Rankings/List

With so many potentially great outfielders out there, it is extremely hard to rank the top 20.

One obviously has to look at statistics from previous years, but you also have to take into consideration the fact that there are always a few players who have breakout years, for example Jason Heyward and Jose Bautista from last season.

I wasn't bold enough to make any such predictions for this year, because it's simply too difficult to do.

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If you've read some of my other articles, you may know that I'm a big numbers guy; I love sabermetrics and I love breaking down stats to analyze players. 

When I set out to determine the best fastball hitters in baseball, I was immediately confronted with a choice; since players' stats on individual pitches were not counted before 2002, I had to decide whether to build this list based on numbers or reputation.

Being the numbers guy that I am, I decided to go strictly by the numbers (and thus this list is only from 2002 onwards). 

March Madness is the talk of the sports world right now, and rightfully so as college basketball's annual tournament provides for some of the most memorable moments in all of sports year in and year out, most often stemming from an unexpected team making an improbable run.

While this is certainly more prevalent in college basketball, baseball has had its fair share of Cinderella teams make their own run at a title through the years.

So here is a look at the 10 greatest Cinderella runs in MLB postseason history, in honor of this March Madness season.

The ball jumps off of the bat, and everyone can see it is headed for a gap by the time they hear the "crack," and the batter instantly bolts off in a rounded path preparing to tap first as he goes for extra bases.

Then in a blur, leather snags the ball out of the air, and the batter stops in his tracks while asking himself the same question everyone who saw the play is asking, "how did the fielder get to that ball?"

Because he's fast, that's why. Just ask our boy Slim Chin and he'll tell you, "Fast don't lie."

Baseball season is almost back and all the passionate fans across the country have less than two weeks left to wait.

A big part of the San Francisco Giants success last season was the amazing fanbase they had behind them from the beginning.

Not only the Giants, but a big part of every team's success is getting a boost from the fanbase so that the players have energy and will to play 162 games every year. Some teams however, have much better fans than others. Here are the best.

With the 2011 Major League Baseball season just around the corner, some teams may still be looking to add some extra fire power to their rosters.  With that being said, there's still an array of talent available on the market.

Most of the time a free agent is going to add depth to a teams roster, but not necessarily give you an everyday starter.  Every now-and-then you can find a former All-Star who can still be a productive starter.

So who are the top 10 available free agents?

Philadelphia Phillies (2010 record: 97-65) The Phillies entered the new year as one of a handful of teams with a legitimate claim to the designation as the best team in baseball. They entered the free agency fray at the end of the process and lured southpaw Cliff Lee away from both the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees.

Major League Baseball is a funny game, it's not like the NBA where guys can just play offense and win games.  Baseball requires a franchise to have dominant pitching that will shutdown the opposing offense players.  

A top of the line pitcher is one who'll take the rubber under his control and dictate what happens next through out the course of a game.

Sadly, there aren't quite as many of these guys out there as you would think.

So who are the top 10 franchise pitchers?

Buster Posey and the San Francisco Giants will head into the year looking to repeat as World Champions.

Before baseball season can start though, the NCAA Tournament will have to declare a winner. So why not make a mix of the two sports? After all, the best part of March Madness is watching the bracket come out for the first time on Selection Sunday.

If MLB were to adopt a ranking and selection process, here's how the bracket would look for the 2011 season.

The 2011 MLB season is just around the corner, and teams are starting to move into combat mode with spring training winding down and so are the top 10 performers of this year's spring.

Spring training is when players want to set their name in stone.  With a top performance in just a couple of games, a manager or GM could decide, "This is our guy to start the season at this position."

Besides a few household names known by the average fan, we have seen a surprising spring by a fair share of players.