Preview/Prediction

Earlier in the week, the Yankees acquired outfielder Justin Maxwell from the Washington Nationals in exchange for minor league righty Adam Olbrychowski.  Just yesterday, the team signed veterans Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez to minor league deals with invitations to spring training. 

Now that GM Brian Cashman is likely done bringing in possible bench options, I'll predict how helpful each of the aforementioned players can be to the Yankees in 2011.

It's almost the start of spring training, as another baseball season will begin. It's time to start breaking down how things may look this season.

Looking at the AL East, things might be totally different from years past with some big turnover on a few rosters. Unlike the last decade, where this division has been called the toughest in baseball, it may not be too tough in 2011.

The Red Sox made some huge moves, bringing in two star hitters, while the Yankees are searching desperately for starting pitching.

In The Fantasy Fix's newest series, 2011 Fantasy Baseball Great Debate, our writers discuss two positional players and try to convince you which player to pick first on draft day. In this article we compare the two second basemen, Dustin Pedroia and Dan Uggla.

Why to go with Uggla:

According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, Vladimir Guerrero has signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney have since confirmed the news.

The Boston Red Sox are stacked.

When the New York Yankees' GM says his rival has the better team, as Brian Cashman did last month, something must be working in Boston.

They have a solid team returning, and added two All-Star hitters and a number of bullpen arms. Fans are expecting full-throttle effort—it's truly World Series or bust in 2011.

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The loss of the White Sox Legend Bobby Jenks probably hurt millions of White Sox fans around the nation.  Seeing the stout, bearded man who constantly had to wipe the sweat off his face was a marquee since the White Sox hoisted the World Series trophy in 2005. 

Fortunately, a couple other young guns finally have the opportunity to take over Jenks' role and prove that they can bring the South Siders back to the top of the AL Central. 

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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.

Over the last two years, Adam Wainwright has established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in fantasy baseball.

A few weeks ago, Brian Cashman made headlines.  He made a comment, stating that when Derek Jeter's time at shortstop is over, he would be moving to center field.  It's almost unthinkable that the best shortstop the Yankees have ever seen might be vacating the position soon. 

Even so, it's not uncommon to see a move like this.  For example, the legendary Mickey Mantle moved from center field to first base after years of abuse on his legs caught up to him. 

The New York Mets starting rotation is not going to be what anyone had hoped for when last season ended.

With a lot of controversy already going on in the Mets front office, the team's ace starting pitcher (Johan Santana) will not be ready to pitch for a while. That opens up a huge spot in the starting rotation, and any number of guys could make the cut come April 1.

We know who three of the Mets starters will be, but which other two will fill out the rotation, and what other guys could we see starting games for the Mets this season?

The news no New York Yankee fan wanted to hear came today, as pitcher Andy Pettitte is hanging up his pinstripes.
 
Not only is this a sad day because Pettitte is a legend, but it marks the end of an era, as fans will never see the Yankees' “Core Four” play together again.

Where does this leave the Yankees heading into the 2011 season?