Rankings/List

The countdown to Spring Training has begun with pitchers and catchers set to report for some teams in less than a month. It was a busy offseason in the baseball world with a ton of big names moving teams.

Carl Crawford, Cliff Lee and Jayson Werth were three of the top free agents on the market over the winter who found a new home. Now that most free agents have found a team the focus will shift to Spring Training.

In baseball the key to winning is said to be about pitching and defense.

Under manager Ron Gardenhire the Minnesota Twins have built a reputation as a solid baseball club that pitches to contact, does not walk batters and plays fundamentally sound defense. 

This is a formula that the Twins have used to win six of the last nine AL Central Division titles.

I think we can all agree on one, simple thing: The National League is infinitely superior to its American League counterpart.

The Senior Circuit is real baseball as compared to the Junior Circuit's designated hitter-tainted novelty act.

before gaining entry to Baseball's Hall of Fame, a player must wait five years after his retirement to become eligible, then be name don 75 percent or more of the total ballots cast by members of the Base Ball Writers' Association of America. Former pitcher Bert Blyleven did not achieve entry until his fourteenth try, and he is not alone in the annals of Cooperstown when it comes to having a long time to wait.

Here’s an early look at the 2011 First Base rankings.


1.  Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals:  Turned in another fabulous season, hitting .312 with 115 runs, 183 hits, 42 HRs, 118 RBI, 14 SBs, 103 walks and a 1.011 OPS. He truly is a machine and should be the No. 1 player taken in fantasy drafts.

Rafael Soriano has signed a three-year, $35 million dollar deal according to multiple reports. The former Ray was 45-48 in save chances in 2010, which led the AL.

Of American League relievers with at least 40 innings of work, Soriano was fifth in ERA (1.73) and second in WHIP (0.80).

This year's list of catcher's was especially difficult to rank, and I'm sure I'll switch some of these players over the course of the next few months. Regardless, this is have currently is as accurate as any.

There are some ranks that might surprise you; however, I can assure you that I have looked more than enough statistics to justify each rank.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is very much like a gated community, and in order to gain residence, a player must be exceptionally good at politicking with the gate-keepers. Bert Blyleven needed over a decade to gain entry; Ron Santo never did, though he unequivocally ought to have. Finding a way to woo 75 percent of those baseball writers who have votes can be a tricky needle to thread.

At any given time, there are arguably 30-35 active players in the Major Leagues who are deserving of a spot in Cooperstown once they call it a career. Whom among those on an active roster for 2011 are most likely to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame sometime in the future?

The following is a position-by-position list of players who, in my opinion, can start thinking about their acceptance speeches right now.

Last week, I ranked the Blue Jays Top 10 Prospects. Today, I'm taking it a step further and ranking the number 11-20 top Blue Jays prospects.

11. J.P. Arencibia, C