MLB

Tim Raines
Left Fielder
First Year of Eligibility: 2008
Career Highlights: Seven-time All-Star; three-time World Series champion; one Silver Slugger award.

Our #2 contender for the 2010 class, Andre Dawson, owes no small debt of gratitude to Rock for the strength of his candidacy.

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I recently took a written beating for saying that I thought Joe Mauer was helped greatly by being a catcher, in his recent naming as the American League's Most Valuable Player for 2009.

With that being said, is Mauer not only the best catcher in the game, is he also the best player in MLB? Let's not throw pitchers in this mix, I would like to be able to compare "apples with apples."

Roy Halladay, the six time All Star, has been linked with the Red Sox. The real question is whether the Red Sox need another ace or should the payroll be better used elsewhere.

There are a number of reasons why Boston would look to trade for Halladay. The first of which is his obvious talent. The Toronto Blue Jay's star is one of the dominant pitchers in the American League. Last year he went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA in a losing team. He was third in the AL in ERA and 4th in wins. His abilities as a pitcher are unquestionable.

The ballot for the 2010 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame was announced on Friday, and 26 players will be waiting on the phone call to join the most elite group in baseball.

Success follows John McDonough wherever he goes.

McDonough, the current president of the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, previously spent a quarter of a century as a rising executive with the Cubs. During that space of time, McDonough's revolutionary ideas changed the entire face of the Cubs' franchise.

From 1983 to 2007, the North Siders had nine winning seasons, as many as they had previously compiled since 1940. They attained the post-season five times, as many as they had made since 1919. 

For those of you who have actually looked over my profile, you know that Carl Crawford listed first on my Short List under "Favorite Athletes."

To expand on that positioning, Carl Crawford is my favorite baseball player/athlete/celebrity/everything.

Speed, defense, average, a little pop, and hustle.

What's not to love?

Okay, let's live outside the box and in the realm of great possibility.

Josh Johnson is an emerging ace. In his first true full season, Johnson dominated the competition with a 3.23 earned run average and a 15-5 record. He has two full years before he hits free agency, and then he could demand A.J. Burnett type money.

Yes, he truly is that good.

Take what you just read and add these five words: Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. Think about the true dominance of a pitching staff led by those three pitchers.

So in case you had not heard, the fellow nerds of baseball prospectus, beyond the box score, fangraphs, and the like really lost their ability to complain about their annual insane individual award vote.

Greinke won the AL Cy Young over Sabathia (in fact, Sabathia wasn't even No. 2), Mauer won the AL MVP over Teixeira, and all was right in the world.

Recently I has the opportunity to visit the New York Yankees' 2009 World Series exhibit in their Hall of Fame. There were several great pieces of history at display in the exhibit. There was Matsui's bat, Rivera's hat, Damon's spikes, and many more items. But here are some items that may have missed the cut for the exhibit...

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In terms of baseball and its history defining the greatest hitter of all-time is an extremely difficult task. The reason for this is that there are two types of hitters: One is a contact hitter and the other is a power hitter.

For a contact hitter there goal is to get on base anyway possible whether it's taking a walk, using their speed to get on with a bunt, splitting the gaps for a double or triple, and occasionally a home run.