Opinion

It was the snapshot that summed up a season: A.J. Burnett standing on the mound in disbelief, his hands on top of his head, while a pumped up Bengie Molina carried his impressive gut around the base-paths at Yankee Stadium.

The Texas catcher's three-run homer in Game Four of the ALCS neatly accomplished two feats—it effectively ended the Yankees' repeat hopes while also putting a bow on Burnett's miserable second season in the Bronx.

If anything can be taken from the first two days of spring training, it's this: The Yankees have a great farm system. 

The Yankees are choc-full of talent ranging from starting pitchers to catchers. 

At nearly every position there are legitimate prospects that should be making their ways to the Bronx over the next couple of years. 

Most importantly, and immediately, is starting pitching and catching.

Just a little more than one month before the start of the 2011 MLB Season, the two top hitters in the game have dominated the news leading up to spring training.  Albert Pujols for his contract situation with the St. Louis Cardinals and Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers for his recent well-publicized DUI arrest.

The headache was more like a jackhammer slamming around in my skull. I could barely walk, barely think, as I stumbled into Wal-Mart to find some relief. The first pain reducer I came to was Aleve. A 100-count bottle of 220 mg pain-fighting assistance.

I grabbed them, coughed up the $8.38 plus tax and popped a pill as soon as I got to the car.

The Rays' journey to becoming a constant playoff-contender took awhile, but came all of sudden when it finally happened.

Contending with the power-house teams of the AL East—the Yankees and Red Sox—is the toughest thing to do for any team to have to do. It's makes it even tougher when you can't spend half the money of the those two teams.

But the Rays haven't used any excuses, rather using lower-risk, high-reward pickups and their minor league system to create a nucleus for a championship-caliber squad.

Second baseman Chase Utley is a perennial All-Star and the best all-around player on the Phillies roster.  But recently, rumors have been flying about his physical condition.  Mentions of "soreness" in his knees and legs are raising eyebrows.  Utley missed both the exhibition game and the first official game this week after "intense workouts" during the first week of camp.  He may not play in the next game either.

The Texas Rangers already have a strong starting rotation. However, after missing out on the Cliff Lee sweepstakes and acquiring no other strong starter such as Lee, it raised the question of whether or not Neftali Feliz should be converted to a starter.

The clear answer to that is a simple "no."

Yes, I do understand that he posted great numbers as a starter in the minor leagues, which included a 3.49 ERA in 25 games (13 of which he started) at the Triple A level. 

Despite their extra-innings tie, it was great to see some New York Mets baseball today.

The Mets came from behind to tie the Atlanta Braves, 5-5, in their opening spring training game at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie.

While the scores mean next to nothing in spring training, it's the performance of players on the cusp that really makes a difference.

Derek Jeter now has five Gold Glove awards, winning his fifth gold glove at SS in 2010. Jeter has never ranked highly in advanced defensive statistics, typically ranking somewhere between below average and awful. Nevertheless, a legion of New York Yankees fans will swear he’s a great defender.

Yesterday, the very first MLB spring training game took place. It was a Cactus League matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the defending world champion San Francisco Giants.

The Giants won the game by a score of 7-6, and with that, it is now officially baseball season.