MLB

I know I mentioned it yesterday, but it's really worth repeating: We're less than a week away from Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season. Wow!

But with first pitch just days away, there is still a lot of preparation to be done, and I'm not talking about your favorite team deciding on their fifth starter. Nope, I'm talking about you making the final tweaks to your fantasy team.

Just five days before Opening Night against the NY Yankees, ESPN.com reporter Buster Olney reports that contract negotiations between the Red Sox and RHP Josh Beckett have progressed to the point that there is optimism a deal will be finalized in the next week or two.

After a middling 2008 season (86-76, fourth place), the Cardinals rebounded nicely in 2009 to win the NL Central with a 91-71 record, thanks in large part to the mid-season acquisition of LF Matt Holliday. While the Redbirds managed to re-sign Holliday this off-season, the club lost several other of its key contributors this winter.

Whether the team will be able to compete with the Philliles for the pennant will be largely dependent upon how well the replacements perform.

Key Additions: P Rich Hill and P Brad Penny

The 2008 edition of the Chicago Cubs had the best record in the National League (97-64) and should have repeated last season, but injuries, career-worst performances, and the plague that is known as Milton Bradley created a second-place ballclub.

The glass slipper slipped off the Brewers foot last year as the club came crashing back to Earth after a Cinderella run in 2008. Of course, after the free agent departures of longtime ace Ben Sheets and half-season workhorse Carlston Charles Sabathia, the slide wasn’t all together unexpected. The Brew Crew finished the year with a record of 80-82, good for third place in the NL Central.

The Cincinnati Reds finished the 2009 season in fourth place with a 78-84 record. As the club enters the 2010 season, there finally appears to be some honest-to-goodness hope that better days may lie ahead. They could finish as high as second place—IF everything goes right—but I think they’d need to be completely healthy to do so, and with Edinson Volquez unavailable until at least August they’re starting the season with one strike against them.

Key additions: OF Josh Anderson, SS Orlando Cabrera and LHP Aroldis Chapman

Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates went 62-99, turning in their 18th consecutive losing season and, in the process, establishing the longest stretch of futility in MLB history.

What I’m Reading

• Get ready for some comic mischief and summer-hijinks – and all of it outdoors! What I’m trying to say here is that the Twins are planning on using a closer-by-committee strategy in Joe Nathan’s absence.

David Ortiz'z struggles in 2009 are well-documented.

Lets face it, no one ever gets the predictions for the season anywhere close to perfect. Every year new players blossom and new teams show up and act ready for the big show.

Some have been waiting for years for the right moments, others appear out of nowhere and even surprise themselves. Small money clubs are able to strive in a small division and sometimes even peak so fast that they are able to achieve the postseason status as underdog. I didn't predict the Cardinals by a longshot last year, and neither did many.