New York Yankees

Major League Baseball is always filled with major questions to be answered.

2009 is no exception.

Here are a few of the biggest questions needing to be answered.

5. Will another team like the Tampa Bay Rays come out of nowhere to make the playoffs?

I give a team like the San Fransisco Giants a good shot at challenging for the NL West title.

They have a fantastic pitching staff.

If their offense shows even decent improvement, the Giants will be contenders sooner rather than later.

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!

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 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?

After A.J. Burnett was roughed up Sunday by the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates in his last spring start, the Yankees coaching staff was looking for answers.

Fans, players, and Yankee employees were seeking a catalyst to explain such a glaring deviance from an otherwise dominant spring.

I may have to run out of the house for most of the evening, so here's some links to keep you busy.

First, for a couple articles about something that has not been a bright spot the last few years, but may be taking a turn for the better, the Yankees' defense.

Yankees catcher and emotional leader Jorge Posada was very vocal in his beliefs regarding Joba Chamberlain's future.

Posada felt that Chamberlain belonged in the Yankee bullpen, regardless of the widely spread intrigue with transitioning him into a starting pitcher.

UPDATE 4:38 p.m from Peter Abraham:

Some shocking news came out of the Yankees' spring training camp as they prepare to break in their new Yankee Stadium—one that adds another dash of controversy to a team that needs controversy like Bartolo Colon needs doughnuts.

The news is courtesy of captain Derek Jeter, who now has his loyalty and reputation as a Yankee questioned. The news:

There is only one thing on the minds of Yankee's fans these days, and that is bringing home a 27th world championship. With the additions of CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, the pitching staff is better then ever. Mark Teixeira brings many tools to the Yankees lineup.