MLB

Since I am a Freshman in High School, I hear from so many people that they want to be a sports athlete when they are older. So I started thinking, do these people know how disappointed they will be when the scouts don’t even stay past the first inning?

My friend Anthony just barely made the C-team for baseball. Now he is a freshman but to think that he is the next Johan Santana as he says he will be is pure ignorance.

It was a difficult decision.

One that couldn’t be made until four simple days before Opening Day.

But nonetheless, it’s becoming a reoccurring decision for the Rockies organization lately.

On behalf of the ever-suffering Pittsburgh Pirates' deck crew, I'd like to offer a small proposal. This flagship has had some dreadful leadership in the past, but as the new skipper, let's not start out by making mistakes, alright?

As the Reds said goodbye to Ed Smith Stadium Pittsburgh sent the away with another loss to end their spring in Sarasota Florida.

All-Star pitcher Edinson Volquez struggled as he gave up three runs (two earned runs) and walked three and gave up five hits in 3.2 innings pitched. Volquez had four K's.

After it was widely assumed that the St. Louis Cardinals would head to Memphis carrying 26 players, the management decided to finalize the Opening Day roster by relegating Joe Mather to Triple-A Memphis.  Mather, who had been relatively inconsistent with his swing through the Jupiter campaign, finished the Grapefruit League with a lowly .227 batting average.

With David Freese looking like the clear favorite to grab the third baseman job in the absence of stud Troy Glaus, Mather's swing issues hurt him down the stretch with regards to grabbing the final roster spot.

It's the final stretch, the fourth quarter! It's time to find out how the Cubs will perform in 2009, or at least according to my projections.

All indications were that Brad Penny simply needed not to implode in his final spring training outing Thursday against Minnesota in order to secure the final rotation spot on the Red Sox. He did not disappoint, allowing three runs in five innings in the Sox's 7-3 loss.

Michael Cuddyer did most of the damage, driving in all three runs on a triple and a double. Penny struck out three and walked none, facing 19 batters and exiting with the game tied.

A lot of stuff to get too... Let's start off with this slideshow from NJ.com. It has a bunch of pics from today's workout at the new stadium.

Here's a link to some great panoramic shots of the new stadium from the New York Times.'

Here's a video tour from Sam Borden of The Journal News:

Now, I think it’s time to put some of these projections into play across the entire National League East, to give a better feel for just what the Phillies may—or may not—be up against in the NL’s toughest division this year.

To keep things consolidated, I’ll be using PECOTA Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) projections, as provided by Baseball Prospectus.

Starting Rotation