MLB

Last year, Edinson Volquez was one of the top pitching draft prospects, and with good cause. The season prior (2008), Volquez broke out of his mold as a rookie for the Cincinnati Reds , posting a 17-6 record with a 3.21 ERA and an explosive strikeout to ball ratio of 206/93.

His only knock was he beaned 14 batters.

Provided Jason Bay passes his physical, he will become a Met next week, and he will be their left fielder.

But where will he hit?

The most logical place for him is 5th, with David Wright hitting 3rd and Carlos Beltran hitting 4th, being that, as of right now, Carlos Delgado is not in the Mets picture for 2010.

Another right-handed bat does give David Wright some protection in the lineup. Hopefully Wright's power numbers will improve, but as long as he's productive in driving in runs, to me it doesn't matter how the runs score.

For a long time everyone looked at the Giants’ Matt Cain as a pitcher with all the potential in the world, though he was blessed with the worst luck in baseball.  How else could you explain win totals of seven in 2007 and eight in 2008 despite ERAs under 4.00? 

All that changed in 2009, when Cain seemingly put it all together to post the following line:

14 Wins
217.2 Innings
2.89 ERA
1.18 WHIP
171 Strikeouts (7.07 K/9)
73 Walks (3.02 BB/9)
.268 BABIP

After the markets best slugger was plucked off the table when the New York Mets signed Jason Bay to a five year contract, teams are now going to have to dive into the second tier of bats, (excluding Matt Holliday, whom I fully expect to re-up long term with the Cardinals), to fill their needs.

The best remaining bat on the market (excluding Russell Branyan, whom I expect to re-sign with the Seattle Mariners), appears to be former Atlanta first baseman Adam LaRoche.

It's unbelievable to me how quickly time flies.

I started writing here at Bleacher Report just before the 2008 MLB season started, in late March, and here we are, two days short of 2010.

A lot has happened in nearly two years. I wasn't even here for most of it--I was almost immediately hired by OaklandClubhouse.com (after 18 articles here) and took my work there, but decided to come back here when I was bored in July of 2009 after a 13-month layoff.

The San Francisco Giants' eternal search for a masher to pair with slugger Pablo Sandoval would end if they landed Russell Branyan, who is one of the best free agent first basemen on the market. 

Branyan has played on six teams over the last four years, bouncing from San Diego to Tampa Bay to Philly to St. Louis, back to San Diego, to Milwaukee, and then to Seattle. 

It is time to start looking towards the new MLB season. While many Yankee fans are still relishing in their 27th World Championship glory, it is time to gear up for another exciting season of Yankee baseball.

I decided to do a breakdown of the Yankees current roster. This will give everyone a look at the Yankees lineup and rotation. Without further ado, let's begin!

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We are almost upon the New Year of 2010. A new decade is about to dawn upon us.

But, when that decade comes, the Yankees will begin it as the reigning champions of baseball.

They will also be still in search of a left fielder for the 2010 season.

Just this week, two more options went off the board for the Yankees in the left field sweepstakes.

Mark DeRosa signed a two-year, $12 million dollar deal with the San Francisco Giants.

Jason Bay signed a four-year, $66 million dollar deal with the New York Mets.

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting on Wednesday that the St. Louis Cardinals' offer to free agent outfielder Matt Holliday is in excess of $100 million.

In the wake of Jason Bay agreeing to a four-year deal worth $66 million with the Mets ($17 million per), it's hard to imagine another team throwing that kind of coin at Holliday.

They call him ‘The Hawk”; a name fitting for one of the most tenacious, ball hunting outfielders in MLB history.

He was better known as Andre Dawson.

For nine years—what has probably been an eternity for Dawson—the eight time Gold Glove Award winner has patiently waited for that one phone call that ever HOF nominee yearns to hear, and for nine long years, that call has perpetually remained silent.