Preview/Prediction

After the long overdue firing of skipper Jerry Manuel, the New York Mets owners announced the two-year signing of Terry Collins to be the franchises 20^th skipper.

COLLINS BACKGROUND:

Collins started his pro career as a shortstop drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971.

According to MLB Trade Rumors the Mets are are pursuing starting pitcher Chris Young (formerly of the San Diego Padres).  The deal will in all likelihood be for one year, laden with incentives. The Mets are looking to add depth to a rotation which will not feature Johan Santana for a good chunk of the year.  Right now the Mets starting rotation features R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese.  

The Colorado Rockies watched the San Francisco Giants celebrate a World Series championship, then watched the Los Angeles Dodgers solidify their pitching staff and second base spot within the month since the season ended. Now, they are doing their own moving and shaking.

Now that catcher Victor Martinez is gone, where do Red Sox fans turn?

Who is going to be behind the plate next season. Will it be Varitek, Saltalamacchia....Kevin Cash?

These (okay, so hopefully not Kevin Cash) are all possible choices for the Red Sox in 2011. One thing has to be said, though: the market is incredibly short for catchers. If you want a grade A catcher, he's got to come up through the farm system, plain and simple.

I humbly present five possible catching scenarios that could happen for the '11 Sox.

Now what? The Pirates hit their 18th straight losing season in 2010. The 105 losses of the 2010 season are six more than 2009, which would lead most people to think they only got worse. That isn't exactly the case. Although they had one of their worst seasons in franchise history, they also showed off a few guys that could really make an impact down the road. Maybe these few guys could even get the Pirates back into the light of a winning season.

We here at Bleacher Report, every Monday throughout this offseason, will be giving fans the inside edge into the lives and history of the Milwaukee Brewers' up-and-coming prospects.

As our honorary first edition, we'll get acquainted with one of Milwaukee's most promising young stars -- none other than third baseman Mat Gamel.

The 2010 season went down as one where we saw a shift to a different era.

Gone is the steroid era, and pitching has made a return to prominence. A new crop of rookies looks to be historically good, and many sure-fire Hall of Famers seem to be wrapping up their careers.

Now the season is over, and the offseason hot stove has started in full force. Already one major trade has happened that few saw coming, with Dan Uggla moving to a different team in the same division, the Atlanta Braves. But that won't be the only major deal that will happen.

It has not been unusual, in the past, for big baseball moves to happen at or before the Thanksgiving weekend. This season, it was catcher Victor Martinez who set the market in motion, when he signed with the Detroit Tigers Tuesday. From there on, the dominoes began to fall.

The second time was not a charm for Javier Vazquez as a New York Yankee

After almost winning the NL Cy Young in 2009, Vazquez bravely returned to the Bronx in 2010. He had high hopes to end the Yankee fans smear campaign, which dated back to the 2004 season.

Just in case you were subconsciously blocking out 2004 (trust me I do), it was the year the Boston Red Sox finally beat the Yankees in the ALCS. The Yankees blew the series after being up 3-0 in games, with three outs to sweeping the series.

The New York Yankees are one of the most decorated and historic franchises in sports.

Names like Mickey Mantel, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra and the Babe are just a handful of the historic names to don pinstripes.

“Winning Championships” is the Yankees motto. Baseball is a team sport, which makes individual accomplishments merely an added bonus. Awards for anything other than a World Series will not absolve a season’s failure.