MLB

Alas, baseball is here!

With spring training drawing to a close this week, MLB's regular season is set to kick off. With spring in the air, there's a still a heap of snow in my town. The great American pastime is back!

A few weeks ago, it sounded as if the Texas Rangers were going to go with outfielder Frank Catalanotto, which meant that former Brave and Dodger Andruw Jones would be looking for a new team.

After that story first broke, Jones has apparently turned the corner and gotten his swing back because the Rangers have decided to keep the Gold Glove Award winning center fielder. This means that Catalanotto's days with the Rangers are officially over, according to a blog written by MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.

*From Protect the Plate

After winning 88 games in 2007, the Mariners were expected to contend for the American League West title last season. Instead, they fell apart, posting the worst record in the AL, and losing 100 games for the first time since 1983.

With a whole new coaching staff headed by first-time manager Don Wakamatsu, the Mariners hope to bounce back in a big way in 2009.

Mr. 200

In an era where the long ball is valued much more than a batting average, on-base percentage, or clutch performance, hitters that fail to come up with a sizable amount of home runs after they play into their mid-30's are frequently shoved out of the world.

A hitter whose so sole contribution is power (i.e. Ryan Howard, Mike Jacobs, Reggie Jackson) typically has a much shorter career than those hitters whom depend on speed, and batting average. The age of 40 is a death sentence for a hitter. Point in case; Barry Bonds.

The NL Central is one of the weaker divisions in all of baseball. Because of that, I have decided to go with a bland pick and say that the division winner will be...

1st place

Chicago Cubs

Despite the injury concerns and the dipping performances of Derrek Lee and Big Z, this team is still the best in the division. 

A rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Rich Harden and Sean Marshall is probably the best in the Central, though the team pictured above could give them a run for their money. 

The New York Yankees have been built around major free agent acquisitions and trades.  (How'd they get Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Hideki Matsui, and on and on?) However, the greatest Yankees in the past few years have been home-grown talents (Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Robinson Cano).

As the Red Sox have shown, baseball has become again a game where the young, home-grown players will help the team the best.

So, if baseball's changing, are the world's greatest team prepared for a change?

Probably not.

The Toronto Blue Jays had more then a few questions heading into Spring Training this February.

Which two pitchers will fill the rotation? Will the bullpen remain the same as last year? Who will the Jays take for their bench? Who is going to be the backup catcher?

Well, with just five days remaining until the Jays first game against the Detroit Tigers at the Rogers Center, all these questions have finally been answered.

by Ryan of The Sportmeisters

With Opening Day right around the corner, now is the time to preview the 2009 baseball season. Today’s focus is on the AL Central.

Minnesota Twins

The resent, okay lets not kid ourselves, and past misfortunes the New York Mets have had really have left Mets fans scratching their heads. “Why our team?” they ask.  How can the Mets keep fielding a solid team yet find ways to miss the playoffs, even if seems like they have locked the division up?