Opinion

We all know about the saga of the fifth wheel: the unnecessary adjunct that comes along for the ride without contributing much, if anything.  When talking about the San Francisco Giants, two prominent and obvious fifth wheels come immediately to mind—Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.

Daniel Murphy is in a state of flux within the Mets organization.  Murphy was once a man poised to be the starting first baseman with the departure of Carlos Delgado and solid 2008 and 2009 season, which averaged out as 11 home runs, 64 runs batted in, a .275 batting average and a .331 on-base percentage over 162 games.

The Texas Rangers signed Brandon Webb last week, a move classified by some in the baseball world as a "smart gamble" given the veteran pitcher's Cy Young Award pedigree and outstanding goatee.

Still, others regarded the signing as a "stretch" or "risk", or to tie it in with the counterpoint, a "stupid gamble" given Webb (a) hasn't pitched in two years and (b) has a right shoulder that could trade war stories with Hideki Matsui's knees and Don Mattingly's back.

Courtesy of Yankees 'n More

With the acquisition of Chin-lung Hu, let's take a look at some bench options this year for the Mets.

Strong depth is always an important factor for success. Just look at the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

Usually, National League teams carry 12 pitchers, so that leaves 13 spots for position players. Eight of those will be starters, so the Mets have to construct a bench made up of five players.

This off-season, the New York Yankees' hopes of adding an additional pitcher fell through.
 
True, pickings were slim, but with the seemingly impending retirement of Andy Pettitte, it didn’t make life any easier in the Bronx.
 

Consistent with the moves that the Mets have made this season, they have acquired shortstop Chin-Lung Hu from the Dodgers for lefty Michael Antonini.

This is a move that will likely have little impact on the Mets next year. Hu will most likely serve as a back up to Jose Reyes. Hu also has limited experience at second base (38 games), but he may be in the competition for the starting job.

The Los Angeles Dodgers appeared to be in good shape up until last season.  In each of the previous two seasons, they had reached the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies. Then in 2010, the wheels came off and the Dodgers fell apart.  This caused them to trade Manny Ramirez away, eating a large sum of his money.

One of the all-time great sports debates has always been as to who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and who doesn't.

With the acquisition of Zack Greinke, the Milwaukee Brewers are telling the rest of the National League they are a team to be reckoned with in 2011.

With Prince Fielder being a free agent after the 2011 season, the team could look a lot different in 2012. So why not go for it?