Kyle Farnsworth

We're less than a month away from when pitchers and catchers report to spring training, so it's time to assess what the Miami Marlins need and who is still out there to be had.

But before we begin, let's check the Marlins shopping list and see if there's anything the Marlins forgot to buy.

The latest free-agent buzz in Major League Baseball has surrounded three clients of Scott Boras, all currently left out in the cold of winter with spring training fast approaching.

Rafael Soriano, Kyle Lohse and Michael Bourn have yet to find new homes this offseason, in large part because all three are attached to draft-pick compensation after their former employers extended them qualifying offers.

The 2010 bullpen of the Tampa Bay Rays was one of the best in the Majors, if not the best in franchise history. Now all the names that made that possible are gone, vanishing faster than you can say "Tropicana."

Now we step into 2011, with new and much less recognizable faces in the pen. There's a lot to be asked about this new bullpen, but not a lot to be expected of it.

Jamie Moyer has continued to prove his doubters wrong each and every time he picks up the baseball, but after another surgery his career may just be over.

In the beginning of the season Moyer, 47, had the same amount of wins as perennial Cy-Young contender, Roy Halladay. Moyer and Halladay may have been members of the same team, but they could not have been more different.

Although the Atlanta Braves have been leading the NL East for some time now, they made a number of trades to try and strengthen their team for the stretch run.

With the Phillies getting key players back in their lineup seemingly every day, the Braves were looking for guys like Rick Ankiel, Derek Lee, and Kyle Farnsworth to fill in some holes that the team had.

For Jesse Chavez, Gregor Blanco, and Tim Collins, the Braves acquired the now infamous converted-pitcher Rick Ankiel and an old friend (save the 2005 NLDS) in Kyle Farnsworth (as well as come cash from the Royals).

That's a right-handed reliever with a straight fastball, a AAAA outfielder (as much as we loved him in Atlanta), and a 5'7" lefty with a huge ceiling and awesome stuff (308 Ks in 202.2 career MiLB innings) for two more-than-serviceable Major Leaguers.

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Since my last post, I've gone out of town twice, bought a new car, worked nearly every day in between (pulling doubles three days a week), and have begun to prepare for a move to a new apartment.

This has left little time for blogging and little time for the Royals. Under new manager Ned Yost, the Royals are playing roughly .500 ball. This has been more a curse than a blessing, as the perception of success has led to hesitation in getting involved as sellers on the trade market.

Coming into the 2010 season, most Royals fans were wondering how much longer they'll have to wait until some of the organization's highly touted prospects will make their way to Kansas City.

The team has started the season with a 9-14 record, and is in a last-place tie with Chicago in the AL Central. And while the team's record may be discouraging to most Royals fans, this team could easily be five wins better if not for horrendous bullpen pitching through the first four weeks of the season.

Now that the decade of the 2000s has just ended, I thought it would be a good time to make a list of the best relief pitchers from this decade.

Now keep in mind, this list is a list of the best careers, so far. It is not a list of the best right now. This needs to be kept in mind while reading this list; I’m talking about the best careers, not the best 2009 seasons.

Some argue that the position of relief pitcher is an unimportant position. I disagree.

Bucky "f#@king" Dent was given a new middle name by Red Sox supporters after his 1978 home run in Fenway Park. It stuck with him for decades into the future.

Kyle Farnsworth earned that same middle name from Yankee fans as a result of his unreliable and putrid relief efforts.