Like Carl Crawford, the chances of Jayson Werth re-signing with his current club beyond the 2010 season seem to be slim to none:

The Phillies are coming off an offseason in which they signed Shane Victorino, Roy Halladay, Joe Blanton, Danys Baez, Placido Polanco, Brian Schneider, Carlos Ruiz and Ross Gload to multiyear deals, pushing their 2011 payroll to $130.85 million.

So says owner Stuart Sternberg: The team will do everything they can to keep free-agents-to-be Carl Crawford and also Carlos Pena for as long as they can. On Crawford specifically he said: "He's been a face of this organization, he's been a great Ray, he was a great Devil Ray, he's an extraordinary player and teammate, for the community and a face of this team. We're going to do everything we can to make sure he stays here longer.''

July 18, 1999 was Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium.

When my son Scott had told me in June that we were going to the game, there was the slightest hint that something special might happen.

An Inexplicable Feeling

It was a hot, humid day, with the temperature reaching 98 degrees. As soon as we entered the Stadium, Scott and I had an inexplicable feeling about the game that intensified when Don Larsen threw the ceremonial pitch to Yogi Berra.

We looked at each other but didn't speak a word.

One of the stories around baseball during the early parts of spring training has been Johana Santana claiming that he is still the top pitcher in the NL East despite the Phillies' acquisition of Roy Halladay.

It is hard to argue with Johan's confidence but Halladay does make a very good case for top pitcher in the division as well. An intriguing question is, who comes after them? There are great pitchers scattered throughout the NL East from the big right hander down in Florida, Josh Johnson to the slender California kid of the Phillies, Cole Hamels.

I've been getting ready for fantasy baseball and came up with this idea for a Battle of the Blogs league. I have set up the league on ESPN.com and would like to invite any bloggers interested in joining. This will be a great way to compete with other bloggers for bragging rights as well as promotes everyone's blog.

I am hoping to get bloggers from all over the country. Below are the details of the league.

Battle of the Blogs Fantasy Baseball League is open to anyone with a blog. Your blog name will be used as your team name.

The Atlanta Braves, in what has proven to be their last notable signing of the 2009-10 offseason, signed Eric Hinske to a one-year, $1 million contract back in January.

My last article looked at the Texas Rangers' rotation. I gave their group a C+ overall, dragged down mainly by a D rating for Colby Lewis.

Next up is the Los Angeles Angels' rotation, an interestingly balanced yet unspectacular group.

At the end of this article, I'll compare the Angels to the Rangers and see who has the better rotation.

Begin Slideshow

The Yankees' bats were on fire last season. They led the league with 915 runs as one of only three teams to break 800 runs scored in 2009 (the Red Sox came in second with 872).

Enter John Lackey, who's now a member of a revered Red Sox rotation. With Boston and New York the clear one-two front-runners for the AL East crown, the Red Sox could certainly use some ice-cold pitching to cool down their nemesis in 2010.

But will they get it from Lackey?

Here are his career numbers against some of New York's finest hitters:

If you missed my predictions for the Three Late-Round Bargain hitters, click here:

I refuse to place any closers in this article, since they should always be left undrafted and picked up in free agency.

I live by the "Don't Pay For Saves" mantra, because Health Bell (42), David Aardsma (38), Ryan Franklin (38), Andrew Bailey (26), and Leo Nunez (26) were among the MLB save leaders in 2009.