Preview/Prediction

Wow, it just seems like yesterday that the beloved Texas Rangers were losing to the gritty-gutty San Francisco in the World Series. Spring training seems like it lasted only five days, and everyone is getting their fantasy baseball teams in order. It is baseball time.

Opening Day should be a national holiday (Obama..please?), and EVERY American should feel the experience of going to a major league ballgame. As I do every year, I am going to make my picks for the upcoming season. It should be a good one.

A player that appeared on the brink of superstardom, Matt Kemp had a very disappointing 2010 season and now finds himself in the midst of trade rumors.  

When baseball fans hear certain names, they may not think of the most recent accomplishments.

When you hear Alfonso Soriano, you don't think .240, 24 HR. Anyone who has followed baseball for a few years will think of one of the most exciting power/speed combinations in the past decade. 

These are some players who have a chance this season to relive their past exploits, some in good ways and some in bad. They are going back in time to a specific year, and a stat line we could see them repeat in 2011.  

9 Innings Blog will be bringing you previews of every Major League Baseball team for the next 30 days. This is in accordance with our 30 teams in 30 days series. Today, we are going to give you the 2011 preview of the Minnesota Twins who are trying to three-peat as American Central division champions. The Twins also have Justin Morneau coming back this season as he could add to this dangerous team.

With the rash of injuries that have hit the Milwaukee Brewers this spring, Crew fans are wondering when it's going to stop. 

It seems like it's a case of "when it rains, it pours," after Shaun Marcum left his start against the Chicago White Sox early.

After working three scoreless innings and only allowing one hit, Marcum complained of shoulder stiffness and was removed from the game.

He missed his next start and was shut down from throwing for almost a week.

This is the final installment if a seven-part series predicting the records of each team, and now the playoffs.  The teams that make the postseason in this installment are based off of previous ones.

Now that the 2011 season is closer than ever, and Opening Day is only eight days away, we writers are giving our preseason predictions, and these are mine.  Through careful analysis of records, schedules, transactions, and more I have compiled my postseason picks.

Now, it’s time to break them down.

Seattle Mariners (2010 record: 61-101)

Many pundits believed the Mariners could win the American League West last season—I am numbered among those people. The joke was on us.

Instead of making a run at the Angels and the Rangers, the Mariners turned in one of the more disappointing efforts in major league history, going 61-101.

ADP data can be one of the most useful items of information you can have at your draft.

Not only will you afford yourself the knowledge of knowing who you can and can't grab later, but you'll also find hidden gems that the rest of the fantasy baseball community are letting slip too far.

It is these gems we will focus on in this article as I lay out my All Forgotten Team.

“You heard it, mark it down, (Giants) repeat.”  Those were the famous (or infamous) words of Brian Wilson in the last seconds of Showtime’s three-minute trailer promoting the upcoming reality series about the World Champs and their quest to defend the title, scheduled to air on April 13th. 

Before the start of last season, the Diamondbacks were a trendy pick to make some noise in the NL West.  Then Brandon Webb's shoulder suffered a set-back and the season went down the toilet.

The bullpen was atrocious, the third worst in Major League history.  The organization decided to part with strikeout king Mark Reynolds to acquire bullpen help from Baltimore.