MLB Spring Training

For quite some time now the Rangers' infield has been the core of the organization.  Going back to the twilight of Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez all the way up to Michael Young and Ian Kinsler, with a little Mark Teixeira thrown in the middle.

This year’s infield could well prove to be the best yet.

The obvious place to start is with the heart and soul of this team:

Michael Young

There are not many players in the entire league that have been more durable and reliable than Michael Young over the last decade or so.

With one week of Spring Training left, it's time to get the crystal ball down from the attic, dust it off, and see what the future holds for baseball in 2010.

Last year this was a lot easier. Just pick the Yankees to win it all and be done with it.

While I was tempted to do the same thing for 2010, I just don't see it that way for this season. Not to say that the Yanks won't win the American League, but things will definitely be a little tougher for the game's richest team this
season.

Hopefully after reading these next few pages you will know exactly where your team stands for 2010.

There is no doubt that a National Football League fantasy season is fun. Major League Baseball's storied infatuation with statistics and the length of its season just happen to make the diamond's make-believe game infinitely better.

I mention this because I'm of the camp that believes our resultant addiction to fantasy baseball skews some current observations of the game.

One example appears to be the growing import of Spring Training numbers.

When you commit $64 million dollars to three pitchers over the span of two years, there are certain expectations that need to be met.

Take a look at the San Francisco Giants. Their three headed monster of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Barry Zito are making $54.05 million collectively in 2009 and 2010. Last year they won a combined 39 games in 98 starts and struck out 586 batters in 635 innings pitched. Those numbers are produced by, what some regard, the best top end rotation in the league.

The Madison Bumgarner that made his major league debut last September wasn't the same Madison Bumgarner we had heard so much about the past two years.

Instead of the low-to-mid-90s heat he used to blow away South Atlantic League hitters in 2008, Bumgarner was barely hitting 90 in his first career start. There was no specific reason as to why the readings on the radar gun was showing 88 or that it was showing 92 and 94.

Before we begin, a (slightly) brief introduction:

The year ended badly for Detroit Tiger baseball. There was so much hope over the course of the year that when the team began to fall apart in September, there was almost a consensus of disbelief among the fans.

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.

What I’m Reading

• The Braves’ 20-year old monster prospect Jason Heyward is already turning heads in camp . The feeling around Kissimmee is that he’ll continue this trend all the way into the regular season. The major league regular season.

You can take Alex Rodriguez, Prince Fielder, Matt Kemp, and Ryan Howard. I didn't want them anyway.

With the first spring training games just days away, I was happy to see an invitation for a fantasy baseball league sitting in my inbox.

I'd been mining bits and pieces of fantasy data for a few weeks now anyway, a sure-fire way to know that despite the snow, baseball is on its way.

Baseball can be a great game, a dream come true, if you will.

However, baseball can also be a fickle game.

That sentiment rings especially true for Edgardo Alfonzo.