Opinion

In a December to remember, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired the most coveted MLB free agency gem in Cliff Lee.

The Phillies' rotation now includes Roy Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton.

Lee gave the Phillies their fourth legitimate ace, and the group was christened R2C2.  This group has the potential to be historically good, which has gotten a lot of people to thinking: Why do they even need a fifth starter?

We are all well aware that virtually no team goes through an entire season without injury, and very few can make it through 162 games without a major one.

With that in mind, my question is as follows: Do this year's Phils have enough in reserve to weather the inevitable injury bug?

Now, I'm not going to predict anywhere near the bad luck of last season.  Just about every regular position player suffered at least one physical setback last year, with every major contributor being out for at least a few weeks. 

Ask people who was selected right after Stephen Strasburg went first overall in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft, and there's a good chance you're left with blank faces.

Dustin Ackley, the second overall selection, or rather, the player picked after Strasburg, was a highly touted selection from the University of North Carolina.

A former Las Vegas showgirl inherited the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband and wanted to move the team to the warm climate of Miami, sound familiar LeBron James?

The Chicago Cubs are already six games into their Cactus League season and are leaving many fans already skeptical with the club's new management who currently stand at 1-5.

The one victory for the Cubs came over an impressive game with the reigning World Champion San Francisco Giants. Only seven games into the spring season, there has already been a dugout scuffle between Cubs' pitcher Carlos Silva and Aramis Ramirez.

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The baseball was launched into the furthest, most terrifying reaches of Comerica Park, where the only ball caught is on a bounce or scooped up to stop it from rolling.

As it climbed into the June night’s air, you could hear an entire crowd of 17,000-plus gasp, as if they all had been simultaneously slugged in the gut.

If it was possible to read the minds of such a throng, you could do so in two words, only one fit for print here. The first was “Oh.”

Earlier this spring, New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman insisted that Manny Banuelos, who won't turn 20 years old for another few days, had "no chance" to make the major league team out of spring training. 

Bruce Jenkins's column in the San Francisco Chronicle this past week sent waves throughout the San Francisco Giants community.

Jenkins' report? Barry Zito may be released.

About a week ago, a MRI revealed that Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley had patellar tendinitis in his right knee.  He was prescribed rest and expected to show improvement quickly.

But after a full week of rest, Utley reported that he did not feel any better.  So today, he was given a cortisone injection in an attempt to reduce the swelling.

It's fair to say that on the diamond Milton Bradley has been given his fair share of chances. Bradley has worn out his welcome with the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs already. Anyone with knowledge of Bradley's career would safely assume that he is a ticking time bomb, waiting to destroy the Seattle Mariners and their clubhouse.