Did the Reds do enough during the offseason to make one think they have the personnel to win the division for the second straight season?

I think so. They were fairly solid with what they had after the season was over. They led the league in BA, HR, RBI, H, SLG, OPS and OPS+.

They led the league defensively in FLD PCT and fewest errors and were really deficient in a couple positions.

The Chicago Cubs have already traded for starting pitcher Matt Garza and traded away starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny this winter, and it seems very possible that that will be enough for GM Jim Hendry. There is relatively little else Chicago could do at this point, with the key free agents off the market and the team unlikely to leapfrog the Brewers and Reds into the top spot in a rational prognosticator's picture of the 2011 NL Central division.

Nick Markakis averaged 99 runs, 20.3 HRs, 100 RBI and 11.3 SBs while hitting .299 from 2007-2009. He didn’t excel in any one category, outside of the 112 RBI in 2007, but he was a solid contributor across the board.

Then last year happened.

The only area in which Markakis looked like himself was his batting average of .297. He scored just 79 runs; he hit just 12 HRs.

While Joe Mauer and Brian McCann rate as the best-known offensive catchers in baseball, Geovany Soto was the best hitter in the league at that position in 2010.

Though he got only 387 plate appearances due to a mixture of injuries and managerial stupidity, Soto logged a career-best .890 OPS and socked 17 home runs.

With only one real big signing remaining on Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopolous' agenda before the season starts—Jose Bautista, the Jays roster looks to be almost set heading into spring training.

It happens every year. We set our sights on a player who we think will carry us to a championship, and we overpay. Last year, I choose to ride the Ricky Nolasco express based on all the pre-season hype. I missed him in the draft but decided to pay for him via trade. I paid for the mistake by going on that bumpy ride all season long. 

The ticking of the clock is growing louder and louder in St. Louis and throughout the baseball world. With each tick, everyone is wondering the same question, "Will the Cardinals show Albert Pujols the money?"

It's one of the hardest things in sports to execute. It gives the opposition fits when thrown properly. It can ruin a career.

The curveball has been around for ages and has taken many forms throughout the history of baseball.

There's the looping 12-6 curveball, which drops off the table just as the hitter thinks he has a read on it. A curveball can also be thrown with some velocity in an attempt jam a hitter. And let's not forget the classic knee-buckling curveball that has made countless hitters look foolish. 

Is it baseball season yet? I know I can't wait for my favorite fantasy sport to start up again.

Catcher is a top-heavy position. Either you get a guy like Joe Mauer or Buster Posey or you play a patchwork of lower-level options.

But that is what is so great about fantasy baseball. In fantasy football, you set a lineup once a week, and if a star player gets hurt, your team is pretty much done (Aaron Rodgers' concussion ruined three of my FF teams.).

During the late 1990s, the Texas Rangers had no greater nemesis than the New York Yankees.

Despite winning three division titles in four years during 1996, 1998 and 1999, the Rangers never had much to show for their domination of the American League West. Easily dispatched by the Bronx Bombers in the first round each time, Texas only managed to win a single game in 10 contests with the so-called "Evil Empire."