Earlier this week, the Cincinnati Reds signed veteran shortstop Edgar Renteria to a one-year, $2.1 million contract.

Renteria was signed to fill the hole left by Orlando Cabrera after the Reds announced that they would not re-sign him.

However, Renteria will not be the everyday shortstop. He will back up Paul Janish, who in his rookie season last year batted .260 with five home runs.

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.

Now that Adrian Gonzalez will be calling Fenway Park home instead of Petco Park, we have to wonder what we can expect from him this year (and in the future) in terms of fantasy production.

It was announced yesterday that the Philadelphia Phillies have shown interest in signing right handed pitcher John Maine.  The team has allegedly had discussions with Maine's agent Rex Gary. 

Maine is a decent pitcher in the back end of rotations.  Over his career Maine has posted a 41-36 record with a 4.35 ERA in 105 starts. 

The off-season keeps getting worse for the New York Yankees, as ace Andy Pettitte finally gave word that he was not physically ready for the 2011 season.
 
What does this mean exactly?
 
It construes that Pettitte has not been preparing this off-season for an on-time return to the Bronx, but he is could come back later on.
 

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

The ten Biggest MLB Hall Of Fame Voting Surprises in MLB History is the task at hand as we get ready to dive into the Great Cooperstown Debate (corny rhyme not intended).

It's one of the greatest debates in sports, the Hall of Fame. Who deserves to be in and who shouldn't be in. And baseball is no exception, where there always seems to be debates about who should be in and who shouldn't be in the Hall.

It's been hard to read or hear anything about the Philadelphia Phillies this offseason without the words "Cliff Lee" or "four aces" or something of the sort attached to it. Oops, it looks like this isn't helping.

After 18 years in the major leagues, all-times saves leader Trevor Hoffman has decided to retire from baseball with 601 saves.  Long-time New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera is 2nd all-time with 559 saves.  With Hoffman retiring and Rivera re-signing with the Yankees for two more years, is it possible that "The Sandman" will be able to surpass Hoffman and be the all-time saves leader?