AL East

Spring training is more than halfway in the books, and the final roster spots for the Opening Day of 2011 are still being determined by the Rays' staff.

Most of the open spots are in the bullpen, where several pitchers are still in the hunt for a spot on the roster, come April 1st. There are at least three spots up for grabs, with Adam Russell no longer a sure thing and J.P. Howell on the mend for the first month.

Remember WAMCO?

For many of you, the term means nothing.

For hardcore Toronto Blue Jays fans and baseball historians, it is a reminder of greatness in Toronto.

WAMCO stood for the combination of White, Alomar, Molitor, Carter and Olerud. These players were also the one through five hitters in the Toronto batting order.

During an interesting discussion today about the greatest Toronto Blue Jays team of all time, the 1993 squad was overwhelmingly the best choice.

With 172 career starts before the age of 25, Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher in the American League.

Who's No. 2?

CC Sabathia? Justin Verlander? Jered Weaver? David Price? 

These guys are certainly all contenders, Price in particular. The 25-year-old, now the clear ace of the Rays, finished second to Hernandez in Cy Young voting last year and all signs point to him building off of his monster 2010 in 2011.

None of these guys, however, are the second-best pitcher in the American League.

Wow. Tampa Bay's window for winning AL East pennants and World Series championships lasted about as long as it takes a David Price fastball to reach home plate.

The longest-ever tenured Ray, Carl Crawford, bolted for the New Evil Empire in Boston. Other clubhouse stalwarts like Carlos Pena, Matt Garza, and Rafael Soriano left for more money, a better team, or a combination of both.

TAMPA, FL—According to multiple reports originating from the New York Post’s George A. King III, the New York Yankees could be keeping very close tabs on a veteran right-hander as the season progresses.

This is the third installment in this series. I am compiling All-Franchise Teams based on African Americans.

The idea came to me as the result of a comment made by Joe Morgan who brought to light the decline in African-American players in MLB.

I started with the New York Yankees and the second installment was the Cincinnati Reds. It is part of my master plan to complete the American and National Leagues if I live long enough. I plan on alternating between National League and American League.

So the Yankees missed on Cliff Lee twice—first when the Mariners decided to trade him to the Rangers and again when he decided to sign with the Phillies. 

However, neither time can be attributed to lack of effort or offers from the Yankees. In both situations, the Yankees offered enough, if not more, to get Lee—first offering a No. 1 prospect in Jesus Montero and then offering too much money for too many years. 

There is good news and bad news for the Tampa Bay Rays.  Most agree that there is much more bad news, considering that the Rays lost four pitchers who accounted for 226.1 of the Rays 454 relief innings: Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit, Dan Wheeler, and Grant Belfour.

This is a sharp blow for a team that won the AL East last year, based almost solely on strong pitching and dominant defense.

Today, baseball fans view the American League as the tougher league, due to its usage of the designated hitter.  Within the American League, the Eastern division is regarded as the most talented and toughest division to play in.  It has been this way for a long time.  

So, when you have a division with such a notoriety, there had to have been a plethora of amazing players to give it that notoriety.  That is what I will be examining today; the greatest of those amazing players that gave (or are still giving) the AL East the reputation it has today.  

One of the latest rumors coming out of New York Yankees spring training is who will be the leadoff hitter in the batting order. Will it be veteran shortstop and captain Derek Jeter or up-and-coming outfielder Brett Gardner? 

At the beginning of spring training, Yankees manager Joe Girardi maintained that the No. 1 spot is Jeter’s.