESPN will give more coverage to one Red Sox/Yankees series than they will to the combined seasons of the five teams in the division, but the fans of those teams know it's shaping up to be a great race in 2011.

Has the Big Hurt done enough to make it to Cooperstown? If my calculations are correct, he will be eligible for his first ballot appearance in 2014.

He passes the eyeball test for sure. If you watched him play, it is easy to just say, “Yes, Thomas is a Hall of Fame player.”

He surely has very good numbers across the board, whether you grade him traditionally or using advanced metrics.

"It's only spring training."

Say it over and over to yourself, Cubs fans.

"It's only spring training."

Yes, it's only been four games—four games that don't count for anything, to be exact—but it's hard for a team to look any worse than the Chicago Cubs have so far.

In just four spring training games, the Cubs have committed 14 errors, including three in the first inning of a 12-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.

As everyone knows Albert Pujols did not sign a contract extension with the Saint Louis Cardinals by the deadline that was put in place by Pujols.  As a result Pujols will become a free agent after the 2011 Major League Baseball season.  At the Winter Meetings, Pujols will sign the largest contract in the history of baseball, 10 years for $300 million, with the Chicago Cubs.  Immediately afterwards the world will start its decline into the apocalypse.
 

Carlos Zambrano has been to the mountaintop and back.

He has braved the treacherous climb, studied with the celebrated Dharma bums in the Himalayas, found inner peace with the spirit of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and even spent a few months in the swamps of Dagobah under Jedi master Yoda.

He is ready.

Be honest, at this time last year, was anyone picking the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series? In a sport that many will argue lacks a competitive balance, baseball has produced more than its fair share of surprise success stories of late.

Out of the previous eight World Series winners, five of them did not make the playoffs the previous season. That means 62.5 percent of recent World Series winning teams can be considered sleepers. The numbers are exactly the same for the runners-up over the same span of time.

As spring training gets underway in Florida and Arizona, we take one last look at the recent Major League Baseball offseason and how the various trades and acquisitions will affect the fantasy landscape for 2011.