MLB

The Yankees have yet to make an official announcement, but according to Joel Sherman of the NY Post , in the next couple of days they will announce that the winner of the 5th spot in the rotation will be Phil Hughes :

Like it's American League counterpart, the National League Central is considered to be much of a wide-open race. The one difference is they've got more of a legitimate favorite that could very well go deep into the playoffs.

The reason that they've got a favorite in St. Louis, yet can be considered wide-open is the pure fact that there is a lot of unknown for some teams. Even the Cardinals have their own questions.

At the beginning of the 2008 season, the bookmakers gave 250 to 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays winning the World Series that year. The Rays in fact failed to do so, but came a lot closer than almost anyone would have expected.

Going into the Fall Classics, the odds were 7 to 5 in their favor, which is to say that someone who had paid "$1" for the bet, could have cashed out for over $100 (instead of winning $250) before the final resolution.

Joe Beimel waited and waited for a major league contract offer, but couldn’t find one. Instead, he signed a minor league deal with a team he is pretty familiar with.

Beimel signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies yesterday. Beimel will make $850,000 if he makes the Rockies’ roster and he can earn another $350,000 in incentives.

As Yankee bloggers we all bow down to River Ave Blues and they had another great couple of articles over the past two days going over Brian Cashman’s best and worst trades as the Yankees GM.

Well, finally the New York Mets get some good news.

Good news is a rarity for the Mets, so when it happens and it’s good news about one of their star players, it must be recognized.

The Mets found out yesterday that shortstop Jose Reyes has been cleared to play. His thyroid levels are back to normal.

Reyes has been back home in New York resting and avoiding exercise (sounds like me) until his thyroid levels were back to normal. It’s still uncertain whether or not Reyes will be ready for Opening Day.

The Yankees are expected to announce this morning that Curtis Granderson will indeed become their starting center fielder and will not play much left field, if at all, according to Joel Sherman of the NY Post.

Granderson roamed center field in all his years with the Detroit Tigers, but there was speculation that the Yankees would move him to left field after general manager Brian Cashman made the claim that Brett Gardner might be the best defensive center fielder in all of baseball.

These starting pitchers could have a hard time matching their 2009 production.

Joe Blanton, Philadelphia Phillies
Blanton’s numbers are misleading. He had a solid ERA of 4.05, but gave up 30 HRs. If he’s giving up that many long balls, his peripherals will likely rise. Also, his strikeout total of 163 isn’t on par with he he’s done for the rest of his career.

Outside of my Wild Prediction (click here to view), we haven’t talked much about Yovani Gallardo this preseason.  He is one of my favorite pitchers entering 2010 and I didn’t really think it was necessary to discuss him.  While many think highly of him, it turns out a little conversation is needed.

Last season there were a lot of questions surrounding him, as injuries had cost him all but 24 innings in 2008, but he responded with flying colors:

Perhaps the most amusing topic of discussion this spring as position players fight for roster spots is a stipulation of Ronnie Belliard's agreement with the Dodgers and manager Joe Torre: Lose weight, gain a roster spot.

That's right. The Dodgers want Belliard—just not as much of him.

As the 2009 season came to a close, no one was more prominent of an influence in the Dodgers' playoff run than Ronnie Belliard.