2011 MLB Spring Training

With Adam Wainwright hurt, Miguel Cabrera battling alcohol addiction and the Yankees' rotation in shambles, it only makes sense that most of the talk about minor leaguers so far this spring has surrounded who can fill a need for his team at the big-league level in 2011. So much uncertainty encircles inexperienced prospects that only the most hardcore fans really take interest in minor leaguers still two or three years from MLB readiness.

Just a little more than one month before the start of the 2011 MLB Season, the two top hitters in the game have dominated the news leading up to spring training.  Albert Pujols for his contract situation with the St. Louis Cardinals and Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers for his recent well-publicized DUI arrest.

Spring Training games have finally started and there are finally box scores to look through! Unfortunately, the injuries keep on coming and we will be giving you all of the updates on them.  There is some good news among the walking wounded today though, as some pitchers look to be on the road to recovery.

There are no guarantees in life and sports.

No sport has a more graceful preseason than baseball and spring training.

Within that grace is the spirit of the underdog and the non-roster invitees who strive to get their names onto the Opening Day rosters.

Who will rise to glory in April as a major leaguer, or fall into the depths of the minors?

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This is part two of a three part series where I am ranking the top 30 major league players on the Texas Rangers roster. In part one I covered players 30-21, which was mainly players on the fringe of the 25 man roster and younger players who will contribute at some point during the season. The players ranked 11-20 are not quite core players, but they are more so components of the Rangers. Every team has a few stars at the top of the roster and average players that fill out the bottom of the roster, but its the middle section of a team that puts a team over the top.

The Rays' journey to becoming a constant playoff-contender took awhile, but came all of sudden when it finally happened.

Contending with the power-house teams of the AL East—the Yankees and Red Sox—is the toughest thing to do for any team to have to do. It's makes it even tougher when you can't spend half the money of the those two teams.

But the Rays haven't used any excuses, rather using lower-risk, high-reward pickups and their minor league system to create a nucleus for a championship-caliber squad.

Second baseman Chase Utley is a perennial All-Star and the best all-around player on the Phillies roster.  But recently, rumors have been flying about his physical condition.  Mentions of "soreness" in his knees and legs are raising eyebrows.  Utley missed both the exhibition game and the first official game this week after "intense workouts" during the first week of camp.  He may not play in the next game either.

The full squad of the Toronto Blue Jays hs only been at Spring Training a week now, but already decisions are being made, injuries are happening and news is emerging.

John Farrell, the Blue Jays' successor to Cito Gaston, is already working on the batting order in the first few games.  He would like to have a set lineup determined by the time the season begins, one for facing left-handed pitching and one for right-handed.  

Despite their extra-innings tie, it was great to see some New York Mets baseball today.

The Mets came from behind to tie the Atlanta Braves, 5-5, in their opening spring training game at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie.

While the scores mean next to nothing in spring training, it's the performance of players on the cusp that really makes a difference.

This past calendar year has been nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak for New England sports fans.

(All 29 other sports regions/cities roll their eyes collectively).

We're no Seattle or Cleveland, but these have been somewhat trying times for fans that have high standards for success.