Opinion

New York Daily News scribe Bill Madden mentioned the Rays being a candidate for contraction in the last couple of weeks.

It’s hard to believe that’s going to happen. For one thing, the Rays have a long lease and St. Petersburg could sue the organization and baseball for breaching the contract. Second of all, the players union will not allow that.

Earlier this week, the Mets officially announced that Carlos Beltran would make the full-time switch to right field for the 2011 season, paving the way for Angel Pagan to become the team's full-time center fielder.

The move had been widely speculated, given Beltran's surgically repaired knee and Pagan's 2010 performance.

After Jayson Werth's departure, a seriously intense battle was expected to ensue this spring over the right field starting position.  However, the first few weeks have been a total disappointment for Phillies' top prospect, Domonic Brown.

The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals today 3-0 behind RBI from David Wright, Ike Davis and Daniel Murphy.

Murphy, making his first start at second base this Spring, finished the game 1-for-3 and looked good in the field. He didn't commit an error but didn't get an opportunity to turn a double play. Murphy is one of four players competing to win the job at second base.

Albert Pujols is arguably the best baseball player this generation has seen. He is viewed as a model for what a baseball player should be amid the cloud of performance-enhancers that dominated baseball from the late '90s to early 2000s. His year-to-year performances speak for themselves, and he has become an icon not only in the city of St. Louis, but for all baseball fans around the world.

As Spring Training is well underway, these are the 10 games that any baseball fans must see.

Whether you go watch the game live, listen to it on the radio or buy MLB.tv (which I highly recommend), these games will showcase top talent from both the major and minor league system of each respective team that any fan should witness.

Here are my top 10 games, what do you think should also be added to this list?

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I know, I know.  You must think I'm crazy.  Maybe I am.  But there's no question that, for the first time in a long, long while, there's legitimate excitement about the future of baseball in Washington, D.C.

Am I jumping the gun a little bit?  Maybe.  Could I be falling for the hype and headed for inevitable disappointment?  It's possible.  But maybe I'm right.

Everyone knows by now that New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez has a huge team option for 2012. It's worth $17.5 million and only becomes guaranteed if Rodriguez finishes 55 games this season and is declared healthy by doctors in the offseason.

Now, that may have not sounded like a big deal prior to last season and was most likely a given when he first signed on, but times have changed.

A.J. Burnett has already started changing opinions and proving he still has what it takes after only two innings. 

Burnett threw 21 pitches in two innings, 15 of which were strikes. Burnett allowed only two hits, striking out one and getting a timely double play in the second. 

I know 21 pitches in spring training doesn't mean a whole lot, but when you had a season like Burnett did last year, anything positive is seen as a major step. 

What can Mark “I didn’t come here to talk about the past” McGwire teach Albert Pujols about hitting a baseball? Good question.  When I find the answer, I’ll let you all know. 

NL Offensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Silver Slugger Award winner, Pujols is a far, far better hitter than his batting coach.