Preview/Prediction

Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon are going to be reunited as members of the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays. The former Boston Red Sox stars are aging, yet will be called on to be productive for the 2010 AL East champion Rays, who will take on a new look.

Gone from the roster are plenty of fan favorites. Tropicana Field's seats will probably still be filled with Carl Crawford, Matt Garza, Carlos Pena, Rocco Baldelli, Jason Bartlett and Carlos Pena jerseys. However, none of those players will be wearing a Rays uniform.

Here is a look at how I see the Rays' starting lineup on Opening Day.

Some potential Hall of Famers have had a hard time finding work this winter, while others have had to settle for rather humbling deals.

The Minnesota Twins signed 40-year-old DH Jim Thome to a 1-year, $3 million deal, and Tampa Bay came to terms with 38-year-old DH Manny Ramirez on a 1-year deal for just $2 million. Ramirez made $45 million over the past two seasons, so that's quite a pay cut.

Jose Reyes is one of the most dynamic players in all of baseball.  His combination of speed and personality makes him one of the most exciting baseball players to watch. 

When healthy, Reyes is exciting to watch.  The problem is that he hasn't been 100 percent in a while.  Whenever a player like Reyes isn't 100 percent healthy, it definitely affects his playing ability.

Every MLB season, the All-Star break is viewed as the halfway point of the 162 games season. Even with still a lot of baseball to play, this is the time when a team’s reputation and attitude have been backed by enough play on the field.

At this point, there are the obvious observations that only a miracle could change, but there are many more what if’s than anything.

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.

As the 2011 Major League Baseball season is just over two months away, it's appropriate to start thinking about the key pieces for every team this season.

While we saw the Giants win the World Series with a pitching-heavy formula, their championship counterparts, the Texas Rangers, road Josh Hamilton's bat the majority of the way there.

Every team has high expectations coming into the season, and here is a list of players who will have to produce in order for their teams to meet them.

Be prepared for some surprises, as several big-name players have changed teams.

MLB Countdown Til Pitchers and Catchers Report: 17 Days

If you live in the Northeast corridor, this may very well mean that there are still 17 more shoveling days until Spring Training, but at least there's some end in sight to this misery.

I was pondering the following question: What is the correlation between earning the best record in your league (and in MLB) and: a) getting to the World Series and b) winning it all?

MLB Power Rankings: Which AL East Team Had the Best Offseason?

The American League East is arguably the most talented and competitive division in all of baseball. This offseason was no different.

We saw a number of big name players—Adrian Gonzalez, Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds—head East, as well as a few others—Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, Dan Wheeler, Kevin Gregg—switch allegiances while remaining in the division.

The 2010 baseball season was the Year of the Pitcher, at least according to pretty much everyone that wanted to shove that down our throats. In reality, 2010 was the Year of the Rookie. Many teams had rookies who had great seasons, and there were 7-10 rookies that would have automatically won the Rookie of the Year Award in any other year.

The way the Los Angeles Dodgers finished the 2010 season, you would think that there's no right for someone to be thinking about a World Series Championship this year. 

The team looked like a complete mess during the second half of the season.  Manny Ramirez was given away, Jonathon Broxton was giving games away, and then there's the lingering threat that the McCourts may have to give the whole team away.