AL East

When Josh Beckett was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2006, it was assumed he would be an Cy Young candidate and an ace for years to come. He was 25, an absolute hoss, and seemingly the reincarnation of Roger Clemens: a hard-throwing intimidator and strikeout king without fear.

Over a year ago, the New York Yankees were World Series champions, an honor every team in baseball strives for each year. 

To become the best team in baseball, like the Yankees have been considered many times before, it takes hard work, dedication and composure on the field. All of these characteristics and more were seen by the Yankees in 2009, which resulted in their victory.  

Unfortunately, the Yankees were missing all of those qualities last season, which deprived them of another World Series title.

Has anyone else noticed that the New York Yankees have had an extremely quiet offseason? Well, for them at least.

John Farrell, the Blue Jays' new manager for the 2011 season, believes fully in having a set batting order.  He believes in having a system of attack to go against each pitcher, and thinks it is important for the players to know where they are playing and what is expected of them.  The game on Wednesday against Philadelphia might have shown the first representation of Farrell's vision.

John Boggs, the agent for Red Sox 1B Adrian Gonzalez, arrived in Fort Myers yesterday afternoon. He didn’t waste any time getting down to business, as he met earlier today with Theo Epstein and Ben Cherington to discuss a contract extension for A-Gon.

One of the few remaining decisions for the New York Yankees in this spring training is a final choice of leadoff hitter.

The choice for manager Joe Girardi comes down to Derek Jeter or Brett Gardner.

Jeter is a 16-year veteran who had a down year in 2010.  Jeter has made adjustments to his setup at the plate which have been successful this spring.  He is a career .300 hitter, and there is no real reason to believe he won't be much better this year.

Rotoworld suggested that Brett Gardner, who has been leading off recently in spring training games for the New York Yankees, could start the season off in that slot.

Gardner, who scored 97 runs in 569 plate appearances, could challenge for the league lead in runs scored if he is hitting out of that slot.

Through four starts in spring training, Bartolo Colon has a 2.40 ERA, a .192 BAA, a 0.73 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. 

So, why am I arguing against this obvious Cy Young hopeful and godsend to the Yankees pitching staff earning a spot in the starting rotation come Opening Day?

Veteran second baseman Brian Roberts was limited to 59 games last season due to a herniated disc in his back.

During the time the that he was on the DL, the leadoff hitter role was a revolving door, with no one filling in adequately.

This spring, Roberts has again been having back trouble—spasms that he says are unrelated to the herniated disc that troubled him so much last year, it limited him to just five games.

When thinking of Manny Ramirez, many moments go through a person's mind. Many are good, but several are anything but.

On the side of being one of the better hitters of his time (or any time for that matter), are the moments that created the saying of "Manny being Manny".