Originally published at TwinsTarget.com .

Historically, the NL West has been an extremely competitive division. Although there was a 25-game difference between the first- and late-place teams in the NL West this past season, each team in the division has had some degree of success in the past.

Through Martin Prado’s first 779 major league at bats he has been extremely productive, especially for a middle infielder. He has a career .360 OBP, .451 SLG, and a .353 wOBA (similar to OPS, but weighs OBP more than SLG, mean is around .330 just like OBP).

Prado also performed extremely well after being promoted to full-time status last season after Kelly Johnson and Omar Infante were injured. Despite all things going well for Prado, I am still skeptic about him starting the season at second base.

With an overwhelming vote of 91 percent, The Association of Minor League Umpires (AMLU) will partner with Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO.

This partnership will now be known as AMLU/OPEIU Guild 322, the 322 representing three balls, two strikes, two outs.

The AMLU was created in 2000 as a way to protect the interests of everyone involved. Prior to ‘00, umpires did not have representation.

There are some players who always appear to be on the cusp of breaking out, aren’t there?  We’ve already discussed Johnny Cueto (click here to view), who certainly falls into this category. 

The oft-injured Rickie Weeks is another player who pops into my mind.  What about the Angels' Brandon Wood?

Forget the stale taste of yet another Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

If you're looking for relentless competition between heated rivals, do what your forefathers did: head out West.

After a flurry of moves this offseason, the AL West has finally become major league baseball's Wild West.

For the better part of a decade, the game's smallest division was really just a one-horse town, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim laying down the law in six of the past 10 seasons.

But a shuffling of all four decks has put the three-time defending champs on the defense.

With a sudden influx of young guns an

The playoffs, whether fair or not, determine a lot in terms of historical value for both baseball fans and writers alike. Why should it not? It is obviously the most important games a player can play in, the nation is watching, and a great performance can turn any mediocre player like David Eckstein or Don Larsen into a folk hero.

Eric Surkamp and Aaron King .

Not exactly pitching prospects that jump at you like Madison Bumgarner or Zach Wheeler.

Injuries are definitely one of the more frustrating things that you have to deal with in fantasy baseball, as they are pretty much unavoidable and completely out of your control. 

It’s easy to overlook Guzman. After all, he could play shortstop for the Nationals this year, or if they feel Ian Desmond is ready, he could play second base.

Besides, he’s never scored 90 runs in a season, has little to no power, and is a far cry from the player who stole 53 bases in 2000 and 2001 for the Twins.

What happened to Russell Martin in 2009?  Was it an aberration or have his skills actually declined? Before we can answer that question, let’s take a look at his 2009 production:

505 At Bats
.250 Batting Average (126 Hits)
7 Home Runs
53 RBI
63 Runs
11 Stolen Bases
.352 On Base Percentage
.329 Slugging Percentage
.285 Batting Average on Balls in Play