2011 MLB Spring Training

Hindsight might be 20/20, but foresight is 30/30—at least when it comes to baseball.

Major League Baseball's 30/30 club is made up of players who have hit at least 30 home runs and stole 30 bases in the same season.

What's so special about 30/30?

It's simple. A player has to show a unique combination of power and speed over the course of an entire season in order to reach both milestones.

The feat was actually quite common in the 1990s and early 2000s, but it has become more rare in the last five years.

Adrian Gonzalez? Gone. David Eckstein? History. The Hairstons? Adios.

Miguel Tejada? Auf Weidersehen. Yorvit Torrealba? Movin on..

You get the picture. The Padres will be a different team in 2011.

The question becomes "Is different better?" I know that what I see on paper right now looks much better than the last two seasons teams did at this same point. Lets take a look at what should be the Padres starting line up for opening day.

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If the good Lord picked one weather day to represent spring training for every baseball team spread out over Florida and Arizona, he would have chosen today.

With clear blue skies and temperatures hovering around 80 degrees, the Washington Nationals picked up the pace on the fourth day of workouts for pitchers and catchers.

Yesterday’s big story was no doubt Stephen Strasburg's pain free throwing session.

As most know, the Tampa Bay Rays' success in 2010 was due in part to the incredible bullpen that they had assembled, with league saves-leader Rafael Soriano, extravagant setup man Joaquin Benoit and plenty of ate-up innings by Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler.

Unless you've been living under a rock hibernating this past winter, you know that none of those names remain in the current Rays' bullpen.

February and March are ideal months to visit Clearwater, Florida.  It is not too hot, not too cold, and even better, the Phillies are there for spring training.

The list to follow is an excellent guide to both Phillies spring training and the Clearwater area in general.  Whether or not you have ever been to Clearwater before, you should find this information very useful, or at the very least, entertaining.

However, be forewarned: spring training in Clearwater can be addictive and may turn into a lifelong habit. 

It is certainly hard to argue against the success of Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia as he enters his 12th season at the helm, the longest tenure of any manager in the American League and second longest in the majors behind Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Albert Pujols is the best first baseman in the MLB.  He may even be the best of all-time, but as Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals tried to reach a contract extension before spring training, Pujols made it evident that he wants more money, and he's not scared to test the free agent market.

It's official—the 2011 Major League Baseball season is right around the corner. Don't believe me? Just ask the groundhog. Or maybe the fact that the next edition of Major League Baseball video games are primed for release will convince you. No?  Ok, the Super Bowl is over and so is another season of the National Football League. Pitchers and catchers have reported for Spring Training. Yes, the 2011 season is swiftly approaching.

It is now time for spring training to get started. In Surprise, Arizona, the Texas Rangers are getting set to defend their American League championship.

As the players start making their way to Arizona this week, there are five burning questions surrounding the Rangers. They will be vital to the team's success in this 2011 season.

No. 1: Will the Rangers recover from the losses they sustained on the field?

No. 2: Can the Rangers pitching staff be successful?

No. 3: What about the Michael Young situation?

Being unable to win the Cliff Lee "SweepStakes", or find a similar starter in trade to beef up their starting pitching rotation, the Texas Rangers will have to look primarily within themselves for help for now. 
 
The looming questions they will have to answer as they head to Spring Training are: how can the Rangers recapture the magic that propelled them to the American League Championship without an ace like Lee?  And what will they do with Michael Young?