NL East

Single-game tickets for New York Mets' regular season home games go on sale on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Among the games on offer for 2010 are 30 games against NL East rivals (including nine games against the Philadelphia Phillies), matchups with five of the six division winners from 2009, and three sets of much-anticipated interleague matchups.

Free agent pitcher Kiko Calero must have had the worst medical records of anybody this offseason. That is the only logical explanation I can think of for Calero not being able to sign a major league contract.

After posting a 1.95 ERA, 10.4 K’s/9, and a 1.10 WHIP in 60 innings with the Florida Marlins last year, I thought Calero would have many suitors this offseason. It was clearly not the case.

Many teams were scared to sign Calero.

This continues my 2010 MLB preview. I intend to touch every team in the major leagues in installments by division.

The lineups I provide will be what I predict to be the most productive for each team for the MAJORITY of the season (e.g., Jason Heyward will be listed as the Braves RF even though he may not begin the season as the starter).

I will also provide the stereotypical letter grade to each team's lineup, rotation, bullpen, and depth/bench. Though it is trite, I think all baseball fans can identify with the letter grade system.

In early December of 1963, the Philadelphia Phillies made one of the great trades of all time. 

They sent outfielder Don Demeter, a Dodgers reject, along with pitcher Jack Hamilton, who is remembered for throwing the pitch that ruined Tony Conigliaro's career, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitcher Jim Bunning and catcher Gus Triandos.

Two Masterpieces

He was arguably the Braves’ best player last season, hitting .299 with 14 homers and 76 RBI, all the while playing solid defense.

In his first three seasons in the majors, he’s already proven to be a consistent force, posting a .301 career average.

 It’s no secret that Jason Heyward and Tommy Hanson are being touted as the future stalwarts of the Atlanta Braves.

In Tuesday’s 4-2 Grapefruit League opening loss to the New York Mets, the young guns lived up to the billing.

Making his spring debut, Major League Baseball’s top prospect made an immediate impact in his 4 1/2 innings of work.

The Mets have played their first spring training game and emerged victorious with a minor league team as the regulars were pulled due to the inclement weather yesterday.

Jerry Manuel, David Wright, John Maine, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana, and others have been interviewed at great length, and it's apparent that they are excited for this year. 

They want to win, and they know they have a lot to prove to themselves, the management, and the fans. 

1. Introduction

Buster Olney of ESPN wrote an interesting article about the analysis of each team’s schedule and how tough it is for those teams. I personally think MLB should take the article into consideration in making future MLB schedule and try to make tough team facing tougher schedule and weaker team facing easier ones, especially early in the season.

It was just a couple of days after the Phillies' 2008 World Series win when it was announced that Ruben Amaro, Jr. would be the team's new general manager.

Pat Gillick left on top of the world, a ring on his finger and a wonderful story to ride off into the sunset with.

Amaro, now 45 years of age, had been the team's assistant GM since 1998 and had been a part of both the Gillick and Ed Wade eras.

Hired after Gillick's retirement, not many people knew what to expect from Amaro.

With the first Spring Training game later today, it is time to look at the last four non-roster invitees that the Braves have in camp with them.

These four players include two infield and two outfield prospects.

Brandon Hicks

Originally drafted in the third round back in 2007, Hicks hasn’t lived up to the promise that made Baseball America project him to be the starter at third base in 2012.