MLB

First base is stacked with sluggers, there's no arguing that. But not all sluggers are created equal. From Barton to Youkilis, there's quite a difference in the caliber of play one gathers from the position. By my admittedly fuzzy research, there are at the very least 4 tiers of players at the position.

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After finishing their first year in Washington with a .500 record, fans and players alike hoped the Nationals would have a breakout season in 2006.

The key was to get off to a fast start.

It didn’t happen.

Third baseman Hank Blalock has signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays worth $925,000, plus an extra $400,000 in incentives, reports Jon Heyman .

Blalock's contract is worth approximately $6 million less than what he was earning with the Texas Rangers last season. 

I try not to get too carried away with spring training stats. Usually at least one veteran will slump heavily only to perform as expected in the regular season, and at least one minor leaguer will get hot only to be assigned to a farm club where he fails to impress.

But that doesn't mean I ignore spring stats—I'm a stats geek at heart.

Today—as usual—I checked up on the Tigers box score to see who's hot and who's not down in Lakeland.

While the Reds have made plenty of bad trades over the years, historically they haven't gotten torched for signing the wrong free agents. But that doesn't mean there isn't five worthy candidates. Most of these players were around in the 2000s—which is also the time frame of nine straight losing seasons.

The following players have sucked money out of the Reds wallets like a vacuum while giving the team next to nothing on the field. High robbery indeed.

Hank Aaron. Ken Griffey, Jr. Now, Albert Pujols.

Besides being three of the greatest baseball players in the history of the game, these three have been mentioned over the past month in connection with another subject.

Jason Heyward.

The Braves rookie phenom has drawn praise from all over.

Bobby Cox said the pop off his bat when he makes contact reminds him of Hank Aaron. Bobby Cox!  One of the most successful managers in baseball history does not normally throw words around like that.

Reporters have likened the 20-year-old to Ken Griffey, Jr.

With Spring Training baseball getting fully underway, this is the time of year where predictions are made. Who will make the 25-man cut?

I can tell you one young kid who will for the Cubs.

Call me crazy, but Tom Gorzelanny is going to get the fifth starter spot on the Cubs' staff.

We know who the first four are. In no particular order: Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster, and Wells will be the top four. The fifth is up for grabs.

Off-Speed

Baseball Hall of Famer Goose Gossage claimed this past weekend that New York Yankees icon Mariano Rivera is not the best relief pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Edwin Encarnacion is a funny guy, isn’t he?

Not in the sense of being a prankster, but here you have a guy who has basically fallen off the radar of just about every fantasy owner’s map, and to them, for good reason.

If you give a passing glance at his stats, they suggest he was a one-and-done kind of guy after his breakout 2008 campaign.

Let’s take a look at the potential for run scoring in this year’s version of the Yankees lineup. We’ve done this in the past, even a couple of times this offseason, but now that spring has started and we have a better idea of what their lineup will look like let’s do it again.