Opinion

In an interview with ESPNDallas.com, Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan predicted the Rangers to win 90-95 games in the upcoming season. Considering we are still months away from Opening Day, that comment is a little outrageous.

The Rangers were terrific last year, going 90-72 in the regular season before losing to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Even that team was barely able to hit the 90-win mark and their division may have been the weakest in all of baseball.

Before Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon decided to make St. Petersburg, Florida their baseball home for the 2011 season, the AL East was already shaping up to be more fun than usual, and that's saying something.  Big name players had already changed addresses within the division.

Like many people, I was about to hand Tampa Bay fifth in the American League East this upcoming season.

Albeit reluctantly, we all know the losses they've endured: Matt Garza in the starting rotation, Rafael Soriano and Joakim Benoit in the bullpen, Carl Crawford in the outfield and Jason Bartlett and Carlos Pena in the infield.

The offseason to this point has had its fair share of surprises. From Cliff Lee signing with the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees' decision to bring aboard Rafael Soriano to what may be the biggest blockbuster to date—the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim agreeing to swap Vernon Wells for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera.

As I looked through the lead stories of the sports world late last night, I started reading the headlines. "Okay, let's see, Venus retired from her match with injury, the Hornets destroyed the Hawks, Ramirez and Damon signed with the Rays, Polamalu is going to...wait, what?!"

It's hard to believe, even if the Rays dug up their graves to get them, that Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon are headed south. Their careers have already done that. How much is left in the tank with these two?

The Tampa Bay Rays roster has been picked apart this offseason, with a lot of players being signed by their American League East rivals. The Rays tried to get back at the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees by signing a pair of their former players, Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. These veterans will be welcomed into Tampa Bay to add experience and talent to a team who has the talent but not much experience.

After teams were no longer talking about Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre and Jayson Werth, they began talking about Carl Pavano. That, in a nutshell, is the story of the 2011 MLB offseason: all or nothing.

We can talk about how the Rangers and Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee, we can talk about how the Rays lost loads of talent to free agency. But, if one thing is for certain, it is that no team felt a harder hit than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 

I always knew that Arte Moreno would do something this offseason, I just didn't know when he would strike or how conventional the move would be.  

The Angels' owner struck in the quiet of the January offseason, making his trademark splash in the trade pool Friday by jettisoning out-of-position Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera for Gold Glove center fielder Vernon Wells.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Chase Utley has widely been considered the top fantasy second baseman for several years. Until now.

According to the incredible website www.mlbtraderumors.com, the Baltimore Orioles and free agent DH Vladimir Guerrero are close to working out a one-year deal worth a "humbling amount".