NL West

Today was one of those Sedona Red lettered days that mark an Arizona Diamondbacks fan’s life. Today was the unofficial reporting day for all position players to report to Spring Training. I say “unofficial” because it’s not technically the day when players are required to report.

Since pitchers and catchers began reporting to the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, you could find other position players starting to roll into town to begin baseball workouts. The actual required deadline for players to be in camp is Tuesday March 2, 2010.

The wire services are crackling with what is deemed to be news today—Manny Ramirez is saying he will not return to the Dodgers in 2011!

This revelation ranks right up there with water being wet and the sky being blue.

Any Dodger fan who is paying attention knows this will be Manny's last season in Dodger blue. They also are aware if fate sends the season sideways, the team would look to deal Manny to an American League team.

Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated is reports that the Arizona Diamondbacks have signed Dominican OF Socrates Brito. The 17-year-old, left-handed hitting Brito will reportedly receive a six-figure contract from the club.

The contract will also includes a scholarship allowing Brito to continue his education. The contract is uncharacteristically large from a Diamondbacks perspective, but the team felt confident based upon the scouting reports they received from its Latin American operations.

In recent years, the NL West has been dubbed baseball's worst division. In 2005, the San Diego Padres won the division with a mere 82 wins, barely clinching a winning season. The other four NL West teams had losing seasons.

In 2006, not a single team reached the 90-win plateau and three teams endured sub-.500 seasons.

2007 finally brought two 90-win teams thanks to Arizona's solid season and Colorado's magical late-season run.

For the past 137 days, 20 hours, and 32 minutes I have been waiting for exactly this moment. The 2009 offseason is now officially over. We can stop thinking about a lost season where the Diamondbacks lost 97 games.

We can forget about all the shattered expectations. We can put behind us the injuries to Conor Jackson and Brandon Webb. We can erase the memories of Chris Young’s dismal season, and blot out the thoughts of Bob Melvin being fired.

According to sources, former National League Cy Young award winner Eric Gagne has decided to return to the team that lifted him to the top of the baseball world in his prime. Eric Gagne has reportedly signed a $500,000 contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is a minor league deal, but with Spring Training coming up he could earn a spot on the team's major league roster.

The former Los Angeles Dodgers closer could earn up to $1MM, with $500,000 in performance bonuses. 

There is a lot of skepticism concerning Jonathan Sanchez, and for good reason. While he threw a No-Hitter last season and was re-signed to a $2.1 million extension this offseason , a lot of Giants fans still question Sanchez's ability to pitch at the next level.

  Some encouraging news for Rockies fans:

The Colorado Rockies play in one of the most beautiful ballparks in all of baseball. Now their Double-A farm team will have their own beautiful park to call home.