Rankings/List

The New York Yankees franchise has boasted some of the greatest players of all time. Players like Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and Thurman Munson have been clad in pinstripes and left their mark on our nation's pastime.

Creating a list of the top defensive studs who called the Bronx their home is far from an easy task. This team has such a rich history that the list could incorporate over 100 players, and that might not even be enough. 

Alex Rodriguez is always in the news. It used to be because of his talent, but that changed at some point.

Now, sometimes he is in the news for the ridiculous things he does on the field. Other times, it is the ridiculous things he does off the field. And then there’s the ridiculous things he says too.

Here's the top 20 of his ridiculous moments.

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Wait he still plays?

Like many baseball fans, I am guilty of saying this expression from time to time. It seems like more than any other major sport, baseball players still tend to have the ability to produce in the later stages of their careers.

Every team seems to have that one old hitter that you thought retired five seasons ago. Often times we poke fun at them, but it is not deserved.

Most championship caliber teams are guilty of having these kinds of players. There is a lot of value in having a hitter that has aged like fine wine.

Often, it is not the most talented player who ends up being the most valuable player for his respective team. A player making $1 million can be much more valuable than a player making $10 million if they produce similar results

A great example of this is Adrian Gonzalez of 2010. With the Padres, he was playing for a very low sum of money despite being among the league's best first basemen. While Albert Pujols may have out-produced Gonzalez in 2010, he was far more costly. Thus, Gonzalez was more valuable to his team than Pujols.

The New York Yankees recently signed 37-year-old Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract. The former 2005 Cy Young Award winner, Colon has not pitched since 2009, but is determined to make a comeback in the Bronx.

Obviously, this was not what the Yankees were looking for when they set out to find free agent pitching help (see Lee, Cliff). 

Colon, however, is not the only player in the MLB this year who's better days have passed by him. With that, here are the 20 most washed up players in baseball for the 2011 season.

In trying to assess players at Spring Training for the Boston Red Sox this season one can take several different approaches from a few different angles. You can look at those current roster players on the depth chart and say you need to pay attention to those guys since they are slated to play in the majors as it stands today, or you can look at the guys who have made their living in the minors and are ready to make the jump by replacing the major leaguers if they slip up in Ft. Myers this spring.

Pitchers in hitter-friendly ballparks or tough divisions may benefit from being traded. The same applies to struggling pitchers in search of redemption.

The Seattle Mariners would be a good destination for such pitchers. The home of the Mariners, Safeco Field, is the most pitching-friendly venue in the American League and the AL West division isn't too frightening.

The following ten pitchers would benefit from moving to Seattle. Interested to find out who they are? Read on.

Spring Training is right around the corner and that means that your fantasy baseball draft can't be too far away either.

The New York Mets are not seen as legitimate contenders in the National League, but that doesn't mean that its players won't be able to help you dominate your opposition this season.

Let's take a look at which Mets batters could play a role in 2011.

David Wright

Freddie Freeman is the Braves’ top offensive prospect and a guy who the team will be depending on at one of baseball’s most important offensive positions.

Freeman is all but a lock to be the Braves’ first baseman and should end up producing at a very good level even this year. He may not reach Jason Heyward’s success from a year ago, but don’t be shocked if Freeman wins the Rookie of the Year award or finishes very close to doing it.

As MLB Spring Training approaches, predictions are being thrown around like snowballs in winter.

For the Phillies organization, losing a big offensive star in Jayson Werth was met with the arrival of pitching ace Cliff Lee.

When the opportunity arose for me to make some wild predictions of my own for the upcoming season, I couldn’t resist.

The following slideshow is my five wild predictions for the 2011 MLB season pertaining to the Philadelphia Phillies.