History

So far this MLB off-season, the teams in New York have been very busy.  The Yankees' move this week may have been the biggest.

This coming season marks the 40th anniversary of one of the finest teams in baseball history, the 1970 Baltimore Orioles.

A dominating team, whose central cast of players were responsible for six first-place finishes in a nine-year period, the 1970 version of the Birds saw everything going right.

Welcome to another edition of Thaddeus' Tampa Bay Rays Offseason Report. Each and every Friday, we're going to recap the moves, trades, signings, and other nonsense of the previous week in the wonderful world of Tampa Bay baseball; keeping you, Dear Reader, up to date with the team until Opening Day in April 2010 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Baseball is my passion, or as Nick Turturro says... "I breathe baseball!" For the last 25 years the focus of that passion has been the New York Mets. So this list is MY ALL-TIME lineup. These are the players that have been the objects of my man-crushes... the guys who have been the driving force behind this fan's highs.... and lows (oh, so many lows...).

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This is my definitive list for the All-Time greatest Astros at each position.
Spanning the length of the Astros time as a Major League organization, and wading through some of baseball's All-Time greats! My list features one player twice, and leaves off a Hall of Famer who some consider to be the greatest pitcher to ever take the mound. While there may be some who disagree with portions of my list...take no heed of them because...I am right!

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As baseball owner's wallets get bigger, so do the contracts of the player they purchase.

The more you pay for a player, the higher the risk of that player failing is. For every good signing, there's ussually about five huge mistakes. Your Carl Pavanos, Jason Schmidts, and Barry Zitos.

This article counts down the 10 worst contracts handed out in this decade. If you think I've left any off, just leave me a comment.

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I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing former MLB catcher Rob Bowen, a 28- year-old former member of the Athletics, Padres, Cubs and Twins. 

Bowen was a switch hitter and threw right-handed. During his MLB career, he was known for his great fielding abilities. We spoke about his career, baseball free agency, his new company, a possible comeback, and a lot more.

Steven Merriam: Who had the biggest impact in your baseball career?                     

Welcome to another edition of Thaddeus' Tampa Bay Rays Offseason Report. Each and every Friday, we're going to recap the moves, trades, signings, and other nonsense of the previous week in the wonderful world of Tampa Bay baseball; keeping you, Dear Reader, up to date with the team until Opening Day in April 2010 against the Baltimore Orioles .

The 2010 Hall of Fame ballot has been hotly debated in the past few weeks, and for good reason: there's no clear-cut person, no Ricky Henderson, no Paul Molitor to draw the majority of the votes. 

While it may be boring for some, it opens a whole avenue of discourse for many others. With first timers like Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, and Roberto Alomar, there's bound to be a lot of votes spread around this year.

With return engagements like Bert Blyleven and Andre Dawson, there's no certainty that anyone is going to enter on their first ballot this year. 

It was 103 years ago. To some, it seems as if it were yesterday. The 1906 Chicago Cubs won 116 games while losing a mere 36 for a .763 winning percentage.

There aren't many individuals who could name the 1906 Cubs lineup or pitching staff. How fleeting is fame.

Manager and First Baseman Frank Chance, the Peerless Leader