Opinion

Last year, Clay Buchholz was one of the bigger surprises in baseball. In his first full season on the MLB level, he finished with a 17-7 record, 2.33 ERA (second in the AL), and a 1.20 WHIP.

He finished sixth in Cy Young voting, and might have garnered more attention had he not missed nearly a month of the season from June to July.

With the signing of Willie Harris to take over as the team's fourth outfielder and the high possibility of a Chris Young signing soon, it seems as though the Mets have addressed all of their needs heading into the season.

Granted, there are still position battles to be won (second base, bullpen and bench spots) as well as a ton of question marks.

Unless the Mets plan on adding another bullpen arm (maybe a loogy), Sandy Alderson has assembled the pieces of this complex puzzle.

When the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, they did so primarily on the strength of their bullpen. With a weak starting rotation, the Phillies shortened games by bringing in reliever after reliever that could shut down the opposition for a single inning. One of those relievers was right-hander, Ryan Madson.

Every winter, you see it.

A team makes a relatively inexpensive signing of an aging former superstar.  He may not be an everyday solution, but could put up some plate appearances at DH, get new life as a pinch hitter, or become a late-inning defensive replacement.

Jim Thome was that kind of a guy with the Twins last season.  Heck, the White Sox got 19 homers out of Andruw Jones in 2010.  Happens all the time.

Joey Votto is to Cincinnati what Albert Pujols is to St. Louis.  The Cincinnati Reds are trying to negotiate a long-term deal with Votto but so far, nothing has been signed.  They have already signed outfielder Jay Bruce to a long-term deal and Colorado’s Carlos González also signed a seven-year, $80 million deal; so why hasn’t Joey Votto signed? 

Rafael Soriano, the best relief pitcher on the free-agent market this year, has reached a three-year deal with the New York Yankees worth about $35 million. The Yankees have opted for Soriano since their initial interest in Kerry Wood didn’t develop into a deal and they’re better off for it.

Talent needs execution like you and I need air to live and thrive. That’s perhaps an extreme analogy but oh so true.

Joba Chamberlain knows this deep within himself.

This uniquely gifted man, lifted up by expectation that now slides down toward a thoroughly middling career because he can’t quite get a handle on “great” and his grip on “good” is slipping.

With most of the top free agents now signed and teams starting to take shape as we approach spring training, I thought I would share my pre-preseason pespective on the relative strengths (and weaknesses) of all 30 major league teams. I have broken the article down into three installments and will publish one of the segments each day this weekend.

As Baseball America just recently released their annual Top Prospects list, now’s a perfect time to take a look at exactly how bright the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates could actually be. At no time during the current 18-year drought has the state of the organization looked so bright.

While it may not turn into wins this season, expect the Pirates' front office to stick to the current trend of spending money through the draft.  If they do, set a time table of about two-three years before the Pirates have a chance to become competitive year in and year out.

Remember 2007, prior to the midges, when Joba Chamberlain was the golden boy for the Yankees? 

Then, things got Biblical. Bugs attacked the Yankees in Cleveland like something out of the movies, and the untouchable kid, suddenly became very human.